Calder-riffic

Is scoring a goal in your first five seconds on the ice as a Red Wing good? Okay, so perhaps I was wrong about Calder. Perhaps he's a minus-31 because he played for the worst team in the league before coming here. Well, consider me happy to be off on this one. While he had a few small miscues typical of someone who might not know his new team's system, he played quite well, scoring a goal and an assist and even bouncing back from getting aggressively boarded in the third period. If Bertuzzi can have this immediate kind of impact when he gets on the ice (in about three weeks), it will make for a very different playoff series than last year's!

Now THAT'S a trade!

Today, the Wings traded a prospect and draft pick for Todd Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi brings 6'3" and 240+ lbs. to the team, albeit with some health problems and past issues. Despite those, even if he's on the ice as a key checker and occasional shooter, his grit and presence will be a big help. Given the outstanding trades by San Jose (Guerin), Nashville (Forsberg) and Atlanta (Tkachuk), we'll need everything that Bertuzzi will bring.

Someone get Kenny Holland a cup of coffee...

...because he must be drunk. Today the Wings GM Holland, known for his outstanding scouting talents, traded Jason Williams for Kyle Calder.

Kyle.... Calder...

Never heard of Kyle Calder? Perhaps that's because not much is written about players with minus-31 ratings. Now I've got nothing against Calder, mind you, but why on Earth would we trade for another 5'11, 175 lb. winger who doesn't play a physical game? With 36 penalty minutes this season (the same as Zetterberg) he's not exactly known as an enforcer.

So what are we to take from this? Well, we can assume that the Wings meant what they said when they told us that they didn't care about getting a physical grinder. Calder, to his credit, can play center, right wing or left wing, and is a fast skater. Like Cleary, he had a very solid career in the minors and in the IHL/AHL and stalled when he got to the Blackhawks. Perhaps paired with Lang he can get his mojo back. At least until Rafi Torres gets his first check on him...

The Cutest Wings Fan... and friends.

Despite the very brief appearance of Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber at this weekend's Griffins game, it brought my entire family great joy to know that the Veggie Tales are hockey fans!

A new rivalry?

It's been a few years since the notorious Wings/Avalanche rivalry has fizzled, but we may have seen a new bitterness emerging between the Wings and the Edmonton Oilers. In the beginning of the season, hard-hitting Rafi Torres gave Jason Williams a concussion with an off-the-feet, but legal, open ice check. Last week, Nick Kronwall, still wearing a full face-mask from his nose injury a la the flying skate of a past victim, gave the Oilers Lupul the Torres treatment. With a flying hit, he broke Lupul's nose and gave him a concussion. Additionally, Torres deepened the friction by causing Cleary's lower body injury.

Stay tuned... this rivalry has likely just begun. Given the need for grit and muscle, the Wings should forget Guerin, and begin pursuing fellow St. Louis Blue Jamal Mayers.

Tka-Shucks...

Sorry for the long lapse... it's been a few days. Well, the guy that the Wings needed most, Keith Tkachuk, just signed with Nashville. The Predators gave up a ton - 3 good draft picks and a center - to get him for the post-season. In fact, they'll have to give the Blues an additional draft pick if they manage to re-sign the long-term Blue next season.

That doesn't leave the Wings with too many options for a trade-deadline pick up. The most desirable trade would be for Bill Guerin, who is currently the Blues best scorer, but the price will likely be far too high. Todd Bertuzzi is still an option, albiet an option with health problems and a whole lotta baggage from his days in Vancouver. We'd be best without him.

The longshot may be Sergei Samsonov, who has not worked out well in Montreal. Having said that, the most logical and likely trade option will be... no one. Should the Wings somehow get their second line producing, they won't need anyone.

Back on Top

A few random updates since it's been a few days...

Thanks to the Wing's Saturday win over the Coyotes, and the Predator's same-day loss to Minnesota, the Wings are back in the lead in the Western Conference. Zetterberg's 11 goals in 10 games have perhaps been the biggest single reason for their recent winning streak

Two former Red Wings, Brendan Shanahan and Mike Knuble (go Falcons!) accidentally collided on the ice this weekend, which left Knuble with broken facial bones and Shanahan unconcious on the ice for ten minutes before being taken to the hospital. He was released yesterday and is doing fine.

Homer signed a 3-year extension which bumped his salary up about $500k a year. The Wings are the only team he's played for, and given how hot he's playing now, we should be thankful he's willing to extend his ten year tenure a few more.

Hawks vs. Wings on Wednesday night...

Forsberg Makes His Move

If you haven't heard it yet, Forsberg is headed to Nashville. This should be a very good fit given the Predator's lack of playoff tenure and Forsberg's lifelong passion for Barbara Mandrell (the temptation to make a Kenny Chesney joke here was almost overwhelming). TSN reports that Forsberg's career playoff points exceed that of the rest of the high-performing Predator's lineup. This isn't great news for us Wing-nuts. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't thrilled about him coming to the Motor City, but having him head to the one team in the Western Conference that is outplaying the Wings is a real bummer.

Dom, keep your head up buddy...

Redemption, Zetterberg Style

The top performing line in the NHL showed their strength - and their unique ability to change the outcome of almost any game - last night in Dallas. If you missed it, Zetterberg made a brilliant pass between his legs back to Datsuyk for the game tying goal. He later scored the go-ahead goal and Schneider finished the Stars off with an empty netter. Seeing the Wings bounce back after such a difficult loss is certainly cause for optimism. Had they faced these moments of adversity last season, their early playoff difficulties may not have ruined their Cup chances.











And... Babcock must have read my last post, because he took the time to praise Lang's performance. The Langer had an outstanding game, despite being denied multiple times by Dallas' remarkable backup goalie, Mike Smith.

Old-Lang-Sign?

The word on the street is that this is very likely Robert Lang's last season with the Wings. Is it because he's gotten rusty over the past few years and has, dare I say it, aged beyond usefulness?

Nope, not even close. In fact, Lang continues to be a very strong second line center and is one of the few guys the Wings have that's big enough to not be adversely affected by physical play. He shone as one of the few performers during last season's feeble playoff run and showed earlier this week that his 6'3" tall, 220 lb. frame was solidly glued to the puck during the Fyler's debacle. Sure, his scoring has leveled off a bit lately, but that's as much due to Samuelsson's injury and Cleary's dryspell as it is anything the Langer is doing. With stronger wingers to pass to, his numbers would be as solid as they've been for the past few years.

No, the problem lies not with Lang's age or abilities, but rather with his relationship with coach Mike Babcock. It's not clear why, but it's become a widely-known fact that Babcock doesn't care for Lang. It's too bad that this may cause the Wing's to lose a proven playoff-performer. Lang's old linemate, Brendan Shannahan, certainly can attest to the Langer's talents, as the Rangers have already expressed an interest in aquiring him. Hopefully, we won't lose another proven veteran to the Big Apple.

Tonight: Wings versus Stars. This could shape up to be a great game. The Stars are a solid team and recently got better with the aquisition of Ladislov Nagy from the Coyotes. The Wings will likely be on fire to rebound from the Flyer's loss. Stay tuned...

The First of Many...

Welcome to inaugural entry of All Things Wings!

Let's begin by taking stock. It's mid-February, the Wings have outperformed virtually everyone's expectations (anyone remember SI's Scott Burnside repeatedly predicting during the pre-season that the Wings wouldn't make the playoffs?), and the trade deadline is rapidly approaching. While we should feel great about the Wing's performance to-date, the next few weeks are crucial to determining just how far the Winged Wheelers will get in the playoffs.

The Wings could have taken over first place in the Western Conference last night with a win over the league's suckiest team, the Philadelphia Flyers, but instead got embarrassed in a 6-1 rout. Flashbacks of the Oilers manhandling our forwards in the opening round of the Cup playoffs reappeared as the Flyers roughed up Datsuyk and Zetterberg, particularly along the boards.

As the trade deadline approaches, surely the Wings have their eye on an enforcer, or at least a hard checker that will drop the gloves, right? Well, not exactly...

Mike Babcock, as good as he's been behind the bench, continues to be in denial about the Wing's lack of grit, claiming that they can overcome the physical play of hard-hitting teams. Here's his comments, as quoted in the Detroit Free Press:

"We don't respond to physical play, we just play," Babcock said. "The bottom line is we've got to score on our opportunities and the physical play goes away. The other team gets way ahead, either way; they can do whatever they want. In my two years in Detroit, we haven't had the people to do that kind of stuff, we just play. I guess the way I look at it, it doesn't seem to deter us too much."

How about,

"We don't respond to physical play, we just occasionally get booted from the playoffs by a hard-hitting eighth-seed and lose to the league's worst team when they start checking our best forwards. "

Much to the chagrin of any die-hard Wings fan, Peter Forsberg (of the once-hated Avalanche squad) seems to be the Wing's top prospect. That likely has not changed given that he was a key element in the Flyer's win. The Wings couldn't find a more talented all-around player before the trade deadline than Forsberg, but that's not what they need. Muscle, grit and a passing game that fit's with Detroit's puck-possession style is what's required. Keith Tkachuk or Shane Doan are the smarter options, and certainly would require fewer concessions than Forsberg (Philly will likely require Williams or Hudler, plus key draft picks).

Doan may not be out of the question. Today SportingNews ran an article claiming that the Coyotes might be willing to give him up, although it's difficult to imagine Gretzky and company giving away their cornerstone player. We'd surely take him, though. He's big, skilled, tough, and relative to many of our guys, fairly young.

Whether it's Forsberg, Doan, Tkachuk, or no one, the Wings will need to learn to endure the physical play of teams like San Jose and Anaheim if they'll make it to the Cup finals.