The CP is reporting that the one-hour jersey retirement ceremony will take place before the Wings’ Jan. 2nd game versus the Anaheim Ducks. Steve Yzerman’s jersey will be the 6th to be retired by the Wings and will join Terry Sawchuk’s #1, Ted Lindsay’s #7, Gordie Howe’s #9, Alex Delvecchio’s #10 and Sid Abel’s #12 in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena. If you want tickets to that game, camp out on your computer the night they are released because they’ll be gone very quickly, I’m sure. It’s either that or take out a loan in order to buy them off someone. By the way, does anyone know the ticket release schedule?
Monthly Archive for August, 2006
Sure makes either the Franzen and Johnson signings seem even more redundant, eh? Dumont could have been ours, had the Wings not signed one of those two. Ah well.
The Mule’s new contract is for three years, $2.825 million, according to TSN. With the signing, Detroit now has 7 natural centers (Pavel Datsyuk, Jason Williams, Robert Lang, Henrik Zetterberg, Kris Draper and Greg Johnson are the others.). Glad to see you back, Johan.
Update (26. Aug, 8:27 AM): The Freep reports that, because Steve Yzerman’s $400,000 bonus from his last contract counts against the cap this season, the Wings are essentially operating under a $43.6 million limit. Franzen will earn $775,000 this season ($900,000 the next and $1.15 million in the third), leaving them only about $2.6 million left in cap space, according to the paper.
Since they’ll only be willing to part with about half of that figure in order to have a cushion, they really have only $1 million to $1.3 million to spend on another forward. Because players like Anson Carter and JP Dumont are asking for more than that, it seems very unlikely that the Wings will be making any more deals before the season.
Via George Malik, who writes “Lower [jersey] numbers mean a good chance of getting a ‘long look,’ while higher numbers tend to indicate a season in the minors.” George also points out an interesting entry in the list: 02 Jiri Fischer, Detroit (NHL). Since when is Jiri coming back, or at least getting a chance to try out? It must be a mistake, since you’d think someone would have picked up the huge story of Jiri Fischer’s amazing return to the ice. But maybe not… It would be nice to know what’s going on.
No official announcement yet, this is based on a source the paper apparently has within the organization. Obviously, this isn’t surprising, if it’s true. Congratulations, Nick!
Update (5:16 PM): I found and posted the above link right before I left for work today. If I’d had more time, I probably would have questioned Ms. St. James’ story a little more. Fortunately, while I was at work, others did the questioning, namely IwoCPO at A2Y.
First, he broke down the story piece-by-piece. Then he posted a quote by Mike Babcock (via KK) in a CP report that refuted the Free Press article:
“I’m not saying Nick Lidstrom won’t be the captain but what I am telling you is that we haven’t spent one second on it yet. Anything written about it at this point is pure speculation.”
Obviously the Freep’s source is getting a little ahead of themselves and the organization.
Nick Lidstrom may very well end up being the captain and he probably should be. I still favor this rumor, however.
Update (6:54 PM): Iwo has more here.
Everyone’s least favorite ex-Wing had this to say about a former teammate:
Which player would you love to cross-check into the boards?
The guy I owe the most right now is Kirk Maltby from Detroit. ….. I know Malts would never square off and fight me. If I dropped my gloves, he’d skate away and I’d get a penalty.
No kidding Maltby wouldn’t “square off and fight,” you, Avery. It’ s not his job. His job is to draw penalties from hotheads like you and he’s one of the best at doing it. His other job, which he also excels at, is killing off penalties but I guess that’s something you wouldn’t know about. I’m sure your teammates know all about it, though. What’s your job? Penalty box inspector? (link via Checking Line)
Ken Holland is bringing together the Wings of old. Greg Johnson, 35, is back. Yes, that’s the Greg Johnson of 10 years ago, who was traded to Pittsburgh midway through the ‘96-’97 season (just missing a Cup run) for Tomas Sandstrom. A horrible trade, it turned out. Sandstrom went 20 games in the playoffs with only 4 assists, and lacked the offensive punch seen earlier in his career. We hated Sandstrom back then, and wanted Greg Johnson back.
Well, Holland brought our old friend back. He’s put up some decent seasons, and has been a pretty consistent 10 goal, 20 assist player - that is, when injuries don’t plague him. Last season, he went 11 goals, 8 assists through 68 games, missing time with a groin strain.
My first reaction to this move was thumbs up. Johnson is speedy, and could be a great playmaker on a team like the Wings. Also, his TSN profile says he is good at killing penalties and taking faceoffs. But then I look at his age and what happened to him last season. If he stays healthy, this could be a great move. But, if a groin injury creeps up, it could mess up his entire season. I’m disappointed Holland hasn’t been able to sign more players outside the organization (second, third stints not included).
I give Holland credit for being creative and probably getting a bargain forward who can play fourth line center for the Wings. But I’d rather have seen the Wings go out and get a guy with more offensive potential: Bondra, Nolan, Carter, Dumont, etc. Johnson replaces Franzen (if necessary), and still leaves the need to fill in for Shanahan’s production. I’m still waiting…
UPDATED (8/15 11:03 am)
Greg Johnson’s base salary for 2006-2007 will be $500,000 via the NHLPA site, with I’m sure some performance-based incentives included.
George Malik forms an interesting theory that Hasek’s 12″ goalie pads during the Olympics led to his groin injury. Malik goes all the way and documents the theory with pictures of the goalie pads in question. Great read.
George Malik explains how the fallout from Evgeni Malkin’s “defection” from his RSL team is going to affect the Wings’ efforts to bring Igor Grigorenko to the NHL by next summer.
Update (12. Aug, 2:06 PM): Christy has more here.
Update (11. Aug, 5:51 PM): Looks like I overreacted: John Niyo reports that a DMC hand specialist checked out Hank’s wrist today and decided that surgery is not needed. Apparently, it’s just inflammed and there’s no “structural damage.” Basically, he’ll be fine soon. He’s supposed to get a cortizone injection to help with the inflammation and then head back to Sweden. Whew!
I still think they need to sign a scoring forward, however. Their options are getting more and more limited, though. Petr Sykora, pending a groin MRI, has signed with the Edmonton Oilers and, as Niyo posted on the Detroit News Wings Weblog, the Wings are not interested in JP Dumont. Peter Bondra sounds pretty good to me, Ken. (Thanks to the posters at KK Forums for the links.)
Update (11. Aug, 7:19 AM): The News reports that, due to the terrorist plot the Brits exposed yesterday, Hank’s arrival in the States could be delayed by the heightened security at airports. They also quote the assistant GM, Jim Nill, as saying, “I don’t think it’s anything serious. He played all year with it and didn’t even feel it at the end of the season.” Again, it’s a good thing they’re being cautious now, even if the injury isn’t a big deal.
(End Updates)
Helene St. James today regurgitated a Swedish report that broke the story that Henrik Zetterberg has been dealing with a wrist injury for the past 18 months. Apparently, it’s been on and off and Hank has been able to play through it by taping it up (Making his play last season even more impressive).
However, the injury recently flared up while Zetterberg was skating with his old SEL team, Timra IK. Now, the Wings are concerned enough to bring him back to the States for examination.
The Swedish report said the injury is serious and that Henrik may miss the start of the season, a prospect made much more likely if surgery is required. I guess it’s good that this happened now rather than in March, where the loss would have been catastrophic (remember, Hank was one of the few Wings to show up against Edmonton). If he needs surgery, he can get it done soon and would be back in time for the important stuff, hopefully.
Even so, this is not good news, folks, especially considering the Wings still have not signed any serious offensive talent this summer. Remember the fact that this injury dates all the way back to 18 months ago. It’s not like Hank could have kept it hidden. Management knew about it and should have made allowances for it in their plans for this coming season (ie. “Hank may be forced by injury to take a reduced role, rather than an increased one - do you think maybe we should get his wrist checked out and sign someone who can score goals just in case?” Naahhh).
With that in mind, the day Shanahan left the team, taking his share of the offensive burden with him, the Wings should have made it their first priority to sign a bona fide NHL forward with some semblance of offensive ability. That they didn’t is pretty disturbing.
I don’t think they have any choice now, in light of the possibility that Hank could be out for an indeterminate amount of time. Please sign someone, Holland. Dumont, Bondra, anyone.
(link via. A2Y)
