… I didn’t catch the game, but the Wings won last night, 6-3 over Chicago on goals from Jason Williams (2), Tomas Holmstrom, Danny Markov, Kris Draper, and Robert Lang. Chris Osgood had 33 saves and looked good apparently, though he allowed two weak goals. They play Montreal on Monday.
… Helene St. James has suggestions for the Wings over the second half of the season:
- “Win the Division” - She’d like to see the Wings avoid playing San Jose or Anaheim in the first round and this is the surest way to do that.
- “Play Dominik Hasek Less” - I’ve been saying this for a while now.
- Play Chris Osgood more - She thinks it’s a good idea for Osgood to get more playing so he can get in a rhythm. I agree.
- “Improve on special teams” - A no-brainer, though the Wings seem to be doing that with every game.
- Lastly, “Get Peter Forsberg” - Um, what? I would be shocked if this happened. I don’t even know who the Wings would trade for Forsberg, let alone why they’d go after someone so injury-prone, no matter how good he is when healthy. It’s been a Red Wings fan fantasy for years and may be more likely than ever now, but I still have trouble seeing it happen. Maybe if it were a Williams-and-Lilja trade, but otherwise, I can’t see them disrupting the roster just to get a player who could be gone this summer. Forsberg would fulfill their need for a big, strong forward on paper, but how it’d translate to the ice is a big unknown.
… Henrik Zetterberg was the only other Red Wing named to the Western Conference All-Star team. Mathieu Schneider got snubbed again. I’m glad Dominik Hasek didn’t make it because the last thing the Wings need is for him to pull his groin in a fake game. Congratulations to Hank, though!
Well, Forsberg is likely going to be traded to a team in the West, so would you still be against it if Nashville picks him up, or a future playoff opponent in Anaheim/San Jose? If he returns to Colorado, it probably wouldn’t affect us, but I’d be tempted to take the chance on him rather than deal with him in the playoffs. We have the cap room anyways, and one argument is we might want to keep it there until we’re out of the clear in terms of Hasek getting injured. Though, Forsberg looked really good in the Pens/Flyers game yesterday - I think he could be returning to playing form.
That’s a risk, but it’s not worth trading away the future. Other Western Conference teams have landed big names and the Wings have had to just deal with it.
Forsberg is a great player when healthy, just like Hasek. But Dom’s injury problems are preventable, while Forsberg’s are chronic. He’s moe likely to be hurt these days than to be healty.
Besides, there’s a good chance he’d be a rent-a-player at best and would bolt back to Sweden in the off-season.
If the cost were right, I’d be less opposed to it, but the Flyers aren’t going to let the Wings get off like the Sabres let them in the summer of 2001 with Hasek.