Archive for November, 2009

Game Day Notes: @ Nashville

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… The Wings’ll play their third game in four days tonight in Nashville. The Predators will be in their third in five.

… The Preds are currently riding a five-game winning steak and have won six of seven. Since a six-game losing steak in October, they’re 9-3-0, so this is a team on the rise.

… They played on Saturday and beat the Jackets 3-4 in OT. Their last loss was on the 10th to San Jose (4-3).

… They’re just one point behind the Wings with 25, so they’ll be motivated tonight.

… The Tennessean is characterizing this as a “battle of Swedes” because of the Preds’ Patric Hornqvist and his playing a style similar to Tomas Holmstrom’s.

… Colin Wilson (groin) is on the IR and Wade Belak (lower body) is day-to-day.

… Shea Weber (Damager of Brains) has five goals already this season, which is three more than the highest-scoring healthy Red Wings defenseman, Brian Rafalski, has put up. Three of them came on the power play, so here’s hoping the Wings’ penalty killing is ready to go tonight.

… It looks like Pekka Rinne will start tonight. He’s 9-4-0 with a 2.38 GAA and .914 save percentage. Another good young goalie for Nashville.

… The Wings are coming off a tough win in Montreal Saturday night. They played most of the game with only five defensemen due to Niklas Kronwall’s knee injury, but managed to pull out a win in a shootout.

… With Kronwall out for 4-8 weeks, Derek Meech will get some regular playing time. It looks like he and Lebda will be paired together, while Ericsson will move up to play with Stuart.

… I haven’t seen anything official on any other lineup changes, but it’s possible Babcock will insert May back in at Maltby’s expense.

… Osgood should get the start tonight.

… This’ll be a good test of the Wings’ latest version of the roster. Losing Kronwall was a major blow to team defense and the hot Predators won’t be easy to handle (even if they’re not exactly high-scoring).

… Darren McCarty will be the color guy guest studio analyst tonight on Versus. Should be interesting.

Kronwall Update: Severe Knee Sprain, 4-8 Weeks

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You’ve probably already seen this (been at in-law’s all day), but I’ll relay it anyway: The latest on Nik is that he’s got a severe knee sprain and is out 4-8 weeks. It sucks to lose him for any length of time, but that sure beats 4-6 months.

In the meantime, it looks like the Wings will give Meech a try on the third pairing. Ericsson will see time with Stuart, which should lead to a better improvement curve for him.

If Meech isn’t panning out, who knows what they’ll do? Calling someone up wouldn’t automatically be an improvement over Meech, but Kronwall’s not really out long enough to make bringing in outside help worth it.

Wings 3, Canadiens 2 (SO)

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Update (6:20 PM): Zetterberg quote fixed below. Brain cramps are debilitating… – Matt

First off, a Kronwall update: The latest today is that it’s a grade-2 or -3 sprain and that he’ll be out 2-3 weeks. However, that’s a preliminary diagnosis (possibly handed down by the training staff) and isn’t the final one. He has to go through more tests today.

Second, a Laraque response: The AP quotes him as saying,

“There were four refs [sic] on the ice and they didn’t call anything. If they called a match penalty it would be different. There was no intent. There was no reason why I would try to go and hurt him. It was a pure accident, that’s why they called it tripping, so I’m not worried at all.”

Sorry, Georges, but you may have something to worry about. My wife pointed out that the NHL seems more likely to hand out suspensions when the refs don’t call the play to the full extent. Had he gotten a match penalty that early in the game, there’s a decent chance the NHL would have considered that to be enough of a punishment. As it stands now, however, he could be facing a game or two.

Third, the Wings’ response: To the hit that is, and I don’t mean to the media (predictably condemning). On the ice, the Wings didn’t respond in spectacular fashion—in fact, aside from the immediate aftermath through the power plays, much of the rest of the game was frustratingly flat on their part—but they managed to battle through the loss of their #3 defenseman and pull a win out of the fire in a very unfriendly environment. That counts for something.

Now for the negative: Was it just me or did Nick have a weak game? His pass around the boards that led to the tying goal was very uncharacteristic and the main reason that goal happened. I know some of you want to blame Lebda on that play, but Nick’s pass was so weak, there’s no way Lebda could have gotten to it before the Montreal forward.

Zetterberg let the team down with a weak defensive play on Cammalleri at the actual point of scoring the goal, but the trigger to the whole thing was Nick’s pass around the boards. He also had some moments at the offensive blueline that were unsettling. He’s allowed the occasional off night, but it’s still disconcerting.

Bertuzzi: I’m completely out of patience for the guy. He’s dragging Datsyuk down to average player level with his black hole of suck. That is the real tragedy of the Filpulla and Franzen injuries and even the Williams injury. If any one of those guys were healthy, we could be watching Datsyuk thrive with one of them as a winger rather than Todd “Dead Weight” Bertuzzi.

How horrifying was it to see him quarterbacking the second power play unit in the first period? Ugh.

Zetterberg: Quote of the night:

“The puck was nightnot my friend all the way in.”

Referencing his battling a bouncing puck all the way in on his shootout chance. I guess he and the puck worked out their differences as he won the game on that shot.

Next up: The Wings’ll be in Nashville on Monday. The game will be aired on the Darren McCarty Television Network.

Laraque Takes Out Kronwall With Knee-on-Knee

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Update (10:13 PM): Babcock just told Ken Daniels that Kronwall hasn’t been seen by the team doctors yet (must not have traveled with team). That would explain the lack of an official update during the game.

Daniels asked him if he thought it might be some months and Babcock didn’t know (only has trainers diagnosis), but was able to say “It ain’t pretty, I can tell you that.” Great. I think a sprain is out. We’re looking at another major, long-term injury.

He also characterized the Laraque play as “unacceptable.”

I’m not sure Kindl, Janik, Meech or another similar option’s going to cut it here. Give Chelios a look, Kenny. - Matt

Update (8:51 PM): George thinks it could just be a “couple weeks” sprain based on the fact that Nick could put some weight on it as he went off. I hope so. - Matt

Update (8:19 PM): Video:

Via Kukla. By the way, the Wings scored 2 goals on the power play fest that Laraque triggered. – Matt

Horrible news from Montreal: Nik Kronwall left the Wings/Habs game tonight with an apparent left knee injury.

He suffered the injury on a delayed penalty play involving George Laraque, who was already headed to the box for high-sticking Darren Helm. Laraque stuck his knee out and caught Kronwall’s left knee, tripping him up and taking another penalty.

Nik was helped to the lockerroom and will not return. No word yet on the severity of the injury, but it does not look good. He’ll received X-rays tonight. It’s not pessimistic to think it’s likely to be serious.

If that’s correct, we could see Jakub Kindl get the call-up. He’s still very green, but has improved and, while he’s not as ripe as the Wings like their prospects to be, he may be able to make due in the NHL. Doug Janik is another option. There’s also Derek Meech, obviously, but don’t count on an increased role for him.

But maybe it’s time for the Wings to reconsider their stance on outside help and their decision to part ways with Chris Chelios. Cheli could be signed out of the AHL at a middling rate and could be a definite help. With Andreas Lilja still out indefinitely, the possibility of bringing in a veteran rather than relying on an unproven young player seems to me to be the more attractive option.

All of this is assuming Kronwall’s out for a while, but given the nature of the play, I don’t think that’s an unreasonable assumption.

Laraque, by the way, should be suspended given his history. It wasn’t as egregious as a Marcment knee-on-knee, but it was reckless and dirty.

Game Day Open Thread: @ Montreal

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Update (1:26 PM): Correction on Markov’s name below. Stupid brain cramp on my part.

Also, vp notes in the comments that Scott Gomez and Travis Moen left the game early last night. No official word on their status for tonight yet. - Matt

Busy sports day, so no full notes post. Just a few comments:

… Both teams played last night, so tiredness for the Wings will be no excuse.

… The Canadiens won their game against Washington, which is a good indication of what their capable of despite their 11-11-0 record.

… The Wings never really hit their stride last night against a Florida team that’s better than their record indicates. They’ll have to find it tonight.

… Jimmy Howard gets the start for the Wings and it looks like Carey Price will be in net for Montreal. The Wings’ll have to give Price (or Halak, if he starts) more substantive work than they gave Clemmensen last night.

… Montreal has a pretty significant injury list: Danny Andre Markov (ankle), Brian Gionta (foot), Hall Gill (foot), and Matt D’Agostini (concussion). But they got a couple guys back last night: George Laraque (upper body) and Ryan O’Byrne (lower body).

… The Wings’ injury list is no less significant, but you already know that. Imagine what this game could be with everyone healthy.

So, will the Wings step it up tonight? Will that mysterious Original Six magic mean both teams come to the rink to compete at their best?

Game Day Notes: vs. Florida

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Notes on tonight’s game against the Panthers.

… The Panthers are predictably low in the standings, having posted an 8-9-2 record thus far this season. Their 18 points are good for 13th in the East, but are still significantly more respectable than the ‘Canes 13 or the Leafs’ 12.

… They are coming off a 6-2 win over the Sabres Wednesday night. They managed to get four goals on Miller, which is not something that’s easy to do. So, they have it in them to be dangerous.

… The Panthers will be without Nick Tarnasky (broken face) and David Booth (concussion) tonight. It’s the latter that’s most unfortunate: the circumstances of his injury were ridiculous and preventable.

He was the victim of a disgusting, vicious Mike Richards blindside hit last month and has been out ever since. So out, in fact, he’s unable to do any physical activity because he gets a headache at the drop of a hat.

I don’t think I could care less about the Panthers, but just thinking about that hit and the fact that Richards got off without so much as a slap on the wrist really, really pisses me off. Booth is a promising young player in this League and now he’s sidelined because the NHL has failed to protect its players.

… Scott Clemmensen will start tonight rather than Tomas Vokun. I’d laugh at Clemmensen, who used to be Brodeur’s “backup,” but last year, he got the Devils to the playoffs while Martin was out with an injury. And then he got demoted to the AHL, if I recall correctly. He’s got a 5.14 GAA this year, but I’m not writing him off.

… The Wings will look to rebound from a weak effort Wednesday night against Dallas. They’ll need a return to the effort levels that won them six in seven.

… Brad May will exit the lineup for Kirk Maltby tonight.

… Chris Osgood finally returns to the net after battling a bad case of the flu.

… Unfamiliarity with the Panthers together with some possible taking of a win against a 13th-place team could make this one interesting. Play a full 60, guys.