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Abel to Yzerman

Monday Odds and Ends

by IwoCPO on 10/08/07 at 07:57 AM ET
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The Nina. The Pinta. The Santa Maria. The BJ.  All historical references to the great Christopher Columbus.  Celebrate them all today, my friends. Celebrate them all.  As you do, consider the stress that awaits us at this early stage of the NHL season.  I’m even considering firing up the train.  The toughest month of the season starts tonite with Edmonton then continues with the Flames and resurgent Hawks, before it’s on the road twice to hit the traditional Wing foes in the West and Far West (Thanks Gary…Ass). 

That’s right. In a span of thirty days, the Red Wings of Detroit—a city historically associated with the term “West”—head that direction for long road trips in time zones that confuse and sadden us.  You doubt the idiocy? Click on John Vescio’s “Addicted To Red” graphic on the right and see for yourself.

And the fun starts down some grit, as you know.  Khan(!) suggests options, amidst the discussions gaining steam that Uncle Mike should reunite Datsyuk and Zetterberg on the top line.

Holland wasn’t sure who would replace Franzen on that line. Dan Cleary, who scored a career-high 20 goals last season, is a strong candidate. This would enable the club to insert either Ellis or Downey at left wing in Cleary’s place alongside Valtteri Filppula and Kris Draper. That way, the Red Wings can keep intact two lines, the Jiri Hudler-Henrik Zetterberg-Mikael Samuelsson unit and the fourth line of Dallas Drake, Tomas Kopecky and Kirk Maltby.

With or without Franzen, scoring is going to be a problem 5-5. We’ve already discovered that through the first two games as the power play has shown dramatic improvement since last year. That success has been nifty, but also reminded us every time the first unit is out there just how good Zetterberg, Datysuk and Homer are together…which starts us grumbling.  I’m not an advocate of bringing that line back together even strength, not yet. 

But this month is going to reveal some things.  We’re going to find out that even without Franzen, the grit factor is just fine.  Drake, Kopecky, Maltby, Cleary…quite enough up front. 

After this month Brian Rafalski will be mentioned as a Norris candidate and Andres Lilja will be our official scapegoat. He’s looked like a crackhead on skates the first two games.

Remember…we need a player to beat down. It’s our nature and a great stress relief.  Bobby’s gone. Someone needs to step up and take the abuse.  We discussed this a few weeks ago, remember? Let’s close the loop on this. You have a month to decide.

Oh, and Wing expert Terry Foster has decided Detroit is no longer “Hockeytown”.  How has he reached that conclusion, other than reading about it from other columnists for a week?  Thank you for asking.  Terry Foster, the Wing expert, is convinced because Kathi Deese of Corunna told him so.

She sees empty seats. She hears less talk about the Red Wings and she’s seen the departure of a lot of big names over the years, capped by the retirement of Steve Yzerman. The luster is wearing off and the challenge for owner Mike Ilitch and his marketing group is to get “it” back.

“It hasn’t been Hockeytown in quite a few years,” said Deese, who remains a big Red Wings fan. “The last straw came when Yzerman retired. Once the face of the franchise left a lot of people didn’t care as much. Hockeytown was on the downward spiral after Darren McCarty, Manny Legace, Brendan Shanahan, Scotty Bowman and Yzerman left the team.

“It’s unfortunate for the Wings, but the Hockeytown days are over.”

Dammit. She’s right. I’ve been on the fence for a few years now.  Tottering between “Hockeytown” or no “Hockeytown.”  Then, when Legace left?  That did it.  There goes the history. There goes the pageantry. As soon as Manny left I knew we were cooked.

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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)

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