Morning Skate: First of three
by Casey Richey on Apr 1, 2010 7:00 AM CDT
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PrintDetroit and Columbus face off for the first of three times in the remaining six games for Detroit.
- Jimmy Howard will start his 24th straight game in net for Detroit. Howard looked a little shaky on Tuesday. But hey, it's gonna happen every now and then. Despite the previous thought that Jimmy will set the rookie record for consecutive starts but apparently that record belongs to Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall, who started SEVENTY (read: all) of the games their rookie campaigns.
- Dan Cleary is out again, Meechums will take his spot in the line-up. Darren Helm and Jason Williams sat out of practice but will still play. Cleary's still feeling the effects of the groin issue and the fact that he will look like Old Man Marley in 30 years.
- Important out of town scores: Blackhawks 4, Wild 0; Stars 5, Sharks 1 (really?); Ducks 5, Avalanche 2.
- What those scores mean: Blackhawks move 2 points further away from Detroit and the chances of catching them for the division (which were slim to begin with) are looking even less likely. The Stars/Sharks game has very little implication other than the fact that the Sharks gave up a hat trick to...STEVE OTT. Oh, and Nabokov gave up FIVE goals on 21 shots. What is this, the Olympics? The Ducks win keeps the cushion between Detroit's current spot and Colorado's 8th to a nice 4 points.
- Good news everyone! It appears there's a lot of problems in the KHL with Moscow Dynamo and a potential shake-up within the team. Add in the fact that a certain #26 wants to return to Detroit, and we could very well be seeing Jiri Hudler back in the winged wheel for the 2010-2011 season.
- So about Columbus, they've won two straight and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Rick Nash has continued to wreck any team he plays and Detroit is one of the teams he salivates over when he sees them on the schedule.
- Rick Nash, as I alluded to, is the playmaker for Columbus. Nash leads Columbus with 33 goals and 32 assists for 65 points. Homeboy is good, real good, and could be incredible if he was surrounded by some better players around him.
- Steve Mason has had an incredibly difficult sophomore season after his Calder Trophy winning year last year. Mason has a 3.13 GAA and a .898 SV% this year compared to his 2.29 GAA and .916% last year.
- In the previous three games this year, Detroit has a 2-0-1 record. There was the 9-1 beatdown followed by a closer 2-1 win and then the 0-1 OT L in which Tiberius stopped 39 of 40.
- What we've learned over the past couple of games threads: Anteaters rule the universe, eight_legged_freaks' Michigan hoodie is undefeated as well as my Datsyuk shirt, non-anteaters are bad mojo,
- If you haven't already read it, go read Joe Hass' story on Gordie Howe. Awesome story and you can see it play out in your head as your read it. Well done, sir.
- The Cannon is the SB Nation Blue Jackets affiliate.
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Personally, I don’t want Hudler back. Lidstrom has gotten offers he couldn’t refuse in the past and still refused them to stay with us. Yzerman took less. Draper took less. Holmstrom took less. Ozzy won a cup and was the lowest paid starting goalie in the league. That is what Wings do. They’d rather play for us than go elsewhere and get paid more. Hudler chose the other. To me, he’s not a Wing. If he does come back, hopefully we trade him. Good riddance.
The difference (in my opinion) is that all of those guys were tailing off in their careers in terms of their age. Hudler is still young and with the way he would have been used this year, he deserved the money.
You’re right. Maybe I am still harboring bad feelings after the whole Federov fiasco, who knows. Then again, Hank and Datsyuk could have easily gotten more money (though, not a longer contract) on the open market than they did from the Wings. I think we’re just spoiled here in Detroit with the level of dedication players show the Wings.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Apr 1, 2010 8:59 AM CDT up reply actions
Datsyuk went to Russia
when his contract expired and was going to play there until there was a question of who had his rights and he was offered a contract by the Red Wings before that got resolved.
Like Datsyuk, Hudler wasn’t offered a contract and went to Russia. (Unlike Datsyuk, he didn’t drop what he was doing and come back to Detroit as soon as he got a new contract.)
From the sounds of it, he wouldn’t be turning down more money. Sounds to me like he might be forced out of his contract there. Also, there are quite a few reports of KHL players not being paid for months at a time and reports that the league might actually fold before proving to be an actual competitor to the NHL. He may actually make more money here than there.
by Apocalyptic0n3 on Apr 1, 2010 9:01 AM CDT up reply actions
Hudler left more much more money and more playing time. Everything a growing hockey player wants. Face it, he did what most in his situation would. Sure Lidstrom and the others didn’t take the big paydays, but they would have to uproot their families and also they were getting the ice time. They all were at different points of their careers than Hudler and they still made way more money.
if Hudler does come back with his near $3m cap hit and Eaves and Miller get re-signed, then i guess that means Bert and Williams are gone as i can’t see them all fitting under the cap…
Williams
I really don’t see Williams getting re-signed. He’s a guy that plays better on a top line, and there is no room for him there. Bertuzzi has a much better chance, mostly because it seems that Ken Holland is a big fan of his and because he has made a bigger impact. The Wings need to drop Lebda and Meech in order to make room for Eaves and Miller. Lebda and Meech are good depth guys, but they have hit their peaks and really can’t offer Detroit that much. The Wings always have good defensemen in the minors to bring up if needed. They have Kindl and Janik and some others. They probably won’t re-sign Maltby either and Drapers last year is probably next year.
not sure if that would make petrella happy
my break his heart seeing as he has a hidden love affair with bert.
but yeah imo hudler, eaves, and miller > bert, williams. and if that greater sign could be bigger it would
draft micah johnson
hopefully jimmah can bounce back tonight
i think he can. hope we have strong outing tonight.
we need chicago to go 2-3-0 in the next 5 games and us to go 5-0, then beat them in the season finale
draft micah johnson
@New Jersey tonight, and then Flames, Starts, Blues and Avs.
Its very conceivable they only win 1 of those.
At this point I’d say not likely, but then again I thought the same thing with the Tigers last September.
ahh please dont bring up the tigers last year
they better make up for that this year.
but yeah definitely possibly. but realistically im going to say not going to happen, but that could me just saying that trying to not jinx it
draft micah johnson
even if
we get within a couple of points of chicago before the horn blows on the regular season, it says alot.. chicago should be embarrassed regardless. Just proves what kind season they lucked out on. I could be wrong, just the way i feel.
i dont dont think the lucked out this season
but i think it would be a lot closer hadnt we lost half our players. i guess that could be lucky if you think about it. either way i think we can still beat them
draft micah johnson
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