LOGIN | REGISTER | RSS FEEDS

Abel to Yzerman

Digging Wednesday

by IwoCPO on 10/21/09 at 05:11 AM ET
Comments (0)

Before we get into the golden prose of our Deep Diggers, let’s clear the air a bit.

Tyler, charter member of the 19 and co-founder of The Triple Deke, asked me this question yesterday in the comments of the Bertuzzi manifesto. 

Me: Compare his style of play.  Any characteristic you can find.  Nothing is comparable.  He’s a different player and probably a different person.  How those changes affect his performance and his team is something to discuss and write about.

Tyler: “Then, may I ask, why do you like the guy?  Are you talking personality-wise, or the potential for how good he can be?  Because, given all of the reasons you mentioned—no similar characteristics to his power forward days—I haven’t been in favor of him being a Wing since Day #1.  He’s bounced around from team to team the last few years for the reasons you mentioned.  Fans of his previous teams all give the same glum report of what it was like to watch him.  Teams want him to suddenly be a dominant physical force, and he hasn’t been that in forever.”

I like him for a few reasons. I like the player he used to be, and I’m naively enamored with the potential of what he could do for this team if he ever returns to what he was.  It’s as simple as that.  I like what he could be again.  Oh, and I really like the fact that so many people are so high and mighty that they believe they can sit in their ivory towers and point to Bertuzzi’s mistake and try to define this guy by, as Andrew from Ann Arbor put it, a ten-second clip of his life.  Screw them. 

Many, many comments and a couple emails questioned the validity or timeliness of that post.  Several of you referred to it as a non-story, or an issue that isn’t worth discussing anymore.  I, obviously, disagree.  And I disagree on two fronts:  because of what I just said regarding his potential, and because the Moore incident affects the way he plays.  That post, though, wasn’t about Bertuzzi’s ability or about what he brings to the ice every night for Detroit.  That post was more about the fact that the Detroit media dances around the subject.  Again,  how do you write a story about Bertuzzi defending his teammates on the ice and not mention Steve Moore?  It’s integral. 

But hey, you know what?  Writing that would be unpleasant, uncomfortable for everyone.  So let’s pretend it’s not an issue and move on to…

...Jimmy D.  Khan(!) got the assignment from John Hahn and did the Red Wings’ loose-lipped Executive Vice President for Vice Presidency and Advisory Matters Not Specifically Spelled Out In Any Contract But Inferred Based on Longevity (VP for VPAMNSSOIACBIL) very well.  I scoff, because that’s who I am..sorry to offend, but our DD Captain did a pretty good job of capturing Devellano’s career.  A few nuggets in there you might not have been aware of.

Devellano was hired as a scout by the expansion New York Islanders in 1972, rising to the post of assistant GM/director of amateur scouting before joining the Red Wings.

Lou Nanne, GM of the Minnesota North Stars at the time, strongly recommended Devellano to the Ilitches. They interviewed three other candidates—Pat Quinn, Red Berenson and David Poile.

Pretty interesting.  We rip Jimmy D here from time to time because he runs his yap, but I’ll never discount what he did for the organ-I-zation, or for us.  Simply: he drafted Steve Yzerman.  Hard to predict whether any of those three would have done the same.

Chris McCoskey reminds us today that there are some new faces in the Wing room, and then tells us that a whole bunch of people are using that as an excuse for 7 points after 7 games.  Transitioning is what they’re doing.

“Every night we play with six forwards who didn’t play for us last year,” coach Mike Babcock said. “It’s a bit of a change. But if you look around the league, it’s the same for everybody else.”

I am looking around the league Mike.  Actually, what I’m doing, is looking up at the league, a whole bunch of bitches above the Wings in other words.  And so are you. But I kinda dig what he’s saying.  Look. Half the forwards were hurt throughout camp. It probably does take a while to get used to this system.  Chemistry can’t be developed overnight. I get it. I got it.  Noted. 

Something like 80 hours has passed so I’m ready to discuss Saturday.  The chemistry we just mentioned?  It was there the first two periods.  The Wings looked fantastic, as good as we’ve seen them look since the Western Conference Finals really.  Oh…what?  They didn’t play their best in the SCF?  Shocking, I know.  Anyway, they looked great for two periods and then a few bad changes over a short span of time bent them over and then a shootout that still confounds me.  Chris? Newsflash…teams are going to their backhand on you.  Every time.  Just thought you’d like to know.

That, the team we saw for forty minutes against Denver, can be the team we expect.  That team can beat anyone, and there is no doubt about that.  They were fast.  The power play was dangerous (except for a four minute bit of ugliness that turned out to be kind of important I guess), the goaltending was good…they looked like the Wings.  And the one factor we’re pointing to this year as the indicator?  Yep, the PK.  It was great. 

St. James

“It’s getting better, and we feel better about it, for sure,” said Brad Stuart, a regular penalty killer and among the team’s elite 5-on-3 killers. “We’re pressuring a little bit more—we’re all kind of working as one, moving together instead of being spread apart, forcing them so that if they’re going to score a goal they’re going to have to make a great play and if they’re going to do that, then hats off to them. But we want to make it as hard as we can.”

Ok. We’ll see, and we won’t ask where that approach was last year.  Let’s just see what’s in store out west. 

In a span of 9 days starting tomorrow in Phoenix, the Wings will play the Coyotes, the Dive, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.  This is not f-around time anymore.  While a poor trip wouldn’t spell disaster? It would definitely sound some alarms.  Wings need 7 points out of this trip.  We need them to come back home sitting at 6-4-2 or so.

Back to Bertuzzi before I close.  There’s a good chance I’ll be writing about him again.  I won’t spring it on you. It’ll be obvious right up front.  So, you know, what I’m saying is…don’t read it if you don’t want to. 

Filed in: | Abel to Yzerman | Permalink
 

Comments

Be the first to comment.

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.

Most Recent Blog Posts

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)

Get the top online sports betting bonuses available to sports betters!