Hossa makes his debut as a Wing at camp

On Friday, the Wings training camp begun in Traverse City with player physicals. The big news thus far has been the debut of Marian Hossa, who signed with the team this summer in a one-year contract worth $7.45 million.

Initially, Hossa stated that he was going to pass on the team's annual charity golf outing due to some minor tightness in his back, but he was apparently feeling better as he participated in the event after all.

Captain defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom has been impressed with Hossa's play in the informal pre-camp sessions at the Joe.

"I think that's what I noticed the most -- how he back-checked, and how hard he works coming back," Lidstrom said. "We know from playing against him what he can do, and what his work ethic is like, too.

"It'll be fun to watch him, especially with Pav, to see what those two can do together."

Head coach Mike Babcock plans to put Hossa on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom.

Other early line predictions from coach:

Cleary - Filppula - Samuelsson

Hudler - Zetterberg - Franzen

Kopecky - Draper - Maltby

Leino - Helm - Downey

The Detroit Free Press printed a fun little note at the bottom of one of their articles today about some of the players holding their own Ryder Cup.

Lidstrom and Holmstrom, both Swedes, are engaged in their own Ryder Cup tournament against a USA Team made up of Chelios and Rafalski.

"We've got two more (rounds) to go," Lidstrom said. "They've got the lead. They're up by one. That's why we're continuing." Asked if Holmstrom plays golf like he does hockey, Lidstrom smiled, and said, "He's a grinder at golf."

I love reading about training camp because that means hockey at the Joe is only a short time away! The Wings first home pre-season game is this Wednesday.