Category Archive for ‘Chris Chelios’ at On the Wings

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12/30 Notes

Published

on December 30, 2006

in Books, Chris Chelios and Mikael Samuelsson

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Update (5:30 PM): Ansar Khan reports that Chris Chelios will not be in the lineup tomorrow night as he is still recovering from a shin injury after a collision in the Minnesota game on Wednesday.Apparently, he could be back Tuesday night against Anaheim (Steve Yzerman Retirement Night).

Khan also says Mikael Samuelsson will in fact return from his groin injury tomorrow night against the Kings. - Matt

… I just finished reading Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche: The Inside Story of Pro Sports’ Nastiest and Best Rivalry of Its Era by Adrian Dater, a sports writer for the Denver Post.It was a quick read for a 264-page book and definitely more balanced than you might expect. Dater’s familiarity with the Colorado end of the story means there is a little disparity between the Avs’ side and that of the Wings, but it’s understandable, given who he’s worked for (the Post) and with (the Avs players) for over a decade. In the end, you get as good a picture of things as you’re likely to, unless a Detroit writer publishes something.

You might be surprised by some of the inside details he provides, such as the relationship between such players as Claude Lemieux and Brendan Shanahan or Mathieu Schneider and Patrick Roy.

At times, though, it reads like a very long piece for the paper, rather than a book. His lengthy bio-chapters on Lemieux, Scotty Bowman, Patrick Roy, and Darren McCarty are interesting but are more like breaks from the story of the rivalry, as is his chapter on the evil spectre of sports writer homerism.

To Dater, there don’t seem to be any villains in the Wings/Avs rivalry. His perspective as a sports writer definitely affects his perception of the men he worked with on a daily basis, usually in contradiction with images we fans have built of certain players. Even some of the biggest “Enemies of Hockeytown” such as Lemieux, Marc Crawford, and Patrick Roy (though to a lesser extent - he’s still pompous, even to Dater) are just “nice guys” whose on-ice personalities in no way reflect their real character. It was definitely a shock to my worldview to read about Claude Lemieux, humanitarian, etc. Dater insider’s look at the Wings may also jar some perceptions about certain Heroes in the rivalry.

Anyway, it’s definitely worth a read, if you have the time. Christy has a review, with some quotes from the book, here. Get it at Amazon here.

… The Freep reports that Mikael Samuelsson is apparently expected to make his return to the ice tomorrow night against the Kings. Josh Langfeld was sent back to Grand Rapids yesterday and unless the team calls someone else up, they’ll be short a forward if Sammy isn’t ready.

… The News says the Wings “are hoping” Chris Chelios will be ready to return tomorrow.

10/30 Notes

Published

Matt Saler

on October 30, 2006

in Chris Chelios, Mathieu Schneider, Notes, The Team and Valtteri Filppula

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Update (7:50 PM): … Helene St. James reports in a blog post that both Brad Norton and Mikael Samuelsson are ready to return to the ice. Samuelsson expects to play Wednesday against the Flames, and Norton just needs to be cleared by some doctors. Norton still has not been taken off the IR, but when he does, the Wings will be over the 23-man active roser limit, meaning Valtteri Filppula’s stint in Detroit will probably soon be over. That is, of course, unless the Wings decide to send someone else down, which would most likely be Norton, if anyone.

… The Calgary Sun has a piece by Randy Sportak today that provides more details on Darren McCarty’s bankruptcy. For anyone thinking Darren brought this on himself by throwing money away, there’s this:

“It sounds as if I blew $6 million, which isn’t the case. A lot of it had to do with a couple of properties that we owned and I signed my name to. It’s not as if I was blowing the money.”

Apparently, it was more a case of being stabbed in the back by a business partner than anything else. (via Snapshots)

… When Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Fedorov both went down with injuries, I was in need of a center on my fantasy team so I traded Kari Lehtonen for Marc Savard and David Aebischer. It was probably a dumb trade then, but I feel really stupid now, after reading this. - Matt

… In the Freep’s Wings Corner today, George Sipple focuses on Chris Chelios, who will tie Wayne Gretzky in games played on Wednesday when the Wings play the Flames at home. Gretzky currently holds 12th place on the all-time list with 1,487 games (over 20 seasons) while Chelios obviously has 1,486 games (over 22 seasons).

Cheli will be able to pass Gretzky (how unlikely does that sound?!) on Thursday when the Wings travel to Chicago to play the Blackhawks.

… In his Red Wings Notebook, Ted Kulfan writes on the contrast between the Wings’ three game slide during their West Coast trip, and their three-game win-streak since. They’re making mediots like Damien Cox look pretty dumb, though, granted, it is a long season and they’ve only been able to string three together so far. However, I think they’ve got it together now, and I wouldn’t expect any more three-game losing streaks.

… Kulfan also has a quote from Mike Babcock on why the Wings’ power play went 0-for-5 Saturday night:

“We wouldn’t shoot the puck. We passed it around, passed it around, passed it around and wouldn’t shoot. I don’t know why that happened.”

Well, Mike, it was that, and the fact that the guys seemed to revert back to the power play strategy of last season. You know, the one that didn’t work any more and the one you had the players work on last week? Why does the PP focus on the defensemen at the point again?

… Mathieu Schneider, a popular player around here, was interviewed by The Sporting News’ Ray Slover this weekend. It’s not very long but definitely worth a read.

I like this part:

SN: Tomas Holmstrom scores from the dot. Did you guys about fall over on that one?

Schneider: He never ceases to amaze me. He finds different ways to score all the time. He still gets heck. I think he had a goal like that in the Olympics, but most of them are obviously inside the crease. But he’s just a great presence in front of the net. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being able to handle the puck and move it outside the top of the circles.

Link via Snapshots.

… Ansar Khan looks at the coming roster problem in an article for Booth Newspapers today.

As far as I’m concerned, I think they should keep Valtteri Filppula up and send Norton down, but only if Babcock is able to give Filppula an appropriate amount of ice time. The problem is, that will be difficult once Mikael Samuelsson returns and picks up the 15-16 minutes in ice time he was getting before injuring his shoulder. If Valtteri were covering for just Norton, it would be no question, but with Mikael coming back soon, it may not be the best thing for him to stay with the Wings. I know the Griffins could use him.

Sending Norton down isn’t the Wings’ only option if they’re looking to keep Filppula on the roster. According to Khan, Brett Lebda is a player the Wings could send down to make room for Valtteri since he wouldn’t have to clear waivers. Haha, very funny, Ansar (to be fair, he does say it’s unlikely). Another option would be sending extraneous third goalie Joey MacDonald for a two-week conditioning stint.

… The Wings aren’t the only team that is proving the hockey media wrong. The Colorado Avalanche, who also have been picked to fall by the columnists, have won four in six, including a big one over the Minnesota Wild last night.

10/29 Notes

Published

Matt Saler

on October 29, 2006

in Blues, Chris Chelios, Notes, Robert Lang and The Team

. 0 Comments

Update (1:57, 02. Nov): Greg Gaz of The Blue Note Blog eventually did post a well-written response to the game in the evening on Sunday. Gaz toes the “soon-to-be Dead Wings” line and looks forward to a day where the Blues will be the dominant team, thinking it’s going to be sooner rather than later. Sorry, Greg, the Wings aren’t done quite yet. The Blues have just shown that they don’t have to be doormats anymore, while the Wings are showing that they still know how to win. - Matt

Update (7:46 PM): … Here’s the highlight reel for the goals from last night, including some good looks at Filppula’s first, via the NHL’s Highlight Machine. - Matt

… In his report on the game last night, Ted Kulfan confirms that Mike Babcock gave Chris Chelios a rest due to it being the second of back-to-back games, not because of some injury. I basically thought that was the case, though it’s good to hear for sure.

… George Sipple reports that the team had a special meeting yesterday morning where they focused stritctly on having confidence on the penalty kill. It was Mike Babcock’s response after the Wings gave up three power play goals on seven chances to the Dallas Stars Friday night. Apparently, the meeting had the desired effect, as they were perfect 5-for-5 on the PK against the Blues.

… According to Sipple, Robert Lang had to get eight stitches under his eye aftertaking Brett Lebda’s stick to the face in the first period.

… Sipple wins the award for lamest pun with the headline to his report on the game:

MANNY THANKS: Wings score early on ex-goalie Legace in 3-2 win over Blues

… No reaction to the game yet at the only Blues blog I could find, The Blue Note Blog.

… I’d say the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford is a little hard on Manny Legace today for saying he wasn’t sharp last night, but I wholly agree with him when he says the defense wasn’t so hot. Legace stopped what he could and was left out to dry on the Wings’ goals.

… Before the game began last night, we were reminded of the Tigers’ loss in the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals the night before when Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came out to center ice for a ceremonial puck drop. Not that it will make Tigers fans feel any better, but the Wings’ win is at least a small amount of revenge.

… Gloveside.net, after basically telling Manny to shut up and play, addresses concerns over Henrik Zetterberg in a post today. Basically, they point out that, while Hank isn’t scoring, he’s doing all kinds of things that don’t show up on the scoresheet, and is being invaluble to the team. He’ll be contributing offensively soon, as well.

Cheli returning for another year

Published

Matt Saler

on May 24, 2006

in Chris Chelios, Links and Roster Moves

. 3 Comments

He’ll get $850,000. Hopefully he’ll be able to compete at least a level similar to what he put out this past season. The Wings now have four defensemen under contract (the others being Mathieu Schneider, Niklas Kronwall, and Andreas Lilja) but not Nick Lidstrom, who will likely call for the league maximum. I have a feeling he’ll get it and that he’ll get it from the Wings, not some other team. They’ve kept him around for this long and the 36-year-old may only play a couple more years. I imagine Nick and his family would like to stay here in Detroit for at least another season or two.

Link

Update (11:11 AM): Megan wants me to mention Brett Lebda, who Holland says will be in the Winged Wheel next year unless he plays “his way off the team,” though he hasn’t actually been re-signed yet.

Chelios’ son, Dean, comes on road trip

Published

Christy Hammond

on March 19, 2006

in 2005-2006 and Chris Chelios

. 0 Comments

Remember the father/son trip to the southeast last December? Well Chris Chelios is giving it another try, but this time with his older son, 16 year old Dean, on this 4 day road trip to western Canada

In the southeast father/son road trip, Dean couldn’t tag along with his dad and younger brother, Jake, because of his own hockey schedule (he plays for Cranbrook who recently won a DIII state championship). Since his high school hockey season just ended and this is his spring break, Chris Chelios asked head coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland if he could bring Dean along on this trip (answer: yes).

Since Dean was born the summer after his dad played in the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals in Montreal, he’s been growing up with his dad playing in the NHL. However, this trip is giving him a new perspective on the NHL & Wings (much to the jealousy of his Cranbrook teammates). On Friday night, he went to dinner and then a movie with the team. He even got to pick the movie, The Hills Have Eyes. Following the movie, the team returns to the hotel where Dean got to sleep in his own room, “a luxury usually reserved for 10-year NHL veterans who have played 600 or more games.”

“There’s not too many players that can say their kids are old enough to be able to do this,” said Chelios, 44, the NHL’s oldest active player. “And just in case, if I don’t play next year, at least he’ll have been able to do this once.”He’s a laid-back kid, almost to the point where it drives me crazy. But I can tell (he’s excited). He never gets up in the morning at home, but he’s gotten up two mornings in a row now on this trip.”

“My other son plays like I play — he’s a knucklehead,” Chelios laughed. “I don’t know how the new NHL rules are going to help him, but Dean is perfectly suited for it. He’s a goal-scoring demon.”

Again on Friday, he played a 20 minute game of “keep-away” with Pavel Datsyuk, his favorite NHL player. The next day he “spent an extra half-hour on the ice working on shooting and skating drills with assistant coach Paul McLean and Chris Osgood, among others.” While Dean certainly isn’t at the level of an NHL player, he is already three inches taller than his dad at 6′2″. Unlike his dad, he plays forward (left wing or center).

“I haven’t been on one of these (road trips) in a long time, since I was maybe five years old, so I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “But it’s just awesome - better than I expected. It’s amazing. This has just been really fun.”

Quote of the Day

Published

Matt Saler

on February 21, 2006

in Chris Chelios, Olympics, Peter Forsberg and Quotes

. 4 Comments

From Helene St. James’ Hockey Diary:

A reporter asked Chris Chelios whether Sweden is a better team with Peter Forsberg. Chelios’ answer was vintage Chelios: “I would say ‘yes.’ He’s a pretty good player. Is this is a trick question?”

That is vintage Chelios. I can hear him say it. What a dumb question, seriously.

Nice to see the Freep get on the blog bandwagon. First it was the News’ Ted Kulfan “blog,” then Ansar Khan’s mLive-style blog and now we have Ms. St. James’. It’d be nice to see a links list from those three and maybe some more interactive functionality as well. Blogging is more than a format, guys, it’s a dialog. Want to join the conversation?

A Wings look back on 2005

Published

Christy Hammond

on December 31, 2005

in 2005-2006, Andreas Lilja, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Brett Lebda, Capitals, Chris Chelios, Curtis Joseph, Darren McCarty, Dominik Hasek, Flames, Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Williams, Jiri Fischer, Johan Franzen, Kris Draper, Lightning, Manny Legace, Mikael Samuelsson, Mike Babcock, NHL, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Olympics, Pavel Datsyuk, Robert Lang, Sidney Crosby, Steve Yzerman, The Team and Wayne Gretzky

. 2 Comments

As the 2005 year draws to a close, it’s time to take a look back on the past year. Since this is a Wings hockey blog, I’m going to do a list of the top 3 of the year in a variety of categories with Matt’s help. All categories are in regard to the Detroit Red Wings, not necessarily the NHL, in the year 2005. Feel free to leave comments saying what you would change on these lists!

Top 3 Scary Moments
3. Niklas Kronwall tears his ACL and MCL after what was supposed to be his breakout season
2. Kris Draper gets hit in the face with a puck / Nick Lidstrom gets hit in the face by the puck against the Blue Jackets Dec. 20th
1. Jiri Fischer collapses during a game (On the Wings had in depth coverage of Fischer’s press conference)

Top 3 Games
3. Detroit beat the Washington Capitals after a hard fought game, 4-3
2. Wings beat defending Stanley Cup champs Tampa Bay, 6-3
1. Wings extinguish Flames, 6-3, in Darren McCarty’s first game in Hockeytown on an opposing team

Top 3 Former Wings Moments
3. After a drama filled 2003-2004 season in Detroit, Curtis Joseph moved on to Phoenix, where he is having a good season
2. Dominik Hasek is one of the reasons why Ottawa is the best team in the league. When Hasek has something to prove, he is a hard one to beat.
1. Brett Hull retires after short stint with Phoenix and is now being offered a job with Dallas

Top 3 Goals
3. Pavel Datsyuk’s near end to end goal against Tampa Bay
2. Henrik Zetterberg’s breakaway goal against Pittsburgh
1. Steve Yzerman faking out Devils goaltender Scott Clemmensen earning the final goal of the night

Top 3 Suprising Moments
3. Pavel Datsyuk actually signs with Detroit
2. Manny Legace wins 10 games in October earning a league record and defensive player of the month honors / Darren McCarty signs with the Calgary Flames
1. The Wings go 11-1-0 in October to start off the season with a bang

Top 3 Surprising Players
3. Chris Chelios for being so silently strong at the age of 43 (just 10 PIM since November 6th)
2. Jason Williams suddenly becoming a point machine with 10 goals and 24 assists as of December 30
1. Mikael Samuelsson has a breakout offensive season

Top 3 New Wings
3. Brett Lebda re-joined main roster and is playing very well to help bear the burden of Jiri Fischer’s absence
2. Mikael Samuelsson / Johan Franzen, the “Mule,” doesn’t score a lot but works as hard as anyone on the ice, very solid
1. Mike Babcock comes in as new head coach

Top 3 Team Moments
3. Wings visit Children’s Hospital in Detroit
2. 9 Wings were selected to represent their country in the 2006 Olympics
1. Father and son southeast road trip. While the Wings performance during games on this trip wasn’t solid, both the players and their fathers/mentors got a lot out of this trip.

Top 3 Defensive Players
3. Johan Franzen
2. Chris Chelios
1. Nicklas Lidstrom

Top 3 Offensive Players
3. Jason Williams (34 pts)
2. Henrik Zetterberg / Brendan Shanahan (38 pts)
1. Pavel Datsyuk (42 pts)

Top 3 Players Overall
3. Brendan Shanahan - was on a point tear that was only recently halted
2. Manny Legace - very good when not injured, though it has been a while
1. Henrik Zetterberg - two-way force

Top 3 +/- Ratings
3. Robert Lang / Pavel Datsyuk (+11)
2. Andreas Lilja (+13)
1. Mikael Samuelsson (+16)

Top 3 NHL moments
3. 2005 NHL Draft day / Sid the Kid finally heads to an NHL team.
2. Wayne Gretzky, “The Great One,” becomes head coach of the Pheonix Coyotes.
1. Opening night. Every single NHL team played on October 5, 2005, which is quite a way to start the new season after a yearlong lockout.

Red Wings to be well-represented at Olympics

Published

Matt Saler

on December 22, 2005

in Canada, Chris Chelios, Czech Republic, Henrik Zetterberg, Kris Draper, Mathieu Schneider, Mikael Samuelsson, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Olympics, Pavel Datsyuk, Robert Lang, Russia, Stefan Liv, Sweden and USA

. 0 Comments

Today, the Czech and Swedish national teams named their Olympic rosters, adding five more Detroit players to the list of athletes going to Turin to play hockey this coming February.

Sweden

Four of the Wings’ seven Swedes will represent Sweden:

Nicklas Lidstrom
Henrik Zetterberg
Mikael Samuelsson
Niklas Kronwall

Red Wing goalie prospect Stefan Liv was also named to the roster.

Sweden’s coach, Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, included Kronwall, who will be a first-time Olympian, despite his ongoing recovery from a torn ACL. The CP quotes him saying,

“He’s been on ice and is back in training. The question is if he’ll be ready for the Olympics. We have done this to avoid eliminating another player from the squad if Kronwall can play. If he can’t play we’ll pick another player.”

Kronwall told the Free Press that,

“It’s still too early to say. Hopefully in a couple of weeks It’ll be able to practice with the team. I don’t want to risk anything. The Olympics would be awesome, but I have to listen to the trainers.

Lidstrom and Zetterberg have both played in the Olympics before. Lidstrom has participated three times and Zetterberg made his Olympic debut as one of two non-NHL players on the Swedish squad in 2002, the year before he came to Detroit.

It will be the first time Samuelsson, whose strong performance for the Wings this season got him notice from his country, will go to the Games.

Despite his value on the power play, Tomas Holmstrom will not have a chance to represent his country. The Free Press credits this to his skating skills, which are somewhat lacking. With the extra ice in international competition, Homer wouldn’t be as effective.

Czech Republic

Robert Lang was named to the Czech roster today, the only Wing to be so honored (not surprising given he is the only active Czech player on the roster), though former-Red Wing Dominik Hasek will be one of the Czech goalies. It will be his fourth Olympic Games. He already has a bronze (1992) and a gold (1998) medal, though he wasn’t so lucky at the 2002 Olympics.

Jiri Fischer surely would have been named to the roster as well were it not for his current heart condition.

Canada

Team Canada announced its roster yesterday but only included one Red Wing: Kris Draper, despite his poor season offensively. It’s surprising that they did not pick Draper’s partner in crime, Kirk Maltby, to go as well but it is easy to see that the Canadians are going more for skill than anything else and Maltby would have just been taking up a slot that could have been given to a shooter.

That said, it is also surprising that Brendan Shanahan did not make it. He is on pace to have a great year offensively and has been white hot lately. He would have brought some good leadership to the table and still has a great shot. He’ll have to settle for his gold in 2002, apparently.

His wife must be happy. Shanny had joked about her expecting to go somewhere warm during the NHL’s Olympic Break.

USA

The first Red Wing players named to any Olympic roster were Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider, who will once again represent the United States.

Chelios will play in his fifth Olympics and will be captain for the third time.

Schneider played in Nagano, back in 1998 and was a lock for a spot this time around.

One-time Red Wing Derian Hatcher will also patrol the blueline for the US.

Russia

They haven’t released their roster yet but it is certain that Pavel Datsyuk will be named to Team Russia.

On one hand, it’s great that so many Wings will be able to represent their countries in the Olympics but I’m a little worried about the extra work their bodies will be getting heading into an important stretch of the NHL season. Beyond even the ususal wear and tear that accompanies playing high-level hockey, there is the increased chance for real injury.

All of these men were named to their respective nation’s rosters for a reason: they’re very good players. They are also very important to the Wings and they can ill afford to lose any of them in the last leg of the season.

It didn’t seem to hurt in 2002 but that’s not too reassuring.

The upside to this is that we’ll get to watch some very high-quality hockey and know that nine, probably ten, of our guys are a part of it.

Update (23. Dec): The Russians have released their roster and it looks like youth will be the order of the day. The team will have 11 first-time Olympians, including Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.

As expected, Pavel Datyuk was named to the team. Former-Red Wing Dmitri Bykov was as well and will be one of four non-NHLers on the squad.

Schneider & Chelios selected to US Olympic team

Published

Christy Hammond

on December 20, 2005

in Chris Chelios, Mathieu Schneider, Olympics and USA

. 0 Comments

Two current Red Wings players, Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios, were selected to the US team for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. This time around with be Chelios’ fourth Olympics (1984, 1998, 2002) in his 44 years, two of those times he was named captain of the American squad. “I feel very lucky at my age and am looking forward to the challenge,” Chelios said.

Wings GM Ken Holland told Chelios yesterday that he had been selected to the team.

“There’s no doubt the intangibles Chris Chelios brings to any team have to be discussed,” said Holland. “We brought him back for his ability to play, but also because of his leadership and competitiveness. When he’s on your team, he believes your team is going to win, and he has an impact on the players around him.”

Schneider has played in one other Winter Olympics back in 1998. He seemed to be a sure selection for this Olympic squad with his 28 points in 23 games placing him fourth among NHL defensemen. He is second among defensemen in scoring (10) and power play goals (7). Schneider also averages 24:05 of ice time

“With his ability to skate and handle the puck … the way he played two years ago and this year, it became pretty obvious that he had to be on the team,” Holland said.

GM of the US Olympic team, Don Waddell, is pleased with his defensive selections including former Wing, Derian Hatcher, and former MSU player John-Michael Liles. “We think our depth on defense is as good as it’s ever been,” Waddell said.