Via Gorilla Crouch, here is a video of Jamie McLennan’s slashes on Johan Franzen yesterday:
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This is another joint post by Sarah and Megan.
If you missed this game, you missed one of the most exciting and at the same time bizarre games in recent history. In this series, as well as in the regular season, games in Detroit have followed a pattern. The Wings score first, and Calgary loses their composure. This is what we expected tonight, and Calgary did not disappoint. In fact, they went further than anyone expected. The Wings resolved their special team woes in the second period, with two shorthanded goals and a PP goal. This did not sit well with the Calgary Flames. So they went into the locker room and devised a master plan: Take out everyone in a Red Wings jersey, and then win the came by forfeit. As least, that’s the way it kind of seemed. The unraveling really began with an encounter between Lebda and Langkow. Lebda delivered a low hipcheck to Langkow, which caused Langkow to flip over Brett’s back, sending both of them to the ice. Langkow rolled over, lifted up Brett by the back of his jersey and sucker punched Lebda in the face. This was not a weak little love tap. He pulled back and hit Lebda with all the force he could muster. It was reminiscent of Tootoo’s gloved punch to Robidas. Lebda suffered a concussion as a result of the cheapshot, and was also assessed a minor penalty for clipping. When the camera first went back to the play, Langkow looked seriously injured. Upon replay, we see that he was able to lift Lebda up, punch him, and hold on to him before he curled up in the fetal position. Also, Langkow finished the game and did not receive a penalty for the play. If there is any justice in this league whatsoever, Langkow will be suspended for this disgusting display of cowardice and goonery.
Langkow was not the only Flame worthy of suspension. In fact, the most worthy candidate played only 18 seconds in the game. The Wings scored their fifth goal at 15:42. At this point, we were wondering why they wouldn’t just pull Kipper to give the guy a break. After all, he does have to play tomorrow and he had just given up five goals. In fact, they left Kipper in for another minute, until Primeau took a slashing penalty. Apparently, they weren’t pleased with Primeau’s technique, so the sent out McLennan to show us all how the pros do it. As soon as the first unsuspecting Red Wing (Franzen) was within reach, he began slashing. He delivered two slashes to the back of Franzen’s legs, for which the Referee immediately signaled a delayed penalty. As soon as the whistle blew, he slapped at the puck in anger, and then delivered a nasty two-hander to Franzen’s midsection as he coasted by.
“It doesn’t belong in hockey,” said Franzen, who said the slash shocked him more than it hurt. (via AP)
Franzen fell to the ice as the jaws of the entire audience (including us) collectively dropped. McLennan was given the original two minutes for slashing, five minutes for intent to injure, and a game misconduct. Pretty impressive for 18 seconds of play. We’ve all heard of sending out the goons in the closing minutes of a losing game. We never expected this goon to come in the form of a back-up goaltender. There is little question in our mind that McLennan will receive a suspension. When you look at the situation, he kind of looks like a fall guy. Whether he sits on the bench or not really has no impact on the Flames. So why not send him out as the goon? This whole move is very suspicious. If they were gonna pull Kipper after the fifth goal, why didn’t they do it right away? Why did they wait a full minute, until they had handed the Wings another PP? It seems to be the consensus among Wings fans, as well as hockey media, that McLennan was sent out there with a mission. We are told that he was out there to send a message to the Wings to stay out of their crease. If this is the case, he should have gone after his own defensemen. Apparently the Flames are blind to the fact that every time a Wing was in the crease or made contact with Kipper, it was because he had been shoved there by a Flames defenseman. Case in point: Maltby. Kirk was avoiding the goaltender, then got sandwiched between two Flames who pushed him into their goaltender. Matlby was slapped with goaltender interference and a goal was wiped out. Luckily, we scored a lot more, so this incident kind of fades into the background.
If you thought the madness was over once McLennan was thrown out, you were sorely mistaken. No way is the Flames fearless leader gonna be shown up by some backup goaltender. He also picked out the nearest man in a Winged Wheel. Iginla slashed Mathieu Schneider in the Wings defensive zone. He then followed Schneider up to center ice, where he proceeded to spear him with the butt of his stick. This did not cause Schneider to fall over, nor did it slow him down at all. So, Iggy had to take more drastic measures. How about a cross check to the lower back? Yup, that sounds like Iginla. Here’s where we would like to point out that Schneider was nowhere near the puck, nor was he involved in the play. His crime was apparently skating on the ice, which apparently belongs to Iginla. Jarome was assessed a hooking minor and a cross-checking minor.
It’s no wonder Calgary is so quick to lose their composure. And it’s no wonder they are so immature, given that they are lead by Jarome Iginla. Apparently Mr. Iginla subscribes to the Slapshot version of hockey. After game four, there was already a question of Iginla’s integrity. At the end of this game, and in his comments after the game, he showed his true colors. He was left on the ice purely and admittedly to start fights.
“It was really about getting some fights going at that point to keep our energy up and carry some anger into the next game,” Iginla said with several new stitches over his left eye. “We’re not going away.” (via TSN)
He is actually proud of the fact that his team made fools of themselves on national television. Sound like someone you want leading your team? This right here is proof that the whole thing was premeditated. Going out and trying to injure guys or just fighting just because you’re losing sends only one message: this is a team of cowards. Rather than save some dignity, they would prefer to “take some anger” into game six. Really, the only people they’ve succeeded in making angry are their own fans. Wings fans are just laughing, and Babcock is probably still trying to make sense of the whole thing. Franzen hit it on the nose when he said that this kind of play has no place in hockey.
After a display like this, the league should punish the offenders. Will they? Most likely not. At least not all of them. They will suspend McClennan if they have any sense. This is too close to the Chris Simon incident and too blatant to ignore. The popular number here is ten games, and that sounds about right to us. Langkow really, really should be suspended for at least two games. Whether or not he will be is up in the air. Iginla deserves a game in the press box because of the stick-butting and the bad cross check. It is very likely that he will not be suspended. On top of these suspensions, Playfair should be getting a hefty fine.
Overall, it was a wild game. The Wings showed that they are not only the better team, they are by far the classier team. The Wings refused to allow Calgary’s late-game antics get under their skin and kept their composure like the veterans they are. The difference between the two clubs is clearly displayed in their leadership. Lidstrom’s class and Iginla’s lack thereof. Hasek’s comment really sums it up:
“I was really disappointed. Not a little, but a lot,” Hasek said. “Their goalie, what he did and Iginla, he’s the captain of the team and should be in charge.” (via TSN)
Update (11:00 AM): IwoCPO noticed that, while they all had a different take yesterday, there is now a consensus among the Detroit hockey writers about Henrik Zetterberg’s status for Thursday night: he’ll play. - Matt
Ansar Khan has a piece about Henrik Zetterberg today and comes to a safe conclusion, that Hank will take some time to get rolling. He does include a bit of comparison to Peter Forsberg’s explosive return at the start of the playoffs after missing the 2001-2002 season and has a quote from Mathieu Schneider suggesting Zetterberg could do something similar.
Like Dave of Gorilla Crouch wrote, returning from a back injury of the type Hank has is a little different from returning from spleen surgery (at the very least, his back is a serious threat for reinjury), but I’m with Schneider on this one. He’s been skating for two weeks and all reports say he looks “he hasn’t missed a day.” Even accounting for the difference between practice and games, I think that’s an indicator that he’s going to be an impact player this series.
If both of the Eurotwins are playing top flight hockey, the Flames defense will have their hands full, especially if the other lines are rolling as well. Along those lines, I like the last bit of Khan’s piece, which has Babcock talking about Johan Franzen I, like the coach, think Johan could be huge against the Flames. He’s been playing with an edge and has the size to do it. Plus, he’s been demonstrating a nose for offense. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing him play. Just wait for him to get mad.
… Helene St. James reports that Johan Franzen is day-to-day with the upper body injury that forced him to leave the game last night. Either no one has been called up to replace him in the lineup, or the AHL transaction page hasn’t been updated (as of 9:37 AM). I suppose that they’re waiting to see if Tomas Holmstrom really will be able to return tomorrow. If not, they’ll need another body.
… Both Ted Kulfan and St. James elaborate on the reason Danny Markov sat out last night: he had upper body soreness that hadn’t gone away and needed to rest. According to Kulfan, the team isn’t sure when he’ll be back.
… According to the Boston Globe, Former Red Wing goalie Joey MacDonald will play today, but will sit tomorrow when the Bruins come to visit the Wings. Joey has assumed the role of the #2 man in Boston and has been getting regular starts. (via. Snapshots)
… Both Detroit papers (Freep and News) have pieces on the Wings’ reaction to the Chris Simon incident of the other night.
All I’ll say about it is Simon should have thrown off his gloves if he thought Hollweg’s hit was questionable (which I think it was, honestly). There’s no excuse for what he did, I don’t care how fuzzy his head was after having it planted into the glass. It was an impulsive attack and one instantly regretted, I’m sure, but he ought to have the book thrown at him.
… Lastly, a correction: apparently, Matt Ellis’ son is named Haeden Matthew Ellis, not Matthew Hayden. (via Kulfan and St. James)
I didn’t take notes on the game, so I can only offer a few thoughts, not a comprehensive summary.
… Big story of the night: Johan Franzen left the game in the second period, not long after Pavel Datsyuk scored to make it 1-1, and did not return. According to Helene St. James, he didn’t practice yesterday due to the same injury (contradicting Babcock’s “Mule’s fine” comment) but apparently he felt good to go before the game.
Hopefully Franzen’s not going to be out for long because he was a big loss against the Kings. His tendency to shoot first, ask questions later, would have come in handy at some points later in the game.
Also, you may have noticed Danny Markov was missing from the lineup. According to St. James, he’s not hurt, he was just being given the night off, in favor of Andreas Lilja, who was in need of some playing time.
… The Wings came out flat and paid for it as the Kings took a one-goal lead in the first period. A bad turnover by Niklas Kronwall led directly to the goal, and it was too early in his return to expect Dominik Hasek to be 100% sharp on the play, especially after Kronwall failed to clear the net. Not Nik’s best game by a long shot.
The team as a whole looked out of sync for much of the first half of the game, whereas the Kings were battling hard and earning their lead.
… One positive thing was that there were few penalties called, so the flow of the game wasn’t disrupted so much. Only two penalties in the first two periods combined, followed by three in the third. Of course, the final call was an unfortunate one as it put the Wings on a 4-on-3 penalty kill to start overtime.
… Sean Burke was steady the whole game, though to be honest, he didn’t have to shine all that often. The Wings put 54 shots on net but the majority of them were low percentage perimeter shots or C-grade offensive chances. Not to take anything away from Burke, he had a great game. But the Wings did not put on their best performance offensively. The Kings, to their credit, put up a pretty good stand on the defensive side, though, which contributed to the Wings’ offensive hiccups.
… I noticed Matt Ellis a lot tonight. The man was obviously pumped from becoming a father, as he was everywhere when on the ice. He finished with only 8:22 in ice-time, but came close to scoring his first NHL goal a number of times.
… Good to see Brett Lebda channel Bobby Orr and/or Paul Coffey on his (literally) coast-to-coast goal in the third. Brett’s got the best wheels on the team, I think, and showed he’s got some great hands to go with them with that impressive finish. One of the top highlight reel goals of the season for both the Wings and the League, I’d say.
… Late in the third, the Wings had a power play but got far too cute in their attempts at scoring. They had Burke beat down low multiple times but made two or three too many passes and blew their chances.
… Nice penalty by Robert Lang at the end of regulation. I was a bit surprised when Mike Babcock put Andreas “Relative Pylon” Lilja out there with Chris Chelios and Kris Draper for the 4-on-3 penalty kill in OT. Fortunately, Lilja played it well and my fears were unnecessary.
… Nice give and go by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk for the game winner. Poor Aaron Miller had no chance to defend the play, having committed to Datsyuk just as Pavel dished it right back to Samuelsson for the slam dunk.
Of course, I look foolish for saying in my preview Samuelsson probably wouldn’t figure much into the game. I admit it. I was surprised. He looked good in his return, though he looks real good for having scored a goal handed to him on a silver platter by Datsyuk. Hopefully it was just the first in a series of goals for Sammy.
… The win put the Wings one point behind Nashville in the Central Division title race. They have one more game in hand, Sunday’s matchup with Boston, before the big mid-March home-and-home showdown.
… Also, Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond said not to expect Henrik Zetterberg or Todd Bertuzzi back until after the team’s trip to Vancouver and Calgary later this month, saying that the Wings would probably rather not have the two make the six hour flight out there with their backs having just healed. If they’re right, that would mean a March 22nd return, at the earliest.
… Ansar Khan reports that Pavel Datsyuk did not practice today due to stiffness. Apparently, it’s nothing big, though it’s not certain whether or not he’ll play tomorrow night in Chicago. Babcock wouldn’t tell what exactly the issue was, so it could be anything.
Hopefully Pavel won’t have to sit tomorrow, as he seems to be hitting his stride and doesn’t need to have that disrupted.
… Khan also reports that Johan Franzen will definitely be back tomorrow night. He says nothing about Niklas Kronwall, however. Nik’s injury problems are beginning to be a bit frustrating, I have to say.
Update (09. Dec, 12:38 AM): Paul Kukla has a screencap of the hit that will give you a good idea of what happened, if you didn’t see it. I still haven’t seen a replay online yet but I’ll post the link if I find one. - Matt
Looks like Babcock got his way: the NHL reviewed the hit on Brett Lebda last night and has suspended the former Red Wing for two games. He’ll forfeit $26,829.26 in salary.
Good to see justice finally being meted out, though it would have been even better had they done it on the other headshots we’ve seen this season. It was the only one of the three not to result in an injury, though. I guess since the boards were involved, it’s a bigger deal than an open ice hit.
Maybe Babcock needs to speak up more often.
Also, both Helene St. James and Ansar Khan report on the two injured Swedes. Apparently, Johan Franzen is another week away from returning, while Kronwall won’t be back until Tuesday at the earliest. Great.
Both Helene St. James and Ansar Khan report that Chris Osgood has had a setback in his recovery from a broken wrist. He had the cast taken off today, but had to have another one put on as his wrist is not yet healed. It will be on until Saturday at the earliest, making it highly unlikely he’ll return before the Wings’ December 14th game in Chicago.
Well, I guess that means the edginess about the goaltending among the Hockeytown citizenry will persist for another couple weeks. If you’re worried (we’re not) that Joey MacDonald might see time in the net, rest easy: we don’t have any more back-to-back series until December 22nd-23rd, a week or so after Osgood is due back.
Khan and St. James also write on Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall, though they have slightly different takes on the former. St. James says Franzen will be out another week, while Khan says he won’t play in either of the two St. Louis games this week. Both say Kronwall will try to skate tomorrow, though Khan is of the opinion that Nik will be out another week. Nik, is it too much to ask for you to get healthy and stay that way? Sheesh.
One final note: they both think Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg could be reunited soon. Apparently, they’ve been practicing on a line together with Mikael Samuelsson and could play together tomorrow night in St. Louis. That’d be a good way to get both of them going consistently, though it spreads the offense thin elsewhere.
Helene St. James reports that Johan Franzen has a sprained MCL in his left knee. According to Mike Babcock, he for sure will not be back for the weekend’s games against Minnesota (Friday) and San Jose (Saturday). So, the earliest he’d return would be next Tuesday in St. Louis. Apparently, there are no further concerns about his concussion.
Good to hear that his knee injury is no worse than a sprain.
Looks like Johan may not just have a concussion, according to Ansar Khan.
He reports that an examination of Johan’s left knee contradicts the result of the MRI taken Wednesday night, which means there is damage after all. The MRI will be re-done to determine the extent of it, but, seeing how much his knee twisted when he fell, I wouldn’t bet on this being a minor deal.
Khan also says Holland has talked to the NHL about a suspension for Willie Mitchell but was told no. He believes late hits (note: not hits to the head) will be a “hot topic” at the next GM’s meeting. I would hope so, Kenny. It’d be a good place to start, that’s for sure.
