Archive for the 'Darren McCarty' Category

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Ritola, Helm returned to Griffins

Published by Matt Saler on March 17, 2008 at 12:49 pm in Aaron Downey, Darren Helm, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Kris Draper and Mattias Ritola. 1 Comment

Update (3:15 PM): I was wrong about Holmstrom.

Bruce MacLeod reports that Kris Draper is a “maybe” for Wednesday, while neither Tomas Holmstrom nor Darren McCarty are expected to be ready. Downey, however, is able to return.

If Draper (or Holmstrom or McCarty) is not able to make it back, the team will recall Mattias Ritola or Darren Helm. - Matt

According to Griffinshockey.com, the Wings have returned Mattias Ritola and Darren Helm to Grand Rapids. As pointed out by George Malik, that should mean two of Aaron Downey (flu), Tomas Holmstrom (abdominal/groin), Kris Draper (groin tear), and Darren McCarty (ribs) will be back Wednesday night.

My guess? Downey, who should be over his flu, and Holmstrom, whose injury seemed less severe than Draper’s. That would make the forward corps look like this:

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

Of course, that’s just speculation. It’s also possible that McCarty could make his return debut at the expense of Downey, though I’d be surprised if Draper plays.

3/8 Injury Update

Published by Matt Saler on March 8, 2008 at 4:27 pm in Brett Lebda, Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom and Valtteri Filppula. 0 Comments

… Helene St. James, Ansar Khan, and Bruce MacLeod all have Tomas Holmstrom out tomorrow with a groin/abdominal injury. Apparently, Homer has dealt with such pain before this season, but it’s more severe this time around. According to Khan, he’ll have an ultrasound on Sunday.

The absence of Holmstrom means Mark Hartigan will be in the lineup.

… All three beat writers say Nick Lidstrom (knee sprain) is still scheduled to play tomorrow, though his status won’t be finalized until after the pre-game skate.

… Brett Lebda did not practice today due to an illness and is not going to play tomorrow. Either Jonathan Ericsson or Derek Meech will fill in for him. Babcock did not specify.

… Khan says Chris Chelios (bone chip, right leg) is in playing condition, but the team is being cautious. Apparently we can expect him back Tuesday.

… According to MacLeod, Darren McCarty has his own locker stall now, but he did not practice today due to his rib injury. He will not play tomorrow.

… Valtteri Filppula practiced today after missing yesterday’s with a sore thigh. He’s expected to play tomorrow.

McCarty recalled

Published by Matt Saler on March 7, 2008 at 8:59 pm in Darren McCarty, Injuries and Links. 0 Comments

The official blog reports that the Wings have recalled Darren McCarty from the Grand Rapids Griffins. A rib injury puts his status at day-to-day, but he’s officially a Red Wing again.

Bruce MacLeod has more here. Also be sure to read this interview with the Grand Rapids Press’ Michael Zuidema at Abel to Yzerman.

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3/7 Post-practice Update

Published by Matt Saler on March 7, 2008 at 1:08 pm in Chris Chelios, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Nick Lidstrom, Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula. 0 Comments

Bruce MacLeod has the latest from the Joe:

… Nick Lidstrom (knee) participated in battle drills today and is headed for a Sunday return. The team will finalize his status on Saturday after practice.

… Chris Chelios (bone chip, right leg) is feeling better and hopes to be ready to play against Nashville. However, MacLeod says it’s unlikely he’ll dress and that he’s it’s a better bet he’ll return Tuesday.

… Darren McCarty is in town, but only to undergo treatment for a rib injury he suffered Sunday. He played through it Wednesday night, but must have aggravated it during that game. MacLeod says he may play for the Griffins Saturday night. He’ll be back in Detroit on Monday as his conditioning stint will be over.

… Valtteri Filppula apparently has a leg injury that kept him out of practice. Mike Babcock said he’ll be okay for Sunday, though.

… Tomas Kopecky skated and suffered no ill effects from the big hit he took late in the game Wednesday night.

Q and A with Darren “Graybush” McCarty

Published by Megan Saler on March 2, 2008 at 8:43 pm in 2007-2008, Darren McCarty, Griffins and Stanley Cup. 1 Comment

Update (3. Mar, 6:19PM): More on the event from the Micheal Zuidema of the GR Press here -Sarah

Darren McCarty held a Q and A session with Griffins season ticket holders after tonight’s 6-4 win over Lake Erie. We (Sarah and Megan) were fortunate enough to be in attendance. The first question was if he was okay, after a hard hit in the third sent him to the dressing room. For the record, he’s fine. The main thing he talked about was his journey back to hockey. He talked about the tough decisions he had to make when leaving Calgary, and that coming back to Detroit was not about hockey. He said he never expected to get this far, and he’s just taking it one day at a time. He also talked about his experience in Grand Rapids, and what the organization and fans have meant to him.

When asked about what it was like playing with so many young kids, McCarty laughed and revealed his nickname on the team. Graybush. He said he really enjoys having the opportunity to share his wisdom and help guys improve their game. He said the really cool thing was giving advice and watching the young guys put it into action. While talking about this, Darren’s face broke into a huge smile. We got the impression that this gave him a sense of accomplishment and he liked the idea of helping shape future players. It was then that the question of a possible future in coaching came up. He said he’s thought about it a little, but he was worried about the amount of work and time it would consume. However, he did say that when his kids got older he would need something to do. By the end, it really sounded like that was a path he was very interested in.

One fan asked what he expects his role to be in Detroit. McCarty first started with saying how much fun it’s been to play in GR, where he’s on the top line and PP unit. He knows that is far from what he will do in Detroit, but it was a fun change for him. As far as the Red Wings, he expects to once again offer intangibles that will help the goal scorers to do what they do.

There were a lot of questions about his past and what it was like to leave Detroit. One of those questions referred to the reports that he’d had to give up his Stanley Cup Rings during his bankruptcy. He set the record straight, saying that he was able to work something out with the trustees to save the rings for his kids. He also said some friends stepped in and saved some memorabilia for him, though he did not specify.

Darren expressed a tremendous amount of gratitude to the fans for the welcome he has received here in GR. He said that his home opener hat trick was his 3rd favorite game of his career (1st being game 4 Stanley Cup 1997, 2nd being Fight Night in Detroit). He also promised to bring the Cup to Hockeytown West when Detroit wins it this spring. He said it was the least he could do for us.

He said more, but our memories are only so good (in fact, quite bad) and we were a little starstruck. Hopefully the Griffins will post the audio later. If so, we will have a link.

McCarty accepts offer

Published by Matt Saler on February 25, 2008 at 1:41 pm in Darren McCarty, Links and Roster Moves. 2 Comments

Ryan Doherty reports that Darren McCarty has accepted the Wings’ contract offer. The official site reports that he’ll stay in Grand Rapids for two weeks on a conditioning stint, after which “he’ll likely rejoin the Red Wings with the hopes of winning a roster spot.” So, it looks like earlier reports that had Mac in GR for the rest of the regular season were wrong.

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On Darren McCarty’s home debut

Published by Matt Saler on February 15, 2008 at 10:50 pm in AHL, Darren McCarty and Griffins. 4 Comments

Update (11:19 PM): You can read the Grand Rapids Press recap of the game here. - Matt

Darren McCarty’s first game in front of a packed-out Van Andel was a big one. The former Red Wings bruiser scored a hat trick and added a late assist on his way to being named the arena’s first star. He was a huge hit with the crowd, which took every opportunity to cheer him

His first goal was an easy ~~redirect~~ slam dunk of a the rebound of a Darren Helm ~~pass~~ shot on the Griffins’ second shot. His second came on the power play in the second period was he stuffed it between the feet of the Lake Erie goalie from the side of the net. He finished the trick with a blast from the right circle that beat the goalie blocker side, just inside the left post. In addition to the goals, Mac dealt out a few big hits and provided just the spark the Griffins needed to overcome two Lake Erie leads.

I was definitely impressed with him. He’s obviously still not in tip-top shape, but he looked good. I was only disappointed he didn’t get a natural hat trick. It’s too much to expect him to contribute three goals every night, but I think his presence in the lineup had the Griffins playing closer to their potential. They certainly looked better than they had in any of the other games I’ve been to and heard about this season. That’s the value he brings to the Griffins and if he can draw crowds like he did tonight, the franchise will do better as a whole.

Because the Monsters are the primary affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, it was interesting to see how chippy the game got as it went on. There were two all-out fights involving Jamie Tardiff and plenty of post-play scrums that got pretty nasty.

I went into the game with the aim of focusing on Jonathan Ericsson as well as McCarty. I was impressed with the big young Swede was well. He’s got great size and has a booming shot to go with a good defensive sense. His goal was a perfectly-placed snapper, just below the crossbar. He looked steady out there and definitely earned the second star. I look forward to seeing him in the Winged Wheel.

Jakub Kindl, on the other hand, was a disappointment. He definitely needs more experience before he’ll be NHL-ready.

I do not regret passing up the Wings’ embarrassing loss to Columbus in favor of Darren McCarty’s home debut and three-goal night. It was a great game and I’m glad I got to see it.

Rafalski out, Quincey in

Published by Matt Saler on February 14, 2008 at 1:44 pm in Brian Rafalski, Darren McCarty, Injuries, Jonathan Ericsson and Kyle Quincey. 3 Comments

Update (1:55 PM): In his post on the Rafalski/Quincey situation, Ansar Khan includes an update on Niklas Kronwall. Apparently, he is hoping to play Sunday against the Stars. Khan provides no evidence for whether that’s realistic or not.

Also, it does not appear that Dominik Hasek (hip flexor) is very near returning, as Mike Babcock professed not to know his status. - Matt

Ryan Foherty reports that Brian Rafalski (groin) will sit out tomorrow night’s game against Columbus. Evidently, he suffered the injury during the Nashville game Tuesday night.

The team has called up Kyle Quincey from the AHL to fill in during Rafalski’s absence. To be frank, I don’t understand why Quincey was chosen instead of Jonathan Ericsson., who has over twice the points Quincey has and is +4. Quincey is -5 and, by all accounts, has not been the same player since being demoted to Grand Rapids after playing with the Wings in the playoffs.

Ericsson, I’m told, has had a solid year in the midst of the Griffins’ troubles this season. Perhaps that’s the reason the Wings opted for Quincey: the Griffins cannot afford to lose Ericsson and Quincey could use the confidence boost.

It doesn’t appear to be a waiver issue, as Ericsson is described by Red Wings Central as having a “waiver-free status.”

In any case, Rafalski is a big loss, even though he’s only day-to-day. The last thing the Wings needed was to lose one of their better skaters as they head into a contest with a young Columbus team that’s fighting for a playoff spot.

It will, however, be interesting to see Derek Meech take on a larger role, if only for one game. My confidence in #14 is growing.

I apologize for the lack of posting this week. It’s been a bit busy at my end, but hopefully things will quiet down after this week.

By the way, I met Darren McCarty Tuesday night in Holland. I’ll be at his home debut tomorrow night, as well.

It’s official: McCarty signed to PTO

Published by Matt Saler on February 4, 2008 at 12:23 pm in AHL, Darren McCarty and Griffins. 0 Comments

Via Red Wings Corner: the NHL has given Darren McCarty clearance to play in the AHL and the former Red Wing forward has been signed to a professional tryout with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Ryan Foherty reports that Mac will practice with the Griffins today and will play his first game Friday against the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.

McCarty will make his home debut on February 15th at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. It will be the Griffins’ first homegame in two weeks. If all goes well in getting tickets, Sarah, Megan, and I will be at that game.

A2Y: McCarty to Grand Rapids?

Published by Matt Saler on January 4, 2008 at 6:19 pm in Darren McCarty and Links. 0 Comments

Update (05. Jan, 9:15 AM): George Malik has the transcript, if you don’t want to take the time to find the spot on the mp3. - Matt

Update (8:57 PM): Here’s the audio (12.9 MB mp3, 8:30 or so in). (via Snapshots) - Matt

Update (8:50 PM): The latest iteration of Iwo’s post has some good advice: wait until it comes from the mouth of Ken Holland. Until that happens, it’s just Chris Chelios spouting off. - Matt

Update (6:30 PM): Iwo’s got the following quote from Chelios that makes it sound more like it’s more Cheli’s speculation/hope than anything else:

“If he still has that burn to play that game, lose the weight, get him to Grand Rapids and come back to the Wings in some form. That would be great.”

- Matt

According to IwoCPO, Chris Chelios just told Stony and Wojo that there’s a chance Darren McCarty could end up with the Griffins rather than the Flint Generals. From there, the chances of him returning to the Wings, while slight, increase dramatically from what they were just a short while ago.

I don’t know what to really make of that. It would certainly go a long way in solving any attendance problems the Griffins may have, not to mention those of the Wings, if he gets called up. On the other hand, I remember the pre-Lockout Mac being pretty underwhelming and I have to wonder if he really has any playability left.

Also, I wonder if this has anything to do with Darren’s trouble getting clearance from the NHL to play in the IHL.

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