Red Wings

[Drew]

Did Holmstrom have any playoff goals? He might be getting tired of camping next to the crease, taking cross-checks to the back.

[Rocky Bleier]

Grapes was praising Talbot after the first last night. Really nailed it.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/hockeynightincanada/coachscorner/

I don't really believe in hockey gods or any such nonsense, but could Kronwall's shot off the crossbar been any closer? And how about that final shot by Nick? How often have you seen him bury one like that? I still say Staal's shortie in game 4 was the turning point in the series. In the end I think Pittsburgh just wanted it more. They were more aggressive, they were blocking shots etc. Fleury came up big in a building where he's had some bad games. Injuries and age played a factor for Detroit, but they won the first two games and had two days off before games 6 and 7. No excuses.

[Rocky Bleier]

that sucked

I don't feel too bad today. Not nearly like I felt in '95 after the Jersey sweep. Winning 4 Cups in between makes it easier. But I'd rather lose in the first round than to lose game 7 of the Finals. What sucks for me is knowing there's nothing to expect from the Lions, Tigers, Pistons, and the mess that is Michigan football. Okay, now I'm getting depressed.

[froot loops]

Draper scored the only Wing goal of game 6. He almost scored another, I thought the PK improved when Draper got back in the lineup. Maltby had a few chances, but he was really good defensively early in the series, I'm not looking for him to score. I remember Crosby just getting frustated at him during the games and after that one game.

From my point of view, I'm not looking for scoring from those guys but good defense. They got that from both. What I take away from this series is that the Wings did not play as well at team defense as the Penguins did. They played very good defense against Crosby and to a lesser extent Malkin, but they had far too many defensive miscues as a team. The Penguins attacked the Red Wings strength in the puck moving defenseman. It took their offense out and a lot of their goals came from Red Wing turnovers from bad pinches and bad turnovers below the goal line. They never punished the Penguins.

[Rocky Bleier]

OUCH!!!

Lidstrom admits having surgery during playoffs; Datsyuk quiet about injury



By HELENE ST. JAMES • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • June 13, 2009


While teammates played Game 4 against Chicago, Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was undergoing surgery after getting speared in the testicles by Patrick Sharp in Game 3.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Draper scored the only Wing goal of game 6. He almost scored another, I thought the PK improved when Draper got back in the lineup. Maltby had a few chances, but he was really good defensively early in the series, I'm not looking for him to score. I remember Crosby just getting frustated at him during the games and after that one game.

From my point of view, I'm not looking for scoring from those guys but good defense. They got that from both. What I take away from this series is that the Wings did not play as well at team defense as the Penguins did. They played very good defense against Crosby and to a lesser extent Malkin, but they had far too many defensive miscues as a team. The Penguins attacked the Red Wings strength in the puck moving defenseman. It took their offense out and a lot of their goals came from Red Wing turnovers from bad pinches and bad turnovers below the goal line. They never punished the Penguins.

Yup. They seemed a little Piston-y for me. Everyone was expecting that everyone else was going to play well and they didn't need to put out great effort.

[Drew]

OUCH!!!

While teammates played Game 4 against Chicago, Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom was undergoing surgery after getting speared in the testicles by Patrick Sharp in Game 3.

I can understand why you wanna hide that injury.

[Masspartan]

that was fun... it beat the shit out of 0-16 .....

very true.

[Fraquar]

They simply gave the puck away too much, and you can't do that against good teams and make a living off it. They were about 2" from tying the game despite that but close doesn't count in Hockey.

[Tom]

That stunk. I can't believe the Wings lost to the Pens. It almost seems like that 5-0 win in Game 5 made them think Pitt was going to roll over. I guess the only thing I can take out of that last game was that Crosby was barely on the ice for it and he was pretty much a non-factor in the series.

Last night my friend texted me that he fears "we may be watching the end of something great". I think that kind of talk is crazy. The Wings are still stacked. The only move that would really frighten me would be a Lidstrom retirement (because he is the greatest defenseman of the modern era). There should be a little turnover but you still have Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Cleary, Franzen, Helm, Fillpula, Homstrom, Abdelkader, Leino, and Draper at forward. On defense you have Lidstrom, Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Ericcson, and Lebda (who played pretty well in the playoffs compared to a couple of years ago). I think they have some decent defensemen in the minors too. They can let Chelios, Hossa, and Maltby go. I would like to see Samuelsson re-signed. I don't love the guy but he seems to score big goals in the playoffs. I would like Hudler back too.

The most annoying thing about this loss is the "size and physical play" debate will probably be brought up again. Had Holmstrom been his usual self in front of the net, this probably wouldn't be an issue.

[Fraquar]

They were definitely struggling to keep the puck enough to get someone in front of the net to begin with. They were skating with the puck alot instead of attacking the zone with the crisp passing we are used to seeing.

As long as they continue to have youth coming up through the ranks they will be fine going forward from here.

[Drew]

I doubt it's over with the current core. They'll have to make moves to get younger, meaning making room for the youngsters.

Time to part ways with McCarty and Chelios, and give serious consideration to dumping one or two of Maltby, Draper, or even Holmstrom to make room.

[Rocky Bleier]

Cap will put squeeze on Wings

Dave Dye / The Detroit News

Detroit -- This is the offseason where the salary cap finally starts to hit home for the Red Wings.
The Wings are going to lose some players they seriously don't want to lose, and that really hasn't been the case for them until now. It's inevitable, though.
The cap is expected to remain in the $57 million range, and the Wings have already re-signed Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen to long-term deals with hefty raises.

Marian Hossa, meanwhile, becomes a free agent again July 1. The Wings are the only team that can negotiate with him until that time, but Hossa can't sign a contract until July 1.
Indications are the sides will somehow figure out a way to make the numbers work with the salary cap, presumably with a front-loaded, long-term deal that helps drop the average cap hit by tacking on some lower salaries at the end.
The problem for the Wings is that by signing Hossa, it quite likely means they'll have to let two other free agents, Jiri Hudler (restricted) and Mikael Samuelsson (unrestricted), go.
Hudler and Samuelsson have said they want to stay and the feeling is mutual -- except for the cap situation.
Hudler is well-liked in the dressing room and has a knack for scoring. Samuelsson, despite some inconsistency, also has fit in on this team because he's a right-handed shot who can drop back to play the point on the power play.
But the Wings can't keep everybody.
So unless they don't sign Hossa or they create some cap space by trading someone already under contract, it appears Hudler and Samuelsson will be moving.
The Red Wings also have a decision to make on a backup goalie behind Chris Osgood, who is signed for two more seasons.
Ty Conklin filled that role effectively this season, but he's also likely to get better offers from other teams than what the Wings can afford.
Like Hossa, Conklin signed only a one-year contract last summer with Detroit and will be a free agent again on July 1.
The Wings have two younger goalies, Jimmy Howard and Daniel Larsson, who conceivably could move up from the minors and take the backup job.
However, Howard can't be sent to the minors next season without clearing waivers.
So the Wings will have to decide whether they still consider him to be a serious part of their future. If not, he could be traded.
Physical forward Tomas Kopecky is an unrestricted free agent who should be able to get an offer elsewhere for more than his $500,000 salary this season.
Kopecky will be coming back from surgery for a fractured orbital bone that forced him to miss the last two rounds of the playoffs.
The Wings also must re-sign Ville Leino, who was impressive in his rookie season after coming over from Finland.
Defenseman Chris Chelios has been adamant he wants to return for a 26th season in the NHL, but that doesn't seem likely to happen in Detroit.
As much as general manager Ken Holland likes to keep veterans around, it doesn't seem feasible in Chelios' case because of the cap and younger, more talented players in the system.
Meanwhile, two other veterans, Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, are under contract. Draper has two more seasons at $1.58 million each while Maltby has one year at $883,333.
The Wings have one ongoing health issue that has to be a concern involving defenseman Andreas Lilja, who suffered a concussion Feb. 28 and hasn't played since. What's worse, he's having more headaches.
Derek Meech could be an odd man, although his versatility of playing forward and defense, along with his inexpensive contract ($483,333), still make him valuable.
A few younger players certainly should fit into the plans. Jonathan Ericsson has earned a top-six defenseman spot.
Like Ericsson, Darren Helm has earned a full-time job in Detroit next season.
The same argument can be made, although not quite as strongly, for Leino and Justin Abdelkader.
One thing that seems safe to assume: The Wings won't be making headlines by signing a top free agent off another team like they did a year ago with Hossa. It's going to take almost every last dollar within the salary cap just to keep their own players.

[Rocky Bleier]

Babcock: Wing's out of gas.

http://videos.mlive.com/grpress/2009/06/babcock_red_wings_looked_out_o.html

[Tom]

Rocky, is that Denise Milan?