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GameDay: @ Chicago (0-1-0, 0 Pts) 8:30 ET

Published
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Matt Saler
on October 6, 2007
in 2007-2008, Blackhawks and GameDay
. 0 Comments

Tonight is the first of eight meetings between these two Central Division teams. The Wings won the season series last year, 7-1. They’ll face each other again next week and will play the remainder of their games over the course of the whole season, wrapping up with the last game.

The Blackhawks lost their season opener, 1-0 in Minnesota. They put up 27 shots, but ran into Niklas Backstrom, who Wild coach Jacque Lemaire said won the game for his team. Not only did the Hawks lose the game, they lost one of their most important players, Martin Havlat. The oft-injured Havlat apparently hurt his shoulder in a scrum in the third period. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the best the Hawks can hope for is that Havlat will only miss 7 games.

Our old friend Robert Lang will center the Hawks’ top line, with rookie Patrick Kane and abrasive Tuomo Ruutu on his wings. Jason Williams will skate on the second line with Rene Bourque and Yanic Perrault.

I expect Nikolai Khabibulin to be in net for Chicago tonight.

The Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in a shootout in their first game of the season. It was an impressive start to the game, though the shot totals were a bit misleading as many of the Wings’ 42 shots were low-percentage, long-distance shots. Overall, the Wings outplayed Anaheim, but it wasn’t by a whole lot.

The Wings fortunately don’t have any injuries to speak of.

Dominik Hasek will start again.

The Hawks are one of those teams with a lot of talent that have had a lot of trouble putting it together. I’d like to think they’re getting there, though. The Havlat injury certainly doesn’t help, but hopefully for them it won’t be long-term. If they can get big-money goaltending from Nikolai Khabibulin and production from their young guns as well, they could have a strong season. But tonight, I’ll be surprised if they give the Wings too much trouble.

Lang signs with Chicago

Published
by
Matt Saler
on July 2, 2007
in Blackhawks, Links and Robert Lang
. 0 Comments

Update (11:47PM): $8 million ($4 mil/yr), same as Bert’s deal. (via Snapshots) -Sarah

It’s a two-year deal, but the amount was not announced. We’ll be seeing a lot of ole’ Robert.

4/8 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 8, 2007
in Blackhawks, Flames, Kyle Calder, Kyle Quincey, Mikael Samuelsson and Playoffs
. 4 Comments

Update (6:30 PM): Via Alanah at Kukla’s, it looks like the Wings and Flames will kick off the postseason on Friday as Game 2 will be at 1:00 PM on Sunday on NBC. - Matt

Happy Easter, everyone. Just a few things before heading off to chu

… The Wings won their last game of the season last night, 7-2 over the Blackhawks. It was basically the dominating performance I’ve been hoping to see in these last games, as they skated circles around the Hawks until the third period, when they backed off a bit. As much as they controlled play, the Wings probably still wouldn’t have put up so many goals had Patrick Lalime allowed a bunch of stinkers. He had a bad game, and I think the fact that the Wings didn’t score in the third had as much to do with Nikolai Khabibulin coming in as their apparent decision to back off.

… Probably the best thing to come out of the game yesterday was the fact that both Mikael Samuelsson and Kyle Calder scored twice. For the Wings to succeed in the playoffs, they’re going to need guys like Sammy and Calder contributing, so hopefully their confidence and touch has returned. It was also good to see Tomas Holmstrom net his 30th.

… Kyle Quincey, in because Chris Chelios had the day off, continues to impress. I don’t remember seeing him make a bad defensive decision and he possesses the strength to handle most situations without much trouble. It looks like he has a good shot, too, as his first NHL goal was a boomer from the point. If he’s ranked behind Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericsson and still looks this solid, I’d say our defensive future is bright.

… The Wings’ playoff match up was decided last night when the Avs lost to Nashville. The first round opponent will be Calgary, a team the Wings tied in the season series 2-2.

I can’t say I’m thrilled about this matchup any more. A couple weeks ago, the Flames looked like they were floundering and seemed like a desirable team to play. Now, they’re scary, as Helene St. James outlines. As both Detroit wins came at JLA, the Wings’ home ice advantage could be key. It’ll be a tough series, that’s for sure, but maybe that’s what the Wings need. I do have a different feeling about this team, and I know they’re more capable of fighting for their lives than previous complacent Wings teams. They’re saying the right things, at least.

… Other Western Conference matchups:

Anaheim vs. Minnesota
Vancouver vs. Dallas
Nashville vs. San Jose

4/7 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 7, 2007
in 2006-2007, Avalanche, Blackhawks, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Ducks, Flames, GameDay, Henrik Zetterberg, Nick Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi
. 2 Comments

… Since we’re seeing Chicago for the second time in a row, there isn’t much need for a full preview. As far as the things covered in the preview for Thursday’s game, not much has changed, except for the obvious things like the season record (6-0-1 Wings) and the Hawks’ win streak (4 games), etc. Other than that, much is the same, such as Chris Osgood’s status. He’ll be starting, apparently, as Dominik Hasek will sit out with a sore thigh.

The biggest situational difference is the Wings’ place in the standings, which was frozen with Anaheim’s shootout loss to Dallas last night. The Wings will take first place in the West no matter what happens today and tomorrow. The only questions now are who they will play in the first round and whether they’ll claim the top spot overall.

The first question can be answered tonight if the Flames beat Edmonton, which would give them the 8th seed and the opportunity to play the Wings in the first round. If they lose and Colorado beats Nashville in Denver, a major showdown will be setup for tomorrow when the Avs and Calgary make up the game which was canceled due to the blizzard earlier this season. In that case, the winner of that game would take 8th.

As for the second question, it looks like the answer is “no.” The Sabres have two more games and both are against non-playoff teams, as Ansar Khan points out, though they are on the road (Washington and Philadelphia). The Wings can max out at 113 points, but Buffalo can finish as high as 115. In the event of a points tie, Buffalo would win because they’ll have more wins than the Wings in any case. So, forget about the President’s Trophy if you haven’t already. I can’t say I’m disappointed.

The most important thing for the Wings today in this essentially meaningless game is to keep their focus. It would be great for them if they could end the season on a high note and go into the playoffs well, rather than on a losing streak. They don’t seem to flourish in afternoon games, but I’d like to see them show up to play a full game today so that they can get out of the rut they’ve been in lately.

… Helene St. James has some updates on the injuries:

Nick Lidstrom (back) and Todd Bertuzzi (neck) are listed as questionable (”may play”) for today, though they both practiced yesterday. Ted Kulfan, by the way, is a little more positive about Nick and Todd’s chances, saying both are “expected to play.”

Both Dominik Hasek (thigh) and Henrik Zetterberg (back) practiced, and she says they “should be ready for playoffs.” I’d like a little more certainty there, but whatever.

… St. James also has a piece about the Datsyuk signing, which goes over much of what was said at the press conference yesterday and focuses on Steve Yzerman’s role in the whole thing. Lastly, IwoCPO has something to say about that role.

4/6 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 6, 2007
in Blackhawks, Dominik Hasek, Pavel Datsyuk, Predators and Todd Bertuzzi
. 0 Comments

… The Wings’ shootout loss to Chicago last night gave them the necessary point to clinch the Central Division. I guess that’s why it doesn’t feel like they lost.

If you look at the boxscore and see that they had 58 shots, don’t be too impressed. They didn’t play all that great and most of those shots were of the low-percentage long-distance or bad-angle variety. They still haven’t hit their A-game stride and they only have one game left to do so.

Another point (or a Ducks loss) and they’re Western Conference champs, by the way.

… <gloating id=”snark”>I wonder if the Predators Central Division championship banner will show up on eBay now. And I almost regret the fact that we won’t get to see just how low the turnout would have been for the parade. Oh well. </gloating>

… Bad news of the night: Todd Bertuzzi strained his neck, probably in a big collision with Chris Osgood as he tried to get back and prevent the Blackhawks’ first goal. He took off his helmet and I got a bad feeling, but he finished the period and was involved in some physical play.

During the second period, just as I noticed I hadn’t seen him in a while, Ken Daniels observed he hadn’t had the opportunity to say Todd’s name in a while and Mickey Redmond did a head count. Later on, they were told he had strained his neck and would not return.

Helene St. James reports today that he is day-to-day. I’m sure this is the Wings being cautious, as they want to be careful with any injury that comes up.

… The Hasek story continues. I would swear this blog post has been changed from its original iteration, because I definitely would remember this part:

Babcock at first laughed and joked (presumably) Hasek was out because, “he’s got a huge groin pull and might not play again” - a reference to the fact Hasek hasn’t finished his previous two NHL seasons because of groin injuries.

That’s a heck of a way to talk, Babcock. If St. James added that in response to worrying Wings fans, it doesn’t help. “Presumably”?!

Oh, and apparently, he is out because of an injury, as she writes in a run-down of the various “known” Wings injuries. It’s that same thigh problem that kept him out of three games in March.

… Possible good news: Pavel Datsyuk may be close to signing. Still, I’m not getting my hopes up yet. (via Gorilla Crouch).

GameDay: @ Chicago (30-40-9, 69 Pts) 8:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 5, 2007
in 2006-2007, Blackhawks and GameDay
. 1 Comment

Again, I don’t have much time to blog today, so this will be brief:

Tonight is the 7th of 8 meetings between these two Central Division teams this season. The Wings lead the series 6-0, with wins November 2nd (2-1), December 14th (3-2), January 13th (6-3), February 21st (4-2), February 27th (4-1), and March 2nd (6-2). They’ll meet once more for the Wings’ final game of the season on Saturday in Detroit.

The Hawks had a pretty bad month of March, posting a 5-9-0 record (including the loss to the Wings). They wrapped up the month on a positive note, however, with a win over Columbus on the 30th and have since won their third in a row, a 3-2 shootout triumph over Nashville. Their final game is against Dallas on Sunday.

Nikolai Khabibulin should be in net tonight.

The Wings had a 7-3-4 March, which isn’t really all that great. They’ve won their last two, however, and are poised to take the Central Division title as well as that of the Western Conference. One more point and they’ll have the Division, and two points would ensure the Conference (though second place looks a lot more attractive at the moment).

Chris Osgood is slated to start tonight.

Mathieu Schneider will return tonight after missing Tuesday’s game with a right elbow injury.

As with the game against Columbus on Tuesday, it’s important that the Wings keep up their winning ways, though it’d be good to see them be a bit more assertive about it tonight. They were able to be sloppy against the Blue Jackets and can probably get away with it tonight as well, but that doesn’t mean they should play that way. It’s nice to win, but it’s even more important that they get into a groove playing their “A-game” rather than a groove playing a casual, complacent game.

With the Division and Conference races basically going down to the wire, the Wings ought to be going into the playoffs winning, rather than on their usual end-of-the-season slide. Still, it probably would have been better if the Division and Conference weren’t all but locked up now, as a little more doubt would be a motivating factor. Sure, they could still lose both, but they’d really have to collapse to miss out on the Central Division. Given that, you get the feeling that they’re coasting a little, but that could just be their habit of playing down to their opponents. Either way, hopefully they’ll keep their focus tonight and play top-flight hockey, rather than coast to another win over an inferior team.

3/3 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 3, 2007
in Blackhawks, Chris Osgood, Dominik Hasek, Game Reports, Hockey Bloggers, Injuries, Jason Williams, Jiri Hudler, Mikael Samuelsson, Nick Lidstrom, Robert Lang and Tomas Holmstrom
. 4 Comments

Update (10:43 PM): Just a clarification on my last update: Holmstrom’s last shift ended around the 14 minute mark of the third period. I apologize for wording it so ambiguously before. Thanks to Justin for pointing that out.

Also, Ansar Khan informed me via email that neither Robert Lang nor Tomas Holmstrom practiced today. Mike Babcock told him there were no injuries during the game against the Hawks, however. - Matt

Update (6:35 PM): I just remembered something I’d meant to mention earlier: Tomas Holmstrom left the game around the 14 minute mark and didn’t return, as pointed out by the FSN crew, who had noticed he wasn’t on the bench.

I haven’t seen anything indicating he has an injury, so it may have just been a case of Mike Babcock resting his top line, as neither Pavel Datsyuk nor Valtteri Filppula took any shifts from about 16:00 on, after they had helped kill of a penalty with Danny Markov and Nicklas Lidstrom. (via the shift chart) - Matt

So, I got home on the Detroit side of the state last night (for “Spring Break”) at around 2:30 AM after watching the game in Holland, thanks to terrible weather until around Lansing. Then I slept about four hours longer than I meant to, and now I’m way behind the eightball on the day. So, some links to people more on top of things than me, with a little commentary:

… The Wings won last night, 6-2 over Chicago. I watched the game but don’t have a heck of a lot to say about it, except that it’s nice to see the Wings can produce offense without Henrik Zetterberg in the lineup. However, as Dave at Gorilla Crouch has pointed out today, the Blackhawks aren’t exactly a Grade “A” opponent, so the jury’s still out.

For a reaction to the game from someone who was there, see Steph’s report at No Pun Intended.

… Jason Williams scored twice on his former team, prompting Mike Babcock to give the quote of the year:

“It’s good to see him score, too. What the heck.”

(via. Abel to Yzerman)

… It looks like the Wings having taken such a vested interest in rejuvenating the second line has awakened Robert Lang, who had four-point night and was as involved in the offense as he’s been all season. The Free Press wins the award for most lame headline today, with their story on the game: “Lang time coming: Center leads Wings past Hawks.”

… Nicklas Lidstrom scored his 200th career goal (finally) in the third period, and Christy Hammond of Behind the Jersey was there to cheer him for it.

… The FSN crew made a big deal out of the fact that Jiri Hudler came out for warmups wearing his red helmet last night. Apparently, he was thrown off by the fact that the Wings usually wear red at home, but were wearing white so that the Hawks could use their black jerseys. Ansar Khan reports that Robert Lang finally told him, after the whole team had a good laugh. Jiri scored a nice breakaway goal later in the game, making that the most memorable thing he did last night, rather than than the helmet thing.

… It looks like Chris Osgood will get another start, as Dominik Hasek will not be able to return tomorrow against the Avalanche, according to Ansar Khan. The Wings, needless to say, are taking every precaution with Dom and will not be rushing him back. Khan also says that Chris Chelios will be a game-time decision tomorrow.

… The Free Press reports that Mikael Samuelsson skated yesterday, though not with the team. He’ll still take some time to get back into game-shape so don’t expect to see him too soon.

… Lastly, non-Wings related: James Mirtle has been blogging about the Cam Janssen elbow on Tomas Kaberle last night, a vicious hit which knocked Kaberle unconscious and out of the game. Janssen has been suspended for three games, a verdict with which I wholly agree, as those kinds of hits should have no place in the game. However, it’d be nice if the League were more consistent in dealing out such penalties for those types of hits. A shoulder to the head is about as bad as an elbow, NHL.

GameDay: vs. Chicago (23-32-9, 55 Pts) 7:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on March 2, 2007
in 2006-2007, Blackhawks and GameDay
. 3 Comments

Update (3:07 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Brett Lebda is in. - Matt 

Update (3:05 PM)- Kuklas reports that both Dominik Hasek and Chris Chelios will sit out tonight. Hasek has a sore thigh, while Chelios has a sore groin. The Wings called up Jimmy Howard from Grand Rapids to back up Chris Osgood. As far as I know, no defenseman has been called up, so it looks like Lebda will probably play. Lilja will have to be in for Chelios. -Megan

Tonight is the sixth of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season. The Wings lead the series 5-0, with wins November 2nd (2-1), December 14th (3-2), January 13th (6-3), February 21st (4-2), and February 27th (4-1). They will wrap things up with a home-home series April 5th-7th.

The Hawks played last night, losing 6-1 to Colorado at home. Apparently, they had three goals overturned by the Toronto War Room, including one by Jason Williams, the newest Hawk, and former Red Wing.

Martin Havlat returned to the ice last night after missing the game Tuesday due to the flu. According to head coach Denis Savard, via the Chicago Sun-Times, he’s lost 10 pounds since becoming sick on Monday. He played on an empty stomach against the Avs and spent much of the game bent over on the bench, missing the final 8 minutes. The paper reports that his status is in doubt for tonight. (I would think so! Wow.)

Since Nikolai Khabibulin started against Colorado, Patrick Lalime will be in net tonight. (via Left Wing Lock).

In contrast to the Hawks, the Wings haven’t played since Tuesday. Tonight’s game kicks of a five-game homestand for the Wings, who have a light month as far as travel goes.

The big news in Detroit is Todd Bertuzzi’s first practice with the team, which is the main story of the Detroit News, the Free Press, and mLive, though Ansar Khan takes a slightly different angle by focusing on the newest Wings’ relationship with Chris Chelios. Khan also has a handy roundup of Bertuzzi quotes on his blog.

Dominik Hasek should be in net tonight for the Wings.

None of the injured Wings (Henrik Zetterberg - back, Bertuzzi - back, Mikael Samuelsson - foot, Dan Cleary - knee) will be back tonight. Valtteri Filppula will play his second game on the top line in place of Zetterberg, to whom he was compared yesterday by Mike Babcock.

Brett Lebda didn’t practice yesterday due to the flu, so he may not be in the lineup tonight. If not, Andreas Lilja will play his second consecutive game.

It’s important that the Wings keep winning, as the Predators have won their last three and lead the Central Division by two points. They currently have three more wins (43) than the Wings. After tonight, both teams will have played 65 games, which means the Wings can’t pull ahead with a better points percentage, which is the first tie-breaker. They just need to keep pace and hope to get ahead after the four head-to-head battles between the two teams this month.

Look for the Hawks to put up a better performance than the embarrassing game they played Tuesday night. They may be tired from last night’s game, but there’s that pride factor which might make things difficult for the Wings.

Wings 4, Blackhawks 1

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 28, 2007
in 2006-2007, Blackhawks and Game Reports
. 6 Comments

Update (1:50 PM): Thanks to reader Justin for pointing out in the comments that I forgot to mention Calder’s number. He chose #17, which Brett Hull and Doug Brown have also worn in recent years. - Matt

I didn’t take notes on the game, so this will be brief:

… The obvious place to begin is Kyle Calder. The guy walked off the bench, headed to the net, and one-timed a Johan Franzen pass to score his first goal as a Red Wing on his first shift and first shot, at 1:46. He added an assist in the second and watched as Franzen did the rest, scoring a highlight reel goal on a long rush to the net. Overall, I was impressed with Calder. He showed good hustle, threw his body around some, and sparked the second line to a four-point, +5 night.

The NHL hasn’t split up the highlight reel into individual goals yet, so you’ll have to watch the whole thing if you want to see the goals.

… Dominik Hasek looked strong last night. He was a minute from a shutout, but the Hawks did score a consolation goal. It was disappointing.

… Valtteri Filppula played 19:38, which is far more than I expected him to get. He looked good with Datsyuk and was in on some good offensive chances. Jiri Hudler finally got some respectable ice-time, 14:29.

… Tomas Holmstrom continued his scoring tear, with two goals.

… Brett Lebda had to leave the game in the third period because he got in a fight and his jersey wasn’t strapped down. The fight came as a result of a nasty hit by Mikael Holmqvist, who caught Brett in the face with his elbow along the endboards. Holmqvist came flying in at top speed, left his feet and nailed him with his elbow, knocking Lebda flat on his back and then skated off. Andreas Lilja took a shot at him, but didn’t get very nasty before Brett himself got up and started swinging. It soon developed into a full-fledged fight, and I’m sorry to say Lebda got his butt kicked. Somehow, Brett was given a roughing penalty and a fighting major (how does that work? it basically amounted to an instigator penalty, so why not call it that?) plus the game misconduct for not having his jersey strapped down, while Holmqvist was given a major and a charging penalty.

Another hit to the head and another mere slap on the wrist as punishment.

… Another dangerous play came later in the period, when Duncan Keith nailed Kyle Calder from behind near the boards and sent him head first into them at an awkward angle. He’s fortunate Calder’s okay, because it could have gone very badly. It was an unnecessarily rough hit, with Keith leaving his feet and using all his force. Pretty nasty.

… Anyway, it was a pretty good game by the Wings, but not so much for the Hawks, who looked pretty bad. I imagine they’ll put up a better effort for the rematch on Friday in Detroit. The Wings remain in 4th place, as they have two fewer wins than the Predators.

… Dave at Gorilla Crouch also has a game reaction posted.

GameDay: @ Chicago (23-30-9, 55 Pts) 8:30 ET

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 27, 2007
in 2006-2007, Blackhawks and GameDay
. 1 Comment

Update (2:47 PM): Ansar Khan writes that Chris Chelios will be a healthy scratch tonight in favor of Andreas Lilja. Apparently, they just want to give Cheli a rest. - Matt

Update (10:40 AM): I should have read the Freep article more closely, but I was in a rush to get to work at 6:00 AM. According to Helene St. James, Valtteri Filppula will play on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom. Okay, but I suspect Fil will share time with someone else on the wing there, since the line won’t be as static as it is when Zetterberg’s playing, and he won’t be getting 18-19 minutes.

Babcock’s apparent decision to play Johan Franzen with Robert Lang and Kyle Calder kind of leaves Jiri Hudler as the odd man out. Assuming the three Grand Rapids call-ups play together on a line, Jiri could play with Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper, where he wouldn’t really fit in, or on the other two lines on rotation. I think we’ll see him rotate, as he’d be a good fit with Lang and useful for giving Fil a break on the top line. - Matt

Tonight is the fifth of eight games between these two Central Division teams this season. The Wings lead the series 4-0, with wins November 2nd (2-1), December 14th (3-2), January 13th (6-3), and February 21st (4-2). They will play again on Friday in Detroit before a home-home series April 5th-7th.

The Hawks are 1-1-0 since losing to the Wings last week, raising their February record to 5-3-2. On the 22nd, they were shut out at home by the San Jose Sharks, who had also played the night before, a 3-2 shootout win in Washington. They rebounded three days later with a 5-1 win over St. Louis, riding a three-point night for Martin Havlat. The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Hawks, whose last win had come February 11th.

The Chicago roster has changed a bit since the last time we saw them. Bryan Smolinksi is no longer a Blackhawk, as they traded him to Vancouver for a conditional 2nd round pick yesterday, and Jason Williams will be dressing for his new team tonight, a day after being traded by the Wings for Kyle Calder.

Martin Havlat continues to be dangerous, having put up 17 points in his last 12 games. He was a troublemaker in the last game between these two teams and will be doing the same tonight, I’m sure.

You can expect to see Nikolai Khabibulin in net for the Hawks tonight.

The Wings have lost their two games since beating Chicago, albeit both of them came in extra time. The first, a 4-3 shootout loss to Edmonton, came on Friday at home. The second came the next night in Nashville, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Predators in a Central Division showdown. With that win, the Predators took the lead in the Division, though both teams had the same number of points. The Preds won again the next night in Columbus and stand two points ahead of the Wings now. A win tonight wouldn’t put the Wings ahead because Nashville has more wins through the same number of games played.

Dominik Hasek will be in net.

Kyle Calder is expected to make his debut as a Red Wing tonight. The Free Press reports that he’s probably going to play with Robert Lang and Johan Franzen.

Henrik Zetterberg will sit out after having back spasms in practice yesterday. Matt Hussey was called up from Grand Rapids to fill in for him. It will be interesting to see how Babcock mixes up the lines in Hank’s absence. Perhaps we’ll see Kris Draper move to the top line.

Dan Cleary is out with a knee sprain, with Matt Ellis filling in for him.

It’s important that the Wings get back on track tonight after dropping their last two games. It’ll be emotional to see Jason Williams on the other side of the ice, but they need to take care of business and work out a win in order to keep pace with Nashville.