It's that time again...

Everyone (including me!) is on vacation this weekend - even those players who nabbed themselves a spot at the All Star game don't exactly sound like they're headed off to be on the job doing slaving away. Case in point (I was just going to embed this video, but blogger is a whole lot of four letter words I don't feel have any place in this post right now, so I had to link it instead).

Red Wing goalie Chris Osgood interviews former Wings-now Blue Manny Legace. Sounds like those two are certainly excited to be back on the ice playing with each other. Here's to hoping they can get that under 10 goals mark they're aiming for!

The All-Star festivities are just beginning - I'll either be playing host to a bunch of friends bereft of both VS and the NHL Network, or out bar-hopping with them until we find a place that will serve us both Molson and the current most reasonable facsimile to hockey, so I won't be around to liveblog until (possibly) tomorrow, but both the ladies at both Scarlett Ice and Interchangeable Parts have promised a riveting evening of exactly thus, so swing by, I will be!

Speaking of vacations...

The Wings sent Niklas Kronwall out to the Detroit Auto Show with a mic and have been putting up videos of him perusing the cars, talking to people, and whatnot. This last segment, however, has him running into former Wing, and one of my all-time favorites, Jiri Fischer:

The interview is interesting (boys and their motor vehicles...) but my favorite part is how happy they seem to be to see each other. I just love the way the whole organization has treated Fischy, and how happy he always is to still have a niche to fit in here. Looks like they had fun!

Last but not least, we here at NPI hope everyone has a great All Star weekend, and of course...

GO WEST!
(Don't tell Elly...)

Oh...another divisional game? (Wings 3, Blues 0)

I missed most of the first period of yesterday's game due to some much-needed boot-shopping ( failed) since frostbite is a very real concern of mine in having to work the WMU/Temple game this Saturday. Come on, can't we just cancel it? They certainly aren't teams worth watching...

Fortunately for me, there wasn't too much to miss. It wasn't a boring game, but it wasn't the exciting matchup of last Sunday, either. Henrik Zetterberg headed off the scoring just 22 seconds into the period, while Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary contributed as well, which led to a shutout win for the Chris Osgood, his career 44th. The Blues' evening was riddled with penalties, and despite Manny Legace looking strong, could never really managed to turn the tide in their favor again. The Wings held them to a total of only 12 shots on goal.

Tomas Kopecky left the game with a shoulder injury, and won't be playing tonight, but the report is that it's minor (Kopy says "The doctor said it looks like it's just a muscle") and he would have sat this evening regardless.

The Wings play again tonight in Nashville, where Dominik Hasek, who despite starting the season off shaky (he says he knows he'll play better), will get the start against, presumably, Chris Mason and the struggling Preds. It's unfortunate for the Wings, who haven't had to play on Thanksgiving in several years, but it's great for Detroit fans who will have something to tune in to after dinner as the turkey-coma sets in. Osgood said he hoped his family would save him some leftovers, Kris Draper talked his wife into postponing the turkey a day, but griped about missing out on Thanksgiving football. Hasek made mention of spending the day playing football as well, and even Nick Lidstrom joined in:

"That's kind of different. We've been fortunate the last few years (not having to play). It's a good holiday to spend with the family, have a nice meal and watch football. But it'll be fun to play a game, too."

Well boys, unless you're really that into watching Jon Kitna get sacked and/or turn over the ball rather than give it to someone else two or three times a quarter, you aren't missing a whole lot. At least Valtteri Filppula doesn't have to worry - it's just another day to him. Asked about the Thanksgiving tradition, he replied, "I don't know the whole story," and then conceded, "I don't know any of it."

Speaking of Thanksgiving, and thus things to be thankful for, yesterday was two years to the date of the game in which Jiri Fischer collapsed on the bench - he's no longer under contract with the Wings, after spending last year on long-term IR, but he's been given a job as the Wings' director of player development. I love to see things like that, it's great to see he organization taking care of their own. Also great to see is that he continues to hold out hope that someday he'll get to play again:

"I know right now nobody is going to risk their career to clear me so I can play in the NHL," Fischer said. "I know if that moment comes when I'm cleared to play, at my own risk or not, even being cleared would be such a tremendous achievement, going from no hope to some hope to actually being approved."

The character and positive outlook he's shown these past two years is remarkable, and I'd love nothing more than to see him get that chance - if anyone deserves it, it's Jiri Fischer.

Things to be Thankful For

A year ago Tuesday, just after coming off of a shift on the ice, Jiri Fischer collapsed on the Red Wings bench in the midst of a sold out arena full of people there to watch the Wings at the Nashville Predators. In the middle of a play, a commotion including Mike Babcock yelling for the medics drew all eyes to the bench where the Czech defenseman was fighting a seizure during which his heart stopped. While the arena full of fans looked on in panic and confusion, Steve Yzerman and Kris Draper skated a stretcher across the ice while Brendan Shanahan and Robert Lang did the same for his fiancee Avery.

Fischer's life was saved thanks to the proximity of the medics--something that might not have occured in any other NHL arena. However, he's been off the ice in terms of official games ever since, and it's still unsure if and when he might return.

"I wasn't scared about the abnormality. But I was scared about not playing hockey again. That was a shock for me."

So Fischer said in 2002 after initially being diagnosed with a heart abnormality. These days, however, Fischer's resigned to the idea that he might never play again--but it certainly isn't stopping him from trying. He's now spending his time trying to figure out just what went wrong and caused the heart irregularity, and working to once again return to the NHL. Fischer's even working out daily at the Joe Louis Arena--somewhere most people in Fischer's situation would more than likely want to avoid. He claims, however, that it's uplifting and has helped him in his recovery.

The Red Wings just finally put him on long term IR last week, freeing up around 3 million toward their salary cap--but the length of time they waited before even doing that said a lot about their commitment to the Czech. It's a good move, if an unfortunate one--the Wings need that money to deal with the losses they've experienced so far this year. Manager Ken Holland has said, however, that the Wings would spare no expense if Fischer believes he's recovered enough to explore a return. The amount of dedication from both player and team really stands out--it's too bad the future is still so indefinite when it comes to Fischer's return. Not only could the Wings use his skill--(remember that hit that put Daniel Sedin through the plexiglass?)--but his spirit could go a long way right about now.

It's really just unfortunate to see something like this happen to a player--watching the recaps of it are still unsettling and upsetting even now, a year after the fact. The Wings are playing strong in spite of--or perhaps even, in some sense, because of--Jiri's absence lately, but he's still missed, by team and fans alike, and everyone awaits his hopeful return to the sport. Jiri, however has other, more important, priorities:

"Right now, many people come up to me and they feel sorry for me. They say, 'How are you doing? I hope you can play one day.' I say, I hope I can get healthy one day."

Being the only one of three cases involving the same symptoms to survive, Jiri Fischer most certainly has things to be thankful for this afternoon. Whatever happens, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and we miss you Jiri!