Very interesting interview with Sergei Fedorov by Mitch Albom in the Free Press today. Kinda makes me re-think that whole situation a little. Not completely but enough to make me less angry towards the guy who used to be my favorite player. Makes me realize how naive and idealistic I was about the Red Wings organization. I still think they’re the best organization hockey but maybe not as much as before. So anyway, go check it out.

Top Red Wings prospect Igor Grigorenko was at camp yesterday but just as a visitor. The Wings brought him over to get him and his family to experience the NHL and get used to with the surroundings. More importantly, they want their doctors to look at him and see how he is progressing in his recovery. Apparently, he is walking without a noticeable limp and looks fit. He started light skating a month ago and is expecting to be playing in the Russian Elite League this winter and come to the NHL next year. I like this quote the best: when he was asked if he’ll be the same player when he returns, he said “I’ll be better.” This is the kid who’s supposed to be a tough Ilya Kovalchuk. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play.

According to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, the Wings’ roster is basically set, with 23 of 23 spots filled. He includes Curtis Joseph in that number, which confirms my fears about having to keep him into the season. Hopefully, the Wings won’t have to keep him until the trade deadline and then deal him away. Putting him on waivers would solve that, though it would give us nothing. We’ll see what Kenny does.

Here’s the roster as Kulfan sees it. 3 goalies, 7 defensemen, and 13 forwards:

Goalies
39 Dominik Hasek
34 Manny Legace
31 Curtis Joseph

Defensemen
5 Nicklas Lidstrom
2 Derian Hatcher
23 Mathieu Schneider
8 Jiri Fischer
11 Mathieu Dandenault
24 Chris Chelios
15 Jason Woolley

Forwards (in camp lines)
21 Boyd Devereaux – 40 (or is it 20?) Henrik Zetterberg – 19 Steve Yzerman
14 Brenden Shanahan – 26 Jiri Hudler – 96 Tomas Holmstrom
18 Kirk Maltby – 33 Kris Draper – 17 (#80 for pre-season) Brett Hull
41 Ray Whitney – 13 Pavel Datsyuk – 25 Darren McCarty

That’s 12. #29 Jason Williams makes 13, since Kulfan says he’ll make the team (I sure hope so! I’d take him over Boyd any day, personally). Williams cannot go to the minors any more without going through waivers and since it isn’t likely that he’ll pass, it isn’t likely that he’ll be sent down.

Not so sure I like the last two lines too much. Should be Maltby/Draper/McCarty and Whitney/Datsyuk/Hull, in my opinion. But I’m not the coach, am I? Those will likely change anyway. Kulfan says the only thing to really figure out now is who plays when. There’s not much ice time spread around on such a stacked team. But, as he says, it’s a nice problem to have.

Since I am not able to attend training camp and since it isn’t televised at all, I can’t really report myself what’s going on there. So I’m going to re-direct everyone to Red Wings Central. They are able to attend camp so they are able to report what’s happening. They have daily reports that are pretty interesting. I will say, it sounds like Jiri Hudler is having a good camp and actually has a good chance of making the team. Another interesting thing is Datsyuk and Whitney seem to have good chemistry and will play together to start the season, likely with Hull. Zetterberg has been playing with The Captain (who, if you hadn’t heard, scored the first goal of camp). See yesterday’s notes here. Red/White game is Thursday, first exhibition game is Friday vs. the Caps and first televised game is Saturday against the Rangers. I can’t wait for the real games to start on October 9!

This was sent to me today and I think it’s something we as hockey fans should think about. Here it is, word for word:

There has been alot of discussion about the online petition requesting the NHL and NHLPA start CBA talks now. I am one of the sponsors of it as well as creating the website to support it, www.noNHLstrike.com.

A bit about the two guys that sponsored the petition. Both of us are in the Military. Dennis is in the ANG in St Louis and I am in the Army in Germany, in fact I just got back from Iraq. Additionally, I won the 2003 NHL 7th Man award and was able to come out of Iraq and go to NY to act as comissioner. Alot of this stuff is on the website.

The point is that I am not sure what we will be able to accomplish with the petition or the website. I do know that we both don’t have a lot of time to spend on developing and promoting the site. We are however very passionate about hockey. Forgive the spelling errors and whatever other nitpicking you find. We are not, after all, lawyers.

The goal of this whole thing is not to tell the NHL or the NHLPA how to solve the problem BUT we want them to come to the table to start discussions now, instead of next year. If this helps so be it. If not, at least, I feel better that I spoke up and tried. If we say nothing the answer is no.

As for who is to blame. I don’t really like to think of it as who is right and who is wrong. I think all parties are to have contributed to the state of the NHL today. I do know that the group not coming to the table right now is the players. Gary Bettman told me this to my face during lunch. After careful consideration, why would the players come to the table? They are the ones who are going to get affected the most by this. Do i think that is fair? No, I don’t. That is why I hope they work it out equitably. But in reality I don’t blame them.

The group that doesn’t have a chance is us, the fans. Do I believe that after all is said and done th eNHL will actually lower ticket prices? Right!!! I told Mr Bettman that with the internet, the fans can be a viable force in the grand scheme of things. I am hoping that we can do something. Yes, the petition doesn’t present options on how to resolve the issues facing us but the website, noNHLstrike.com, will try. For right now we are tryingto get the site up and running. We had problems with the original host server and just switched. Hopefully, by Monday, everything will be fixed.

The things that we are going to propose is contacting the NHL and NHLPA’s corporate sponsors. We are going to try some other things as well, although we are working on how to make it all work. I am personally working on contacting booster clubs to get a representative from each team to be able to contact a select slice of fans from each market. Will we have any affect? Chances are slim, but by god, I am going to make some noise. I am going to try and create some media scenarios and whatever else I can think of.

All I ask is if you don’t like this idea, fine, just don’t impede those of us that want to try.

I am open to all suggestions. We may have taken off out of the starting blocks a quicker than we should have but I think we are having some effect. The petition is over 1,900 strong with us working hard taking out the bogus signatures like Jenna Jamison. Ahh, ya gotta love the internet.

Do petitions work? I am not sure but if you look at the main petition site you will see that both Microsoft and CNN have changed policy and issued apologies. You will also see that there are US Senators with petitions and a few others in the top 25. I take it with a grain of salt and will not know if the petition is real until it is validated. By this, the petition service takes a select slice of the signees, who have submitted their email addresses and send them a message, asking for a response. Not unlike the way some message boards do to ensure people posting are real. If we come up with a good number we will present the petition to whomever. Will Bettman read it? I doubt it, will his subordiantes get wind of it? Absolutely. And then, i don’t know, but at least we tried.

Take a look at the website. I have a page to vote on certain topics as well as a message board to discuss the issues. Find out about the CBA and salary caps.

Take a look. Thanks,
Roger Farina

Igor Larionov has decided that the Wings have taken too long in making their final decision on whether or not to bring him back and signed a one year deal with the New Jersey Devils. The contract is reportedly for $2 million, which is twice what the Wings last offered. I’m sorry to see Igor go, he was a great mentor to the rookies and still had some jump, even if he is 42. Good luck in New Jersey, Igor. I hope you like the trap a lot.

Now that Richter has retired, the Rangers should have more interest in CuJo. Currently, they only have Mike Dunham, who’s been inconsistent, and Dan Blackburn, who’s not proven yet. Glen Sather, the Rangers GM, is expected to talk to the Wings after Joseph recovers from his surgery. That means early October. That also means the Wings will have to carry Joseph into the season and might have to risk having him longer if they can’t get a deal with New York. They obviously want a center in return but will probably have to settle for draft picks. The Rangers may offer Eric Lindros but thankfully, the Wings have little interest in the injury-prone center.