Mowers had 4 goals and 11 assists in 46 games last season, and was +13. He joins Dave Lewis in Boston, where there is speculation Brendan Shanahan is also heading.
Author Archive for Brian ListPage 3 of 33
It looks like the Wings’ tactic of waiting out the free agency market has led to Ed Belfour becoming a leading option in net. Belfour, 41, was in Detroit today to undergo a physical, and the results of MRI’s on his knees and back will help Wings management with a decision. Belfour, who has a home in St. Clair, seems excited:
“I feel great, the rehab has gone real well. I’m very interested. I’ve always loved Detroit.”
Holland clarifies his interest level:
“Depending on his health, we have some interest. He feels pretty optimistic about his back. Our doctors are going to look over him, and we’ll make a decision in the next couple of days…When he’s healthy and at his best, he’s a top goaltender.”
Belfour was slated to make $4.5 million with Toronto next season, but was bought out so the Leafs could sign the younger, healthier goaltender in Andrew Raycroft, 26. The former Bruin was recently signed to a three year, $6 million deal, after the Leafs acquired him in a trade for goalie prospect Tuukka Rask.
It all makes me think, if Raycroft is good enough for the Leafs, why not for us? They aren’t paying him all that much, and it’s not like they traded away a top line player for him. We’d probably sign Belfour for around the salary Raycroft is getting, so I don’t see the point in investing in a 41 year old goaltender over a 26 year old one. I’d rather have Hasek back instead, almost, if it weren’t for the nature of his second stint here. Ken Holland has a lot of questions to answer. Maybe he’ll use his new “special assistant” in Steve Yzerman as a point man on the answering to growing fan uncertainty. A2Y has a good take on Holland.
This won’t be a gushing piece about how Steve Yzerman is ”beyond legendary” with countless superlatives describing his career. I’ve decided to instead think about my best memories of him and share a few pictures from throughout his career. In no particular order, other than the order in which I recalled them throughout the night. I’ve decided to make the memories a little off the beaten path so you don’t just get a bunch of Cup winning poses. I will add memories in the next few days if I can think of any more.
October 9, 2003
After having osteotomy surgery for knee realignment during the summer of 2002, Yzerman only played 16 games in the 2002-03 season. The date was opening night at the Joe, and Steve Yzerman scored with 1.7 seconds left to give the Wings a 3-2 win over the LA Kings. I remember watching that night thinking there was no way the Wings could lose the game, that it was opening night and Yzerman was back at home ready to begin a full season. It was an amazing way to open the season at home and really gave fans a lift, and a feeling that Yzerman was back in great form.
October 30, 2003
The officiating on this night was disgusting, with Mike Leggo and Tim Peel in charge. The Wings lost 5-3 to the Nashville Predators. A holding call on Nicklas Lidstrom led to Steve Yzerman lashing out at Leggo and getting thrown out of the game. I remember him exiting through the zamboni tunnel and throwing one of his glove’s onto the ice in protest. It stuck out in my mind because it was a rare show of frustration for a usually quiet and polite captain.
November 13, 1998
The Wings lost to the Dallas Stars 5-1, and this game introduced me to Dan Keczmer, an obscure player I’ll never forget. The Mt Clemens, MI native slammed Yzerman from behind into the boards. This led to Yzerman throwing off his gloves and taking a swing at Keczmer. Darren McCarty was nearby and finished off the fight with Keczmer. This is the only time I can remember seeing Yzerman fight, and has caused me to remember the nobody NHL player that is Dan Keczmer. Side note: Yzerman also fought Maguire in 1987, Wings versus Buffalo. Probert came after Maguire shortly after for revenge after the Captain took a beating.
May 16, 1996
It was Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals, and the game was 0-0 headed into the second overtime. It took just 75 seconds into the second overtime for Steve Yzerman to beat St Louis goaltender Jon Casey over the right shoulder, with a 60-foot slap shot from near the blue line. Yzerman had picked up a Wayne Gretzky turnover near center ice before taking his famous shot. I was 10 years old , and had stayed up late on that Thursday school-night to watch the Wings. Even though the Wings lost to the Avs in the Conference Finals (The Hit occuring on May 30, 1996), Yzerman’s goal and celebration, jumping along the boards before being mobbed by his teammates, will always stick with me. In fact, beyond the Cup wins, this is my favorite Red Wing memory.
1986
While it’s not really a memory I have, being only 1 year old at the time, I thought this was a really neat picture showing Jacques Demers awarding Steve Yzerman with the “C,” succeeding Danny Gare. It might’ve even happened in his Riverfront apartment, where he is seen below.
He shared an apartment with Lane Lambert in 1984, and they are seen making hot dogs and macaroni & cheese for lunch above.
May 29, 2002
It was Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals in Denver, and the Wings were down 3-2 in the series. At 19:21 of the first period, Brendan Shanahan scored the game-winning goal of the 2-0 victory, setting the stage for the Wings’ 7-0 Game 7 shredding of Roy. The goal was the famous “Statue of Liberty” goal, in which Patrick Roy raised his glove after making a point-blank save on Yzerman. He didn’t have control of the puck though, and Shanahan jumped on the puck as it laid in the crease.
June 13, 2002
The Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and captured their third Cup in six years. It was a special night, as Steve Yzerman handed the Cup to Scotty Bowman, who had earlier whispered in Yzerman’s ear that he was retiring. It was Bowman’s 9th Cup, breaking the tie with Toe Blake. It was also a special Cup win in that Yzerman willed his way through the playoffs with knee problems, often using his stick as a crutch to get off the ice after receiving crushing checks.
Even though Nicklas Lidstrom won the Conn Smythe after the Wings won the Cup in 2002, Yzerman’s gutsy effort and leadership in playing through obvious pain was a big reason for the Wings Cup win.
January 8, 2001
Steve Yzerman scored the game winning goal after deiking Avs goalie Patrick Roy out of his jockstrap in the Wings’ 4-3 win. The goal came 68 seconds into OT, when Yzerman stole a Ray Bourque clearing attempt. The Avs had not lost in 25 straight regular-season overtime games, and Yzerman had 2 goals and 1 assist on the night. It was one of the Captain’s best goals that I can remember.
*Thanks to the Free Press and Detroit News for inspiring galleries of Steve Yzerman’s career.
GM Ken Holland has worked his magic and gotten Nicklas Lidstrom to sign a two-year, $7.6 million/season contract. This comes despite news that the salary cap will be raised to $44 million next season, after higher than expected profits during this past season (when the cap was $39 million). Based on the increase in cap space, Lidstrom could’ve demanded a raise to around $8.5 million to stay around the same percent salary of cap space. And with his fourth Norris Trophy win, he could’ve even entertained the prospects of a $8.8 million contract (20% of the cap for 2006-2007). Prior to the lockout, Lidstrom was pegged to make $10 million during the 2005-06 season, but the 24% rollback brought that number down to $7.6 million.
This is a honorable move by Lidstrom, who by all reports was expected to get a raise to at least $8 million/season. That extra $400,000 in cap space will allow Holland more flexibility in signing remaining prospects and regulars. And it sets the bar for Shanahan to also sign for the “hometown discount” that Holland has been talking about lately.
Frankly, I’m very surprised that Lidstrom signed for anything less than $8 million, as he had a great bargaining position with his career-high 80 point season and fourth Norris Trophy win. Holland, on the other hand, suffered another first round defeat and knew other teams would offer Lidstrom practically whatever he demanded. It shows Lidstrom’s dedication to the team that has helped him win 3 Stanley Cups.
It looks like Dave Lewis finally caught a coaching break. After getting fired late in the summer last year, he was unable to find a coaching position due to the timing of his departure and team stances after the lockout. He worked as a scout with the Wings for the past season. But it looks like the Boston Bruins are going to hire him as their new head coach, after recently firing Mike Sullivan. Congratulations, Dave!
On the eve of the NHL draft, the Vancouver Canucks have traded Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alexander Auld to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Roberto Luongo and Lukas Krajicek. Rumors of Vancouver moving Bertuzzi for Luongo had been circulating this week, but it comes as a surprise that they also gave up Bryan Allen and Auld. This was a tough offer for the Wings to beat, the approximate equivalent of a Datsyuk, Osgood, Lebda trade.
I would not have liked that if Holland had gone that far. Both Bertuzzi and Luongo will be UFA’s next summer, so I’d have a hard time giving as much up as the Canucks did. Jes Golbez agrees with me. Also, check out the Vancouver Canucks Op Ed reaction here and Mirtle’s reaction here. And if there was a Florida Panthers blog I could link to, and this non-existent blog had a reaction, it would be linked here. Someone start a Panthers blog or drop a link, eh?
The one thing I like about the deal is that Bryan Allen is going to be in the Eastern Conference. If you remember, he was the player who broke Zetterberg’s leg with a dirty slash and caused Derian Hatcher’s torn ACL off incidental contact. Good riddance, you punk. Bertuzzi being in the Eastern Conference is also great.
If I was a Colorado Avalanche fan, I would be very worried with Luongo joining the Northwest Division. But the Wings only face the Canucks four times during the regular season, so it isn’t as big of an issue for us, until the playoffs at least. It looks like the Wings will have to go after Giguere now, as A2Y says.
A shocking report out of Edmonton. Chris Pronger has asked the Oilers for a trade, after he helped lead them to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. The reasons are based on “personal, family considerations.” Granted, some are saying Al Strachan has a hand in this rumor, so take it with a grain of salt. Oilers GM Kevin Lowe reacts:
“I think they’re more rumblings than anything. I’m pretty focused on the draft right now I don’t want to get too much into player personnel stuff.”
On whether Pronger has said anything to him:
“He hasn’t asked me. I’ll just leave it at that…We just got over a seven-game series in the Stanley Cup finals and there seems to be a lot of discussion about this and I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Let’s put it this way. Why would we want to trade Chris Pronger? One thing I’ve learned in my five or six years as a manager is that stuff tends to out of right field for whatever reasons. It can be agendas, hidden agendas, certain motivations, so nothing surprises me.”
You’ve heard it first, here. I’m going to start a rumor and say Chris Pronger will become a Red Wing and his $6.25 million salary will be offset when Nick Lidstrom signs for $1 million in reaction, Paul Kariya style! It’s a great dream, anyways.
Oh, I’d also like to mention that the Canes signed Rod Brind’Amour to a five year deal. It’s a bit surprising to me to see them lock Brind’Amour, 36 in August, up for such a lengthy deal. He is the captain and all, but I would’ve signed him for three years max if I was the Canes GM.
Update (24. Jun, 12:01 AM, Matt): In spite of this trade, Ansar Khan still won’t let go of the idea of Luongo in the Winged Wheel, posting the following to his blog tonight:
Well, is it too soon to start writing about how the Red Wings need to sign Roberto Luongo as a free agent in 2007?
Ansar, the Canucks are going to sign him in the next couple days. Okay? I’m sorry.
Khan wraps up the post with comments on possible Plan B’s such as Biron, Raycroft, Giguere, Aebischer, Gerber, Roloson, etc, etc. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see which one of them, if any, it’ll be. – Matt
Something the Red Wings can use to leverage Luongo’s potential contract closer to the $5 million mark. Just acquiring him will be hard to do with all the talk of Bertuzzi or Pronger for Luongo, though.
The 2006 NHL Awards took place in Vancouver, BC tonight from 8-10 pm. The biggest surprises of the night for me were Lindy Ruff winning the Jack Adams over Peter Laviolette and Miikka Kiprusoff winning the Vezina over Martin Brodeur. The Red Wings went 2-for-2 with the awards they were up for, with Pavel Datsyuk picking up the Lady Byng and Nicklas Lidstrom picking up the Norris.
The show opened with a good interview with Ovechkin and Crosby, where they talked about the competition between them during the regular season. The players walked down the NHL’s version of the red carpet, and Scotty Bowman and Nicklas Lidstrom were seen signing autographs. By the way, it seemed like this one guy with a New York Rangers jersey got every single player’s autograph who walked by.
Ron MacLean wore a referee styled jacket and said a few corny jokes before beginning the award presentations. Winners are listed below.
CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY: Alexander Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY: Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina Hurricanes
HART MEMORIAL TROPHY: Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks.
JACK ADAMS AWARD : Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY: Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD: Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
VEZINA TROPHY: Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
ART ROSS TROPHY: Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
WILLIAM M. JENNINGS TROPHY: Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
BILL MASTERTON MEMORIAL TROPHY: Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks (new name!)
KING CLANCY MEMORIAL TROPHY: Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
MAURICE RICHARD TROPHY: Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
Mike Babcock accepted the Lady Byng on Datsyuk’s behalf, and awkwardly didn’t go up to the mic and say a few words. Later in the show, when Kiprussov won the Vezina, Darryl Sutter accepted it for him and did a speech thanking the coaching staff (ha ha) and saying how Kiprussov told him not to swear. It came off a lot better than Babcock jumping on stage and saying nothing, at least. Oh, and I loved the fact that Brodeur didn’t win the Vezina.
Lidstrom did a good job accepting his fourth Norris in five seasons, but I didn’t really catch anything interesting out of his acceptance speech. It sounded like I’ve heard it before. He did say he might be talking to GM Ken Holland after the show, maybe so they can get some contract talks done!
I was soo glad Lindy Ruff won the Adams over Laviolette, because he really did a great job with Buffalo this season and just edged out Peter Laviolette, 155-154, in the votes. None of the other awards were nearly this close in voting.
When Kiprussov was honored for winning the Jennings, Brendan Peters, the kid they always showed in the stands during the playoffs with the Flames goalie equipment on, accepted for his favorite player. That was a nice touch.
Brian Burke and Tom Cochrane presented the Masterton to Teemu Selanne, who accepted via video from Finland, where he is running a charity hockey camp. Datsyuk could’ve at least prepared a video clip like Teemu did, but I guess he didn’t expect to win the Lady Byng.
Ovechkin won the Calder, and gave probably the funniest speech of the night. He thanked his agent or assistant for cleaning his house and helping him buy his car and food at the grocery store. In his tone and Russian accent, it sounded really funny.
Mark Messier awarded the Hart to Thornton, who gave the best speech of the night. He was very clear and concise, and seemed the most comfortable on stage in front of the mic. This part of the awards show is always a big question every year, because hockey players are not the best at giving acceptance speeches. But this year every player did well in this area.
Confirming most of our beliefs, Yzerman did in fact consider retiring midseason. He was frustrated with his low ice time, but when Robert Lang suffered a groin injury on Nov. 28 and his minutes increased, he changed his mind. That Nov. 28 game in LA was supposed to be Yzerman’s last away game.
Update (7:13 PM, 02. May): Okay, enough with the comments about our interpretation of, and reaction to, Hemsky’s first goal. None of us at OtW believe that goal was the reason the Wings lost and I believe Brian stated that pretty clearly in his first paragraph.
I personally distinctly remember seeing Hemsky’s foot turn, pull back, and move forward in an umistakable kicking-like motion. But, as many of you have been so kind to point out, the puck went in off the crest of his jersey, not the foot, so any type of kicking motion is entirely irrelevant.
The goal obviously should have counted and we know it wasn’t the game winner. So, don’t think we OtW bloggers, at least, believe that’s why Edmonton won, or that we are whining about it. The juveniles in the forums, maybe, but not us. The posted reaction is just an attempt to come to terms with it all.
That said, having the game tied up in such a screwy way brutally sucked and I still have a bad taste in my mouth. That’s all I have to say for now. Maybe in a day or two I’ll have more.
And, for those of you who are coming here to leave a gloating comment, acquire some class and bug off. — Matt
The Wings lost a 2-0 lead in the third period, as well as a 3-2 lead with four minutes left, and a goal from Hemsky with 1:06 remaining gave Edmonton a 4-3 win over the Wings. Edmonton won their first playoff series in 8 years, 4-2 , and did it at home. Yzerman had 13:04 of ice time, and assisted on Robert Lang’s power play goal in the 2nd. Manny Legace had 26 saves on 30 shots, and wasn’t individually to blame for the loss tonight. To blame was Andreas Lilja, who blew coverage on the winning goal as well as on the goal that made it 2-2 midway through the 3rd period. He flat out left Legace out to dry by covering the wrong guys and leaving Pisani and Hemsky open for their respective goals. Holland should be eating crow for recently signing Lilja to a 2 year, $2 million deal. Also, Samuelsson didn’t help with his turnovers and two penalties in the 1st. Finally, the Wings dominated the 2nd period with 17-2 shots, but only converted that lopsided margin in chances to one goal. That and a number of shots hitting the post will haunt the Wings all summer. Tonight it was more a breakdown in defensive coverage than a lack of offense that killed the Wings, though more goals would’ve helped of course.
First Period
Both teams started the game with energy, with Zetterberg opening the scoring chances at 0:53. On the play, Zetterberg got a point blank chance after the puck took a bad bounce in front of Roloson. The Wings sustained pressure on the Edmonton end, and Datsyuk was strong on the next shift with a chance between the circles.
At 2:36, Yzerman took his first check of the game from Stoll and appeared very sensitive coming off of it. He would play only 3 minutes and take only one faceoff in the first, due to his back injury. At 3:59, Lebda jumped in on offense and his shot almost caught Roloson off guard with Samuelsson creating trouble in front. Draper followed the rebound with his own shot on Roloson.
At 4:19, Samuelsson was caught hooking Horcoff. It was an automatic call, and a bad way to start the game for the Wings. Samsonov had the best chance of the Oilers powerplay, driving the net off the near side with bad angle shot on Legace. Cleary cleared the Wings zone (how appropriate), and the Wings killed off the first Oilers powerplay.
For the next two minutes, the Oilers commanded the tempo and stuck in the Wings zone with sustained pressure. The Wings didn’t allow any quality chances, but their offensive stagnation was disappointing.
At 7:50, Samsonov had a wrap-around chance on Legace after a Wings giveaway behind the net. Then, at 8:16, Schneider coughed the puck up at center and Horcoff nearly had a breakaway. Luckily, he was not confident with the puck and pulled back to dump it off to a teammate. The Oilers had a tendency of doing that tonight.
At the midpoint of the period, the Oilers had an 8-4 advantage in shots and the crowd was into it. The Oilers were getting a lot of odd man rushes, the result of Wings giveaways and trouble passing the puck (partly the same thing).
At 10:33, Schneider was called for high sticking behind the play, as the Wings were about to carry the puck into the Oiler zone. Samsonov was strong again, and forced Manny to make a tough glove save in traffic. The Wings had a good penalty kill other than that, with blocked shots from Chelios and finally Maltby.
Coming off the penalty kill, I noted how the Wings were in desperate need of a powerplay to kill the Edmonton momentum. Soon after, at 14:36, Zetterberg scored an even-strength goal. On the play, a falling Samuelson passed across to Zetterberg on the near side. Zetterberg took the pass and beat a poorly positioned Spacek, before deiking on Roloson to make it 1-0 Wings. It was a very timely goal for Zetterberg, the Wings needing it to kill the energy of the crowd. Now my focus was getting the Wings to escape this period still up a goal, since Edmonton had carried all the play until this out-of-the-blue goal by Henrik.
At 16:29, Samuelsson was called for high sticking, his stick riding up Jason Smith’s arms to make contact near the face. A Pronger blast at 16:35 hit the post to the left of Manny, the refs quickly waving it off. It looked good, and it was a break for the Wings that it clanked off the post.
Draper and Maltby had a shorthanded 2-on-1, but Maltby was stopped on a pretty weak shot. A Pronger interference call at 17:09 nullified the Oiler powerplay. He was called for picking a Wings player, something Oilers fans thought should’ve been called on Lidstrom during the winning goal of Game 4.
The Wings got a 40 second powerplay after Samuelsson got out of the box, but they couldn’t even gain the Oiler zone. Shots were 15-10 for the Oilers in the first period, and the Wings were very lucky to escape with a 1-0 lead.
Second Period
The Oilers opened the second period with a wrap-around chance from Pisani at 1:05, with Torres in front. Legace had good positioning and made the save on the post. It would be one of the few Oiler chances of the second period. At 3:03, Maltby had a backhand chance off the near side. The rebound fluttered out to the mouth of the crease, but there was no trailing Wing on the play to pick it up.
At 4:54, Spacek was caught hooking Lang after a Rem Murray giveaway. It was a good penalty for the Oilers to take after the turnover. The Wings powerplay lasted only 24 seconds, with a Holmstrom penalty for goaltender interference nullifying the man advantage. At 6:46, Datsyuk clanked one off the post after picking up a Spacek turnover. Williams picked up another Spacek turnover soon after, to which the CBC crew joked that Spacek shouldn’t have gotten out of bed this morning.
The story of the second period was Edmonton’s inability to convert on dump-ins, and their subsequent passing up the middle led to a number of turnovers (Spacek the culprit on a few just mentioned).
At 9:24, Cleary nearly scored after shooting on Roloson from behind the net. Roloson was awkward on the save, twisting around to grab Cleary’s rebound chance. At 11:55, Yzerman carried it into the Oiler zone and made his patented cut-back move. His shot went off the near post, and it was good to see Yzerman have an energetic shift like that. After this chance, the CBC crew began what became a complement-athon of Yzerman’s career and they basically put up all his career numbers. You can bet they were waiting to do this.
At 13:51, Pronger was called for high sticking on Samuelsson. The Wings scored just 11 seconds into the powerplay, with Yzerman centering Lang for a between the circles bang-bang play. Yzerman’s faceoff win over Stoll was crucial on this play. 2-0 Wings. At this point, shots were 10-1 Wings in the 2nd.
At 15:11, Hemsky had a near-breakaway, but he pulled up looking to pass it, apparently afraid to carry the puck and use his own speed. After getting booted from a faceoff, Yzerman had a wrist shot that went off Roloson’s shoulder and fluttered behind him. Although he lost track of it, Roloson was able to do a snow-angel and catch the puck on the goal-line.
At 16:40, Shanahan hit the post driving the net and ran right over Roloson, drawing boos and the “bull sh*t” chant. This also led the CBC crew to pull out the scripted argument that any non-call on the Wings is due to their being veterans and thus are “reputation calls.” Now that’s bull sh*t. The Wings closed out the period strong, and led shots 17-2 in the 2nd.
Third Period
The Oilers’ second period was so bad that Don Cherry came out in the second intermission (he usually only does the first intermission) to call it a “disgrace for a team at home to play like that.” Well, the Oilers must’ve been watching CBC in the locker room, because they definitely turned it around in the third. It also didn’t help when Mickey Redmond jinxed the Wings by saying we didn’t need any more goals and could just protect our lead to win. Right…when have two goals ever been enough this series?
At 1:44, Datsyuk broke in 1-on-1 with Staios, and got decked by Staios after getting a shot off. At 2:43, Winchester had a good chance in front on a one-timer, but fanned on it. This came after Kronwall failed to clear the zone. A scrum ensued, and Williams was picked by the refs for a penalty after he jumped in late. The refs have been doing this all playoffs to eliminate scrums after every stoppage, and Williams messed up.
The Williams roughing call came back to bite the Wings, with Pisani scoring at 2:56 to make it 2-1 Wings. It came off a rebound on a Stoll shot, and Manny was caught out of position after the initial save. Not a weak goal at all.
This brought the crowd into it, and Peca broke in on Legace at 3:36 after elbowing Lebda at center ice. It was a dirty hit, and the refs didn’t see it or else it would’ve been a penalty. The Peca breakaway fizzled out with not much of a shot on Manny, but Peca did enjoy running Manny over at the end.
At 6:10, Lebda hit the post from the far side, off a bad angle shot fed by Williams. I can’t take Lebda hitting the post anymore…At 6:40, the Oilers carried the puck down after the Lebda post, and Pisani scored alone in front of Manny. On the play, Lilja failed to cover his man, and left Pisani wide open and Manny out to dry. 2-2 tie. Pisani, the Edmonton native, was energetic throughout, and the crowd seemed to feed off his play.
Well, it was a new game now, with Edmonton owning the third period thus far. Mickey Redmond was eating crow after his prediction that the Wings’ 2-0 lead was enough to win it. At this point, shots were 5-1 Edmonton.
At 7:52, Moreau was called for tripping Kronwall in the Wings zone. On the powerplay, Datsyuk had a chance between the circles but switched to his backhand, and the shot wasn’t strong enough to beat Roloson. Shanahan and Lang missed the net on rebound chances.
At 10:07, Franzen scored an even-strength goal to make it 3-2 Wings. On the play, Maltby held it in the Edmonton zone and ripped it at the net. The shot went off the post, and Franzen picked up the rebound to stuff it into an empty net. It was Franzen’s 1st career playoff goal.
At this point, the crowd was killed and the Wings were generating great pressure in the Oilers zone. Things were looking great. With 5:36 left, the Edmonton crowd was begging for a powerplay and they finally got it with a Cleary interference call.
The Oilers scored at very controversial goal at 16:07, with Hemsky kicking the puck in the net following what should’ve been a high-stick on Horcoff. On the play, Horcoff had his stick above his head and redirected a point shot at Legace. Mike Leggo and Mick McGeough blew the call, as it was pretty obvious Horcoff tipped the puck with a high-stick. McGeough was the closest on the play. Legace attempted to cover the rebound off the Horcoff re-direct, but couldn’t get his glove on it. Hemsky picked up the rebound and was seen in the replay kicking it in, with Lidstrom pushing him in the back. McGeough called it a goal on the spot, and the play went under review to Toronto. It was ruled a goal. Since they couldn’t review the Horcoff high-stick, they could only review whether Hemsky kicked it in. It appeared obvious to everyone that he did, so the only reason I can see that they ruled it a goal was that Lidstrom was pushing him and could’ve contributed to the kicking motion. A bit much to go on to give the Oilers a 3-3 tie. But then again, the NHL would love to see the Battle of Alberta with Edmonton versus Calgary next round.
It was a horrible call by the league, and the Wings were as shocked as their fans were. With a few minutes left, all of us were thinking it would go to overtime and I was getting ready to find a snack. I even saw a commercial for Yzerman’s line of furniture and got a laugh out of that. But in a shocking turn of events, Hemsky scored with 1:06 left. Lilja left him all alone on the backdoor to receive a Samsonov pass, and it was 4-3 Oilers. Lilja is the bonehead of this year’s playoffs.
This is when all Wings fans saw the score and looked at the clock with shock. Here the Wings were, down a goal with only a minute left. This after being up with four minutes left. Complete shock. The Wings pulled Legace and put together a desperate, but unproductive attempt at a comeback. Moreau blocked their best chance in the final seconds. Datsyuk took the faceoff with 6 seconds left and won it, but the Wings couldn’t get one on net. And that was it. Oilers GM Kevin Lowe was seen consoling Yzerman, and the way Yzerman looked he is most likely done.
Results
The Wings’ third first round playoff exit in five seasons could bring about some changes in the locker room. Manny Legace comes to mind as the most obvious scapegoat. While no one can say he played badly, he certainly didn’t play well and gave the Wings no inspiration or confidence with his body language and post-game quotes throughout the series. It will be a huge offseason decision whether to retain Manny as the backup, or give Osgood that role. Both are unrestricted free agents this summer.
Chris Chelios will also have to decide whether he is coming back, and all indications are that he is. The Wings will gladly re-sign him. Nicklas Lidstrom is the biggest player who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Wings will give him whatever next season’s cap allows the maximum salary to be. Also, Brendan Shanahan is an unrestricted free agent and could possibly retire with a front office job with the NHL guaranteed. But I expect him to be back next season. Finally, Steve Yzerman’s contract is up and he will have to decide on whether he is returning. All indications are that he is not - he has been bitter and frustrated all season, and, despite his jump come playoff times, his back injury really put things back into perspective of his age and physical condition.
As for coaching, Babcock signed a three year deal with the Wings last summer. By the precedent of firing Dave Lewis after his second early playoff exit, Babcock is expected to be given another chance. Ken Holland is considered a core member of the front office, but his job should be scrutinized. His signing of Derian Hatcher and Ray Whitney were predictably bad from day one, and the Curtis Joseph situation was poorly managed and an embarrassment to the organization. Just some examples of bad recent moves. Gone are the days of Holland doing blockbuster moves with unlimited resources via Ilitch, so Holland’s role on the team deserves some constructive criticism - I’m not saying he’s out but some Wings strategies need tuning.
Quotes
Manny Legace:
“I feel like going home and hanging myself. To have such a great year and then such a disappointing last two weeks. And you’re out. You’re golfing. It’s hard to take.”
Coach Babcock:
“If we had caught a couple breaks we could have been up 4-0. But coulda, shoulda, woulda. They found a way to win and we’re going home. I’m shocked that we are in this situation…We’re going to have to evaluate our team this summer and if we have to make changes we’ll make changes. We don’t want to be about winning in the regular season and not getting it done in the playoffs. It’s hard to look at our team and think we wouldn’t have success in the playoffs.”
Steve Yzerman:
“I’m flying home tomorrow and that’s about as far as I can go. I think it is best to wait a few days. Whether it is later this week or next week, I’ll be ready to make a decision on my future then. It is such a fun game to play. That building tonight, the more times you are in situations like that, the more you come to enjoy it. I don’t know that I’m ever not going to want to play. But I’ll have a decision soon.”
