Archive for the 'NHL' CategoryPage 3 of 6

1/25 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 25, 2007
in NHL, Notes and Peter Forsberg
. 2 Comments

… Drew Sharp’s bi-, tri-, or whatever-monthly piece on hockey is out today and this time he’s spouts off on how the Wings need to acquire Peter Forsberg and how they need to do it whatever cost. Sharp believes that even Forsberg at 60% on the third line would be the answer to the Wings’ playoff question (in my opinion, if he comes here and is on the third line, there’s a problem). What about Forsberg at 0%? With that ankle problem, the man might not even finish the season.

The Wings have taken a risk on Dominik Hasek, another player with health questions, and have been successful so far. However, it cost them very little to go with Hasek and his health issue is entirely preventable. With Forsberg, they’d have to give up a lot to acquire him only to inherit his chronic ankle problems and have to hope some kind of solution can be found, even though there probably isn’t one.

Forsberg is an incredible competitor and will play if he can, but what if he can’t? This isn’t about throwing around money, like it was with Hasek. It’d be about throwing around the team’s present and future, as someone from the current roster and someone in the system plus a draft pick would have to go.

Say he comes to Detroit and is able to play. Great, but in the end, Forsberg will be gone this summer, especially if he ends up having a great finale and postseason. The Wings wouldn’t be able to hold on to him, whether because he’d retire or because he’d sign elsewhere. Would it be worth it? If the Wings win the Cup, of course the answer is “yes,” but not otherwise.

… Some more thoughts on the new jerseys after seeing them during the All-Star Game:

Given that the league is serious about these things, they need to start thinking about implementing an equipment change as well. The shoulder pads, especially, are too big and make the players look like they’re suiting up for the Colts or Bears.

The jerseys are too tight around the forearm.

If the League was trying to elminate individualist uniform cues a la the No Fun League, they failed. Everyone looked neat and clean before the game, but within minutes of the puck dropping, the jerseys of certain players had somehow ridden up over their pants and straps were flapping in the wind.

Other than that, they looked fine, for the most part, though the East All Stars’ jerseys were painfully white.

1/24 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 24, 2007
in NHL, Notes, Peter Forsberg and Scheduling
. 0 Comments

Update (10:05 AM): … John Niyo reports that the IIHF has proposed a new transfer agreement with the NHL that includes Russia, saying such an agreement would help the Wings’ efforts to sign Igor Grigorenko. That’s true, but, even if the NHL and IIHF don’t get a new deal, I’m not too worried about the Wings’ chances of signing Igor if they really want to. They do have some experience in nabbing Russian players, after all. - Matt

… Helene St. James looks today at the possibility of the Wings switching to the Eastern Conference if Pittsburgh ends up moving to a Western city. According to senior VP Jimmy Devellano, “if anybody from the Eastern Conference moves West, we’ll be the Western team to go East.”

Devellano sounds pretty confident there, but it doesn’t look like it’d be that cut and dry, as St. James found out from NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly:

“Detroit would clearly have a strong case, but by the same token, there are other teams in the Western Conference that kind of depend on Detroit being in the Western Conference, so … there’s always balancing involved that would involve a lot of debate, I’m sure, with respect to what you do with the realignment. But hopefully we never get there. At least at this point.”

So the Wings could continue to be screwed just so teams like Phoenix can charge double when they come to town? Nice.

Of course, we won’t know for sure until the Pens’ mess is figured out, which apparently will come soon, according to Bettman, who supplied St. James with this gem: “It’s urgent, but it’s not imminently urgent. It will be shortly.”

If the Pens do move and the League does allow the Wings to move East (rather than, say, Columbus), they’ll be ready. They’ve been wanting it for years. And you know the governors will be interested in a schedule format change if Sidney and Company move to the West. Those Eastern owners that were so selfish this time around will change their stance real quick in that case.

… David Waddell of the Windsor Star looks at what the Wings will try to get at the trade deadline: a forward. Ken Holland feels the team has plenty of depth on defense, with three players in the AHL that are NHL-capable, but they are not quite so strong up front because of youth and inexperience in the minors.

Waddell says they’d like a top-six forward and mentions the team has an interest in Peter Forsberg, should he become available. Holland, though, isn’t hung up on Foppa and believes the market will have some other big names worth pursuit.

He has $2 million to play with and by the time the deadline rolls around, 3/4 of any player’s salary will already have been paid, so they can go after a $7-8 million guy, as Waddell points out.

It will be very interesting to see what move Kenny tries and how it works out with team chemistry, which is very good at the moment. (via Snapshots)

It’s official: no schedule format change

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 23, 2007
in Links, NHL and Scheduling
. 3 Comments

Update (11:45 PM): Ansar Khan says there’s a positive aspect to the fact that the League is keeping the current format: it means the Wings will continue to rack up points in their powder puff division. Great, so we’ll see more short-term, regular season gains, rather than the longer-term, postseason gains that would come from playing tough teams more frequently. Didn’t we find out last year that a successful regular season padded by the results of so many intradivisonal games meant absolutely nothing in the playoffs? - Matt

According to TSN, the board of governors has decided to go with the current scheduling format for at least one year despite widespread hopes for change. Apparently, we were one vote away from seeing the League return to its pre-lockout format, as only there were only 19 of 30 votes for it, rather than the necessary 20. How typical. I’d like to know which governors voted for change and which teams voted against it.

So much for giving the fans a voice, eh? Well, we have one, they just don’t listen very well. That reminds me: has anyone gotten one of those NHL Fan Faceoff surveys lately? Neither have I. You could at least pretend that you had some input when you filled out one of those.

Update: I just went to the Fan Faceoff site and logged in only to see a short survey listed. They asked what I’d like to see more surveys on and then they asked whether or not I was satisfied with the service. Of course I said no and then I was asked why, so I told them. I suggest going there and filling out that same survey, if it shows up for you. - Matt

Some jersey mockups

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 23, 2007
in Jerseys, Links and NHL
. 0 Comments

These have been floating around the internet for a while now and are probably some fan’s Photoshop work, but they provide a decent look at what’s possible. They look especially fake until you get down to the second Montreal set, but after that, they look pretty plausible and not half bad. The Red Wing version looks terrible, though, and I’d be disgusted if they look anything like that. I suspect they’d go more the Montreal/Toronto route, if these mockups are anything like reality. (via Southeast Shootout)

A Google/NHL breakup?

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 23, 2007
in Google, Links and NHL
. 2 Comments

I haven’t been to the site in weeks myself, but Garett Rogers of Googling Google points out that the NHL’s portal on Google Video hasn’t been updated since January 8th and suspects the much-lauded relationship between the League and Google has died out. Anyone know anything to confirm it?Anything from your League contacts, Paul?

ESPN’s Uniwatch on the new jerseys

Published
by
Matt Saler
on January 22, 2007
in Links, NHL and The Team
. 0 Comments

Paul Lukas has a long piece that discusses the NHL’s new jerseys on Page 2. I personally think the cut is fine, but I’m withholding final judgement until the Wings release their versions. Given the assurances that teams will have a ton of freedom on what they do, I’m relatively confident they’ll look good. Just as long as it’s not much of a departure for their current look.

Admin note: posting will be light this week due to the Break. We’ll return to regular programming on Friday, but until then, it’ll be mostly link posts such as this one.

11/21 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 21, 2006
in Chris Osgood, Danny Markov, Injuries, Jason Williams, NHL, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Notes and Tomas Holmstrom
. 3 Comments

Update (6:50 AM): Ansar Khan reports that Chris Osgood has a fractured left wrist and will be out for 3-4 weeks. Apparently, they’re not calling anyone up at this time.

“My feeling is we’ll go with the two goalies and Dom will be on the bench when he doesn’t start,” Holland said. “But, that could change between now and (today).”

There are back-to-back games this Friday and Saturday, against St. Louis and Nashville. If they don’t call up Liv again, this would force Hasek to back up Joey, probably against St. Louis. It’s possible that they’ll call someone up later in the week, to prevent this. If not…well, let’s hope Joey doesn’t need to be pulled. -Megan

… Helene St. James profiles the Markov-Lidstrom pairing in the Freep today. Among other things, she points out that Markov’s reliability has meant that the Wings have not had to rely so heavily on Lidstrom, who isn’t averaging the near-30 minutes a game he usually plays.

It’s a good piece, but there is one gaffee on her part:

Markov, 30, plays bigger than his slender 6-foot-1 frame; last month, for example, he delivered a crushing open-ice hit on Edmonton’s Ethan Moreau, who is 6-2, 220 pounds. Moreau, who hasn’t played since, coughed up the puck on the hit, and the play led to a goal for the Wings.

It’s the same mistake John Wawrow made a little less than a month ago. I’m not exactly sure why it’s so easy to confuse Moreau and Jarret Stoll.

… Ted Kulfan of the News looks at Jason Williams and his concerns over physical contact in his first game back (Saturday). Apparently, they were unfounded, as there “definitely no shying away from anyone,” on Williams’ part.

Good to hear. So, you’re going to become a hitter now, Jason?

… The Freep’s Steve Schrader looks at the names of the NHL’s trophies and has some suggestions in light of the Cold-FX Mark Messier Award:

But what about the Gordie Howe Trophy, maybe for most Gordie Howe hat tricks?

Or the Wayne Gretzky Award for the top playmaker? The Mario Lemieux Trophy for the top-scoring owner?

Or the Scotty Bowman, for most creative line combinations.

Well, maybe they could rename one award. Instead of the Lady Byng, call it the Claude Lemieux Trophy, just to show a little sense of irony

Don’t forget to tack corporate sponsors to the front, Steve.

… Both papers report that Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall are ready to return from groin injuries. “Babcock is confident,” they’ll be back Wednesday for the Canucks game.

As for Chris Osgood’s left wrist:

“I don’t think it’s broken,” he said. “I’ve had broken hands before and it’s not the same thing. It’s something different. It’s just that it’s where I catch the puck all the time, so I have to get it looked at. Hopefully I’ll be back sooner than later.”

Yes, hopefully. There may be more news on Ozzie later today since he was supposed to get his wrist looked at yesterday afternoon.

NHL All Star Game polls open

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 16, 2006
in All Star Game and NHL
. 0 Comments

If you can stomach Mark Messier’s angry bald visage in Cold-FX banner ads - it’s the “NHL Cold-FX All Star Game Balloting” page “presented by 2K Sports” - cast your vote today. Just don’t write in Dominik Hasek. We don’t need him getting a groin injury in the All  Star Game, even if he deserves to be there.

Link

New monthly NHL leadership award established

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 13, 2006
in NHL and Steve Yzerman
. 0 Comments

Update (9:39 PM): IwoCPO has more on this “award.” Maybe not naming it after Yzerman wasn’t such a bad thing. Ugh. - Matt

It’s named after a former NHL captain. No, it’s not Steve Yzerman, it’s Mark Messier, who, they say, “many consider … to be the best captain in hockey history.” Gag me. How insulting. Knowing The Captain, though, he probably doesn’t mind not having to dialogue with the league about who he thinks exhibits leadership every month. Still, if they’re giving an award for intimidation, I can see it being named after Messier. But leadership? It should have Yzerman’s name on it. I mean, come on, his picture’s practically already next to the dictionary entry for the word. (via A2Y)

Link

A message for the NHL’s Chief Marketing Officer

Published
by
Matt Saler
on November 12, 2006
in Hockey Bloggers and NHL
. 0 Comments

Mark Chen has a great idea for a commercial featuring Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Too bad it’s too good an idea for the NHL to use. I’m sure we’ll see more of the creepy NHL-players-in-every-day-life spots, though the tag line may change to something catchy like, “(Player Name) is here to remind you that the NHL season is still going on.” (via Kukla)