Archive for September, 2007

MacLeod reports from camp

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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!

NHL updates game reports

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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)

Roster battles

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 According to Ted Kulfan, the Wings expect to carry 22 players into the season. Apparently, that means 13 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goalies, though Holland allows for the possibility that another forward could impress in camp, forcing them to carry 14. He doesn’t say the same about the defensemen, so it looks like that logjam will have to be cleared up by camp/pre-season performances. If Meech doesn’t out-perform Sopel, it looks like the Wings will risk losing him on waivers by sending him back to GR. This isn’t the first time the Wings have indicated they’d only like to carry 7 defensemen, so the scenario I posted the other day is looking more and more unlikely. Wishful thinking, I guess.

As for the forwards, the battle for the 13th spot will primarily be between Matt Ellis and Igor Grigorenko. I think Igor’d better watch his back. Ellis is just the kind of player Babcock loves and if Grigs takes so much as a drill off, he’ll fall behind. Obviously, though, the Wings know what their doing in leaving a 13th and a 14th spot open, as it’s likely both players will perform well.

On Sopel

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Update (13. Sep, 12:22AM): Bruce MacLeod has posted a look at the situation and it’s a good read. He writes that the competition is between Sopel and Meech, not Lilja. At the onset, that’s exactly how it will be, but MacLeod admits that “[Sopel] could force Detroit‘s hand into trading or cutting one of its top six defensemen.” If it came down to it, I’d guess that player would be Lilja, which would give Meech the 7th spot. Or the team would just carry 8 defensemen, which isn’t fair to the experienced player (Lebda or Lilja) that gets to share the skybox with Meech. Plus, it would create problems with the forward corps.

What problems? Well, if Grigorenko has a strong enough camp to make the team, and if the Wings want to keep Matt Ellis (a heart-and-soul player in GR ready to be one in Detroit), they’d need to carry 14 forwards (those two, plus Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Filppula, Cleary, Samuelsson, Franzen, Maltby, Draper, Drake, Hudler, Kopecky). 14 forwards plus 2 goalies plus 8 defensemen equals 24 players, one man over the limit of 23.

So, as already looked at by IwoCPO, if both Sopel and Grigorenko turn out to be good enough to make the team, someone’s on their way out. It’s going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out. Maybe Sopel will be a flop and all they’ll have to worry about is what to do with Igor and Ellis. - Matt

Ansar Khan has a blog post up with a few Babcock quotes on various topics, but one of the most interesting is this one on Brent Sopel, one of the Wings’ free agent camp invitees:

“… I’ve known him since he was a kid, we have a real good feel for him and think he’s a top-four NHL defenseman. Now, just because we think it doesn’t mean anything, he’s got to relax and let his skill come to the forefront and show us what he brings (though the preseason).”

Sopel’s entry into the top four would upset the current projections of the group, which is generally considered to be Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Niklas Kronwall, and Andreas Lilja. The first two are locks for the top pairing (or at least, the top four, in Rafalski’s case) and the team isn’t paying Kronwall $3 million to play in the third pairing, or, for that matter, to sit on the bench. And speaking of the third pairing, Chris Chelios and Brett Lebda play too well together to break that up. So, that leaves Andreas Lilja. If Sopel cracks the lineup, it seems to me that Lilja would be the odd man out.

That wouldn’t be a new situation for old Andreas, whose had an up-and-down career in Detroit, ranging from Nick Lidstrom’s defensive partner in 05-06, to seventh defenseman and odd-man out to Niklas Kronwall and Brett Lebda last year. He had a surprisingly good playoffs and still brings the most physical presence of any Red Wings defenseman (relatively speaking), but even in the Mike Babcock era, offensive defensemen win out in Detroit.

Obviously, Sopel is no lock for a contract with the Wings, but the possibility is intriguing.

I realize I’m a little late to chime in on this topic. Others have said their piece already and made some great points. See Abel to Yzerman, Gorilla Crouch, and yzerman is god.

More on Grigorenko

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Update (4:41 PM): In contrast with MacLeod’s report, Red Wings Central’s Sarah Lindenau writes that the Wings are “happy with the play” of Grigorenko, quoting Jim Nill as saying,

“He’s played pretty well. He’s really got the head (for the game). He makes plays that guys aren’t ready for, but this has been good just to get him ready for main camp.”

This doesn’t mean MacLeod’s assessment is wrong by any means, as his information could have come from observing body language or on a condition of anonymity. Nill, knowing he’s being quoted by Lindenau, has no reason to call Igor out there and it’s not unlikely that he’s keeping the team’s real assessment of him private, as the Wings often do.

Even asuming that Nill is not fully speaking his mind there, the phrase “he’s played pretty well” is a bit ambiguous and it’s hard to tell exactly how he meant it when he said it without actually hearing the words. (via Snapshots) - Matt

Bruce MacLeod’s latest:

Igor Grigorenko needs to do a lot more to make this team. He had a sub-par game against the Rangers. He was above average in a tournament against 18-22 year-olds, a tournament that he could have dominated. He came to camp out of shape. There’s still time for Grigorenko, but at the moment, the Red Wings’ brass is not impressed.

So, it wasn’t just that first game and those video clips, after all. I had hoped he didn’t have his eyes so set on the NHL roster that he’d neglect the intermediate steps, but it sounds like he isn’t taking this prospect camp seriously. No doubt he still expects to play in the NHL, even after his lackluster performance in this stage of the entry process.

Look at Evan McGrath, who by all accounts is having a great camp. He’s taking this thing seriously and, as a result, is impressing all the right people, even though he has no chance of making the Wings this year. Maybe that’s the problem with Igor. It sounds like he’s let the projections of himself as an NHL-ready forward go to his head. The organization needs to sit him down and talk about his future, which could very well include a stint in Grand Rapids. He has to understand that GR isn’t a career killer and that he has to pay some dues here.

While I’d love to have a Calder Trophy candidate Grigorenko on the team, I have no interest in seeing the Wings give a roster spot to a player who isn’t going to give his all when there’s a guy like Matt Ellis ready to step in. If Igor has a great main camp, the question becomes murkier, but he still should probably see some AHL time. He’s no Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk, after all. If that’s not okay with him, good riddance.