In the past few days...

1. Wings' Czech madman goaltender Dominik Hasek has retired (for real this time):

"I know it's 100 percent the right time to say good-bye," Hasek said. "Physically, I feel great. It's all about passion and motivation. I just don't feel I'm ready to compete at the highest level. I don't want to disappoint anyone."

Say what you will about Hasek (and there's plenty to say), but his contributions to the Wings and to the position of goaltender itself, cannot be discounted. While his play did drop off this season, he still backstopped the team in part to the victory we've all been basking in. He combined with Osgood for the lowest GAA in the league even without looking as strong as he has in the past. And don't forget last year when he was the legitimate #1 and helped take the team to the Western Conference Finals. Dom even handled himself incredibly gracefully despite the disappointment of losing his job to Chris Osgood in the playoffs - which, don't lie, we didn't all expect. At any rate, I wouldn't have minded him sticking around another year if he'd decided to, but this is a good decision for him. The Dominator always wanted to be number one, and what better way to go out but on top, with another Cup-winning season as your last memories in the NHL.



2. Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Babcock has signed a contract to be back for three years. Babcock is the first coach to win 50 or more games each year for his first three with a team - and now he will have the chance to do it for three more. The Wings announced yesterday that Babcock signed a deal worth $1.5 million a season and loaded with bonuses, which makes him one of the highest paid coaches in the league - as well he should be.

Babcock is a Jack Adams finalist this season, and for good reason. Of course he has an amazing team to work with, but his coaching style itself is an absolutely huge part of the Wings' success. Says Ken Holland:

"I think Mike has been the perfect fit for our team. He's pushed our team to be harder, go to the harder areas. He's challenged our team to play harder every night and I think our team for the most part every night plays hard. A large portion of that credit goes to Mike.''

Very true. He knows when to push the team, when to back off, when to take them to resorts in Pittsburgh, and he seems to have maintained a good relationship with them on top of it. Every time you hear the players talk about Babcock it feels like genuine respect - and that's one of the most important things for a coach. And the man has a record, these past three years, of 162-56-28. 162-56-28! I for one am thrilled that he'll be back for another three years, looking to tie Scotty Bowman as the only coach to record four straight 50-win seasons. Here's to you, coach - I for one am hoping he can take it to six.

Plus, he has absolutely perfect hair.



3. (And the most important) Nick Lidstrom and Chris Osgood are bringing sexy (and Stanley) back:

Justin would be proud, boys (and how cute is Nicky Lidstrom singing "We're bringing sexy back"? Oh so very.)

What is this, high school?

Other teams spread their crazy drama across a season. The Red Wings held off until they could dump it all on us at once. Here are some notes from the past week:

Captain Nick Lidstrom will be out 3 weeks after that knee injury.

Worse than we thought, but hopefully manageable. Still, with an injury list currently consisting of a good chunk of the team - and the top three blueliners - these few weeks might be quite a challenge. The Wings have called up (given that Jonathan Ericsson (given that Niklas Kronwall is getting close, but will still not be ready to play on Friday), who I've seen many times in Grand Rapids and have been very impressed with - but he's certainly got some big shoes to fill.

The Sergei Fedorov rumors persist.

Here's an interview with him - from what I read printed he sounded like the same old Fedorov the majority of the city is still bitter at, with his comments about wanting to come back for the success he once had here, but actually watching the interview you almost feel bad for the guy. He's evasive, awkward, and clearly doesn't want to talk about Detroit - or just doesn't have anything to say. His dad, on the other hand, is damn sure of what he wants to happen - and just as hilarious as ever:

"My son is definitely going to leave Columbus, there are no doubts. [...] I don’t see any sense to waste any time there. [...] My personal opinion: it was a big mistake for the Red Wings to part ways with Sergei. Since then the club hasn’t proven anything to anyone, and didn’t win anything."

Oh, Viktor... (I also got a laugh out of "obviously tired Datsyuk" and the suggestion of Fedorov replacing him on the top line.)

Seeing what Fedorov used to be able to do, it's sort of sad to think about him fading out at the end of his career, wasting away on a team he's clearly not able to help - but at the same time do I want him back? Not really. Even if he were what he used to be, it would be hard for him to feel very welcome around these parts.

Former Griffins captain Matt Ellis was picked up off waivers by the Los Angeles Kings.

A really unfortunate loss, in some ways, as Ellis was well-liked among teammates and fans alike, and no slouch, either. He had a great work ethic and did manage to contribute some this year, but the team decided he wasn't fitting in to their plans:

“He was in a situation where I wasn’t using him,” coach Mike Babcock said. “He’ll go to LA and try to win a job there. If he’s a fit for them then that’s all the power to him. The bottom line is that he just wasn’t fitting in on a regular basis and getting into the lineup.”

Hopefully this will be a good experience for Ellis, and he'll succeed out in LA. We wish you luck, Matty - Connie (who weirdly enough just sent me a text informing me that she saw the news), Kms2, you guys had best take good care of him.

Darren McCarty is probably coming back.

He'll have the feel good story of the year clinched if he manages to make it all the way back to the big leagues - and I hope he does. I was skeptical at the beginning, but after seeing his performance in Grand Rapids I would welcome him back so long as it continues when he lands back with the Red Wings. The fanbase will love it, and he really does look like he can be an asset - a sentiment Mike Babcock agrees with:

“We’re going to sign him,” Babcock said. “What we’re going to do is give him the opportunity to continue to get in shape in Grand Rapids.

Personally, I wish he still had the facial hair he did in that photograph.

Crazy enough week yet? I can only assume it's not over yet, with the trade deadline looming ever closer.

A Win, We Hope (Wings 4, Avs 0)

Edit 4:58 PM: Lidstrom spoke with DRW.com earlier; the consensus is that his knee is a little sore and swollen, but he doesn't have a headache, and will have an MRI tomorrow. He also noted the following:

"I have a pretty good mark on my chin where he hit me," said Lidstrom, a five-time Norris Trophy winner. "Whether he tried to or not, I don't know, but he followed through and finished with his elbow up on my chin and that's when my head went back into the glass."

Personally I'm really starting to wish we played them again this season .

--

It was great to see the Wings win last night, 4-0 over the Avs (whom they have now not allowed to score a goal in over 200 minutes if play), but the evening was marred by Ian Laperriere's hit against captain Nick Lidstrom in the first period. The hit itself didn't look necessarily bad, but Laperriere caught Lidstrom awkwardly and he went down hard.

While the injury is being called a "knee sprain" and doesn't appear to be too serious (Ansar Khan reports 7-10 days) the really scary part was just how disoriented Nick seemed afterward. He struggled several times to get up, and when he finally did he was wobbly, looked hazy and lost and needed help to get off the ice. Maybe it's just from watching so many Wings games (in which Nick has played 1,430 out of a possible 1,452 games, including the playoffs, since entering the NHL in 1991 - and most of those 22 games missed were because the team was resting him for the playoffs) and never seeing him look so misplaced out there, but it was hard to watch the highlights.

The hit inspired a bit of a resurgence of the the old Blood Feud rivalry days, and it was great to see Aaron Downey take on Laperriere in retaliation (to Laperriere's credit, it was also very classy of him to later say, "I would have done the same thing if it had been on the other side. I respect Aaron Downey and have no problem with what he did.") and coach Mike Babcock being restrained by a bench assistant as he leaned over to yell across the benches at Joel Quenneville - although it would have been more fun if every fan watching didn't have the captain on his mind.

Losing Lidstrom is obvious a worst case scenario for the Wings, but the captain only being expected out for 2-3 games is about the best we could have hoped for, and to hear this also from Khan helps as well:

"Lidstrom sat in his dressing room stall icing his knee, getting treatment and watching the rest of the game on TV. The Wings said he didn't sustain a concussion and he never blacked out. At one point he wanted to return to the game."

In the meantime, the Wings will look to bring back their winning ways without the help of Lidstrom, Dan Cleary, Dominik Hasek, Niklas Kronwall, and Brian Rafalski (though he is considered likely to return Friday). The defensive core has been shaken up a little but the Wings are still managing to get their game back and played solidly against Colorado, winning on two goals from Henrik Zetterberg, and one each from Valtteri Filppula and Chris Chelios, while goalie Chris Osgood put his struggles behind him and shut out the Avalanche.

Let's hope the dark days are over.

I Like a Little Hockey in my Fighting (Wings 2, Ducks 1)

I didn't count actual number of scrums that could have - and for the most part did - lead to full-blown fights in last nights Wings/Ducks battle - the third of the season - but it was a lot. Sorry, Finny, but the Ducks are an unnecessarily vicious team, as proven again in just the first twenty minutes of the game. (And have you noticed how evil they all look? Ryan Getzlaf? Chris Kunitz? I'm looking at you guys. I'm also beginning to think secretely they wanted to get rid of Dustin Penner because his big smiley bearlike self just doesn't seem to fit in with the theme.)

Right off the bad, hardly more than five minutes in, one-time Wing Todd Bertuzzi ran Dominik Hasek over for no discernible reason. He was given an extra penalty for it (which balanced out the one Johan Franzen took defending his goalie - a completely acceptable one given how dangerous the play was), but you have to wonder what he was thinking, if it wasn't simply a blatant attempt to injure.

Shortly thereafter, Ducks captain Chris Pronger had a go at it with Dan Cleary - which he started off by not punching, but instead scratching Cleary with an open palmed-swipe at his face, ending up with the result of Cleary's eye swelling shut. He left the game and did not return - can't blame him for his few second of turtling. Before the end of the period, Doug Weight tried to drop the gloves with Brett Lebda as well, but Lebda didn't take the bait. The first period was ridden with penalties (a combined 34 minutes of them) and shots of the penalty box teeming with Ducks - four, at one point.

The Ducks seemed to settle down a little bit after the first period, but this didn't stop Sean O'Donnell and Aaron Downey from going at it. The level of physicality remained high, and it was nice to see the Wings retaliate well and not buckle under it, as they're so often accused of doing. (It was also nice, however, to see that Jiri Hudler has gotten a little bit smarter about picking his battles; at one point it looked like he was set to lay a monster hit on Pronger, before he slowed up and realized just maybe that wasn't the smartest idea in the world.)

The Wings capitalized on the several power plays provided by the penalty-fest only once, resulting in a Brian Rafalski goal - his 9th of the season, which ties a career record for him. The other Wings goal was from Val Filppula, who for whatever reason always seems to play some great games against Anaheim. Tomas Kopecky, who has seemed rather quiet lately, made a spectacular pass to him after Francois Beauchemin broke what seemed like he's twentieth stick of the evening to put the Wings up two. Unfortunately, Dominik Hasek's shutout bit was ruined in the third (I blame you, CC) when Chris Pronger managed to connect with the net.

FSN Detroit was having technical issues throughout the game, most noticeable toward the end when the feed froze on the last faceoff - I inferred that we won thirty seconds later when it cut back in to a lot of Wings jumping all over Hasek.

The Wings finished up the road trip 3-0, despite the absence of Henrik Zetterberg, but his absence is still worrisome, especially when his current claim is to feel all of "2% better." Luckily he has plenty of time to rest up through the All Star break before the Wings meet up with Tracy's Coyotes this coming Wednesday.

Other Notes

During intermission, the FSN Detroit crew interviewed former Wing-now Duck Mathieu Schneider about his time in Detroit. One of the things they asked him was what he missed most about the city. His response? "The pizza." To which the announcers prompted, "Little Caesars?" Schneider agreed. Mike Ilitch would be so proud.

Sports are notorious for throwing out odd, obscure stats - but sometimes they hit on some interesting ones. Like last night, for instance, when an announcer remarked that in his 16 years in the league, Nick Lidstrom has taken one roughing penalty. Wow.

Around the League

Elly passed this along to me this morning - I do believe everyone needs a little bit of cute, soccer-playing Conks in their life.

The league decided on four games in Europe for this coming season - Ottawa/Pittsburgh twice in Stockholm and New York Rangers/Tampa Bay twice in Prague. While I'm happy to see my favorite little Petr Prucha getting to play a game in (almost) his home, I'm started to get more than a little frustrated at all these Eastern teams. I know it was the Western Anaheim/LA match up in Europe last season, but come on, is there a reason it couldn't be 50/50? I'm not actually interested in either of these matchups - for the most part because neither actually impact my team. That's not great marketing, guys.

Merry Belated Christmas!

Update: Lidstrom's new contract is for 7.45 million a year, a bit of a discount, but Nick says his number one priority was staying in Detroit, according to an interview during the game.

The Red Wings just signed a two year contract extension with captain Nick Lidstrom that will keep him in red through the 2009/2010. Lidstrom has 900 points in 15 seasons (the top-scoring defenseman in the league), has won five Norris trophies, and been an All Star eight times - not to mention he's an all around great guy and team leader. (And have you seen that slapshot he takes while still moving at full speed? Ohhhh.) The financial terms have not be released yet; his previous contract was set at 7.6 million.

I for one, though I didn't doubt the signing would happen, am ecstatic to see it anyway. It really is the season of giving!

Speaking of the Wings, they take on the Blues again tonight. I'll be out seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I will hopefully catch at least some of it. The team may be without Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom again (as well as Kirk Maltby), but being substantially more rested than the last time they took on the Blues, can hopefully put on the sort of performance they did against the Wild while missing those two. Mark Hartigan has been called up from Grand Rapids again, so it's a safe bet at least one of them is still sitting. For more, check out On the Wings, Behind the Jersey, Letsgowings, and Winging it in Motown.

(PS vote Hemsky! Maybe it will inspire him to get better faster.)