Archive for November, 2005

Wings 7, Avs 3

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Detroit finally halted their four-game skid and did it in fine fashion, beating their old enemies, the Colorado Avalanche, last night at the Joe. The game wasn’t nearly as big a blowout as the score indicates, however; it wasn’t until the late third period that the Wings put it away.

It was their first game since Jiri Fischer’s seizure and it was pretty clear they were playing knowing he was watching.

Manny Legace made the start for the Wings and looked close to his old form. Peter Budaj, not David Aebischer, started for the Avs and played a solid game before coming apart at the end.

A number of Wings had good games tonight but Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen were great in particular, though at different ends of the ice.

First Period

Less than a minute into the game, the Andreas Lilja went to the box for high sticking, sending his team to the penalty kill. The Avs wasted very little time in scoring after a nice initial setup. Pierre Turgeon had the puck along the near boards just inside the circle and stick handled for what seemed like forever, with Nick Lidstrom watching him closely, before he sent the puck quickly toward the net where it was tipped in by Andrew Brunette. The goal came at 1:30 and after just 37 seconds of power play time, putting the Avs up 1-0.

Down 1-0, the Wings made a determined effort to tie it up and it paid off at 2:18 with Samuelsson’s first goal of the night. Jason Williams, standing on the far side of the net sent the puck through the crease to the Swede, who was standing at the near post and had an easy slam dunk goal. The play was made possible by the fact that four Avs were standing in a bumbling clump in front of the net or as Mickey Redmond put it, standing “around like a bunch of pylons,” making it easy for Williams and Samuelsson to take advantage of having the puck down low. 1-1 tie.

Kris Draper’s line, with Johan Franzen and Kirk Maltby, had a great shift starting at about the 3:00 mark. They cycled the puck well and got some good chances around the net, though they didn’t score. It wasn’t just this line, either. The Wings looked good as a whole at this point and there was good flow to the game.

That said, they did have some penalty trouble. Tomas Holmstrom went to the box at 8:26 for cross checking but the Wings were able to kill it off pretty easily. About the only good chance the Avs had was a nice shot from Rob Blake at the point, which was stopped by Manny with 41 seconds left in the man advantage.

The pace slowed down after mid-period. The Wings had a power play chance of their own at 11:18 but didn’t get much going. At 15:24, they got two penalties, one on an Avs rush and another on the ensuing chance around the net. The Avs got a 5-on-3 opportunity and did a good job generated sustained pressure throughout. They weren’t connecting very well down low, however, and didn’t get the puck past Manny, who was sharp when needed. It was a good kill for the Wings and earned a loud cheer from the fans at the Joe.

The Wings finished out the period on a good note, with the last lines generating solid pressure in the offensive end.

Shots were 13-8 Avs.
Second Period
The Wings had some nice chances in the first couple minutes of the period but didn’t convert on any of them. Two lines had some good shifts, Yzerman’s line with Cleary and Holmstrom, as well as Pavel’s line with Shanahan and Williams.

At 5:32, Samuelsson and Robert Lang got the puck on a 2-on-1. Samuelsson started out with it and made a nice pass from the near side to Lang, who hesitated just enough before shooting to get Budaj to commit and followed that up with an accurate shot that put the puck in the net, making it 2-1 Wings. It was Samuelsson’s second point of the night and a very nice point indeed.

The Wings had to kill off another penalty about a minute later. The game got somewhat boring around mid-period, with some chances but nothing too terribly exciting.

The Avs tied the game up at 12:22 on sort of a fluke play. The puck was dumped in but at a point just out of reach of Manny, who was constrained by the new rules governing goalie movements. Nevertheless, he left the net, realizing only too late that he couldn’t touch the puck. Alex Tanguay picked it up behind the net and centered it quickly out to Ian Laperriere, who one-timed it past Manny, who wasn’t quite set, having just returned from his wandering. It happened very quickly and was just a result of a mental lapse by a man still adjusting to a rule that contradicts everything he’s learned about being a goalie his entire career. No big deal, Manny. 2-2 tie.

Not much more than 2 minutes later, Daniel Cleary scored his first goal as a Red Wing. Samuelsson started the play out at the blue line, stealing the puck from Karlis Skrastins, and taking a shot on net. The rebound went to the far wing, where Cleary was streaking on from the bench. He one-timed the puck as it came to him and made it 3-2 Wings. It was his 42nd NHL goal and gave Samuelsson his second assist on the night.

At 16:50, the Wings went back on the power play. It took them a while to get going, though, but they finally got it together and scored at 16:30. Nick Lidstrom took a shot from the point and it was tipped in by Brendan Shanahan, who was standing in front of the net with Samuelsson. At first, there was some doubt about who had actually made the tip but replay clearly showed the puck going off Shanny’s stick. So, Samuelsson was denied his fourth point. Until later. It was Shanahan’s team-leading 13th goal. 4-2 Wings.

It may look like the Wings had the game in hand at this point but the Avs would rebound and control play for much of the play in the third.

Shots were 14-6 Wings.

Third Period

The Wings got a power play early on in the first but ended up giving the Avs more chances than they got themselves. At one point, the puck was laying in the crease with Manny way out of position and only Datsyuk’s quick stick saved a goal.

The Avs really started to come on and were creating some pressure. I made the remark to Brian that “No one plays back on their heels like the Wings,” meaning when other teams are gunning for the win, the Wings can seem to be just barely hanging on and playing in desperation more than anything else. The Avs were very dangerous for most of the first half of the period and it really seemed like they might come back.

Colorado got a power play at 7:03 and only took 11 seconds to score. Joe Sakic sent a nice pass across the net to John-Michael Liles, who knocked at it a couple times before getting it past Legace. 4-3 Wings. Now, it really seemed like the Avs would tie it up.

Play evened out around mid-period, however, and the Wings soon began to take control again.

At 15:44, Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams were sprung on a 2-on-1, with Pavel carrying the puck. He made a great pass to Williams, who one-timed it off the far wing into the net, putting the Wings up 5-3. It was Williams’ 7th goal this season, one goal less than his personal best of 8.

Less than a minute later, Samuelsson capped off his great night with a fourth point, scoring his second goal of the game and 11th of the season. Lang, along the far boards, sent it to Samuelsson in the slot and he ripped the shot past Budaj to make it 6-3 Wings.

At 17:16, the Wings went on the penalty kill again. The Avs pulled their goalie midway through their power play and the Wings soon took advantage of it. Johan Franzen, who had been having a great night defensively, was rewarded with an easy empty net goal at 19:06.

Shots were 8-7 Avs and 29-27 Wings for the game.

Notes

Jamie Rivers was in the lineup for Jiri Fischer and looked good … 7 goals is the most the Wings have scored this season. It is also the most the Avs have allowed … They said before the game that the Avs had been watching the Predators game on Monday before their game against Calgary and saw what happened to Fischer. Apparently, it affected them deeply and was a factor in their loss that night. Milan Hejduk, one of Jiri’s teammates on the Czech national team, was hit especially hard …

It wasn’t as emotionally charged a game as I thought it would be but the Wings played as well as anyone could expect them to, given the circumstances. Jiri Fischer’s situation aside, it was obvious that the rivalry between the Avs and Wings has cooled an unbelievable amount. I hardly felt like I was watching an Avs/Wings game the entire time. It was strange since I used to know the Avs practically as well as I know the Wings but there are so many new players on the team that there were times when I didn’t know who as out there for them. Mickey and Ken made a good point about the rivalry, noting that it has cooled but pointing out that if these two teams ever meet in the playoffs, things will be just like they were. I agree, though I think they aren’t as likely to meet in the post-season as they used to be.

Remember, Friday’s game against the Ducks is at 4:00 ET and on the local Fox affiliate, not FSN.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving to all our American readers.

GameDay: vs. Colorado (11-7-0, 22 Pts) 7:30 ET

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Tonight is the first of four games this season between these two old rivals. The Wings won the last time these two teams met, 2-0 on March 7, 2004. They also won the 03-04 season series three games to one.

The Wings have lost four in a row, not including the Nashville game which was postponed Monday night. Three of those losses came on a short Western Canada road trip while their most recent loss came against the Blues on Saturday, a 3-2 decision. This four game skid follows a three-game win streak in which they beat St. Louis, LA and Minnesota. They were trailing 1-0 to the Predators on Monday night before Jiri Fischer’s seizure caused the game to be canceled. There is still debate on whether the game will be replayed in its entirety or whether they will start with 7:30 remaining in the 1st period. This game is the last of a two-game homestand that will be followed by a trip to play the three California teams starting Friday in Anaheim and ending Monday in LA. They will play San Jose on Saturday.

The Avs are not the dominating team they once were, having lost two important players because of the salary cap: Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote. They still have highly skilled players such as Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk, however, and can still bite. After going 1-1 in the first two games of November, the Avs have won a pair, lost a pair, won a pair, and, most recently, lost a pair. They are coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary on Monday. This game kicks off a two-game road trip that will end in Columbus on Friday.

Manny Legace will get the start for the Wings and David Aebischer should be in net for the Avs.

The Wings will be playing their first game since seeing their teammate, Jiri Fischer, almost die Monday night and both papers predictably have a lot to say on it. The News’ Bob Wojnowski and the Freep’s Mitch Albom point out that Fischer will eventually have think about whether or not he is still capable of playing, with Wojnowski ending his piece on a sickly ironic note:

“We’re also hopeful, hopeful this doesn’t become a sad twist to the old question. How does an athlete know when he must go? Usually, his heart will tell him.”

The team doctor told the News that he will not speculate on the subject of Jiri’s career, saying it’s too soon after it happened to be thinking along those lines. The Freep’s Shawn Windsor has more. The News’ Bob Parker believes the Wings will bounce back and John Niyo reports on the beginning of the process with practice yesterday. Helene St. James had a talk with Manny Legace and got his reaction to seeing what happened to Jiri. She also talked to the Wings about tonight’s game in light of Monday’s events. Finally, Angelique S. Chengelis has more on the device that saved Fischer’s life.

Knowing Jiri is okay means the Wings are in a much better position to perform tonight against the Avalanche. They are obviously very shaken by what happened and even though they may not get Jiri back, they can at least rest in the fact that he is alive. It will be an emotional game, to be sure, tonight. They owe it to Jiri to come out playing hard and I think they will. They’ve dedicated seasons to injured teammates before and I expect them to do the same this time around.

Update (Christy):
Fischer was released from the hospital today and is home, resting comfortably. He has also been placed on IR (injured reserved).

Update (Matt): I forgot to mention this in the original post: defenseman Kyle Quincey was called up from Grand Rapids to fill Jiri’s spot. Red Wings Central, the source for information on players in the Wings’ system, has a report on him here.

Jiri Fischer collapses during game

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The first meeting of the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings of the season was abruptly cancelled after Wings defenseman, Jiri Fischer, collapsed on the bench during the first period.

NHL.com is now reporting that Fischer suffered a seizure. He was given CPR at the bench and a defibrillator was used before he was removed on a stretcher to be taken to the Detroit Receiving Hospital. Captain Steve Yzerman and forward Brendan Shanahan helped his fiancee, Avery, across the ice to the bench area.

Team spokesman, John Hahn, said that he is in stable condition, responsive, talking, and breathing on his own. They do not know what caused the seizure at this point. Yzerman and Shanahan addressed the media once they received word that Fischer’s condition was stable. “We’re not really sure what is going on,” Yzerman said.

Fischer apparently has some friends on the Nashville Predators teams and both squads were too concerned over their friend and fellow hockey player to continue the game. “I don’t think any of the players felt it right to continue playing the game, even though we received word that Fischer was stable…I think it was Brett Lebda who alerted the rest of the team that something was wrong…Jiri was his usual self before the game,” Shanahan said.

In September 2002, he was diagnosed with a heart abnormality (his heart is apparently a little thicker than normal) after it was found on an electrocardiogram, which was part of Wings’ preseason physicals. He was then given a stress test, which he passed. “There is a little abnormality, but nothing that will stop me from playing,” Fischer said at the time. “It’s nothing that will bother me emotionally. I wasn’t scared about the abnormality. But I was scared about not playing hockey again. That was a shock for me.”

Paul at Kuklas Korner also has comments on the incident and what transpired. Stephen Bolen at Back in Blue also blogged live as the events unfolded.

No decision about rescheduling the game has been made at this time. The Wings will be playing this Wednesday when they face the Colorado Avalanche.

Update (Matt):

Normally, I’d have a game summary and be praising or criticizing the Wings based on their performance in the night’s game. Well, not tonight. While I may have a few comments on the first period at another time, there are far more important things to talk about after what happened at the Joe this evening.

The Predators scored to take a 1-0 lead at 11:28 with Jiri Fischer, Johan Franzen, Mathieu Schneider, Brendan Shanahan, and Robert Lang on the ice. Those five went to the bench after the goal, all seemingly fine. Less than a minute later, however, Fischer collapsed on the bench. It took a few seconds for anyone to really notice, since at first he was just bent over sitting down. Soon, though, Mike Babcock began yelling frantically and waving for medical help.

It didn’t take long for Jiri to be swarmed by medical personnel and one of the images we were shown was of someone administering CPR. We learned later that they also used a defibrillator at this point.

Jiri’s heart was stopped, folks.

Because all of this was taking place behind the boards and on the floor of the tunnel leading to the Wings’ lockerroom, we could not see it was Jiri. One camera angle showed it from a high angle and we were given a glimpse of a bit of red jersey on which the #2 was visble. I knew then that it was Jiri but Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond would not say it until they had confirmation.

Before they heard about the seizure, Mickey and Ken speculated that a stick to the throat may have been the cause of Jiri’s problem. They noted that a Wings player had taken a Predator into the boards in front of the bench, with their stick at neck level. This obviously proved not to be the case but it was a scary possibility, to be sure.

Jiri’s fiance, Avery, was brought out on the ice and helped to the bench by Shanahan and Lang.She was then taken with the gurney around through the other side and I can only assume they came at Jiri from that direction. The ambulance had been at the zamboni entrance but was taken around to the other side as well and Jiri was then taken to the Detroit Receiving Hospital. FSN had someone tell them he was breathing on his own at that point but that he was still unconscious. We were told after a while that he was stable and responsive

They resurfaced the ice in the event that the game would continue. I suppose the plan was to tack the remaining 7:30 on to the start of the second but they did not get a chance to try it. After a conference between the teams and with the League, the game was called. Apparently, the Nashville players were already taking off their equipment and getting ready to go at that point.

Jiri’s parents were planning on coming to the States in December. I’m sure they’ll move that trip up in light of this.

Our prayers are most definitely with you, Jiri.

Brian of 360 VRWC has another breakdown and some screen caps of the events here.

Update (Christy): The Detroit Red Wings held a conference today (11/22/05) at Joe Louis Arena at 1pm to shed more light on how Jiri Fischer is doing. I typed these “quotes” as they talked on TV so I can’t guarantee that they are all word for word what was said, but as close as I could remember. Here are some things they had to say:

GM Ken Holland: Obviously, it’s been a tough 12 hours for our organization. When I was in his room, he was in good spirits and a couple of jolts were cracked. Very thankful that we have tremendous medical people in our organization…We’re going to go see Jiri this afternoon.Dr. Tony Colucci: He’s cracking some jokes. All his tests are coming back within normal limits. When I assessed the situation, Fischer was having a convulsion in my professional opinion. Trying to maintain an airway and establish a pulse. We initiated chest compressions. We shocked him [with the use of an AED].

Upon his arrival [at Detroit Receiving Hospital], he was very stable. He was very thankful for everybody. There’s no way to figure what triggered it. Believe it was cardiac in origin.

He couldn’t really recall too much last night. Today, he recalls his first shift, being in the ambulance, and being in the ER. He didn’t remember being on the bench.

An AED monitor should be in every public place. Any laid person is able to use the machine. It should be in any arena, period. The ABCs [airway, breathing, circulation] are most crucial.

Fischer’s agent, who lives in Florida, is flying in today and should be in Detroit this afternoon. The Wings have offered to fly his parents from the Czech Republic to Detroit. The Wings may call someone up from Grand Rapids, but will look at all the options to make the team as strong as possible.

One of my five college classes I’m taking right now is a required CPR/First Aid class. We had just recently covered how to use an AED, CPR, etc. An AED is extremely easy to use. You have two patches to place on the chest and they are clearly labeled with where they are supposed to go. The AED talks to you and will direct you through it whether it’s telling you to stay clear, shock, etc. As the doctor mentioned, ABCs are what you first look for when something goes wrong. You check the airway first, breathing second, and circulation third. AEDs cost around $3000 according to the doctor.

Update (Matt): I didn’t want to say it last night but I definitely thought it: Jiri’s career may be over. Of course it depends on the cause of the seizure and what the doctors say but it may be too dangerous for the Wings and the NHL to allow him to continue.

I guess other people are thinking the same thing.

GameDay: vs. Nashville (12-3-3, 27 Pts) 7:30 ET

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Tonight is the first of eight games between these two clubs this season. The last time they played each other, the Wings finished up the first round of the playoffs with a 2-0 shutout win on April 17, 2004.

The Wings have lost a season-high four in a row, including three on a Western Canada road trip. On Sunday, they lost to St. Louis, 3-2 at home, a game they were supposed to win. Now, they will have to try to end their skid on a much tougher team. Apparently, the problem has been that the Wings haven’t been skating a whole lot outside of games recently, due to a fairly packed schedule. This strategy was meant to help save energy across the board but especially for the older legs on the team. It’s obviously not very easy to get in practice time on a Western Canada road trip that spanned less than a week and included three quick games. The team did skate for 30 minutes yesterday. (Freep, News)

The Predators began the season at a torrid 8-0-0 pace but lost their next five games (8-2-3). Since then, they have gone 4-1-0, winning four in a row before losing 4-2 to the Wild on Saturday in Minnesota. They are five points behind the Wings in the standings but have played four fewer games (18) and stand a real chance of taking the division lead if the Wings’ problems persist. This is not the Predators team of a few years ago or even the team of 2003-2004. In a league that is supposed to have parity across the board, these guys have a very real chance of going deep into the playoffs, if not all the way.

Manny Legace should get the start for the Wings. Tomas Vokoun will be in net for the Predators.

Jason Woolley will sit out another game with a re-aggravated groin injury.

The Wings have to come to play tonight or else they’ll end up embarrassed on home ice. They have zero momentum going into this game and will need to show a lot of energy to keep up with the young Predators team. This game should be a good one and will be if the Wings play their “A” game. I expect the Preds to be playing theirs.

Blues 3, Wings 2

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The St. Louis Blues have won their first two straight games this season by beating the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2. The Red Wings continued their winless streak in four games with tonight’s loss being their first to a Central Division opponent. They face the Nashville Predators on Monday at Joe Louis Arena. Tonight’s game marked the fourth time the two teams have met this season, each previous game had resulted in a Wings’ win while outscoring the Blues, 13-5.

First Period
Not a whole lot happened in the first period. There were no goals and three penalties (2 on St. Louis and 1 on Detroit). Detroit outshot St. Louis in the first period, 10-6.

Second Period
Jamal Mayers scored the first goal of the game 7:32 into the second period with even strength to put the Blues on the board first. With a little under five minutes left in the second period, Mikael Samuelsson beat Blues goaltender, Curtis Sanford, by tipping in a pass from Jiri Fischer. In the second period, the Wings were able to successfully kill three penalties including a near minute long 5-on-3 opportunity for the Blues. Both teams had 11 shots on their opponent’s net in the second period.

Third Period
Seven minutes into the third, Mike Sillinger scored the Blues’ second goal of the night. A minute and forty-six seconds later, Doug Weight beat Manny Legace on the power play. The Blues had two penalties in this period and the Wings were not able to convert on the power play.

With 52 seconds left in the game, Brendan Shanahan scored on a pass from Henrik Zetterberg to put the Wings within one goal. He then received a penalty (for charging) diminishing any chance the Wings had to tie the game up. Both the Wings and Blues had 13 shots apiece in the third period.

Overall
The Wings outshot the Blues, 34-30, but were unable to convert on six power play opportunities. Blues goalie Sanford made 32 saves to lead the team to a victory over the Wings.

Mike Babcock: “We got ourselves behind the eight ball and couldn’t scramble back…Everybody has a tough schedule, there’s no point in making excuses for having no energy. We needed to win this game…We weren’t sharp…Manny gave us an opportunity on the 5-on-3, but we failed [him]. We got to find some energy [before the game versus Nashville].”

Personal Thoughts
While I was bummed that the Wings lost to the likes of Vancouver and Calgary, I am completely frustrated with the Wings’ performances against the Oilers and Blues. After being up 3-1 over Edmonton at the end of the second period, the game ended in a Wings OT loss. I figured that the Wings would want to redeem themselves and defeat an opponent that we have handily beat thus far the season. However, this was not the case. I’m not going to panic, but we really needed to win tonight and we couldn’t even beat the Blues.

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