Archive for February, 2008

Sergei is off the market

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Update (1:35 PM): TSN now says the Jackets got Notre Dame defenseman Theo Ruth in exchange for Fedorov. He was a second rounder, so it’s no surprise the Wings didn’t end up making a deal with Columbus. No need to give up a top prospect for a player at the stage in his career Sergei’s at, especially when it would just make the Jackets better. - Matt

TSN reports that Sergei Fedorov has been traded to the Washington Capitals. They don’t have any more detail on the trade at the moment.

Now the only hope for Fedorov to return to Detroit is for him to sign in the off-season, which is probably unlikely. Oh well. At least he’ll have the chance to play with Alexander Ovechkin, which could lead to a career renaissance.

GameDay: @ Edmonton (28-30-5, 61 Pts) 9:00 ET

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Update (3:45 PM): According to the official blog, Kris Draper will play tonight after all, thus sparing us the misfortune of having to watch Mark Hartigan play for at least one more game (assuming Aaron Downey dresses). - Matt

Update (3:42 PM): Bruce MacLeod confirms that Jimmy Howard has been returned to Grand Rapids, which in turn confirms that Dominik Hasek will sit on the bench tonight in just his skates, leg pads and jersey over a T-shirt. - Matt

Update (12:25 PM): The official blog reports that it’s a sore groin that will keep Kris Draper out tonight. - Matt

Update (11:49 AM): Ansar Khan reports that Kris Draper will sit out tonight with an undisclosed injury. Mark Hartigan will play instead. Khan also says Dominik Hasek will back up Chris Osgood. As he points out, that means Jimmy Howard has been returned to the Griffins. - Matt

Update (10:06 AM): The Oilers’ official site has their usual excellent preview posted here. Compare it to the Wings’ cookie-cutter AP preview.  - Matt

Tonight is the fourth and final meeting between the Detroit Red Wings and the Edmonton Oilers this season. The Wings lead the series 2-1 with wins wins October 8th (4-2) and October 30th (2-1). The Oilers won the December 13th meeting, 4-3 in a shootout.

Edmonton is 5-5-0 in February. They began the month with a loss at home to Dallas, 4-1, but shutout the Flames 5-0 on the 4th.  Two nights later, they defeated the Blawkhawks on home ice, 4-1. The Flames got some revenge for their earlier loss by beating the Oilers in Calgary on the 9th, 4-1. The Oilers rebounded with a 4-2 win over Minnesota and a 3-2 win over San Jose on the 12th and 14th. They then dropped three straight, beginning in Vancouver (4-2), continuing in Nashville (5-4), and finishing in Dallas (5-2). On Sunday, they halted that skid with a 3-2 win over Colorado at home.

The Oilers’ 61 points are good for last in the Northwest Division and 14th in the Western Conference. They are all but out of the playoffs.

According to the Freep, Edmonton will be without Ethan Moreau (tibia), Shawn Horcoff (shoulder), Sheldon Souray (labrum, biceps), Tyler Spurgeon (undisclosed), Raffi Torres (knee), and Ladislav Smid (ankle).

Horcoff is the Oilers’ leading goal-scorer with 21. Dustin Penner is the active leader with 18. Ales Hemsky (15), Andrew Cogliano (10), Jarret Stoll (10), and Kyle Brodziak (10) are the only other Edmonton players to hit double digits in goals-scored. Hemsky is the points leader with 52.

It looks like the expected starter tonight is Mathieu Garon.

For the Oilers’ perspective, see The Battle of Alberta,  Covered in Oil,  Lowetide,  mc79hockey,  always on the road,  Black Dog Hates Skunks,  Irreverent Oiler Fans,  Nothing 2 See Here,  Oil Country, Ontario,  the real deal hockey, SportsGuru, and  Talkin’ Hockey.

The Wings fell to 4-7-1 in the month of February with a 4-1 loss to Vancouver Saturday night. The loss was a continuation of a skid that began February 7th against LA and continued with losses to Toronto (OT), Anaheim, Nashville, Columbus, Dallas, and Calgary.  The one bright spot over the past nine games was their 4-0 win over Colorado on the 18th, though the game had plenty of negativity to it as Nick Lidstrom went down with a knee sprain in the first period.

The easy explanation for the skid is the injury-depleted blueline, but the fact is the young defensemen called upon to fill in have played quite well. The Wings’ real problem has been up front. With the exception of the Avs game, they have not been getting the necessary scoring from their forwards.

Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals against Colorado, but has just two other goals over the course of the Wings’ skid (both against LA).

Mikael Samuelsson has not scored a goal since February 9th in Toronto.

Jiri Hudler is goalless in 17. His last goal game during the Wings’ 3-game skid last month.

Tomas Holmstrom is goalless in 12.

Johan Franzen has two goals in the last nine games and has not scored in five.

Valtteri Filppula scored a goal against Colorado, but it was his only goal in his last 13 games.

Pavel Datsyuk has four goals over the course of the skid, but just four assists. His usual ratio is a little over twice as many assists as goals.

Of the five remaining regular Wings forwards not necessarily expected to score, Tomas Kopecky, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Dallas Drake, and Aaron Downey, only Tomas Kopecky has a goal over the course of the skid (against LA).

Needless to say, the team offense that carried the Wings to 200 goals-for has not been getting the job done for most of this month. You can bet that Ken Holland will look to address the scoring problem before today’s trade deadline.

It’s easy to point to the young defense as the source of the problem, given the fact that they aren’t as smooth on the breakouts as Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Chris Chelios, or Niklas Kronwall are. However, guys like Meech and Ericsson are fine puck-moving defensemen, so the drop-off isn’t what it might have been. That excuse only goes so far and by this point it seems somewhat empty.

The Wings will be without Chris Chelios (leg, chipped bone) for the second full game . Garrett Stafford will get his second game in the NHL.

Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) will sit out once more. Derek Meech will continue to fill in.

Brian Rafalski (groin) also will not return. Kyle Quincey will cover for him.

Nick Lidstrom (knee sprain) is out as well. Jonathan Ericsson will play in just his third NHL game.

Dan Cleary (broken jaw) will miss his seventh straight. I expect Aaron Downey to remain in the lineup.

Projected lines (via Khan):

Filppula-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Franzen-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Hudler-Draper-Kopecky
Maltby-Drake-Downey

It’ll be interesting to see if those are more than practice lines. There isn’t a natural center on the fourth line, which is a bit of a problem.

Projected pairings:

Meech-Lebda
Ericsson-Lilja
Quincey-Stafford

We can expect better gelling between the young blueline and the forward corps tonight as the team was able to practice with everyone for the first time yesterday. According to Helene St. James, they spent time working on breakouts. That should help the offensive situation somewhat.

Chris Osgood will get the start tonight for Detroit. It’s possible that Dominik Hasek (hip flexor) will be the backup.

For more of the Wings’ perspective, see Snapshots, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, Red Wings Nation, yzerman is god, Detroit Hockey, LetsGoWings, Red Wings Brasil, and Winging It In Motown. OklahomaWingNut’s GDT is here.

The Wings could really use a win tonight. The Oilers are injury depleted  themselves and are vulnerable on paper. That said, they remain a young and speedy team that could cause the Wings fits if they aren’t on top of their game. The forwards are flat out going to have to have a better game tonight than they’ve had lately. The young defensemen have proven to be reliable and it’s time for guys like Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holmstrom, Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson to back them up.

Jeff Cowan suspended for hit on Derek Meech

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According to TSN, the NHL has seen fit to suspend the Vancouver Canucks’ Jeff Cowan for his hit on Derek Meech  at 11:45 of the first period of Saturday’s game. Cowan received a charging penalty on the play. The hit had Meech in pain until well after he returned to the bench. He turned out to be okay before long, however, and returned to play a strong game.

Cowan will miss the Canucks’ home game against Colorado on Wednesday and will forfeit about $3,815.79 of his $725,00 yearly salary.

FSN didn’t show the hit from a very good angle, even on replay. So I can’t say whether  I think it was really a suspendable offense, though when the NHL does hand out a suspension, it’s usually warranted.  I just wish  the League saw fit to suspend Dion Phaneuf for his reckless and vicious hit on Tomas Kopecky the night before.

Anyway, TSN must have Meech confused with Garrett Stafford, as the current version of the article on this story says, “The game was Meech’s first in the NHL.” (see this screenshot for verification if a correction is made) Actually, it was his27th and 23rd this season. That night was Stafford’s first appearance in the NHL.

On a semi-unrelated note, the Wings are fortunate Aaron Downey did not face League discipline after he instigated a pre-game exchange of pleasantries at center ice Saturday night. His jab of Cowan’s Alex Burrows’ shoulder with the blade of his stick should have been good for a game, I would have thought. Maybe Downey owes Meech one for having ticked the Canuck off.

(via LetsGoWings)

2/25 Post-practice Update

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… Ansar Khan reports that Nick Lidstrom (knee sprain) could skate as soon as later this week and could return 10-14 days from today. 14 days would put him at three weeks from the injury, while 10 would be closer to the original estimate. Khan makes sure to address the “Internet rumors” about a possible Lidstrom concussion by assuring us Ken Holland and Mike Babcock are denying any such claim.

… Contrary to reports last week, Niklas Kronwall (clavicle) is not expected to play tomorrow night in Edmonton. The

… Dominik Hasek (hip flexor) may be healed enough to perform backup duties for Chris Osgood tomorrow night. If so, the team will send Jimmy Howard back to Grand Rapids.

… Chris Chelios (right leg, chipped fibula) has not skated since going down with his injury and is day-to-day. It looks like he may not be back until after the San Jose and Buffalo games this weekend.

… Brian Rafalski (groin) hasn’t been on the ice since the 21st and remains day-to-day, though he told Khan he’s feeling better.

… Khan provides the lines from practice today:

Filppula-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Franzen-Zetterberg-Samuelsson
Hudler-Draper-Kopecky
Maltby-Drake-Downey
Hartigan

… Lastly, Holland said he’s looking to address the secondary scoring problem by acquiring a second line forward. He also is looking to add a depth defenseman. As I said earlier today, I’m now convinced that the Wings are pretty well set on defense, so hopefully Kenny won’t spend too much time looking for a veteran blueliner when he could be on the phone for a forward.