Abel to Yzerman
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Seeya Igor. Next?
by IwoCPO on 05/01/08 at 12:36 PM ET
Comments (22)
A little bit of irony, but probably not coincidence. The Anti-Digger is reporting that the most sought after Swede in the history of sought after Swedes is in Wing custody for the next few days, and that Igor Grigorenko is no longer in any Wing plans.
Brunnstrom will be picked up at the Denver airport by Ken Holland this afternoon and will watch the Red Wings/Avalanche game tonight with Detroit management. Brunnstrom will be in Detroit tomorrow where he’ll be shown Joe Louis Arena and have dinner with management. (Whether he travels to Detroit on the team plane or commerical airline is still being worked out, depending on what the league will allow.)
Brunnstrom is making three stops on this trip to North America, having visited Dallas already. His third stop hasn’t been announced, but my guess is it’s Montreal. That means Detroit is one of three finalists for the free agent.
We know the stumbling block here, a guaranteed top six position. I give credit to the Wings for not caving and not making an empty promise on this one. I hope it turns out that Holland says, “earn it.” And the kid says, “Oh, I will. Where do I sign?”
Because I’m a reactionary, I led the Grigorenko charge this year. At various times I claimed he was a Calder guarantee, a winger on the Datsyuk line and a McCain running mate. The first two obviously did not occur.
Now? Sayonara sister.
Detroit general manager Ken Holland said today about Igor Grigorenko that “I think it’s time to move on.”
Holland said unless somebody tells him that Grigorenko got himself into top shape, that the Red Wings likely won’t make a move to keep the Russian as their property next season.
Disappointing. Re-habbing a wrecked knee with a poor work ethic probably doesn’t work too well.
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Comments
Sad for Grigorenko. An almost fatal car crash is fortune to eventually walk away from. At least the kid can earn some $ still playing hockey in Russia. Too bad he didn’t learn some English and prep himself better for his Wings try-out earlier this season.
Posted by Puck from San Francisco, CA on 05/01/08 at 01:26 PM ET
(Whether he travels to Detroit on the team plane or commerical airline is still being worked out, depending on what the league will allow.)
Gotta believe that fast Kenny has a spare Gulfstream IV around somewhere. The team does not need the distraction on Red Wing 1.
Hell, let’s clear him off a spot in the Hasek….chance to hang out and play a little SCRABBLE with the gang.
Posted by Rumbear from Sandy Eggo on 05/01/08 at 01:33 PM ET
You have to love the quote “The HighLander” got from Coach Bab’s on the topic (which incidentally may be his most coherent string of sentences in weeks):
“It’s so obvious it isn’t even funny. Just move into Novi, little Sweden, hang out like it’s the old country. I can’t even understand why anyone else is in the running. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. All they (Swedes) do is come here, they’re comfortable, they play better than they ever have in their life.”
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 05/01/08 at 01:35 PM ET
Agreed on Igor, Puck. It’s real tragedy that this kid will never get the chance at an NHL career. He had potential to be a truly great player before the accident.
Work ethic issues aside, ya gotta feel a little sad for Iggy Griggy. Best of luck in Russia…
As for Brunnstrom, I don’t know if this kid is worth the hype. He seemed to plateau this season in the Elitserien, and some Swedish observers are really finding the hulabaloo over this guy a bit amusing, as in, could be a serviceable NHL’er, but not the second coming of Floppa as he’s been portrayed in some, er, more desparate quarters (cough! TO! cough!).
It would be nice to get him in Detroit, if for depth reasons as much as anything, but it’s not like we’re exactly hurting in terms of forward prospects- Dick Axelsson, Anton Axelsson, Ryno, Ritola, Joakim Andersson, Mursak, Cory Emmerton, and now, Helm, Abbadabadoo, etc… I don’t know that Fabian Brunnstrom is gonna break the Wings one way or the other…
Anyway, did a little, ahem, sweeping of the front walk this morning, after a brisk little spring snow, and looking forward to doin’ a little more sweeping this evening…
Posted by mudshark from Divetown, Colorado on 05/01/08 at 02:30 PM ET
As for Brunnstrom, I don’t know if this kid is worth the hype.
This.
Everybody making a fuss over a guy who hasn’t showed he can play in the NHL, especially given the smaller ice surface.
Brunnstrom will be in Detroit tomorrow where he’ll be shown Joe Louis Arena and have dinner with management.
Make sure you take him to Grand Rapids and show him Van Andel Arena, too. If he sulks, we don’t want him.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 03:01 PM ET
I probably meant balks, not sulks. Stupid thesaurus.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 03:08 PM ET
I’ve been following this blog since my husband told me about it at the start of the playoffs. It’s so insightful, so informative, and so fantastically juvenile. In short, it’s simply marvelous.
I thought the 19 readers of the blog might be interested in this lovely item posted on the local Craig’s list. Perfect for your favorite canoe lover. Wonder if Pierre might be interested?
http://detroit.craigslist.org/fur/663742575.html
Posted by rw from detroit on 05/01/08 at 03:10 PM ET
Agreed. Does this guy really need to ride on the plane with them, especially should they not sweep tonight? Then again, maybe it’s to show him how things might be. But, if this guy is a primadonna then i hope wings take a pass.
Posted by AndrewB from TN on 05/01/08 at 03:23 PM ET
He may or may not be worth the hype - but I’m sure the Wings have told him that he isn’t guaranteed a roster spot all season, but he will be given a fair chance to show what he can do.
They don’t need another forward desperately, and thus don’t have to throw promises of the moon at him and wind up putting him in a position to fail because he would be annointed as the next big thing. He could just get a chance to play at a high level and see what he can do, without the outsize expectations he might have on another team.
Less pressure would probably be a better development atmosphere for him, anyway.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/01/08 at 04:28 PM ET
Don’t know why this wasn’t picked up (ok, maybe it was and I just missed it). But in Ted Kulfan’s blog today, he had this about Uncle Mike:
Holland also said a contract extension for coach Mike Babcock is far along enough that wrapping the details up after the Wings’ season concludes shouldn’t take very long.
I guess Holland was taking a wait and see on how Uncle Mike would do in the post-season, and Holland has seen enough.
If anything, it means the “A 2 Y” gang can continue to get some good chuckles on his syntax!!!
Posted by Jeff OKWingnut from Quest for 12 on 05/01/08 at 04:36 PM ET
He tore it up in the lower-levels in Sweden. But in the SEL this year, he went 9/28/37 in 54 games. While decent, that isn’t exactly tearing it up. And the SEL offers nowhere near the quality of competition he’d see in the NHL.
I do like the fact that he had only 16PIM in those 54 games, although I have no idea the nature of the officiating in the SEL. Maybe it’s a let-them-play league.
Has the top-six demand been confirmed or is that just rumor? Because that would be a room-killer if agreed to and I can’t see Holland even wasting his time if that was the case.
Finally, I’m not sure I’m ready for the grief Wings fans would take should a guy on our roster named Fabian turn out to be a softie.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 04:46 PM ET
Has the top-six demand been confirmed or is that just rumor? Because that would be a room-killer if agreed to and I can’t see Holland even wasting his time if that was the case.
Probably just rumour. The only people who really know what kind of discussions are going on are him, his agent, and the GMs of the teams he is considering. And if that is a hard and fast demand, I agree that Detroit wouldn’t be wasting their time. Might be more his agent selling him as someone who could fill that role in the near future.
We’ll see.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/01/08 at 04:59 PM ET
And the SEL offers nowhere near the quality of competition he’d see in the NHL.
While I generally agree with that, SEL is still considered by many as the second most competitive league. Sweden’s system is over eight divisions deep where bottom teams have to re-qualify to stay in the top division (SEL).
Only last season, Brunnstrom was playing for a division one team. Meaning the third highest division, since there is HockeyAllsvenskan in between Division 1 and SEL. That is certainly not a very competitive league.
Still, the only way for a player to adapt to the faster NHL style of play and rink size is to make it over here, NHL or not.
I do like the fact that he had only 16PIM in those 54 games, although I have no idea the nature of the officiating in the SEL. Maybe it’s a let-them-play league.
SEL has rather strict officiating. Similar to international style rules (Olympics etc.) not too far from the current NHL standard. When I’m bored I sometimes watch some SEL over the net.
Posted by lilja4ever on 05/01/08 at 05:09 PM ET
While I generally agree with that, SEL is still considered by many as the second most competitive league.
The two guys living in Sweden that post on occasion at RWC concur with that, as do others there that seem to know what they are talking about. However, I get the impression from them that it’s a somewhat distant second.
Also, I don’t think it’s the comparative speed of the game as much as the smaller ice surface that those coming over have to adjust to. He may fly like the wind on the big surface and see the plays developing before him well in advance. Let’s see how he does with Sasquatch, Phaneuf and the like taking away his time and space.
SEL has rather strict officiating. Similar to international style rules (Olympics etc.) not too far from the current NHL standard.
This is good to know. 16PIM over 54 games in a tightly officiated league is excellent.
Ideally, the guy agrees to a non-conditional contract so that he can go to Grand Rapids for an adjustment period if need be—- be it for a year, or just a few months. Something tells me that isn’t going to happen though.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 06:58 PM ET
Also, I don’t think it’s the comparative speed of the game as much as the smaller ice surface that those coming over have to adjust to. He may fly like the wind on the big surface and see the plays developing before him well in advance. Let’s see how he does with Sasquatch, Phaneuf and the like taking away his time and space.
Good point, for sure. Can’t wait to see.
Actually, those issues in transitioning from Europe highlighted above, makes Kronwall’s style of play all that more impressive. His physicality must have been a lot more difficult to develop on big ice, since a missed hit is more costly there.
Posted by lilja4ever on 05/01/08 at 07:12 PM ET
His physicality must have been a lot more difficult to develop on big ice, since a missed hit is more costly there.
True. I have no idea if Kronwall was a hitter in Sweden. I saw a few Griffin games when he was in Grand Rapids, but nothing stands out in my mind.
I guess the guy to ask would be ‘patjoh’ over at RWC. He’s a Swede living in Stockholm who I believe played professionally over there in one of the lower leagues. He’s pretty much the resident expert/go-to guy with questions about any of our Swedes—either those on the roster or in development somewhere.
Interestingly, he didn’t comment much on Brunnstrum, other than to say that is handlers are doing him a big disservice by talking him up the way they are. Now that I think about it, I guess that says a lot.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 07:49 PM ET
I thought the 19 readers of the blog might be interested in this lovely item posted on the local Craig’s list.
From the seller’s ad: It will be a conversation piece.
It would most certainly be a conversation piece at my house if I were to bring that thing through the door—a very short conversation.
Me: Look what I bought on Craigslst, honey!
Her: Enjoy your visits with it in the attic, dear.
Posted by O’Long-apo~J’oe on 05/01/08 at 08:07 PM ET
I don’t know if Brunnstrom will be the real deal or not, but don’t believe the Wings would still be pursuing him at this point if they didn’t think he a has a pretty good shot at it.
BTW, how was that for a showcase game?!?
Eight goals, all by Swedes! 
Posted by YzermanZetterberg on 05/02/08 at 09:28 AM ET
I’m all for the Wings bringing in Brunnstrom if they can do it without distractions. If he’s another Grigorienko or another… what was the German guy they brought over? I forget… then they can kick him to the curb, no harm, no foul. If he is the real deal, then it’s another solid cog in the Wings’ system.
Last night may have been the best sell-job ever to convince a guy that playing with the big boys right away isn’t always the best for development (after all look at how well it’s worked for Colorado’s kids).
Posted by Primis on 05/02/08 at 12:34 PM ET
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When Jimmy Devellano smuggled Sergei Federov out of Russia, did he ask Breshnev for permission?
So why should Holland ask little Gary if Brunnstrom can fly on the team plane?
Just do it!
Let little Gary throw a tantrum later, after the deed is done.
Posted by w2j2 on 05/01/08 at 01:02 PM ET