Nick Lidstrom has won his fifth Norris Trophy in six years and Pavel Datsyuk has won the Lady Byng Trophy for the second year in a row. Nick winning the Norris was no surprise, but it seemed that the pre-Show favorite for most gentlemanly player was Martin St. Louis. Congratulations to both players. Paul Kukla’s got a post with the other winners here and James Mirtle liveblogged the whole thing here.
Archive for the 'Pavel Datsyuk' CategoryPage 2 of 4
The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek has a good piece on Pavel Datsyuk worth checking out.
… 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.
Update (6:11 PM): Eric McErlain, writing at the excellent NHL Blog at the AOL Fanhouse, points out that this means the end of the rumors of Pavel going to Washington to play with Alexander Ovechkin.
I can’t say I feel sorry for a set of fans who get to watch Alexander the Great all the time, but I can definitely understand if they’re disappointed the search for a top-tier center to complement their star will be that much harder now. - Matt
Update (4:45 PM): Christy has posted a reaction to the signing here and Dave has posted his here. And here is IwoCPO’s again, in case you haven’t seen it. - Matt
Update (4:10 PM): TSN reports the contract is for $46.9 million. If it’s divided evenly, that means $6.7 million a season, which jives with the reports that it’s between $6 and $7 million. Of course, it could be some kind of tiered thing rather than the same number for each year, so all we can say at the moment is that it’s $6.7 on average. - Matt
Update (1:55 PM): Some notes from the press conference:
… The deal is for 7 years, not 5 as originally reported. The guys on Team 1270 said it’s between $6 and $7 million a year (no surprise there) and point out that it could be a bargain in a few years if League revenues continue to go up.
… One other comment by the Team 1270 crew got me thinking: what does this mean for Henrik Zetterberg? I, and I think most fans would agree, consider Hank the more important of the two, and I hope this doesn’t preclude them signing him to his own extension in two years (I was wrong below, he is only signed through 08-09).
… Ken Holland was the first to speak and he just talked about Pavel being in the prime of his career and how this is a tremendous comittment by both the team and Datsyuk.
… Mike Illitch was next and he talked about how Steve Yzerman had been telling the team, “we gotta sign him, we gotta sign him,” which tells you something about the team’s motivation for getting this done now. It’s a little harder to criticize Kenny if The Captain was the one advocating the deal.
… Pavel was next and he seemed to have a prepared statement, which he read in a heavily-accented monotone, finishing by saying he was “happy” with the deal and to be staying in Detroit. I’m just going to say he sounded so unenthused because he doesn’t know the language very well.
… Steve Yzerman was the last to say a word before the questions. He assured us that it was not a rash decision, that it was a long, hard process and not an overnight thing. He cited his own playing experience with Datsyuk as well as Pavel’s past and present, and projected it onto the future. One of the more interesting things he said was that the team has not had access to a top-five draft pick like Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and that Pavel Datsyuk is the team’s #1 pick.
… The first question, predictably, was about Pavel’s playoff performance. Yzerman responded by saying Pavel’s low numbers are not from lack of effort, to which he can attest, having played with him. To The Captan, Pavel’s playoff statistics are an aberration, and he’s confident that Datsyuk will answer those questions. He noted that Pavel was not expected to play last year in the first round, but decided to go himself, and by the end of the series, he was become more and more dominant.
… Next, Ken Holland had to answer a question on the length of the contract. The team apparently first offered a shorter term deal, but Pavel wanted something longer, and the team, after some deliberation, felt comfortable with that idea. He confirmed that it is the longest deal in Red Wings history and said that it fits well because of Pavel’s age (28).
… As for the question “Why now?”, Ken said that he and Gary Greenstin had agreed to work something out, if possible, when the latter got back from a scouting trip to Russia. Of course, had they not gotten it done before the postseason, they would have waited until after the playoffs.
… The next question was about Zetterberg and what the plan is for him. Holland said he has two years left on his contract and the team cannot talk to him until July 1, 2008, according to the CBA, but of course the team wants to sign him. It’s just down the road.
… The final two questions got brief answers: Yzerman said he participated in talks about Pavel with Hollad, Jimmy Devellano, Jim Nill, and a guy I’d never heard of named Ryan Martin (apparently, he’s Director of Hockey Administration) and that the whole experience was very educational. Mike Illitch then evaded answering a question about whether or not Pavel would be playing in Joe Louis Arena by the end of the contract.
All in all, I’m impressed with this deal. The comments by Yzerman help allay most concerns about its timing and length, and it was good to hear his perspective on Pavel’s playoff troubles. The vote of confidence from Yzerman, however, does mean the pressure on Datsyuk to produce this postseason, as well as those in the future, has spiked. There isn’t much of any room for excuses.
Of course, it could end up being a mistake to sign Pavel so long, but that’s something we’ll only be able to say with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. The fact is, the Wings couldn’t let Datsyuk leave this summer, because even potential to produce in the playoffs is better than him being on another team. - Matt
The Wings have signed Pavel Datsyuk for another five seven years, according to Ted Kulfan and WDFN. No financial details yet, obviously. There is a press conference at 1:00, when the announcement will officially be made.
This is great news, as it means the Wings will have both him and Henrik Zetterberg for at least three two more years, which is when Hank’s contract runs out. It also makes Holland’s job this summer that much easier, though some would prefer that he had waited and are already lining up to chop off Ken’s head if Pavel doesn’t win the Conn Smyth this year.
… 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).
Update (2:30 PM): Helene St. James reports that Pavel Datsyuk “denies Hull’s claim,” about his relationship with Mike Babcock.
You might say, “Of course that’s what Pavel’s going to tell her. He can’t speak out against his coach now.” And that may be true. But, I’m inclined to think there’s nothing there and that if Pavel leaves, it’ll be because he’s offered more somewhere else, not because of a problem with the organization. Not that his leaving for money would be any easier to take, by the way. - Matt
… Well, I’ve got internet access again, but I haven’t got much to say today. I caught the game and was impressed with the Wings’ effort, but the most important thing about it was the fact that the win put them three points ahead of Nashville with three games left for both teams. That’ll be a tough lead for the Predators to overcome unless the Wings totally fall apart this week.
Dave at Gorilla Crouch has a good game recap posted. He was also interviewed by Christy for her Behind the Blog series.
… Anyone notice that the commentators for the game yesterday on NBC spent very little time actually calling the plays? It seemed to me like a group of guys getting together to have a few beers and talk about everything but what was going on down on the ice. Now, for a long-time fan, that’s okay because I don’t need a play-by-play man to interpret the game for me, but for a new fan or someone just flipping through the channels, I don’t they’re interested in three guys gaffawing at Brett Hull zingers.
… Speaking of Brett Hull, the man spoke out of his rear end yesterday and proclaimed Pavel Datsyuk won’t be returning to Detroit next season. Apparently, he has a problem with Mike Babcock. This coming from the man who never got along with a coach in his life. Hmm. Well, we’ll see what happens, Brett.
As IwoCPO’s readers have pointed out, Datsyuk is building a house in Birmingham, he has a leadership position on one of the league’s elite teams, plays with one of the best young players in the game in Henrik Zetterberg, and has chances to win that he wouldn’t have in a place like Washington. I think Pavel wants to be back in Detroit, but I admit his chances aren’t so great as long as he gives his agent, Gary Greenstin, such a free hand in negotiations. That guy could very well ruin all.
… Writing on the new AOL Fanhouse NHL blog, Eric McErlain has a question about a player who, as his wandering habit has become more pronounced, has become a little bit of a concern for me over the past couple weeks: Dominik Hasek. Eric asks whether or not Dom is the Wings’ weakest link and points out that he has the save percentage of Olaf Kolzig. Eric’s right, one of the ugly truths about Dom this year has been his save percentage, and his corresponding penchant for giving up a backbreaking goals in the midst of strong defensive efforts by his teammates.
Still, I don’t know that you can necessarily call Dom the Wings’ weakest link. He is a goalie who thrives when he is busy and the downside of the Wings’ system is that he’s often spending long stretches of the game bored. However, when the defense isn’t so good and he is getting work, he’s generally been very good. So, when the defense isn’t playing up to snuff, Hasek generally covers for them, and vice versa. It just gets ugly when neither are playing well.
I think, in some backwards sort of way, the thinning of the Wings’ defense may be a good thing for Hasek, as he’ll see more action, and thus be less bored and prone to wandering.
If you’re looking for a weakest link, look at Robert Lang or Andreas Lilja.
… Eric also answers a question of Paul Kukla’s about a former Red Wing, one of the best ever to wear the Winged Wheel. Couldn’t agree more, Eric.
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.
Paul Kukla has a very rough translation of the Aftonbladet article that includes the picture that had the lockerroom laughing yesterday. As is usually the case with these machine translations from Swedish, it can get pretty humorous.
Update (4:00 PM): Taking a page from James Mirtle’s book, I’ve added a section the sidebar (”Other reading”) that will display links to hockey-related items of interest that don’t get blogged here (or that I haven’t yet had time to mention). It’s through Google Reader and is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but it wasn’t very easy to implement on WordPress blogs until recently. - Matt
… Chuck Gormley continued his “Forsberg watch” for the Courier Post yesterday with another installment. Nothing very new, though Gormley expands on his idea that Forsberg would like to come to Detroit, saying that it’s because
“two of the Red Wings’ top four scorers, defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and left wing Tomas Holmstrom, are from Sweden.”
I see your point, Mr. Gormley, but three of their top four scorers are from Sweden. Not sure how you missed Henrik Zetterberg.
Anyway, he goes on to say that the Wings may be interested in dealing either Andreas Lilja or Niklas Kronwall as part of the package. Personally, I think that if the Flyers are dumb enough to take a Lilja package (perhaps with Williams), it wouldn’t be such a bad deal. But if they demand someone like Kronwall or Hudler, I’d hope they’d say “no.” There is little use in throwing away two key pieces of the future for a player who may only be with the team until July 1st.
The story that was being reported earlier in this saga was that the Wings would demand that Forsberg sign a contract with them as part of any deal, and that may still be one of their stipulations. However, it doesn’t look like Forsberg would be willing to do so, as there is talk that he’d look to return to Philadelphia after a playoff run with another team. The Wings may decide Forsberg is worth the short-term benefit and hope that they could convince him to stay afterwards, but I think it would be foolish to give away one or more of their future stars in exchange for a player that could retire (if he does sign a long term contract) or bolt (if he doesn’t) at any moment.
Peter Forsberg certainly has the ability, if healthy, to make a huge impact on the team, as Nick Lidstrom told Ted Kulfan yesterday, but, given the likely asking price, it doesn’t seem to me that the Wings have the organizational depth to pursue a deal without really hurting their future.* Now, if Forsberg works out some kind of Hasek-like deal with Philly (”Don’t take too much from them, I want to be able to win.”) or the Flyers get conned into taking Lilja and Williams, it’d be worth it, if he were healthy. That’s a pretty big “if,” in my mind, even though he seems to have found a solution. My question is: will it last or will it be like the other “solutions”?
… George Sipple reports that Joey MacDonald will get another start in the coming back-to-back series. It will almost certainly be Monday night in Philadelphia as Dominik Hasek ough to be in net tomorrow against Calgary. Joey is still looking for his first NHL win and hopefully his teammates will show up to play this time around. He’s played extremely well in almost all his games this season, but hasn’t gotten the support he deserves from the skaters.
… Sipple also says that the Wings are concerned about their slow starts in the last nine games. I am too, though I have been impressed by their comeback ability and determination not to give up. Still, they’ll have a much harder time pulling off such comebacks in the playoffs, so hopefully they’ll find motivation to play hard from the first drop of the puck to the buzzer at the end.
… There is some variety to the reports on the nature of Danny Markov’s injury: The Freep calls it a “contusion in his middle back” and claims Piet Van Zant’s authority; the News calls it a “sore shoulder, ribs”; and TSN just calls it a shoulder injury. All three say he’s listed as day-to-day.
*There are those fans who dislike Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler and even Valtteri Filppula for mistakes they make and for their lack of production. This is because we were spoiled by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg making an immediate impact. We have forgotten that most young players need years to develop and that they aren’t likely to be stars right off the bat. Kronwall, Hudler, and Filppula are very likely to be big names in the League in years to come, but they aren’t going to be that immediately, though I personally think they’re pretty good even now. So, that’s why I say the Wings would be mortgaging their future if they trade any of them away, even though they might not seem so valuble now.
Larry Wigge takes a look at one of the league’s best pairings, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Definitely worth a read. (via George Malik, who also links to this downer)
