Abel to Yzerman
Next entry: SCREWED
Previous entry: Rafalski Goes Back To His Roots
A Throw Up In Your Mouth Kind of Weekend
by IwoCPO on 02/10/08 at 11:22 AM ET
Comments (12)
I guess the discussion about contracts and even the underground talk mentioning Charlie Buckets as trade bait in the event he asks too much are kind of, you know, out the window now.
I’m no math whiz, but “six to eight weeks” comes out to April 10th, or March 25th, or maybe longer and that puts everything on the table now brother. Sundin, Jagr, Jokinen (have we heard that before?). Of course, the prices just went up since Kenny’s working with the worst kind of bad hand: a glaring need. And, yeah, it’s glaring.
Let’s go ahead and take a quick look at what the Wings will be trying to replace. Dan Cleary, who hadn’t missed a game this season, leaves a hole in the lineup to this kind of tune:
5th in points with 40.
2nd in goals with 20.
7th in assists with 20.
+23, fifth best on the team.
5 PP goals and 3 game winners.
161 shots. With the Wing mantra of “just shoot it bitch.” That’s three Cleary lasers per game gone.
Oh, and that’s 17 minutes, 24 shifts per game: gone. Dangerous shifts. Gritty shifts. Shifts that can’t be replaced by an oompa loompa who can’t score anymore, or a brawler who never could score. 24 shifts that can’t be replaced by a legend in Grand Rapids or a guy we used to hate but now wears #17.
On to the diggers and the reaction to this little nugget of fun.
Obviously, a huge blow for a valuable forward who was having a career year. You have to figure this will alter general manager Ken Holland’s trade deadline plans. Even if Cleary does return for the start of the playoffs, the Wings might want to get a goal-scoring winger by the Feb. 26 trade deadline just in case.
Yeah…just in case. Just in case Cleary’s still sucking Tab through a straw when we face, oh, Calgary, in the first round. Yep. Time to start taking a harder look at that first round opponent. Nashville, Denver, Phoenix: all would be pleasing. Calgary, Vancouver, Minneosta, San Jose? No thanks, not with Cleary’s abrasiveness and resiliency potentially missing for the opening series.
Mike Babcock told me after the game that Cleary had two fractures, and there was never any question this would be a long-term injury.
Two fractures to the jaw. Double the fun for Uncle Mike. And double the pressure to find a replacement. No? Consider this. Since last year’s boot to the balls in Anaheim, by all accounts a series between two amazingly evenly-matched teams, the Wings have: lost Mathieu Schneider, lost Todd Bertuzzi, lost Dan Cleary and added…Dallas Drake. (edit: thanks to A2Y reader Jaybee who pointed out what I amazingly missed: the signing of Rafalski, which waters down my point considerably) Anaheim? Added Schneider, Bertuzzi and allowed their two best players to take a six month vacation to rest up for a title defense. Yeah, they lost Penner and MacDonald, but now punk-ass Corey Perry seems to know how to score.
Today will give us a glimpse. Pessimistic would be a mild term for me right now. Osgood looked like garbage against LA (but admittedly better than Hasek did yesterday). Wings played an emotional OT game in the center of the hockey universe yesterday. Cleary’s out. Hudler can’t score. Filppula has two goals his last fifteen games. 1 his last seven (none since his Cancun experience). Secondary scoring, that magical fun phrase that has taken the league by storm this year, is kind of a concern.
Today’s the day Ken Holland may have to alter his plans. With sixteen days left until the deadline, an afternoon game with the Poultry may show him that he needs to alter the dynamic for the sake of the Cup. Today he’ll see a better Anaheim team than the one that beat us in May, and a Wing team that is not what it was in the WCF.
And, as we said a few weeks ago, any move has two motivations behind it: make the team better, if you can. And keep Anaheim from getting even stronger, which you must. Kevin Paul Dupont from the Boston Globe says Cliff Fletcher’s willing to deal Sundin-which we already knew-if Sundin wants to go. And if he wants to go, it’ll be to the “right team” for him. Dupont says that “right” team is just across the border.
In this case, “right” is likely code for Detroit, a club that could win it without Sundin, and one that becomes a prohibitive favorite if he has the Winged Wheel on his chest. The Ducks could become instant co-favorites to repeat if Sundin went to Anaheim, where the image of him feeding Teemu Selanne borders on the obscene. It’s a far better bet that Sundin, even though he has never won a Cup in his 16 seasons, would opt for the closer, almost sure bet in Motown rather than Ducktown. Detroit is so much closer to Toronto, and it’s all but certain that he’ll sign again with the Leafs in July, unless he gets intoxicated with seeing his reflection in the Cup when he hoists it over his head.
Sundin to the Wings was a lark the day before yesterday, an interesting conversation to pass the time. But now, with Charlie Buckets in bed with Grampa Joe for six to eight, is it a necessity? Could be. And if Sundin’s guaranteed to return to Toronto (not a guarantee, in my opinion) than that may bring the price down a bit. But expensive or cheap, he’s not my number one. I’ve said it all along and I’m standing by it. Jokinen. A captain, gritty, a scorer with an edge, younger.
Either way, Ken Holland’s in a position to earn his check once again. A twice-crushed jaw to a guy who was lucky to land a job but now is a lynchpin has turned up the heat. Tick tock Kenny.
Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
Comments
What annoyed me more than Hasek’s performance yesterday were his comments afterwards. He called them “lucky goals”–––what the hell are you talking about?
I thought Z played a stinky game as well, turning the puck over several times, gliding by rather than forechecking etc…
But, yes, the key question is how do you replace a man who got up and skated back to the bench after breaking his jaw in two places? You make a strong argument for Jokinen but what’s the price to be paid? Who goes?
And this may be a slightly perverse thing to bring up, but doesn’t this mean that we can resign Cleary for a bit cheaper? More in Kenny’s original range? I hope we at least get that much out of it.
Finally, unless the Wings get up for the game in a serious way, I’m betting on a 4-1 loss. Sorry, but we look like garbage; I just don’t want to see anyone else get hurt.
Posted by Osrt on 02/10/08 at 01:48 PM ET
Don’t underestimate the relationship that most Winged Swedes already have with Sundin - from years of seeing him captain the national side.
Posted by Snöfu from Sweden on 02/10/08 at 01:51 PM ET
Suddenly, the Wings need a scoring winger a lot more than they need a depth defensemean. The Wings must not trade away their future for a 3 month rental. The pressure is on for Holland.
Posted by w2j2 on 02/10/08 at 02:20 PM ET
Sorry, defenseman is still more important. This defense will get carved up in the playoffs if Kronwall doesn’t get back and get to full fitness, and even if he does, it’s dangerous to have Lilja/Lebda as your last line of defense… no pun intended.
Posted by Nathan on 02/10/08 at 02:40 PM ET
I’m kinda bettin’ he’ll be in time for at least the second or third game of the first round of the playoffs and he’ll be wearing some sort of a face shield. He’s too much of a restless soul hockey player to be sitting down.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 02/10/08 at 03:05 PM ET
Wow, I went from bored to scared shitless in one shift yesterday afternoon. Maybe we should rename the Strees Train the Bi-Polar Express.
Posted by dougie on 02/10/08 at 03:07 PM ET
I agree Nathan defense is still our number one priority. I would rather have a big name d-man than a big name forward. Either way the next few weeks will be very interesting indeed.
Posted by Sp4r7an on 02/10/08 at 03:09 PM ET
Don’t hit the panick button just yet. The Wings were fine missing Homer and Zetter. Right now in the locker room I expect it is “Win one for the Dan”. It isn’t so much the lack of production from the second line players as the lack of production from the top line players that has been hurting the Wings the most.
Franzen, Sammy, and Juri will all see more ice time, and that is just what is required to get them out of their so called slump. Better to keep in mind, the Wings are only one more puck to the face from severely needing more experience (depth) on Defense. Let’s not be mortgaging the farm for a Great Swede that has not come close to the cup in 16 yrs.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 02/10/08 at 03:11 PM ET
On an optimistic note:
The Wings still have 87 points in the bank. Another 15 in their remaining games will put them easily in the playoffs.
This does provide a lot of time and leeway to, as Todd mentioned, get their slumping players enough time to get out of their slumps.
Detroit could be like Ottawa - two-headed mess in goal and a team that can’t win worth spit without their big scoring line fully intact, although they can score nearly at will with it. The team is slumping by concentrating all their crappiness in short-term intense doses instead of spreading the poo evenly throughout the season.
And I thought that not only did Sundin not want to leave Toronto, but he had some investments that required him to stay in Canada anyway? I really don’t see him moving unless he starts to talk in weasel words (“If it would help the team, then of course I would listen” kind of talk.) Sor far it’s been “not interested, not leaving, I don’t know any smaller words than ‘no’ to make you understand.”
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/10/08 at 05:06 PM ET
Question: Has anyone out there done a calculation—or know where to get one—of what the NHL standings might look like under this formula: 3 points for a 60-minute win; 2 points for an OT/Shootout win; 1 point for an OT/SO loss; and 0 points for a 60-minute loss? Just wondering. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by aclcmc from Cambridge, Ontario on 02/10/08 at 08:50 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
GDT - Game #55: Red Wings host Oilers (7:30)
The F Stands For Finger And The Finger Could Really ______ Us All
GDT - Game #54: Red Wings at Coyotes (8:00)
So Far 4 In 2, Why Not 6 in 3?
GDT - Game #53: Red Wings at Oilers (10:00)
GDT - Game #52: Red Wings at Canucks (10:00)
All Aboard…Play Time Is Over, Live Blogging The 7th Re-Grand-Redolent Opening Of The Hasek
GDT - Game #51: Red Wings at Flames (9:00)
The NHL All-Star Game - So Unpopular It’s Not Even Worth Stealing
About Abel to Yzerman
Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker
Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!
That sounds great but… I think you have to acknowledge that they also added Brian Rafalski. Right?
Posted by jaybee on 02/10/08 at 01:03 PM ET