I’d like to apologize for the dearth of posting around here. There are two reasons for this and they are tied together: first, there is a real lack of Wings-related news and second, it stems from our disappointment in the Wings’ inactivity on the free agent market.

GM Ken Holland’s plan apparently is to go in to the season with little more than a skeleton crew and make trades as the season goes along to add to the roster. Because so many players on the roster will have contracts expire after this coming season, Holland feels it best to wait until next summer to throw money around. This shouldn’t make Wings fans feel very positive about the coming year, that’s for sure, but it does give us something to look forward to in a year’s time. I already have doubts about the team’s ability to even make the playoffs, let alone play through them, after seeing the moves other teams, both in our division and throughout the conference, have made.

It’s easy to criticize Holland for his apparent short-sightedness (or stupidity, if you prefer) in light of the Wings’ post-lockout predicament. However, I think it’s a bit unfair. For years, everyone with an interest in the team has demanded excellence, from Mr. Illitch to the media down to Joe Fan. And for years, Ken Holland has delivered, assembling a quality roster each year. To do this, he had to negotiate contracts with both new and old players, to bring players in and to keep players here.

I suspect, in a number of cases, he was forced to give more lengthy contracts to players with a greater value in order to either lure them to Detroit or to convince them to stay. These contracts extended beyond the expiration of the old CBA and in to unknown territory (though everyone had an idea of what was out there). Today, that seems monumentally short-sighted and stupid, given the restrictions they are now under financially. But I remember chanting “Win! Win!” with all the rest of the herd, when the lockout was a future possibility not a past event. Can we blame Holland for obeying our demands even if it screwed us over post-lockout?

I think we would do well to remember that the Wings decade of influence and era of power was nearing its end anyway. The team was getting older and the era of Yzerman-type players and the accompanying loyalty was too. The idea of building a franchise on the youth is a crock any more now that players apparently have little or no attachment to the teams that drafted them, except through the bribery of a lucrative contract. Now, because of the new CBA, we’re seeing it happen a bit faster. It will probably hurt more than it would have and the fall could be further but there’s at least there’s a chance that next summer, the Wings will be back on the market with their checkbooks open.

I’m just trying now to be thankful that Holland is working on getting Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk signed. They are another result of the demands of Hockeytown, quality draft picks who were able to develop in to the potential big-time stars because the Wings had the depth and experience to do without them before they were ready.

I’m going to just try to enjoy having hockey back this year and not be disappointed if the Wings don’t live up to old expectations. They’re still my team and that is not going to change.

So, I wait for September, when camp starts and beyond that, October 5th, opening night.

(Also, I’m working 50 or so hours this week, my last before school starts up again, so my time at a computer is pretty limited. I guess it’s almost a good thing there’s nothing to comment on…)

In a game of musical chairs that the former Red Wings head coach lost, Dave Lewis has accepted an offer to be an NHL scout for the Wings, after failing to find a coaching position elsewhere. The Wings’ late signing of Mike Babcock compounded the problem of few coaching positions vacant this summer.

It has to be embarrassing to Lewis that former Wings associate coach Barry Smith found a coaching position with the Coyotes, and the former head coach is left as a scout. Or maybe Lewis is that attached to the organization that he can’t leave. He played two seasons with the Wings (86-87, 87-88) and joined the coaching staff in 1987 (after playing six games in the 87-88 season), where he’s remained ever since.

As for Joey Kocur, Mike Krushelnyski is now listed as video technician (which was Kocur’s old position). So either the Wings offered Kocur a position elsewhere, or he declined becoming video guy. Some trivia on Mike Krushelnyski: he played for the Wings in 1994-1995 and was an assistant coach during the 1996-1997 season.

Osgood excited to be back
Chelios isn’t the only player happy to return for another year in Detroit. Chris Osgood is elated to come back to Hockeytown. Even when Osgood played for the Islanders and Blues, he didn’t sell his house in Northville and remained close friends to many Wings players. He even followed the team closely. After being gone for three years, Osgood was excited to sign a one year contract for $900,000.

“I’m thrilled about this,” said Osgood. “I really missed playing in Detroit. You don’t realize what you had until you don’t have it anymore…I really thought I would be back. It was fun to play on Long Island (with the Islanders) and St. Louis. But I always missed the atmosphere here. It’s just different. You don’t see it in a lot of cities…Detroit fans are passionate. They love their team and they want their team to do well. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

The starting goaltender position will be based on Osgood and his close friend, Manny Legace, performances in training camp and then early in the season. “There’s going to be no animosity between us,” he said. “We’ll be pulling for each other.”

Wings ticket prices remain the same
While many teams have cut back on ticket prices, the Detroit Red Wings ticket prices will not be changing from the 2003-2004 prices. Tickets will range from $22-$85 and average around $57.

The $39 million figure is misleading,” General Manager Ken Holland said, citing $6 million committed to players no longer with the team, an estimated $5 million contribution to revenue sharing and potentially $5 million in bonuses.

David Miller of West Bloomfield Township, who has had tickets for 25 years, said he won’t renew. “I know friends of mine weren’t planning to do so either unless they got a discount,” Miller said. “With the economy the way it is in Detroit, I would suspect many other people won’t be either.”

The Wings have 17,000 season-ticket holders and a waiting list of 14,000.

Season ticket holders will get what the Wings call “Joe Bucks,” 5% of their ticket money that fans can use for concessions and merchandise at Joe Louis Arena.

I’m disappointed that the Wings didn’t reduce ticket prices. The team salary was cut nearly in half, but the prices aren’t. I realize that the Wings can charge what they want and people will still come. And those that cancel their season tickets will be grabbed by one of the 14,000 on the waiting list (including me). Ottawa and Los Angeles reduced their season ticket prices by 5%; Chicago 10%. Toronto, Colorado, Buffalo, and Phoenix also reduced ticket prices.

The Wings have signed Chris Osgood to a one-year, $900,000 deal. This brings back the former Wings goaltender (1993-2001) who led the team to a 1998 Cup title. After the Wings acquired Dominik Hasek the summer of 2001, Osgood was put on waivers. The New York Islanders claimed Ozzie in the waiver draft, where he spent two seasons. After struggling as an Islander, he was traded to St Louis at the 2003 trade deadline, and most recently posted a 31-25-8 record, 2.24 GAA with the Blues. Manny Legace, the other Wings goalie, will make $1.1628 million this season.

For me, this is an amazing move by the Wings. After Chicago signed Nikolai Khabibulin, names such as Osgood, Thibault, and Dunham remained as the best available goaltenders. Osgood made $3 million in 2003-2004, and applying a 24% rollback to that figure for market value’s sake brings him to $2.28 million potential value. So at $900,000 he’s definitely a bargain for what could be a starting goaltender. I’m sure his connection to Detroit led to his accepting such a low figure.

You just had to know Mike Ilitch wasn’t going to settle with a Manny Legace / Joey MacDonald goaltending duo. I knew we couldn’t afford Khabibulin, so I’ve been hoping Ozzie would be the man. It’s really exciting to have Osgood back, especially after him leaving on bad terms in 2001. A great signing.

The Phoenix Coyotes will hold a 4 pm press conference to introduce Wayne Gretzky as their new head coach, with former Red Wing associate coach Barry Smith, former Coyotes player Rick Tocchet, and interim head coach Rick Bowness as a trio of assistant coaches. Says Wayne:

“I’ll be honest with you, when I was 22, 23, 24, I never thought I’d be a coach in the NHL. But I’m excited about the challenge….The last couple of weeks I’ve been following my son’s baseball team around and I kind of got the itch to coach, as silly as that sounds….By no means am I Scotty Bowman, but I know the game, I love the game, I have a really good staff and we have a really good team. It’s exciting. I haven’t felt this way since I was 17.”

For the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, the question on everyone’s mind is whether he can communicate the great vision he had on the ice to the players he coaches. He was successful as executive director of Team Canada, putting together Canada’s first gold medal in 50 years in the 2002 Winter Olympics. He has already committed to that post for the 2006 Olympics in Turin.

Gretzky will remain the team’s managing partner and keep his 18% ownership in the Coyotes. Some credit can be given to him for the growth of hockey in Phoenix and getting them the new $220 million Glendale Arena, which opened in December 2003.

Other Wings News

Ray Whitney signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. The two-time All-Star was a consensus flop in Detroit. Coming off a career-high 80 points in 2003-2004, he managed only 14 goals and 29 assists with the Wings last season. He was slated to make $2.66 million this season with the Wings before getting bought out.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to our humble piece of Hockeytown. Our names are Matt Saler and Brian List and we’ll be your hosts as we take you through the fourth Carnival of the NHL.

First off, we’ll point you to Sharkspage, where PJ Swenson keeps you up-to-date on the San Jose Sharks, as well as boxing, car races and other sporting events in the San Jose area. PJ recently re-did the layout of his site and it’s looking pretty neat.

Next, we’ll stop at Hockey Rants, where Jes Golbez helps you get into the scary mind of an NHL General Manager. If you can take it, you’ll see the big mistakes a GM can make, such as giving $6.75 million to a goalie, $2.4 million to a forward who had one good season four years ago, and $10 million on two new players. Don’t despair, however. Jes is also kind enough to show you the good GMs, those who give just over $2 million total to two solid players rather than just throw their money around like rice at a wedding. Brett Mirtle, of Red Line Sports, chimes in, asking Jes, is any player worth the $7.8 million salary ceiling?

Zubov is certainly not worth half the salary ceiling, says Globe and Mail journalist and blogger extraordinaire, James Mirtle. The carnival erupts in agreement, but Andrew of the Stars blog takes the signing in stride.

Over here, we have Lindsey Ungar who blogs about the Buffalo Sabres at “In the Crease.” In this post, she looks for a little hope despite following a team when apparently no one wants to go to their games or join the roster. A sad story.

Moving on to a more positive booth, the venerable (in the most respectful sense of the word) Tom Benjamin takes you on a walk down memory lane and points out his old haunt: The Tom Benjamin Hockey Pages.

Recently returned Nashville Predator blogger Jason Kirk discusses his team’s need for a center here. He hasn’t said anything yet but I’m sure the Predator’s acquisition of Paul Kariya will generate a response worth reading. (Side note: are any other Wings fans starting to become a little frightened of the other teams in our division now? We are. Just a little. Please Mr. Holland, do something.)

Over at her MVN blog, Avalanche!, Melissa Tee gives Avs fans even more reason to be depressed: the new scheduling will make it even tougher for the Avs to compete now that they’ve lost Foote and Forsberg. The Northwest Division is a tough one and the loss of those two won’t make getting to the playoffs any easier.

Always a funny guy, Steve Ovadia at PuckUpdate discusses the need to pay high-end defensemen high-end salaries. He also goes in to the TV opportunities Jeremy Roenick will have in LA.

Keith from BoltsMag takes the stage in his fire-breathing routine, with Eklund, of the legendary Hockey Rumors blog, burned severely in the act.

Mike Chen describes a bizarre dream he recently had…or wait, is this Bettman’s small market dream come true?

Michael, the self-proclaimed Hockey Fanatic, pays homage to the master of ceremonies, Steve Yzerman. The carnival caravan rolls on, as Yzerman will have a goodbye tour before the show closes. The Fanatic also gives a good overview of Sidney Crosby’s Jay Leno appearance.

The show rolls into Hockey Country, where Chris McMurtry proclaims it’s the “same ol’ NHL.” Chris, we might add, has taken the hockey blogging standard to a new level, building up a massive archive of posts in a matter of days. His profile description says it all: “Someone with, perhaps, too much free time on his hands and an unhealthy passion for hockey…” A description the whole carnival of hockey bloggers could relate to.

Brandon Bibb of Grapevine’s Sports Ramblings tells of the best carnival stunts, whether it be the Mike Legg lacrosse-style goal or the Shanahan, bank-the-puck-off-the-goaltender, move.

The Hockey Rodent breaks down the Ranger payroll, and proves his skill at finding interesting links with a Straka interview from a Czech website.

Also worthy of mention is Kukla’s Korner, the emerging Drudge Report of NHL news. Paul has been posting up-to-the-minute NHL news for the last three weeks, and ‘On the Wings’ has appreciated his site as a resource for free agent moves.

Entering the stage is d-lee of red and black hockey, blogging about the Hurricanes from Greensboro, North Carolina. He’s also followed the free agency race closely, and gives a unique perspective on the moves.

Red Wings fans aren’t the only ones down on management decisions, as Jay Kumar sulks about the fate of the Leafs and wonders whether “hometown discounts” can save the team. Jason Allison enters stage right, having missed much of the last three seasons due to post-concussion symptoms and the lockout. How Allison’s groggy show comes off remains to be seen.

OtW staffer (and budding journalist?) Christy Hammond takes an early jab at the new NHL schedule format, as the Central Division (minus the Wings) grows stronger by the day with free agent signings. Those eight game outings against the likes of the Blackhawks and Predators might not turn out that easy…unless Mr. Holland gets off his butt and signs somebody! Jason Kirk enjoys the sound of that, seeing as though we lumped his beloved Preds in with the dregs of the league. That was when we had faith in Wings management and thought they knew how to…gasp…call a free agent on the phone and… actually…negotiate. Sigh.

Returning after a week-long hiatus is Carole Lee Sussman of “For the Curious…” In this post, she rounds up some of the bigger deals of the past week. Her comments are, as usual, well worth reading. She is less than impressed with what the Rangers have done this off-season but what else is new?

For anyone who doubts the popularity of the NHL or the sport of hockey, check out On the Wings: Brazil. This little-known but much appreciated partner-blog is written in Portuguese by Humberto, Marcelo, and Eduardo.

And last but certainly not least, we have our ringleader, Eric McErlain, of the prize-winning blog “Off Wing Opinion.” The master of all things sport today weighs in on the Columbus Blue Jackets’ signing of Adam Foote. He and a few others.

That’s all for now, folks. Thank you all for stopping by and we hope you enjoyed your time at the fourth Carnival of the NHL. Thanks to Eric McErlain for giving us the opportunity to host this thing. We’re looking forward to doing it again in the future and hopefully then we’ll get it published on time (again, we’re sorry). So, who’s up to host this thing next????

Matt Saler and Brian List

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