Wings Update
John Niyo has an interesting article called “Exodus of stars will challenge NHL leadership.” He makes some good points and says some things I’ve been thinking and worrying about.
Ted Kulfan has sort of a counter article to Niyo’s.
There is another article about Zetterberg in today’s Detroit News Red Wings Rap. We can’t get enough of him, can we?
Niyo also has a little question and answer session with himself about Sergei Fedorov and the possibility of obtaining Lindros (UGH!) for Fedorov from the Rangers in some sort of deal. I really hope that doesn’t happen. I don’t want Concussion Head Eric on the Wings even if The Captain is good friends with him.
UPDATE: This is a little old but very encouraging. This guy says Pavel’s been the best player in the WC so far and lumps him with Heatly as the NHL’s two future Gretzky impersonators. It’s also funny to see someone who does not like the Wings have to admit the future lies in Detroit:
The future lies in…Detroit. Just when everybody hoped the Detroit Red Wings players would die of old age, their young players showcase themselves. First you’ve got Pavel Datsyuk, who just might be one of the better puckhandlers in the NHL today. Then you’ve got Henrik Zetterberg, who is doing everything he can to emulate the gritty/scoring combo of Peter Forsberg. Here’s an interesting tidbit on Zetterberg by Mats Sundin after the Canada game: If Forsberg is Martin Straka, then Zetterberg is Robert Lang. Woa! As poetic as it’ll ever get. Beautiful.Then there’s russian Igor Grigorenko, who’s so far looked like a grittier version of Ilya Kovalchuk. He’s been truly awesome. And finally there’s the Czech Republic’s whiz kid Jiri Hudler. This 19-year-old stud has been playing in the A-level Czech Extra-Liga since he was 16, and he’s scored 46 points two straight years (15g + 31a in 46 games in 2001-02 and 19g + 27a in just 30 games this year). He’s been the Czech Republic’s best penalty killer so far, scoring both his goals shorthanded. So it’s safe to say that Team (Sunshine) will continue to pile up points and bore the **** out of the rest of us.