Archive for the 'Peter Forsberg' Category

Wolski could miss remainder of series; Forsberg “questionable” for Game 2

Published
by
Matt Saler
on April 25, 2008
in 2007-2008, Avalanche, Injuries, Links, Peter Forsberg and Playoffs
. 0 Comments

Update (4:46 PM): Forsberg is maintaining that he’s “day-to-day” and that a decision on his status for Game 2 has not been made. - Matt

George Malik summarizes a Joel Quenneville press conference in which the Colorado coach says first line winger Wojtek Wolski is unlikely to return during this series due to an “upper body injury.”

Peter Forsberg is “questionable” for Game 2 with the groin injury that kept him out of Game 1.

Both injuries are obviously bad news for the Avs, but gret news for the Wings.

Forsberg skates with Avs

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 27, 2008
in Avalanche and Peter Forsberg
. 1 Comment

The AP reports that Peter Forsberg skated with Colorado today in an optional practice. He’s not scheduled to play tonight in Vancouver, but could make an appearance in the Avs’ home game Saturday against LA.

I know there’s a lot of skepticism about Forsberg’s latest comeback attempt and for good reason, I suppose. However, I suspect underestimating him is a mistake. The guy all but gave up on his return bid back in November, so it’s as though he’s delusional about his chances. It seems that he has found a solution after all, and if it really ends up working, watch out.

Even last season, ankle troubles notwithstanding, he put up respectable numbers:

regular season: 57 games, 55 points (13G, 42A)
playoffs: 5 games, 4 points (2G, 2A)

Again, respectable, not stellar. Still worth considering, however.

I’m no Forsberg fan, but I can respect the guy’s ability and desire to return to the NHL so that he can go out on his own terms. His reputation as a diver is well-earned, but so is his reputation as one of the most dominant forwards of his generation. Also, though “Floppa” is an apt nickname for the guy, he is, paradoxically, as tough as they come. I think it’s a safe bet that he’ll be playing through pain and take his body to the limit to make this comeback worthwhile.

With a healthy Forsberg, the Avs become a power player in the West and can’t be taken lightly. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather Detroit not face that patricular Red Wings Killer in the first round. They’re not far out of the lead in the Northwest Division, however, so that may not be all that likely.

Khan on the Forsberg deal

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 16, 2007
in Hockey Media, Links, Peter Forsberg and Todd Bertuzzi
. 4 Comments

Ansar Khan wrote on the Forsberg trade last night, pointing out that it’s better for the Wings that he ended up in Nashville rather than Anaheim, as a possible matchup with a Forsberg/Pronger team would make things tough in the first round. In Nashville, he can’t hurt the Wings until later rounds, if at all.

It’s looking like it will be tough for the Wings to respond with a big trade of their own, but possible acquisitions include (as listed by Khan) Bill Guerin, Keith Tkachuk, Todd Bertuzzi, Gary Roberts, Owen Nolan, Fredrik Modin, and Marco Sturm. I have to say that none of those names really appeal to me, but I’d take any one of them as long as they don’t go after Bertuzzi.

Peter Forsberg traded to Nashville

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 15, 2007
in Links, Peter Forsberg and Predators
. 3 Comments

Update (9:15 PM): Bob McKenzie, as always, has some smart analysis. - Matt

For Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, a first round pick and a third round pick, according to TSN. Seems like the Preds got off pretty easy after all the rumors putting a kingly price on Forsberg’s head. They were in good shape before the trade, and, if it pays off, will be in a great position in the postseason. If it pays off. In any case, the race for the Central Division title just got a lot more interesting. I think the five games remaining between the two teams will a bit rough.

How will Kenny respond?

Waddell on Forsberg, other deals

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 13, 2007
in Hockey Media, Links, Peter Forsberg, Rangers, Robert Lang and Trade Rumors
. 0 Comments

The Windsor Star’s Dave Waddell has a piece out today discussing the Forsberg situation. Nothing very new, though he touches on something only brought up by Ansar Khan yesterday: the possible trading of Robert Lang. Waddell and Khan both suggest the Rangers are interested, in which case I have to ask, who would we get in return? (via. Snapshots)

2/12 Quick Links

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 12, 2007
in Coyotes, Henrik Zetterberg, Hockey Bloggers, Hockey Media, Ladislav Nagy, Links, Peter Forsberg, Ray Emery, Robert Lang, Senators, Stars and Trade Rumors
. 0 Comments

Update (2:30 PM): … Ansar Khan writes on the Peter Forsberg situation and has a few interesting tidbits, particularly the possibility that the Wings might look to trade away Robert Lang for a winger on top of making a push for Forsberg. - Matt

… Henrik Zetterberg has been named the “First Star of the Week” by the NHL.

… Also Zetterberg-related: see also Dave’s response to the Freep’s Michael Rosenberg column advising Wings fans to maintain proper “perspective.” Rosenberg believes the jury’s still out on Zetterberg, and Dave is right to point out that he’s way off base there.

… Ottawa Senator’s goalie Ray Emery is only getting suspended for three games after this vicious slash last night.

… Ladislav Nagy is now a Dallas Star. So much for this rumor.

Wings 7, Flames 4

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 12, 2007
in 2006-2007, Flames, Flyers, Game Reports, GameDay and Peter Forsberg
. 3 Comments

Update (5:15 PM): I had written and email to Ansar Khan because I had been wondering why the Wings called up Howard without making sure he would play a game, given the fact that he’s just returned from an injury and could use the playing time. He responded thus (in part):

I’m guessing they called up Howard instead of Liv because they wanted to see how MacDonald would play Sunday before declaring him the starter in Philly. If MacDonald would have s#!t the bed against Calgary, they surely would have started Howard against the Flyers. In that case, it would have been kind of awkward to suddenly send Liv back down to GR after the Flames game and rush Howard to Philly. Howard wouldn’t have been able to fly out with the team Sunday night and would have had to fly to Philly Monday morning, not a good thing.

That makes sense, and if I’d have checked, I would have seen that Jimmy wouldn’t have played even if he had stayed in GR. The Griffins don’t play until Friday, so the question of lost playing time is moot. - Matt

Update (2:15 PM): Ted Kulfan writes on the Detroit News Wings blog that Joey MacDonald will in fact start tonight, contradicting his earlier report. Also, Danny Markov apparently will not be back. - Matt

The Wings won a wild one last night, beating the Calgary Flames 7-4 and extending their home-win streak to 12 games. It was much more of a blowout than the score indicates, as the Flames controlled play for only about 3:00 in the third period, scoring three of their goals then, when the Wings had let up. It was as much a case of the Wings dominating as it was of the Flames playing bantam hockey.

Joey MacDonald was in net for the Wings and hardly got any work through two periods. He looked steady, though, when he did face a shot, and made the stop when needed. When the Flames started scoring, the first two goals were the result of bad defense, but the third was a little weak. All in all, Joey had a strong game, and it was good to see the Wings’ take the task of defending for him seriously.

The first couple minutes of the game were pretty choppy as there were a couple stoppages due to off-sides and icings. At 3:03, play stopped again for a Stepha Yelle elbowing penalty and the Wings got their first power play. The Wings didn’t do a lot with it and they had to be careful with picking the puck up in their own zone as the Flames were forechecking hard. At 4:54, Robert Lang took his customary hooking penalty and we got 9 seconds of 4-on-4 hockey before a Calgary power play. The Flames had trouble setting up and the Wings did a good job of killing it off.

The Wings got on the board at 8:43 after Miikka Kiprusoff misplayed the puck behind the net on a slow shoot-in by Dan Cleary. Jason Williams picked it up and saw Henrik Zetterberg in the high slot. He sent it to him and Hank wasted little time releasing a snap shot that beat Kiprusoff inside the left post. Kiprusoff had taken his sweet time getting back, but should have been set. It’s not often you see him beaten like that.

The Wings struck again four minutes later. Zetterberg took the puck in on a nice rush, distracting the defense by the right point, before dishing the puck to a streaking Tomas Holmstrom in the middle. Homer didn’t get all he wanted on his shot, but Kiprusoff didn’t control the rebound and Pavel Datsyuk was able to get his stick on it. He slammed it into the net and made it 2-0 Wings at 12:44.

Right after the goal, Johan Franzen nearly made it 3-0 as he hit the post on a shot down low. Kiprusoff was slow to react and Johan had a half-empty net to shoot at, but couldn’t finish.

They did get a third goal not long after that, as Robert Lang, Jason Williams, and Dan Cleary forced a faceoff at 13:48. Four seconds later, Mathieu Schneider’s shot careened off Dion Phaneuf and into the net to make it 3-0 Wings. By that time, Jim Playfair had seen enough and Kiprusoff was pulled in favor of Jamie McLennan. It was very much an uncharacteristic game for Kiprusoff, who seems unbeatable whenever the Wings play him.

The Wings didn’t waste much time before testing McLennan. Within a minute, Datsyuk and Zetterberg flew into the zone, with Hank dishing the puck off to Pavel, whose shot rang off the corner junction.

The rest of the period consisted mainly of the Flames giving up the puck and the Wings getting chances as a result. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Holmstrom seemed to be out there every other shift, but they didn’t look tired at all as they continued to dominate Calgary.

Continue reading ‘Wings 7, Flames 4′

2/10 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 10, 2007
in Danny Markov, Dominik Hasek, Flyers, Henrik Zetterberg, Jiri Hudler, Joey MacDonald, Nick Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk, Peter Forsberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Trade Rumors and Valtteri Filppula
. 2 Comments

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.

2/9 Notes

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 9, 2007
in Blues, Chris Chelios, Henrik Zetterberg, Hockey Media, Joey MacDonald, Leafs, Manny Legace, Mark Messier, Peter Forsberg, Selke, Todd Bertuzzi and Trade Rumors
. 2 Comments

Update (10. Feb, 12:45 AM): Over at KK, Chuck Gormley has some more on the Forsberg situation. He believes that if Forsberg decides to ask for a trade to one of a list of teams, his preferences, “would probably be, in order, Detroit (Lidstrom), Vancouver (Naslund), Anaheim and San Jose.”

I’ve heard the Forsberg-Naslund connection talked up a lot (i.e., they’re childhood friends and used to hope to play together again for their hometeam, MoDo - which they did during the lockout), but not one with Lidstrom so much (it must be from their time together on national teams as they’ve never played together professionally). Interesting that Nick may be a bigger pull than Naslund, thought it could be more because of the Wings’ chances than anything else. If it’s true. - Matt

Update (2:50 PM): ESPN’s Scott Burnside has a take on the Mark Messier GM story that’s similar to my reaction, though his commentary is quite a bit less inflammatory than my knee-jerk rhetoric. - Matt

… The Wings were shut out for the first time in 176 games last night as the Blues beat them 1-0 in St. Louis. It looks as though they had another slow start to the game and never really recovered, despite strong goaltending by Joey MacDonald. Joey gave them a chance to win by stopping everything except for a freak goal that went in off Chris Chelios.

For Blues fans, the bad news is that Manny Legace was hurt during the second period in a collision with Thomas Holmstrom.

The Wings play Calgary at home next, on Sunday at 6:00 PM ET.

Since I did not see the game and cannot provide a first-hand account, I suggest going to Gorilla Crouch, where Dave will probaby publish one soon, and No Pun Intended, where Steph already has.

… Unfortunately for the Wings, the Predators did not lose last night. They beat the Leafs in a penalty-filled affair in Nashville and are again in the lead by three points. They can go up by five with a win over the Kings on Saturday.

…. Ted Kulfan suggests that Henrik Zetterberg could be in the running for the Selke Trophy this year. I agree, and thought the same thing last year. It’s the young stars in the East that get all the attention, and though they obviously deserve a lot, I’m with Wayne Gretzky in saying Zetterberg is flying under many people’s radar.

… Kulfan and George Sipple of the Free Press both mention the rumor that the Wings are interested in Todd Bertuzzi. I’ll be frank: I would be absolutely appalled if they do end up going that route. You know may recall my opposition toward acquiring Peter Forsberg due to the uncertainty about his health. Well, I’d take Foppa any day over Bertuzzi, ankle problems and all (even more so now that he’s found some kind of workable solution). Ugh. There is no reason to bring Todd and his baggage into the lockerroom. Please Kenny, no Bertuzzi.

Oh, and by the way, the Forsberg rumor is heating up slightly, with the story currently being that he would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for three teams only: Detroit, Anaheim, and Montreal.

Kukla’s Korner: Facts on Forsberg

Published
by
Matt Saler
on February 7, 2007
in Chris Chelios, Links and Peter Forsberg
. 1 Comment

Flyer’s beat writer Chuck Gormley has an interesting guest-piece on KK worth reading. Most interesting:

  • Forsberg has been a “force” since the Break, having apparently found a solution to his skate problem
  • Chris Chelios has come out saying he’d love to have him on the team.

Hmm. I still think it’s too much of a risk, but, given the above, I must admit I’m warming to the idea slightly. Still, it doesn’t seem very likely to happen, since the asking price would probably be too high for Holland given the possibility that Forsberg would strictly be a rent-a-player looking to return to Philadelphia this summer.