The Wings have sent down Derek Meech’s only remaining competition for the 7th spot, Jonathan Ericsson. Jimmy Howard and Mattias Ritola were also sent down. The only question that remains is which of these four will stay with the Wings: Igor Grigorenko, Matt Ellis, Aaron Downey, and Mark Hartigen. As you know, I’m pulling for Ellis, and feel Grigorenko should at least start the season in the AHL. We should find out today.
Monthly Archive for September, 2007
Update (9:52 PM): I caught the end of the Wings’ game with Toronto tonight and saw something that restored some of my faith in Grigorenko: his reaction to being bowled over by the Leafs’ Chad Kilger. First Igor slashed Kilger, then he went after Bryan Muir. Toronto’s Jay Harrison took exception to that, so Igor dropped his gloves and absorbed a few hard punches from a guy probably a foot taller than him.
The result? A two-minute interference penalty, a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, a fighting major, and two game misconducts for the kid. Now, it’s not cool that he lost his temper and would have put his team in a bad situation had the game not practically been over (with the slash). What is cool is that he has an edge and that he has enough of a temper to defend himself. So, kudos for the fight, Igor.
One more thought on the question of where he’ll start the season. Why would the Wings keep him in Detroit if he’s “just going to eat popcorn,” as Mickey Redmond put it so well tonight? The team seems to be satisfied with the 12 forwards pegged to be regulars, so any 13th or 14th forwards will be spectators more often than not. It will do Igor much more good to be playing regularly in the minors than to be sitting in the luxury box with Matt Ellis and Derek Meech every game night. Someone at the Wings’ front office needs to tell him that and to point out that Grand Rapids isn’t really that bad a city.
It looks like we’ll find out his fate tomorrow, as Bruce MacLeod reports that the final cuts will be announced then. - Matt
It looks like Igor Grigorenko might allow himself to be sent down to Grand Rapids to start the season, but only for 1-3 weeks. How generous of him. I love that Grigorenko wants to play in the NHL and wants to play for the Wings. I do. But I hate this attitude of his, where he’s trying to dictate the terms of his North American career to the team.
Is it just me or should he have to pay some dues over here before he takes a roster spot he clearly has not earned? He has not yet shown that his upside outweighs his ego and until he does, I don’t want to see him in the Winged Wheel and I won’t care if he went back to Russia. The Wings ought to send him down to Grand Rapids and if he doesn’t like it, good riddance.
Give me someone who puts forth the effort and doesn’t feel he’s entitled to a spot over Igor Grigorenko any day.
Well, that answers that question. Apparently, the Wings did offer Sopel a contract, but it probably wasn’t the $1.5 million he’s reported to have signed for with the Hawks. As others have pointed out, this should mean Meech will be the 7th defenseman, especially given Kyle Quincey’s recent injury.
Update (23. Sep, 11:00 AM): The Free Press, quoting Mike Babcock, reports that Cleary will not play until his pain “lets up.” Now the question is, how long will that be? - Matt
Update (1:15 PM): Bruce MacLeod now reports that Cleary is day-to-day and does not have broken ribs. His source is Mike Babcock, who isn’t going to tell the media the full extent of injuries, so we’ll just have to wait and see how this plays out. - Matt
Looks like the Wings may have their first big injury of the season, as Dan Cleary had to leave the game during the second period of the Wings’ 3-2 exhibition loss to Minnesota. Apparently, the injury was to his ribs and Cleary isn’t optimistic. He’ll be X-rayed and given a CAT scan Friday, but he told Bruce MacLeod, “It hurts pretty bad. Hate to say anything now, but it doesn’t feel good.” Cleary is a big part of the Wings’ offensive hopes, so let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
NHL.com has a pretty comprehensive preview of the Wings posted. Be sure to check it out.
Sorry for the lack of posting this week. My goal is to get back to regular posting next week.
I was glad to this quote in a Helene St. James blog post today:
“The person no one ever talks about is Matty Ellis. His skating has improved 300 percent and he just works like a dog every single day and is a competitive guy and a big, strong guy. He’ll be in the mix, too.”
Grigorenko’s stock is falling somewhat, even given all the slack the Wings are allowing him, and if he doesn’t pick it up, people will be talking about Ellis and Aaron Downey competing for that last spot instead Downey and Igor.
The Freep reports that FSN will carry the Wings’ exhibition game against the Wild at 7:30 PM on Thursday night. It’s the first time those of us who weren’t able to go to Traverse City will be able to see the guys in action. I’ve got a busy week coming up, but I’ll do my best to get a game report posted.
Update (4:30 PM): Helene St. James has chimed in on the second scrimmage. To MacLeod’s comments on Grigorenko she adds that he “looked gassed on several shifts, and hardly touched the puck.” However, she points out that the Wings still see him as a work-in-progress and are waiting until the last of the exhibition games to make their assessment. So, he has some time to step it up.
In his post on the game, Ansar Khan also notes Igor’s lack of conditioning, but writes that he was still able to get in on a couple good scoring chances because of his good hockey sense. - Matt
Bruce MacLeod has some notes on the second scrimmage game posted on his blog. Two particularly interesting points: Igor Grigorenko wasn’t very noticeable, and Brent Sopel “looked very good,” apparently demonstrating his two-way ability well. Also, MacLeod says Pavel Datsyuk looked “brilliant” I like the sound of that!
Ted Kulfan notes on the News blog that Lilja’s contract is up after this season, and suggests that he “could become very expendable with so many talented young D’s coming up.” Again, we’ll have to see how camp and exhibition go, but I still think Lilja’s job is on the line a bit here.
The two best new features: a list of players on the ice for each item in the play-by-play and the name of the player who drew the penalty. I’m happy about this because it’ll make writing game reports easier and help ensure accuracy. No more guessing on a penalty not quite caught on camera and no more wondering who that player getting laid out on the edge of the screen was. Also, The format is cleaner and the information is easier to find at a glance, which beats the old look by a long shot. To see it the updates in action, see the reports for the LA/Anaheim game last night. (via On the Forecheck, see post here)
