Starting Monday, Kris Draper will have his own blog on the NHL’s fan community service, NHL Connect. Apparently, he’ll be answering fan questions, previewing and reviewing games, writing about the team’s acquisitions, and discussing the excitement about the playoffs. Sounds like a good way to get in touch with Kris and the best part about it is that it’s free, unlike Red Wings World. (via NHL Connect email newsletter)
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Ansar Khan has an injury update posted on his blog. Summary:
- Chris Osgood will start instead of Dominik Hasek tomorrow night. Hasek was supposed to start both games, but his thigh injury changed that plan. He will play Wednesday night instead and will do the back-to-back games on March 29th in Nashville and March 30th at home against Dallas.
- Danny Markov (upper body) is slated to be back Saturday against the Canucks.
- Johan Franzen (upper body) and Dan Cleary (knee sprain) could return on the 20th in Calgary. If so, they’ll miss the March 17th game in Vancouver.
- Mike Babcock officially said that Henrik Zetterberg (back inflammation) and Todd Bertuzzi (back) will not play until after the Vancouver/Calgary trip. So, a March 22nd debut for Bertuzzi and return for Zetterberg, at the earliest.
- Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Robert Lang, Chris Chelios and Mathieu Schneider did not take part in the optional practice today, but all will play tomorrow night, according to Mike Babcock.
The injury problems the Wings have been going through should put losses like yesterday’s in perspective. Sure, it was bad, but they’re missing some key players and other guys are either playing hurt or just recovering from injuries. And yet, they’ve been winning more often than not. Once everyone’s healthy, they should play better and more complete games.
Ansar Khan reports the following:
… Chris Osgood broke a finger on his right hand during warmups last night and played through it. Apparently, it’s not serious, but it could keep him out of the action for a while.
… Fortunately, both Joey MacDonald and Dominik Hasek, who were down with the flu, are expected to dress tomorrow for the Colorado game. Megan points out that if MacDonald, Hasek, and Osgood end up not being capable of playing tomorrow, the best goalie the Wings have available is Stefan Liv, who will have played two games in a row after tonight (Jimmy Howard is out with an ankle injury). Not a good situation, though I’m sure Dom and Joey will be able to suit up, since they did practice today.
… Kris Draper, Valtteri Filppula and Robert Lang are also expected to be ready to go tomorrow after practicing today. Khan, though, is right to say that Matt Ellis and Matt Hussey should keep their cell phones on because they very well may have to drive out to Detroit tomorrow before the game.
… Apparently, Mathieu Schneider feels “great” and could possibly return tomorrow. Khan says that he’s more likely to sit out one more and return Tuesday, but says Chris Chelios hurt his shoulder in practice and if he can’t go, the Wings might insert Schneider earlier than planned. Chelios finished practice, though, and should play tomorrow.
… Mikael Samuelsson hopes to begin skating in a week, but there’s no further news about when he’ll be back in the lineup.
Via Ansar Khan:
… Mikael Samuelsson’s right foot was broken Saturday night in Denver when he blocked a shot during the third period (I assume, based on the shift chart). It’s the first I’ve heard of it and apparently, the Wings themselves didn’t know until he had an X-ray taken today. The Wings will be without Mikael’s services for at least two weeks, Khan says, but have called up Josh Langfeld to fill in for now. It can’t be a very serious break if it took them this long to find out there was one and if the recovery time is so short.
… It looks like the inflammation and pain in Henrik Zetterberg’s wrist has subsided enough for him to forego another cortisone shot. The rest has done him a lot of good, apparently, and that’s great news for the Wings.
… Mathieu Schneider practiced today but will miss at least two more games. That puts his return at Tuesday night in Long Island, at the earliest. The Wings could use him back, but it won’t do them any good to rush it so I’m glad they’re taking their time.
… Neither Robert Lang nor Kris Draper practiced today due to the flu and Khan suggests that the Wings may call someone else up to cover for them in the game tomorrow night. I’ll keep an eye on the AHL transaction page in case they do.
… Lastly, as reported earlier this week, Niklas Kronwall will play tomorrow night, but will have a cage protecting his face, and could wear it as long as 2 months. He has a whopping 25 stiches in the cut across his nose from Marek Svatos’ skate and may want to consider wearing the visor a little lower once he drops the cage.
Shawn P. Roarke takes a look at Kirk Maltby and Kris Draper, two of the Wings’ longestet-serving players and most consistent linemates. Gotta love this quote from Draper: “I complete him.”
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.
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.
But neither Maltby nor Shanahan made it.
