Monthly Archive for March, 2007Page 5 of 6

Ansar Khan’s injury update

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 12, 2007
in Chris Chelios, Chris Osgood, Dan Cleary, Danny Markov, Dominik Hasek, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Kris Draper, Links, Mathieu Schneider, Pavel Datsyuk, Robert Lang and Todd Bertuzzi
. 0 Comments

Ansar Khan has an injury update posted on his blog. Summary:

  • Chris Osgood will start instead of Dominik Hasek tomorrow night. Hasek was supposed to start both games, but his thigh injury changed that plan. He will play Wednesday night instead and will do the back-to-back games on March 29th in Nashville and March 30th at home against Dallas.
  • Danny Markov (upper body) is slated to be back Saturday against the Canucks.
  • Johan Franzen (upper body) and Dan Cleary (knee sprain) could return on the 20th in Calgary. If so, they’ll miss the March 17th game in Vancouver.
  • Mike Babcock officially said that Henrik Zetterberg (back inflammation) and Todd Bertuzzi (back) will not play until after the Vancouver/Calgary trip. So, a March 22nd debut for Bertuzzi and return for Zetterberg, at the earliest.
  • Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Robert Lang, Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider did not take part in the optional practice today, but all will play tomorrow night, according to Mike Babcock.

The injury problems the Wings have been going through should put losses like yesterday’s in perspective. Sure, it was bad, but they’re missing some key players and other guys are either playing hurt or just recovering from injuries. And yet, they’ve been winning more often than not. Once everyone’s healthy, they should play better and more complete games.

Wings 3, Bruins 6

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 12, 2007
in 2006-2007, Bruins and Game Reports
. 9 Comments

I don’t have a lot to say about the game yesterday. I just watched it casually and only noted a few things.

Negatives:

Goal #1: Kris Draper loses a faceoff and then the net isn’t cleared by Mathieu Schneider. Marco Sturm took a shot from the right-side boards and it beat Hasek, who probably only saw it at the last second because of the screen thrown by Brandon Bochenski.

Goal #2: On the power play because of a trapezoid penalty by Dominik Hasek, the Bruins again benefited by the Wings’ inability to clear the net. A centering pass by Marc Savard was easily tipped in by Sturm, despite the fact that Chris Chelios was standing right there.

Goal #3: The Wings give up two straight 2-on-1 breaks and the Bruins capitalized on the second. A beautiful turnover by Pavel Datsyuk at center led directly to the break, which was made worse when Datsyuk collided with Niklas Kronwall on the red line. Petr Tenkrat carried the puck in and beat Hasek with a slapper over his right shoulder.

Goal #4: The Wings watch a shoot-in by Aaron Ward V-bounce off the backboards and let Patrice Brisebois walk right in and slam dunk the puck into the net, which had been vacated by Dominik “I think I’ll go for a stroll” Hasek. Great puck pursuit by Andreas Lilja and Nicklas Lidstrom on that one.

Goal #5: Chuck Kobasew became the latest beneficiary of the Wings’ inability to clear the net as he stood to Hasek’s left and knocked in the rebound of a Marc Savard shot.

Goal #6: I don’t know what to say about this one except that it was just a nice play by the Boston Bruins, who made two of the best defensemen in NHL history look foolish. Marc Savard broke in, sent it to Chuck Kobasew, who cut across in the slot and the puck seamlessly transfered to Phil Kessel going the other way while Chris Chelios kept watching Kobasew. Kessel tucked the puck in his feet to avoid Nick Lidstrom and the two Red Wings defensemen were caught with their backs to the play. Kessel lost control of the puck and it squirted to Hasek’s left, but he beat Datsyuk to it and flipped it into the net.

And those are just the negatives for which I can provide replays. There were many others, one of the most memorable being something the Wings had no control over. A Robert Lang shot somehow made it through Thomas and started trickling toward the net, but Lang bumped the Bruin defenseman and he fell hard, knocking off the net before the puck got to it. The play was obviously ruled no goal, which I think was the right call because it didn’t look to me like the puck was on it’s way in. It may have hit the post and given the Wings a chance at knocking it in, though. I do think that the Bruins player went down far too easily, so I’m a bit disappointed the officials did not call a penalty on the play.

Positives:

Darry Bootland’s fight: It was good to see Booter get one, and hopefully it won’t be the last. He definitely brings another element to the team.

Jiri Hudler’s goal: He showed some great persistence on the play, from his initial puck pursuit to the final all-out effort at scoring. Tim Thomas played the puck behind the net and Hudler had an unimpeded route into the zone as the two Bruin defensemen collided in the middle. Jiri kept at it along the sideboards and ended up picking it up. He brought it out to the to the slot and took a shot which was blocked. He got the puck right back, however, and released another shot, which went in because Thomas had committed to the first.

Jiri Hudler’s assist on Robert Lang’s goal: On a fast break with Lang, Hudler carried the puck in. He was surrounded by three Bruins players and was hauled down by Andrew Alberts, but as he fell, he got the puck across to Lang, who put it across Thomas’ body and into the net. Another great effort by Hudler.

The Bruins, needing to keep their playoff hopes alive, put on a playoff-like performance and earned playoff-like goals. The Wings, on the other hand, needed the points to close the lead on Nashville, but more importantly, needed to get their play back on track. They failed on both counts. Tim Thomas played a solid game, but the Wings lost this game because they underachieved. They did not follow up on their shots and did not capitalize on their chances. The Bruins did and were the better team for it yesterday. The Wings know it and have been saying all the right things to the papers as a result. Let’s see if they fix it by Tuesday. If they don’t, it’ll be ugly in Nashville tomorrow.

GameDay: vs. Boston (32-31-5, 69 Pts) 12:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 11, 2007
in 2006-2007, Bruins and GameDay
. 0 Comments

This afternoon, these two Original Six teams will meet for the one and only time this season.

The Bruins are 2-3-1 so far in March, with their only wins coming in a pair, beginning with Montreal on the 3rd and ending with New Jersey the next night. Since then, they’ve played three games and lost each of them. First, they were shutout at home by Colorado, then they lost by a goal to Minnesota two days later. They are coming off a matinee4-1 loss to Martin Biron and the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday afternoon.

The Bruins, as far as the playoffs go, are very much on the outside looking in. They are currently ranked 13th in the Eastern Conference, as Florida leap-frogged them yesterday with their win, and are six points behind in a very tight race for that 8th seed.

Since Joey MacDonald started yesterday against Philadelphia, Tim Thomas will be in net today.

The Wings are 3-0-1 in March thus far, having won their last two after dropping a game a week ago to Colorado in overtime. They followed that loss up with a win over Nashville on Tuesday and continued by beating the LA Kings Friday night. Today’s game marks the end of a five-game homestand that began the month. The team will travel next to Nashville to play the Preds on Tuesday before returning home for a rematch the next night.

With Nashville’s win last night over Columbus, the Wings fell three points back of the Preds for the Central Division lead. They are currently at 4th place in the Conference, and would play Dallas, who has a precarious hold on the 5-seed, if the playoffs were starting today.

Dominik Hasek will be in net this afternoon for the Wings. It will be his second start after a week-long injury hiatus.

Tomas Holmstrom is slated to return to the lineup, according to Ansar Khan. He will take the place of Johan Franzen, who will sit out with an “upper body” injury sustained, apparently, in the game Tuesday night against the Predators. Although there was no practice on Wednesday, he did not feel well enough to skate on Thursday. He did play against the Kings, but left the game not long after Pavel Datsyuk’s second-period goal. There is not timetable for his return.

Khan also writes that Danny Markov will also sit out with an upper body injury. He is expected to return Tuesday against Nashville. Andreas Lilja will take his place in the lineup.

As for the Wings’ other wounded: Henrik Zetterberg, according to Khan, who has it from Piet Van Zant, is progressing, but has not skated yet and it’s not known when he will be able to. His recovery time was originally projected to be 2-3 weeks, beginning February 28th, but it appears that 3-4 weeks is a better estimate. No news on Dan Cleary (knee sprain) or Todd Bertuzzi (back).

This is yet another important game for the Wings, who need to elevate their play beyond the level at which they began Friday’s game against the Kings. They’ve started their last three or four games flat and that is a habit they need to break themselves of before it bites them. Points are very important and the best way for them to get them is to earn them with high-quality play. The Bruins will be clinging to their dim playoff hopes and will put up a good effort as a result. The Wings need to do the same. An early start is not an excuse to come out flat, even with the time change for Daylight Savings Time.

3/10 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 10, 2007
in Danny Markov, Injuries, Joey MacDonald, Johan Franzen, Matt Ellis, Notes and Tomas Holmstrom
. 0 Comments

… Helene St. James reports that Johan Franzen is day-to-day with the upper body injury that forced him to leave the game last night. Either no one has been called up to replace him in the lineup, or the AHL transaction page hasn’t been updated (as of 9:37 AM). I suppose that they’re waiting to see if Tomas Holmstrom really will be able to return tomorrow. If not, they’ll need another body.

… Both Ted Kulfan and St. James elaborate on the reason Danny Markov sat out last night: he had upper body soreness that hadn’t gone away and needed to rest. According to Kulfan, the team isn’t sure when he’ll be back.

… According to the Boston Globe, Former Red Wing goalie Joey MacDonald will play today, but will sit tomorrow when the Bruins come to visit the Wings. Joey has assumed the role of the #2 man in Boston and has been getting regular starts. (via. Snapshots)

… Both Detroit papers (Freep and News) have pieces on the Wings’ reaction to the Chris Simon incident of the other night.

All I’ll say about it is Simon should have thrown off his gloves if he thought Hollweg’s hit was questionable (which I think it was, honestly). There’s no excuse for what he did, I don’t care how fuzzy his head was after having it planted into the glass. It was an impulsive attack and one instantly regretted, I’m sure, but he ought to have the book thrown at him.

… Lastly, a correction: apparently, Matt Ellis’ son is named Haeden Matthew Ellis, not Matthew Hayden. (via Kulfan and St. James)

Wings 3, Kings 2 (OT)

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 10, 2007
in 2006-2007, Andreas Lilja, Brett Lebda, Danny Markov, Game Reports, Henrik Zetterberg, Injuries, Johan Franzen, Kings, Matt Ellis and Mikael Samuelsson
. 2 Comments

I didn’t take notes on the game, so I can only offer a few thoughts, not a comprehensive summary.

… Big story of the night: Johan Franzen left the game in the second period, not long after Pavel Datsyuk scored to make it 1-1, and did not return. According to Helene St. James, he didn’t practice yesterday due to the same injury (contradicting Babcock’s “Mule’s fine” comment) but apparently he felt good to go before the game.

Hopefully Franzen’s not going to be out for long because he was a big loss against the Kings. His tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, would have come in handy at some points later in the game.

Also, you may have noticed Danny Markov was missing from the lineup. According to St. James, he’s not hurt, he was just being given the night off, in favor of Andreas Lilja, who was in need of some playing time.

… The Wings came out flat and paid for it as the Kings took a one-goal lead in the first period. A bad turnover by Niklas Kronwall led directly to the goal, and it was too early in his return to expect Dominik Hasek to be 100% sharp on the play, especially after Kronwall failed to clear the net. Not Nik’s best game by a long shot.

The team as a whole looked out of sync for much of the first half of the game, whereas the Kings were battling hard and earning their lead.

… One positive thing was that there were few penalties called, so the flow of the game wasn’t disrupted so much. Only two penalties in the first two periods combined, followed by three in the third. Of course, the final call was an unfortunate one as it put the Wings on a 4-on-3 penalty kill to start overtime.

… Sean Burke was steady the whole game, though to be honest, he didn’t have to shine all that often. The Wings put 54 shots on net but the majority of them were low percentage perimeter shots or C-grade offensive chances. Not to take anything away from Burke, he had a great game. But the Wings did not put on their best performance offensively. The Kings, to their credit, put up a pretty good stand on the defensive side, though, which contributed to the Wings’ offensive hiccups.

… I noticed Matt Ellis a lot tonight. The man was obviously pumped from becoming a father, as he was everywhere when on the ice. He finished with only 8:22 in ice-time, but came close to scoring his first NHL goal a number of times.

… Good to see Brett Lebda channel Bobby Orr and/or Paul Coffey on his (literally) coast-to-coast goal in the third. Brett’s got the best wheels on the team, I think, and showed he’s got some great hands to go with them with that impressive finish. One of the top highlight reel goals of the season for both the Wings and the League, I’d say.

… Late in the third, the Wings had a power play but got far too cute in their attempts at scoring. They had Burke beat down low multiple times but made two or three too many passes and blew their chances.

… Nice penalty by Robert Lang at the end of regulation. I was a bit surprised when Mike Babcock put Andreas “Relative Pylon” Lilja out there with Chris Chelios and Kris Draper for the 4-on-3 penalty kill in OT. Fortunately, Lilja played it well and my fears were unnecessary.

… Nice give and go by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk for the game winner. Poor Aaron Miller had no chance to defend the play, having committed to Datsyuk just as Pavel dished it right back to Samuelsson for the slam dunk.

Of course, I look foolish for saying in my preview Samuelsson probably wouldn’t figure much into the game. I admit it. I was surprised. He looked good in his return, though he looks real good for having scored a goal handed to him on a silver platter by Datsyuk. Hopefully it was just the first in a series of goals for Sammy.

… The win put the Wings one point behind Nashville in the Central Division title race. They have one more game in hand, Sunday’s matchup with Boston, before the big mid-March home-and-home showdown.

… Also, Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond said not to expect Henrik Zetterberg or Todd Bertuzzi back until after the team’s trip to Vancouver and Calgary later this month, saying that the Wings would probably rather not have the two make the six hour flight out there with their backs having just healed. If they’re right, that would mean a March 22nd return, at the earliest.

Gloveside.net: Lidstrom Underrated?

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 9, 2007
in Hockey Bloggers, Links and Nick Lidstrom
. 0 Comments

Great debut post over at Gloveside.net by Steve. Be sure to check it out.

St. James: Holmstrom may return Sunday

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 9, 2007
in Injuries, Links and Tomas Holmstrom
. 0 Comments

According to Helene St. James, Tomas Holmstrom is hoping to return from an undisclosed upper body injury on Sunday against Boston. He missed Tuesday’s game against Nashville and will sit out tonight in LA.

So what was the injury? Homer told St. James,

“I thought maybe it was a bruise, but it wasn’t. Because I played two-and-a-half games, it didn’t heal up during that time.”

Not sure what he means by “two-and-a-half games,” since the injury supposedly happened a week ago against Chicago, a game he left early, and then he played on Sunday against Colorado. So, closer to a game-and-a-half. But anyway, the point is he should have sat out immediately after suffering the injury, and that he didn’t just shows he’s a pretty tough guy.

GameDay: vs. Los Angeles (22-34-11, 55 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 9, 2007
in 2006-2007, GameDay and Kings
. 7 Comments

Update (4:45 PM): Thanks to Justin in the comments for pointing out an error below on Mike Cammalleri’s assist totals. The former UM star has 40 helpers so far this season, not 50. I was so intent on calling his and Datsyuk’s numbers comparable that I misread the columns in the NHL.com preview in the process of switching back and forth between tabs. It’s their point totals that are similar, obviously, not so much the assists.  Sorry about that. - Matt

Update (1:05 PM): Helene St. James reports that Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, Josh Langfeld and Matt Ellis did not practice yesterday. She quotes Mike Babcock,

“Fil’s fine, Mule’s fine and Langfeld had to go get his stuff [from Grand Rapids]. So they’re all playing.”

That bit about Langfeld is just more confirmation that he’s with the team for the long haul, as he cannot return to the Griffins.

As for Ellis, he had the day off because his wife gave birth to their first child, a son they’ve named Matthew Hayden Ellis, Wednesday night. Congratulations to the Ellis’s! - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final game between these two teams this season. The Wings lead the series 2-1, with wins October 16th (3-1) and December 31st (6-2). The Kings won the most recent meeting 4-2, on January 6th.

After posting a miserable 3-8-1 record in January, the Kings have gone a slightly more respectable 5-4-5 in February and March. Still, they have lost their last three and have earned a point in only one of those games, their most recent, a 3-2 overtime decision on Wednesday. Their last win streak came from February 24th to March 1st, a stretch in which they beat two teams, Colorado and Anaheim, both of which were visiting. The Kings have one of the worst road records in the league at 9-20-3, but will be looking to improve that on the third stop of a four-game roadtrip.

The Kings are currently last in the Conference, but only 29th in the League. They are just two points behind Phoenix for 28th.

Mike Cammalleri is the team’s leading scorer with 50 40 assists and 67 points, numbers comparable to Pavel Datsyuk’s 50 assists and 70 points. Alexander Frolov leads the team in goals with 33, which equals Henrik Zetterberg’s total to this point.

The Kings will be without top defenseman Rob Blake, who is out with a groin injury.

Sean Burke should be in net tonight for the Kings. Mathieu Garon was the starter Wednesday night for the second game of a back-to-back.

Unlike LA, the Wings have had winning records in January (8-5-1), February (8-2-2), and March (2-0-1). They have won two of their last three, with the first coming over Chicago on the 2nd, and the second coming over Nashville on Tuesday. They lost in overtime to Colorado on Sunday. Tonight’s game is the fourth in a five-game homestand for the Wings, who will play Boston on Sunday before traveling to Nashville to play the Predators on Tuesday.

The Wings are currently fourth in the Conference, three points behind Nashville, who beat Calgary 6-3 last night, with two games in hand.

Dominik Hasek is slated to return tonight after missing a week with a sore thigh. Chris Osgood will back him up, if Dom does actually start. Ted Kulfan reports that Babcock will make a decision on Dom’s status after practice.

Mikael Samuelsson is also expected to play tonight. He’s been out since January 20th with a broken foot. Expect him to see time on the second line with Robert Lang and Kyle Calder, perhaps switching out with Johan Franzen. Don’t expect Sammy to have a big impact since he still has to work up to full game shape. His status also depends on how he looks in practice today.

The rest of the Wings’ injured players remain out: Tomas Holmstrom (upper body), Henrik Zetterberg (back), Todd Bertuzzi (back).

Tonight’s an important game for the Wings, who need to maintain their focus and not become complacent even though they’re playing the team with the worst record in the Conference. The Kings have little to lose and will certainly play with heart. The Wings need to do the same in order to keep a high level of competition down the stretch. They can’t just show up for games with Nashville.

Be aware, however, that they have a chance at beating a season high standard for consecutive games with a point earned. Win, or lose in extra time, tonight and they’ll have a point in 10 straight games. If you’re like me, you keep your hopes low on these types of nights because the Wings oftentimes have ways of falling short of their own records.

Ansar Khan on the lines

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 8, 2007
in Hockey Media, Lines and Links
. 1 Comment

In the process of answering some reader emails, Ansar Khan lists his projections for the lines once everyone’s healthy:

1. Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom
2. Todd Bertuzzi-Robert Lang-Mikael Samuelsson
3. Johan Franzen-Kris Draper-Kirk Maltby
4. Dan Cleary-Valtteri Filppula-Kyle Calder
(with Jiri Hudler and Josh Langfeld as reserves)

Can’t say I disagree with them, since they’re pretty similar to what I recently projected myself. I still think, though, that the right wing spot on the second line will be open to debate, depending on whether or not it’s Mikael Samuelsson, Kyle Calder, or Johan Franzen who is scoring the most at any given time. The reverse goes for the right wing on the fourth line: the slumping player will get slotted there. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen swap spots every once in a while with those lines.

So, basically, I agree with Khan, except that I don’t think they’ll be static.

3/8 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 8, 2007
in Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Injuries, Mathieu Schneider, Mikael Samuelsson and Tickets
. 11 Comments

… Ted Kulfan reports today that Dominik Hasek could start tomorrow against LA, not that he will. Ansar Khan, on the other hand, says that Mike Babcock expects Dom and Mikael Samuelsson to play.

So, it’s possible that Hasek will be backing up Chris Osgood, but probably not likely. I’m sure the team would like Dom to get a game in before the home-and-home series with Nashville next week.

… Ted Kulfan also reports that playoff ticket prices will remain just as out of reach for Joe Fan as they were last year:

Regular-season prices from $22-$85 will rise to $63-$144 in the first round, $72-$153 in the second, $99-$270 in the Western Conference finals and $135-$450 in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Oh well. What would watching the playoffs be like without Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond’s commentary, anyway?

He says that the team has not announced a sale date to the public yet.

…  In Helene St. James’ Wings Corner daily, Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios address the final standings question. Chris Chelios believes that finishing first is important because it secures home-ice advantage,

“I think the biggest thing is if you ever get to a seventh game you’d much rather play at home. I’ve seen that before with Colorado when we blew them out.”

Chris Osgood told Ansar Khan much the same thing, but went on to say that playing well down the stretch is more important than where the team finishes,

“We’re trying to get our guys healthy and be playing well the last month of the season. To worry about what where we finish and who we play, we’ll figure that out when we get there.”

Mathieu Schneider agrees, as he told St. James,

“We’ve said all along, and I’ve come to believe this: We just want to get better as a team …

…. “Where we end up in the standings, we may not have control over that, but we just want to become a better and better playoff team. I think we’ve done that. We’re competing every night. In hard-fought games, we seem to rise to the occasion.”

After the Wings were eliminated in the first round by #8 Edmonton last year, I felt that it might be better for the team to finish in the middle of the pack. I thought that fighting for a playoff spot rather than coasting to the finish would be beneficial, because they’ve run into so many teams that were playing their best hockey down the stretch that their complacency couldn’t overcome it. As this season has gone on, however, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this team’s tenacity and think that finishing 1st wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

However, that’s only because of the tight race with Nashville.  The Predators are making things difficult for the Wings and that’s something new. In previous years, they had the division and the conference virtually in the bag by this point in the season. This year, they’re fourth with four weeks left.

I agree with Chelios that home ice is desirable, but I’m more with Osgood and Schneider on this one. The team needs to focus on playing well, getting healthy, and not becoming complacent or comfortable. If they do that, home ice will be an added benefit, not an excuse.

Home ice will help the team if they had to fight for it and they are already playing well, and even then it’s not the guarantee it used to be. Any team the Wings face is going to be tough, whether they’re playing at home or on the road. That’s why maintaining a top level of play to the end of the regular season is so important.

… Lastly, Ted Kulfan points out that Brett Lebda will not be suspended for his slash on Scott Nichol, which broke a bone in the latter’s hand. Nichol basically said he wanted Lebda suspended after the game, but the League obviously decided it was not a bad enough incident, Nichol’s testimony to the contrary.

I didn’t see the play, so I can only offer my uninformed opinion on it: a malicious slash does seem to be against Lebda’s character so I’m inclined to believe it was accidental.