The Red Wings today called up forward Valterri Filppula after the injury to Brad Norton. Norton has a left shoulder injury suffered in last night’s game against Anaheim. If he arrived in time, he could be in the lineup tonight. In two games with Grand Rapids, Filppula has recorded one goal and one assist, with a rating of +1.
Also, Brett Lebda will replace Anreas Lilja tonight.
Archive for the 'The Team' CategoryPage 4 of 7
George Malik continues his practice of posting excellant columns on Kukla’s Korner with this critique of the Wings’ PR department. He gets a lot right in the first section, where he accuses the organization of arrogance. I do think, however, he somewhat overestimates the response the team would receive if they were to change its ways. Hockeytown has become more and more Pistonstown and Tigerstown lately, and I suspect it will be hard to return to the glory days of Wings fanship.
Due to his heart ailment, Greg Johnson has retired from the NHL. I don’t want to blame Ken Holland too much on this one, other than the fact that a physical could’ve been demanded prior to signing him. And catching the ailment before signing him would’ve allowed the Wings the cap space to go out and get a young forward. Obviously this is all in hindsight and neither Johnson nor Holland saw this coming. Enjoy your retirement, Greg, and I hope your condition improves.
Brad Horton made the cut as the 13th forward, as the players preferred. So, the team will look like this:
Forwards
Dan Cleary
Pavel Datsyuk
Kris Draper
Johan Franzen
Brad Horton
Tomas Holmstrom
Jiri Hudler
Tomas Kopecky
Robert Lang
Kirk Maltby
Mikael Samuelsson
Jason Williams
Henrik ZetterbergDefensmen
Chelios Chelios
Niklas Kronwall
Brett Lebda
Nicklas Lidstrom
Andreas Lilja
Danny Markov
Mathieu SchneiderGoalies
Dominik Hasek
Joey MacDonald
Chris Osgood
I have a ton of homework to do this week but I’ll get a season preview up by late Wedesnday night.
Update (7:39 PM): The TSN article has been updated to say that Kubina has, in fact, been suspended for Toronto’s first regular season game. He’ll forfeit $26,737.97 in pay. - Matt
The Leafs’ Pavel Kubina was assessed a match penalty during last night’s exhibition game in Toronto (a 3-2 shootout win for the Wings) for a cross-check to Jiri Hudler’s face. Now, the league is reviewing the play and may suspend the defenseman for at least Toronto’s season opener against the Senators.
I only caught a glimpse of the play while watching it live (I was distracted) but it seems pretty clear that Kubina ought to sit out at least one game. Hudler is the shorter player by a fair margin, Kubina has to control his stick, even when taking a cheap shot after the play. Hit him in the chest next time, Pavel.
It looks like the Red Wings organization is buying into the offseason “success” that Ken Holland had…I would’ve liked to see the Wings wait until the end of the ‘06-’07 season, and at that point either re-sign Holland or give Nill the GM position. We can’t expect Jim Nill to be assistant GM forever…
So, he won’t be Ken Holland’s right-hand man, he’ll be Jimmy Devellano’s. It’s fitting, given the fact that Jimmy D is the man who drafted The Captain in 1983. Pretty good first post-career job, I’d say. Congratulations, Stevie!
I highly doubt the final decision will come as much of a surprise. It really doesn’t seem likely that it would be anyone other than Lidstrom.
Also, the season begins two weeks from today so regular posting will be coming soon. Expect a season preview in the week leading up to the opener on October 5th.
He’ll get $2.5 million for one year, again making either the Franzen or the Johnson signing look silly.
Simply select the game(s) that you would like to attend, purchase a minimum of 10 individual single seats in any combination (10 to one game, 1 to 10 games, etc.)* and guarantee yourself 2 upper bowl seats side by side** for this memorable event!
* All 10 or more singles must be purchased in 1 order to qualify for Steve Yzerman Night seats.
** Seat locations will be based on availability.
Um, is it just me or do they seem a little desperate to sell tickets?
That little deal is a tad expensive for Joe Fan, especially if the two tickets aren’t free in the end (they’re a little ambiguous about that) and if they crack down on groups pooling money (like a couple of poor college kids). (Thanks to Megan for the link)
