Monthly Archive for November, 2006Page 3 of 8
After the hit on Jason Williams, there was a lot of talk about how Raffi Torres felt terrible about it, as he watched the medical team work on him in the corner and talked about it after the game. Well, maybe the talk was true, but any remorse couldn’t have lasted long, as Ansar Khan reports:
Williams said Torres did not say anything to him on the ice during Saturday’s game. No, “Sorry about that, hated to see your face slam to the ice and all the blood spill out,” no “Hope you’re feeling better, too bad you had to be carried off on a stretcher.”
However, two of Torres’ teammates put him to shame:
Instead, Williams said Oilers defenseman Matt Greene came up to him after a whistle and asked him how he felt and forward Ryan Smyth told him it was good to see him back.
Impressive.
Khan goes on to point out that, though the hit was seen as clean by the team, no one went after Torres Saturday. To contrast, he cites the Oilers’ response to Danny Markov’s hit on Jarret Stoll, with Ethan Moreau and Steve Staios going after him over two games, as an example of a team willing to defend itself against physical play.
Khan notes that teams are still unafraid of taking runs at the Wings, even though the team is trying to become more physical.
Good points, Ansar. It does not bode well for their efforts at shedding their old reputation in favor of a new, tougher one, if they can’t even defend one of their own teammates. They may not be shying from physical play so much any more but there’s still a missing dimension.
These days, to be a Griffins fan is to be in despair. Sure, the season is still young. Sure, anything could happen. But when your team has just lost seven games in a row, with positives being few and far between, it’s hard to even hope for the playoffs. Before Grand Rapids began this skid, they were 6-3-2, not an outstanding record, but good enough for second in the division. Their last win was November 4, against Manitoba. That game was the end of a three game win-streak. Sixteen days and seven games later, the teams stands at 6-9-3, fourth in a very unimpressive division. The worst of the streak was a matinee game on November 14, an 8-1 loss to Milwaukee.
So what’s going wrong? Well, everything, apparently. While Howard hasn’t been horrible, he’s not playing like we know he can-like he did last season. Jimmy was outstanding during the playoffs, but he doesn’t have the same confidence. Liv has been terrible. He lets in weak goal after weak goal, and when he does that, it seems like the team gets frustrated and self-destructs. The offense is not scoring and the defense is not helping the goaltenders.
You can basically point to one major factor for the Griffins’ struggles. That is a lack of a top line scorer, a clutch scorer. With MacLean, Hudler and Manlow gone, Filppula was expected to fill that role. But, as we all know, he is now gone as well. That leaves Kip Miller, Matt Ellis, and Darryl Bootland with a bunch of young guys. Kip Miller is 37, and the top scorer on the team, with 18 points. Matt Ellis has 10 points in 18 games. Darryl Bootland has been mysteriously scratched recently. Before being scratched, he had 5 points and was +3. Langfeld and Kolanos are doing fairly well, both with 12 points (6-6). There is not a guy out there taking control and scoring when we need it.
Some would suggest that the team just needs to gel. After all, they have less than half the same guys as last season. However, after 18 games and many more pracitices, they should be there or close. Another part could be a lack of confidence in the goaltending. But for having no confidence, they sure do hang those guys out to dry a lot.
Another reason is pure bad luck. The bounces are not going the Griffins way. In fact, they are directly going against the Griffins. In the game on Saturday, for example, against the Chicago Wolves. In the Wolves first goal, the puck deflected off a defenseman’s stick, over Jimmy’s head, and into the net. Later, Howard made a save, but the rebound went right into Ryan Oulahen’s back and bounced into the net.
Someone needs to step up, its that simple. Whether that be Ellis (the captain), or Langfeld, or someone else, someone just has to. Personally, I think they need to bring Bootland back. I don’t know why he’s being scratched to begin with, but they sure could use him on the ice. You can blame bad bounces or the team not gelling or whatever, but after seven losses in a row (granted, one being in OT), something’s gotta change. Their next game is Friday, at home against Chicago. Hopefully they can manage a win.
Update (2:17 PM): … Ansar Khan has an injury update for us:
Goaltender Chris Osgood practiced Monday for the first time in eight days but said his sore left wrist didn’t feel good. He will have it looked at by doctors on Tuesday and said he doesn’t know when he’ll return to the lineup.
Osgood said he doesn’t think the wrist is broken, but X-rays in Vancouver were inconclusive because of the swelling. He hurt it in practice last Sunday, getting hit by a shot.
A possible broken wrist? Great. If it does turn out to be broken, our goaltending got kinda thin real fast.
Also, Josh Langfeld and Stefan Liv are back in GR since Holmstrom is returning Wednesday and the team no longer needs someone to back up the temporary backup. - Matt
… Henrik Zetterberg is signing autographs at Hockeytown Authentics tonight beginning at 6:00 ET. It’s only one item per person and I believe you need to have a smoke detector to donate. If Christy, posting at LGW Forums, is right, you also need to have a wristband to get in. Click here for directions, if you need them.
… Both papers report that Tomas Holmstrom will return Wednesday* against the Canucks. As for Niklas Kronwall, the situation isn’t so sure:
“He flies around a hundred miles an hour — I don’t know (why he isn’t ready), that’s why we have therapists,” Babcock said.
Kronwall himself believes he’ll be back for the game and is hoping to “skate full-out” today.
… Greg Wyshynski has a piece up covering The Hockey Recap, a site I’ve praised before. Definitely worth a read.
… Not a ton Wings-related out there this morning, which is okay since I’m up early to study anyway. I’ll most likely have an update for this post later.
*I had entered the game incorrectly in my calendar, which is what I’ve been going on, hence my repeatedly saying the next game is tomorrow instead of the next day.
The Wings finished up their Western Canada trip with a 4-3 shootout loss to Edmonton last night. It was another game in which the Wings dominated the Oilers in statistical categories such as shots (41-21), but this time, it wasn’t enough to win. Not the most exciting game, it nonetheless had some moments that should cause Wings fans some nightmares.
Joey MacDonald made his first NHL start last night and looked good after a slightly shaky start. It looks like he’s having some issues adjusting to the speed of the game with one goal resulting in his not getting to the post fast enough and another coming from his not being quite square to the puck and leaving the same post uncovered. On the first goal, however, he was left out to dry by Chris Chelios.
There has been much talk this season about how amazing Chelios’ continuing playing run is. Well, it’s all true, but the Wings’ injury situation meant Cheli had to play the second game of a back-to-back sequence and to be honest, his age showed. He looked notably tired and made a number of bad decisions with the puck, the most notable being the breakout pass that went straight to Ryan Smythe. Smythe dished the puck to Horcoff and the resulting slap shot blew by a helpless MacDonald to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. Hopefully, Kronwall will be back this week so Chelios doesn’t have to play back-to-back games this Friday and Saturday.
I don’t know what’s gotten into Dan Cleary lately but he continues to impress at both ends of the ice. He’s been playing so well that Babcock has put him on the power play. Yes, that’s right, our penalty kill specialist is getting power play time, and last night wasn’t the first time: he scored a meaningless power play goal against the Flames Friday night. He was on the ice last night when the Wings were making a comeback push with an empthy net and it paid off. With time almost out, Cleary centered the puck from the right wing boards and found Jiri Hudler, who tipped it into the net with just over 3 seconds left. The goal tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime. After OT, Cleary was given a shot in the shootout. He took full advantage, ripping the puck into the net through Dwayne Roloson’s 5-hole. The goal made up somewhat for his being robbed earlier in the game when Roloson dove across the net to make a glove save on what seemed like a sure goal.
Pavel Datsyuk looked good last night. He demonstrated some speed and actually used his moves, though his only point was an indirect second assist on the Markov goal.
It pains me to say it but I think Andreas Lilja had a good game last night. He was in on a number of offensive opportunities and apparently decided it was time to forego his award-winning impression of a pylon by actually playing pretty decent defense. Of course, it was probably a one-time deal so I’m not getting hopes up on seeing it again.
I hate, hate, hate the shootout. I did not need the heart attack-inducing tension after having my heart ripped out, stomped on, and partially eaten by Troy Smith and Co. earlier in the day. Seeing Henrik Zetterberg, my favorite player, mind you, successfully attempt the Forsberg shootout move only to see the puck slide into the post, was brutal. Seeing Raffi Torres score a possible winner and then watching Robert Lang try to even things up by sniping Dwayne Roloson (no deke, Robert?), only to fail, added insult to injury.
Sorry for the disjointed rambling. I guess I’m kind of in a daze after a terrible day of watching one team shoot itself in the face and another have a win stolen from them. Oh, and the spectre of an unholy amount of homework is rising. So, writing a coherent, in-depth game summary just isn’t in the cards today.
Oh, one more thing. Oilers fans = classless. When a player (say, Brett Lebda) takes a random puck to the mouth (off the stick of, say, Joffrey Lupul) and is spitting blood and teeth, the officials are going to whistle play dead. Booing a player for getting injured is about as classless as it gets.
Next up: Tuesday Wednesday versus Vancouver at 7:30 ET.
According to Ansar Khan, Jason Williams will replace Josh Langfeld in the lineup tonight.
Khan also provides an explanation for the strange call up yesterday of Darryl Bootland and Evan McGrath:
The Wings sent forwards Darryl Bootland and Evan McGrath back to Grand Rapids. Actually, they never arrived out West. It was just a paper move to get the team close to the salary cap ceiling, enabling them to place Jiri Fischer on long-term injured reserve and get relief for his $1.44 million salary.
The Wings are in Edmonton tonight to face the Oilers for the third time this season. They’ve split the two previous games, with Detroit winning the last meeting, 3-0 on November 8th, but lost the first, 3-1 on October 21st.
The Oilers have one of the best home records in the NHL at 7-2-0, with only New Jersey, Minnesota, and Anaheim winning more in their own building. Since losing to the Wings, Edmonton has gone 3-1-0, beating the Blue Jackets, and the Avalanche, but losing to the Blues, on the road before returning home to beat St. Louis in their last game.
Ryan Smythe has been a scoring machine this season, notching 14 goals, eight of which have come at home.
The Wings failed for the fifth time to surpass the team record in consecutive wins by losing to the Flames 3-1 in Calgary last night, ending the streak at nine. I was unable to watch the game so I can’t comment much on it, but it sounds like they got owned. According to IwoCPO, the weakness of the power play is no longer something we can laugh at as an aberration in an otherwise strong team, because last night the Flames took it to the Wings knowing they wouldn’t have to suffer.
Of course, it was just one game so it’s not the end of the world. The streak had to end sometime. It just sounds like they played badly enough last night for there to be some concern. They certainly won’t get away with it tonight.
The Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams, Tomas Holmstrom, and Chris Osgood again tonight. Darryl Bootland and Evan McGrath could play tonight and Stefan Liv will be backing up Joey MacDonald.
The Wings need to rebound with a win tonight. It’s that simple.
Update (3:58 PM): Helene St. James confirms the RWC message board postings. The Wings dated the start of Kronwall and Holmstrom’s IR term as being November 10th so they can be activated as soon as tomorrow, while Osgood’s term is dated from 12th, meaning he can come back Monday. She also says none of the call-ups are expected to make it to Calgary in time for the game. Lastly, she believes Liv will back up MacDonald on Saturday, therefore solving the dilemma she articulated last night. - Matt
Update (3:23 PM): The posters at Red Wings Central’s message board say it’s due to injuries, with roster space being cleared by Kronwall, Holmstrom, and Osgood joining Willaims on IR. - Matt
Update (2:25PM): The more I think about it, the more this seems very curious to me. Bootland has been mysteriously scratched for the last few Griffins games and now all of a sudden he’s getting called up to Detroit? And Stefan Liv has clearly been outplayed by Jimmy Howard thusfar in the season. I guess I can see maybe calling him up because they don’t want Howard to ride the bench, but that still doesn’t explain Bootland… -Sarah
Griffinscentral reports that the Wings have called up Forwards Darryl Bootland and Evan McGrath, as well as Goalie Stefan Liv from the AHL. I’m not sure how the Wings made room for these call-ups given that they were already at the roster limit. I would assume that this at least means that Homer and Ozzie have been placed on IR and that Williams won’t play tonight. Even then, they’d still have to clear one more spot. I would think if Kronwall were going to stay out they’d have called up a defenseman. Perhaps someone else is injured?
Tonight is the second of four games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the first meeting 3-2 on November 1st.
The Flames have been one of league’s hottest teams since losing to the Wings to start the month. After losing in a shootout to the Blue Jackets on the 3rd, they have won five in a row, with the wins coming against the Blues (twice), Dallas, Anaheim, and Vancouver. All five games have been typically low scoring, with the Flames notching just 3 goals.
Miikka Kiprusoff has recovered from troubles earlier in the season by posting a 1.00 GAA over the last five games. He has two shutouts in that stretch, including their most recent game, a 3-0 win over the Blues on Tuesday at home.
Jarome Iginla still leads the team in goals with nine, as well as assists (11) and points (20). Alex Tanguay has been producing lately, according to the NHL’s preview, which says he has notched two assists in each of the last three games.
The Wings have won nine in a row and can set a team record tonight with a tenth. They aren’t focused on the record, however, which they seem to have a chance to break almost every year (actually, this is just the fifth time since the record was set originally). It’s just another game and they’re hoping to put up a performance similar to their efforts so far during this streak, despite a couple key injuries.
As reported yesterday, unless something further develops, they’ll be without Jason Williams and Tomas Holmstrom tonight. Niklas Kronwall could return, but Chris Osgood won’t even be on the bench, let alone in net.
The record may not be important but winning this game is. The Wings haven’t played as many powder puff teams this season as they had to this point last year so it’s not as big a worry, but every win against a strong team makes them look better. Tonight’s going to be a challenge for the offense, with Kiprusoff playing well and the Flames defense able to support him. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be able to get the power play going.
A2Y’s preview (including an anecdote on everyone’s favorite Mullet Man, Barry Melrose).
