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Welcome To The Hank Show
by IwoCPO on 10/30/07 at 06:31 AM ET
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Prediction: Henrik Zetterberg‘s point streak ends tonite. Oh, you can take that to the bank brother. How could it not? Hockey hasn’t seen a 24-hour period of hype for one player since Fitzpatrick-gate. Check the three Detroit Digger Dailies and what do you see? Zeta-fest. The Edmonton Sun and Journal? All Hank.
Of course, it started in Toronto; as Canadian law dictates it had to.
Eric Duhatschek wrote yesterday that Zetterberg “may” be the best in the league. James Mirtle agreed soon after, and not so tactfully reminded me via email that he predicted a better season for the future captain than I did.
What follows is a look at the morning in Hank’s World.
Remember, it was Duhatschek that got the ball rolling yesterday.
But there could be an argument made that right now, as October draws to a close that the league’s best player could be one that wasn’t chosen until the 210th overall pick of the 1999 entry draft; who stands a modest 5-foot-11; who just turned 27 earlier this month and has quietly averaged more than a point-a-game in the two-plus seasons of the post-lockout NHL.
Not so quietly anymore Eric. If he (Zetterberg) keeps this up visiting diggers will have their hands forced. No more Chelios The Ancient stories. No more “if Hasek stays healthy” leads. Helene St. James was astounded, shocked, perplexed yesterday in the visiting room when she saw real interest in a Red Wing from a large number of media. Not the norm where she comes from, so we’ll cut her some slack.
There was a funny scene Monday afternoon in the visitors’ dressing room at Rexall Place, where tonight the Red Wings will pit their NHL-leading 19 points against the Oilers.
Pavel Datsyuk was attempting to clear a path to his dressing area but found it impossible because linemate and league-leading scorer Henrik Zetterberg was surrounded by reporters.
Perhaps Helene wouldn’t have found the scene so LOL-hilarious had she read James Mirtle’s blog from yesterday afternoon. Of course, the Detroit diggers don’t read hockey blogs. Their bosses in the Wing Communications Compound won’t allow it. But if she had…
...he’s going to fall off that pace at some point, but the only challengers within four points of him at the moment are greybeards Mats Sundin and Rod Brind’Amour, who as much a threat to win a scoring title as Chris Osgood at this point.
There’s a bit of a cushion there, with Jarome Iginla and the fellows in Ottawa likely to play some catchup here in November, but when it’s all said and done, Zetterberg should finally finish among the top 10 scorers and get some consideration for the league MVP.
It doesn’t take a Hart to get the Oil media machine moving. Just a nudge from the boys in Toronto. John MacKinnon from the Edmonton Journal sounds like he’s got a poster of Hank on his bedroom wall, kinda like the one I had of Cheryl Tiegs that I threw away but sometimes still look at no not really but I know where it is in my garage in case I need to throw it away instead of keeping it which I have for twenty five years but only because it’s a piece of history not because she’s hot.
Detroit Red Wings high-scoring winger Henrik Zetterberg has the stylishly unruly blonde mop, well-tended facial scruff and laid-back manner of a surfer dude.
Read the article and you’ll see it isn’t entirely about MacKinnon’s man crush on Zetterberg, but focuses more on the chemistry of the Flying Circus.
“To me, that’s the best line in hockey right now,” said Draper, the 36-year-old two-way centre and three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Wings, who recently signed a three-year contract extension. “I’m very biased toward them, but they’re playing unbelievable hockey.”
Ted Kulfan, who can’t shy away from a story already covered by literally five other beat writers, clearly saw the commotion in the Wing room and maybe even took a note or two.
Zetterberg shied away from the individual attention and discussion. He preferred to concentrate on the success he and linemates Pavel Datsyuk and Holmstrom have had since being put together at the halfway point of last season.
“Good things can happen when you play with good players,” Zetterberg said.
Nearing the end of the first month of the season, there’s no question Zetterberg ranks among the better players in the league.
Maybe, the best.
*Above passage written and approved of by John Hahn, Detroit Red Wing Director of Communications
Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun seemed to be the only Digger in town yesterday who decided he wouldn’t get fired for deviating from the Hank-fest even slightly. His angle deals more with stopping the league’s best team, as opposed to just the league’s best player.
The Edmonton Oilers just beat the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Now it’s on to the best team in the NHL.
Today the Oilers host the Detroit Red Wings, a team that heads into the contest with the best record in the league and the top scorer in Henrik Zetterberg.
“They have the best record in hockey and we know them pretty well,” said Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish.
In case you didn’t catch that, Mac-T’s referring to The Punch In The Face..."knowing them pretty well”. We get it. Then again, he could be talking about last year’s regular season. Detroit was 1-1-2 against Edmonton.
Khan(!)? Khan(!)? Khan(!)? Oh, there you are. Right next to your Uncle Mike.
He’s a great two-way player, he’s unbelievable without the puck and he’s very dynamic with the puck.
“(With) his sidekick, Pavel, the two of them together are better than they are apart. They push one another and they obviously push our team to be better.”
Woops. Real news alert. “...together are better than they are apart.” He threw you an easy one Ansar, a gift to let you prove your worth as Deep Digger captain. Ask the question...ask....the.....question.
The Red Wings take a five-game winning streak into tonight’s contest in Edmonton. The Oilers, like every Detroit opponent before them, will be keying on Zetterberg.
Not yet. Guess it wasn’t the right time. No worries. You’re still our Captain. In fact, you solidified the job.
Don’t fret. Alternate Captain Helene St. James was all over it. According to her, it would appear the Circus will remain intact at least for the time being.
Johan Franzen (sprained knee) and Dallas Drake (fractured cheekbone) are expected back tonight, but while Franzen was playing with Datsyuk before getting hurt Oct. 6, he practiced Monday on a line with Drake and Tomas Kopecky, so it doesn’t look like Babcock has plans to break up Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
More later today. Not sure when. Live blog tonite? We’ll see.
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Comments
I fear that with all the fame will come the assasins. Keep Downey in the lineup!
Posted by w2j2 on 10/30/07 at 07:46 AM ET
Yeah, the Digger Captain came in late with a blog entry about practice saying basically what St. James said. Babcock wants the second line to remain the same, and wants Drake and Franzen on the fourth line for now, so that leaves it open to interpretation that the first line will not change.
Of course, we all know that’s subject to change at any moment, but you just can’t break that line up until they stop being productive for a game or two.
Posted by Nathan on 10/30/07 at 07:48 AM ET
Ahh, bless the MSM and its simple lil’ soul. You wanna talk about quietly amassing good looking stats? Let’s talk about the other cylinders on that motor that drives the Wings (a nice Motor City simile to start your day):
Datsyuk: 12 games played, 2 goals, 11 assists for 13 points, +7 rating. Cost: $6.7 million.
Holmstrom: 12 games played, 8 goals, 6 assists for 14 points, +6 rating. Cost: $3.3 million.
Sure, Z’s the best player on the line, but hell, it’s Monty Babcock’s Flying Circus that’s responsible for his lookin’ good. Of course, he’s responsible for the other two lookin’ good, but that’s beside my point. While Hank is making headlines, Dats and Homer are quietly proving they’re worth every penny they’re paid. Over a point per game, all of ‘em. Value for money, baby.
But all of these flashy stats and headlines make me shaky for what may come July 1st. Is it just me? While I realize Hank’s no cranky Russian when it comes to negotiating a new deal, I just hope he bears in mind previous statements:
“If Detroit wants to, I’ll sign a contract for the rest of my career.”
“No, I’m not [ashamed of my salary]. But it feels a bit odd...when people say that I’m underpaid.”
If Heatley was worth $7.5 million a month ago, I don’t wanna think what we might be shelling out for Z if he keeps up this kind of production.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from a place where money grows on trees on 10/30/07 at 08:48 AM ET
Oh, Zetterberg will cost a ton, no doubt. But he’ll also be worth it and won’t take a large contract as an opportunity to start slacking off. He has enough experience that I can’t see him slumping because he’ll be trying to do too much to “prove he deserves it,” either. In that case being underpaid can work to his mental advantage, because he won’t be getting a huge raise, he’ll just be getting reimbursed the shortfall from previous years.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/30/07 at 09:41 AM ET
I think they’ll get him right around what Pavs is making… maybe a bit higher and hit the 7 mark. But with the contracts that have been given out to lesser players, those two are still a relative bargain in that range. And just think of the bargain Homer and Draper are.
Posted by Nathan on 10/30/07 at 10:06 AM ET
As has already been said, I’m worried about a few things.
1) Egotism: Although Babcock should help here, I am sincerely worried about how he will handle this kind of media. It’s hard to remain humble when people are in line to fellate you… Actually, I’m terrified. I hope we can get him for a contract similar to Dats’ but with a clause that allows him to sell his gear at the Joe! Creative and lucrative, no?
2) Although the Circus is already getting attention, defenders will zero in on Hank even more. Drake/ Downey need to be around for all the time, although Drake can’t do anything right now--Scary.
The funny thing about defender attention is that people haven’t seemed to notice how much room Dats creates. There have already been several plays where multiple defenders came to Dats and then the puck goes to Hank. The roles might be reversed for a little while.
Posted by srt on 10/30/07 at 10:37 AM ET
I’m not too worried about #1, SRT. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that Hank is pretty grounded from having learned in the shadows of Yzerman and Lidstrom. He also saw from #91 what happens when you let the ego get a little too big. My bigger concern is Datsyuk. I’m a little worried that as he continues to develop as a player, the Russian is going to feel like he’s still in Z’s shadow. No reason to think this might happen - except for the whole Fedorov situation.
I hope I’m wrong.
Posted by Gabriel from San Diego, CA on 10/30/07 at 11:04 AM ET
I’m a little worried that as he continues to develop as a player, the Russian is going to feel like he’s still in Z’s shadow. No reason to think this might happen - except for the whole Fedorov situation.
I could only see that happening if they weren’t friends. If they didn’t really like each other, but played well and had only a professional relationship, I could see that. Besides, Datsyuk strikes me as being a little shy sometimes. He’s not a glory hound.
Besides, just when people forget about Datsyuk, he’ll do something sick like that shootout move that made Marty Turco look so silly. They’ll probably alternate time in the spotlight depending on who defenders key in on during a particular stretch. When they pay more attention to Zetterberg and Datsyuk is open, more goals will come from him for a while.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 10/30/07 at 11:46 AM ET
What Baroque said.
Regarding Egotism, not an issue. He has been a huge star in Sweden for many years, and he is who he is.
Posted by w2j2 on 10/30/07 at 02:43 PM ET
Not so tactfully?
The burn, it hurts.
Posted by James Mirtle from Toronto on 10/30/07 at 03:21 PM ET
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Posted by scheisskopf from Baltimore, Maryland on 10/30/07 at 06:37 AM ET