…. The Freep has a nice breakdown of the players the Wings have signed with their salaries here.

They also have a list of forwards they see making the team (can’t argue with it):

Robert Lang, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Kris Draper, Steve Yzerman, Kirk Maltby, Jason Williams, Brendan Shanahan, Mikael Samuelsson

as well as a list of players that are fighting for spots:

Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Rem Murray, Mark Mowers, Jiri Hudler, Matt Ellis, Blake Sloan, Dan LaCouture

Of this group, I’d most like to see Mark Mowers make the team. I still remember that goal he scored last season and I’d like to see more of that from him. Jiri Hudler still seems too small to make it big in the NHL but he does have some considerable skill. I don’t know much about the others (Red Wings Central is your best bet for that) but I have heard some good things about Johan Franzen.

… FSN will broadcast the Wings’ exhibition game tonight against the Avs at 7:30 ET. Of course, Ken Daniels will call the game and Mickey Redmond will provide his usual color commentary. The game will also be aired on Team 1270.

… I’ve uploaded a PDF file that lists the games FSN and the local Fox channel will be airing this season so click here for that. It’ll also be linked to on the “Schedule” page linked to in the navigation bar at the top of the page.

… Administrative note: We’ll start regular game previews and reviews when the season starts. If I’m able to catch any pre-season games, I’ll make some comments but I’m not able to make any special effort to watch every minute of every game until October 5th due to school. We’ll be fully operational by season’s start.

… ESPN’s Scott Burnside has a long piece out today about The Captain’s return in the face of retirements from such greats as Scott Stevens and Mark Messier:

In announcing their retirements in recent days, both Scott Stevens and Mark Messier, who own a combined nine Stanley Cup rings, said the fact there was nothing left to prove — no dreams to chase down or points to make — was a significant factor in deciding that they had had enough.

Yzerman might well have come to the same conclusion. Having won three Stanley Cups and a playoff MVP award since 1997, Yzerman is the most prominent athlete in one of the best sports cities in North America. Apart perhaps from the incomparable Gordie Howe, Yzerman is his team’s most important player ever.

Like Messier and Stevens, Yzerman has nothing left to prove. He could have retired and faced absolutely no criticism for it after all he’s done for this city and for this team. I think many people expected him to and were surprised that he did decide to come back. I, for one, am glad he’s coming back and I’m confident it isn’t just a farewell tour. The Wings share this confidence apparently:

More important to Yzerman’s final decision was the fact Holland and Devellano wanted Yzerman back, not just as some warm fuzzy reminder of past glories, but as a player they consider critical to helping the team back to Cup contention.

Yzerman is playing to take his team to the Cup, not so he can pad his stats or go out with a bang. And with his knee feeling as good as it has in two years as well as the Datsyuk signing, we have good reason to be optimistic again.

…. Chris Osgood’s return to the team may be a little less exciting than even his (many) critics expected: the Wings’ prospective #1 goalie apparently has a small tear in his groin muscle and will be out two to three weeks. With the regular season starting in just two weeks (and 45 minutes or so from now) he’ll miss at least the rest of the exhibition season, if not the first couple “real” games.

Ozzie has never torn his groin before so this is new territory for him. Osgood doubles as Captain Obvious when he says, “The biggest thing is that I don’t hurt it worse because there have been goalies that have missed the whole year with a groin injury.” Like a certain formerly-world-class goalie named Dom?

The Wings will be in capable hands with Manny Legace starting but after that, they’re a tad thin in the goaltending department. So, get well soon, Chris!

… I’m “claiming” this blog on Feedster and they require that I post this link so just ignore it.

Apparently, we can say it now with certainty: Pavel Datsyuk will play for the Detroit Red Wings this season, after all.

Ken Holland confirmed the signing yesterday, telling the Detroit Free Press, “It’s official. Between Saturday and Monday, he should be in Detroit.”

The deal is for $7.6 million over two years, which makes him one of the highest paid players on the team. Only Nick Lidstrom, who will earn $7.6 million this year, makes more. To put it in perspective, Robert Lang, a much more proven forward with a much longer NHL career, also will make $3.8 million this season. Next on the pay scale is another veteran, defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who will earn $3.3 million this season. The Wings are banking on Pavel’s considerable potential and it may or may not pay off.

The signing will put Stanley Cup hopes back in the minds of Wings fans and will make the Wings that much more exciting to watch this season. It also means they are done adding players since their payroll is now about $37.4 million. That leaves a $1.6 million buffer zone under the $39 million cap for the team to use if and when they really need to (ie. if they have injury problems as they did in 03-04) as well as for players who win jobs at the end of the pre-season.

The Wings are paying a steep price for a guy who has done very little in the playoffs in his career but they certainly couldn’t afford to let him go. They’ve staked too much of their long-term planning on Pavel to just let him go. Unfortunately, they only have him for two years and after that they’ll have to go through this all over again. I don’t look forward to that but at least we’ll have those two seasons. (Think positive!)

I’m glad he’s back but I hope he’s ready to go to work and earn that salary. Six points in the playoffs is not acceptable, Pavel, and neither is your getting outplayed by an injured Robert Lang (as impressive as Lang’s playing with a broken hand was). Let’s get it done.

Last night, the Red Wings played their first pre-season game against Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Wings did lose 5-3, it was exciting enough to know that NHL hockey is back. Around 11,000 fans watched the action in Joe Louis Arena last night. Kris Draper scored twice and notched an assist as well.

“It felt good to be back out there. It seems there will be a lot of specialty teams this year,” said Kris Draper. “That’s what everyone is talking about right now, the amount of penalties that were called.”

With Chris Osgood out with a sore groin, Manny Legace and Jimmy Howard both goaltended during the game. Legace started the game and Howard took over in the third period when it was 2-2. He let in the first two shots on him. “As a group, I didn’t think we were quick enough. We have to continue to skate,” head coach Mike Babcock said. “I’d like us to be more competitive on the puck.” Those 11,000 fans got to see what a shootout would be like even though the game did not end in a tie. All exhibition games will feature a shootout at the end regardless of the score at the end of the game. The Wings lost in the shootout as well. The Wings play Colorado on Wednesday at home.

Datsyuk may return to Detroit
As Matt mentioned in the last post, it now sounds like Pavel Datsyuk may play for Detroit this season afterall. With all of the rumors floating around, I don’t know if I can even get my hopes up on this. Apparently GM Holland has kept in touch with Datsuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, every couple of days to keep tabs on the developments. After talking with Greenstin on Monday, it appears that Datsyuk could be back in Detroit this weekend (and hopeful wishing on my part wishes he’d be playing by Sunday when I go for the game).

“Gary told me that Pavel has decided he wants to come back to Detroit,” Holland said. “At this stage in the game, it looks as if Pavel is returning to Detroit unless something gets derailed here in the next 24 to 48 hours. Certainly it’s an exciting day for the Red Wings.”

If it’s true and the situation doesn’t change over night (which wouldn’t really surprise me), this will be a huge boost for the Red Wings. Without Datsyuk, the Wings would be a decent team. With Datsyuk, the Wings would be a team with a chance at winning the Stanley Cup. So I guess we’ll have to see how things work out.

The Detroit News gave 10 reasons why they’re happy and unhappy that hockey is back. Here are some of my favorites.

1. Captain comeback

The Captain’s back. The long layoff chased away some of the game’s veteran greats — future Hall of Famers like Mark Messier, Scott Stevens and Ron Francis. But Steve Yzerman is back for a 22nd season, his 19th as captain, and his first as a 40-year-old. It’s also likely his last as a player, though the NHL’s longest-serving captain isn’t about to confirm that. Yzerman, who is closing in on 700 career goals, doesn’t want a farewell tour with rocking chairs and curtain calls. All he wants is a chance to hoist the Stanley Cup one more time. “I wanted to give it my best shot,” Yzerman said. “I’m not afraid of the challenge, and this year, there’s a lot to try and accomplish.”

2. Lions and Tigers … oh, my!

The ice will come in handy, don’t you think? Another rotten season from the Tigers is really starting to stink. And the Lions’ start — next home game, it’s the fans’ turn to wear black — isn’t encouraging. The Lions have won one playoff game since 1957. The Wings have won 153 and three championships. The Tigers haven’t qualified for the postseason since 1987. The Red Wings haven’t missed the playoffs since 1990. Everybody loves a winner. And with the Wings, well, there’s simply a lot more to love lately.

6. Meet the new boss

Hockey’s back, and it’s bringing a new game with it. New rules, new faces and a new marketing approach will be the biggest story around the league this season. You’ll certainly recognize some old, familiar faces with the Wings: Yzerman, Shanahan, Lidstrom, Draper, Osgood and others. But even in Detroit, everything old is new again with the addition of Babcock, a fiery redhead whose energy level suggests an unhealthy caffeine consumption. Turns out that’s just what the doctor — General Manager Ken Holland — ordered. “He’s the boss,” Holland said. “He’s going to be in their face and keep them on edge a little bit.”

… and three reasons we’re not so happy to see hockey return …

8. Talk is cheap

For more than a year, all we heard was millionaires arguing about cost certainty. Little did we know, the only real cost certainty was this: Ticket prices weren’t going to get any cheaper in the new NHL. Say it ain’t so, Joe (Bucks)!

9. Seeing red
Give it a few months, but soon they’ll be everywhere. As sure as the leaves change colors in the fall in Michigan, so do the jerseys and jackets in Hockeytown. Gaudy, red leather jackets, Probert jerseys and mullets — it’s a retro fashion infraction that just won’t die.

10. The big chill
Sure, hockey’s back to keep you warm at night when winter arrives. But the “new-and-improved” NHL schedule designed to spark divisional rivalries packs about as much entertainment value as an icy morning commute. The Wings won’t face Toronto, Montreal or Boston, but they’ll get to see Nashville and Columbus 16 times. April flowers and spring showers — not to mention the playoffs — are a long way off.

It looks like the Pavel Datsyuk Saga will have a happy ending after all, if what Ken Holland said tonight before the Wings’ first exhibition game is true. TSN quotes the Wings GM as saying:

“I think he’s coming back to Detroit, unless I get a major curveball. My expectation is that he’s coming back by the weekend.”

Holland has not personally talked to Pavel since September 5th but he has been in touch with his agent, Gary Greenstin. That little tidbit doesn’t exactly instill a whole lot of confidence in me, though, since Greenstin seems to be an inherently bad source of information, given his penchant for misdirectional negotiation style. Still, Kenny wouldn’t just say it if it wasn’t likely. However, he only said “I think” so his “expectation” may not end up actually happening.

I’ll be plenty happy if Pavel does actually come back but I hope the Wings aren’t going to have to pay him the $5 million they reportedly offered him before.

UPDATE (20. Sep 05): TSN has a CP report confirming Pavel’s return here. They quote Holland as saying,

“I spoke to Pavel this morning. It’s all confirmed. He’s coming back. We certainly feel like we’ve won the lottery.”

That’s good enough for me. Welcome back, Pavel. I hope you’re ready to go to work.

I’m happy to report that I’ve purchased some Wings tickets. For non-season ticket holders, I’ve found it very hard to get tickets to games. I was able to get tickets for my family for the September 25 pre-season game against the Dallas Stars. Today, the first 14 home games’ tickets went on sale at 10am. I was able to purchase 2 tickets each for 3 games: Anaheim, Coyotes, and the season opener. I will only be able to go to one of those games b/c my brothers get to go to a game as well. But I plan on having my Dad take pictures at all the games and whatever turns out, I’ll post here. I am totally and completely excited/ready for Wings hockey. As much as I love being a fan of a winning team with a rich history, the Wings could suck and I’d still love watching my hockey team. Hopefully it’ll never get to that, but the era of “buying wins” is sadly over.

Kronwall impressing teammates and bringing comparisons to Vladdie
In Traverse City camp, Niklas Kronwall impressed teammates and Wings staff alike. Since he was 16 years old, the Wings have watched him play in Sweden and more recently, Grand Rapids. Now they hope to see him develop into an NHL defenseman.

“He’s got good offensive skills — he’s good defensively, great mobility, he’s strong on his skates,” assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “He’s one of our top young players.”

Thus far, 24 year old Kronwall has been paired up with veteran player Chris Chelios.

“He’s going to be a great player in this league for years to come, without a doubt,” Schneider said. He’s one of those guys that is the full package — plays physical, moves the puck well, sees the ice well — and it’s just a matter of experience, now. Not to mention he’s a great kid. He’s got a great attitude. You don’t want to compare him to Nicky, but he’s got the same type of mentality, the same attitude.”

Others have compared Kronwall to Vladimir Konstantinov like in the way he hits players.

“In the sense that they have the ability to catch a guy with his head down in the neutral zone, Vladdie was good that way, too,” Yzerman said. “They’re good skaters, agile, they can adjust to when a guy is moving across the ice. I don’t think he’s as chippy as Vladdie was as a player, but certainly as physical. He’s a great open-ice hitter. He will get a reputation for that, but his first year or two around the league, he’s going to catch people by surprise and then force players to have their heads up coming through the neutral zone.”

While he has already gained a reputation as a physical player, Kronwall broke his leg during the 2003-2004 season causing him to miss out on some games. During the lockout, Kronwall had a chance to work on his game.

“I think I’ve improved a lot, actually, especially my offensive game,” Kronwall said. “I got a lot of good chances last year to work on it. In my own opinion, I think maybe last year was probably the best thing that could have happened to me — I got to play a lot in Grand Rapids and get some more experience on the smaller ice surface.”

Head coach Mike Babcock was quote impressed with Kronwall’s performance at the world championships when he represented Sweden.

“At the world championships, I thought he was outstanding,” Babcock said. “I’ve seen him against the best players in the world, and he was, in my mind, a high-end player. It might take him a little bit of time, but he’s going to be a high-end NHL defenseman.”

Ken Holland has rebounded from the loss of Pavel Datsyuk by locking up young forward Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings’ second biggest off-season signing priority, today according to TSN.

Zetterberg, who signed a four-year, $10.6 million deal, will give up one year of unrestricted free agency. That’s an important point for the Wings, who were able to get a satisfactorily long-term deal out of this while giving Hank the freedom to decide his career down the road. Henrik is just 25 and in the prime of his career, which makes it even better.

The Wings now have 10 forwards, 7 defensemen and 2 goalies with $5.5 million left under the cap. Holland isn’t completely ruling out the return of Pavel Datsyuk (apparently, there is still some cloudiness over the out-clause issue) but he will operate under the assumption that he is not coming back this year, at least. It looks like Holland would like to get three more forwards, one of whom may or may not be Datsyuk. A side note: TSN says that Moscow Dynamo matched Avangard Omsk’s offer, bringing Pavel back to Moscow to play with his old team. So that clears up my confusion about Pavel’s apparent pump-faking everyone in the media out by practicing with Dynamo but signing with Avangard. I guess he was sort of an RFA with Moscow as well as with the Wings.

Hank will (according to TSN) earn $2.65 million this season, which isn’t bad for a guy who led the SEL in scoring last season with 50 points in 50 games (19G, 31A). I’m glad Holland was able to bring him back and I’m even more glad Zata didn’t make it any tougher. Good job, Kenny, and welcome back, Hank.

UPDATE (8. Sep): The always entertaining Jes Golbez has a breakdown of Hank’s numbers here.

And for those of you who still have hope that Pavel will be back this season, here’s another damper from the Detroit News:

Datsyuk can play in Europe until Oct. 5, the start of the NHL season. Any player who stays in Europe beyond that date must clear waivers to return to the NHL, and that wouldn’t happen.

No kidding! That’s less than a month away now. So much for a December 1st deadline. Ugh.

Well, another young Russian Red Wing has taken the money and run. First it was Bykov, now it’s Pavel. I suppose I can’t really blame him for taking $6 million (that’s the unconfirmed number) when he had the chance but it still is hard to swallow this as a fan. I guess it was a mistake to throw around all that rhetoric about his being the “future of the franchise,” “one of the top young stars in the league,” “one of the most electrifying players in hockey,” etc. While all that was true to a large extent, it apparently got to his head. The age of Steve Yzerman and selfless superstars is over, over, over. It was before the cap and is just even more so with a cap.

The Detroit News reports that the contract has no out-clause so the Wings will be without Datsyuk’s services for at least a season. I’ll go further than that. I can’t really see Pavel ever coming back to the Wings, not after setting a pay precedent for himself like that. I’m sure he’ll perform at a high level in Russia and that will only serve to keep his market value so high, if not drive it higher. I have no doubt a number of GMs in the NHL would have happily paid him $6 million a year.

I don’t blame Holland for not getting Pavel signed. If $6 million was what Pavel wanted, there’s nothing Kenny could have done. The Wings already have one highly paid super star in Nick Lidstrom (for a year, anyway) and there really is not room under a $39 million cap to pay two players $6+ million if you want to have a balanced roster (unless you’re Tampa Bay). When you compare the relative contributions of Lidstrom and Datsyuk, Nick easily comes out on top and therefore would command the most money as well as attention in negotiations from the Wings. So unless Lidstrom leaves next summer and/or Pavel takes a big “humble pill,” I would not expect Datsyuk back in the Winged Wheel.

I almost wish the Wings didn’t draft so well because it’s hard to stay excited about prospects when things like this happen. If you collect too many good young players, you’re just going to lose them to teams that have much more cap space because they don’t have the same young talent you have. I guess the Wings can rely on other teams’ youth or aged rent-a-players (not a new concept in Detroit) while performing as a prospect farm for the other 29 NHL teams. How encouraging.

As I said earlier, I was not surprised at all that Pavel decided to stay in Russia but I was surprised about where he signed. I totally expected him to sign with Moscow and when reports said he’d signed with Omsk instead, I was a little doubtful. However, as a reader pointed out, Dynamo’s offer of $3.3 million could not compete with Avangard’s offer. Given that, it’s no surprise Pavel went to play in Siberia.

I’m obviously very sorry to see Pavel go, even more so because of the hopes we Wings fans had resting on him. I’ll certainly miss watching him with the puck. I think the biggest shame is Pavel’s newly inflated image of himself, after just one good season. He has not yet demonstrated an ability to put up those numbers consistently and has done very little in the playoffs. He’s being paid on potential now and even though he’s already 27, I think he was a couple good seasons away from being able to demand that kind of money.

I’m glad the Wings are confident of their ability to contend for the Cup this year, even without Pavel. Maybe they’re on to something. After all, they still have some big names on the roster. If they get Zetterberg signed, I’ll buy in to their optimism a lot more.

There is some good news, though: Steve Yzerman says his knee feels better than it has in two years.

UPDATE (8. Sep):

This whole situation is getting ridiculous. Is it too much to ask for some kind of concrete answer?!

Matt Schwartz of our sister-site/affiliate LetsGoWings.com has some more news on the whole Pavel Datsyuk Saga and has some reasons for us to hope.

The most important stuff is in these paragraphs:

What has been reported is the financial figure: $3.5 million USD, tax-free. That’s a far cry from the rumored $6 million from earlier this week. Booth Newspapers reported this week that the Red Wings’ highest offer averaged $3.8 million per season, but likely as a four- or five-year deal.

Another development is that Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, told the Russian media that Wings GM Ken Holland has agreed to offer Datsyuk a two-year contract, something he was loathe to do previously because it would make the talented center an unrestricted free agent following the 2006-07 NHL season.

So, the Wings could pay Pavel more than he’d make in Russia (even with taxes) and could have him for two years. Sure, we’d like to have him around longer but that’s still a heck of a lot better than not having him at all.

Also, Schwartz reports that, according to Soviet Sport, Pavel’s contract “was never officially filed with the PHL, Russia’s professional hockey governing body. That would also partly explain why Datsyuk has not dressed yet for Avangard or Dynamo, despite the RSL regular season kicking off on Monday, and would leave him free to sign with the Red Wings.”

I’m glad to be ripped out of my depressive pessimism by such reports but all this back-and-forth action is getting real old. I’d like to know the answer to this basic question: could Pavel Datsyuk play for the Wings, if finances allow? (i.e. can he leave Russia or not?)