The Red Wings held their version of a fan convention, which they called HockeyFest, this past Friday and Saturday. The event included player appearances (captain Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Tomas Holmstrom, Dan Cleary, and Jason Williams), a tour of the locker room, a photo opportunity with the zamboni and Al the Octopus, a special Q&A session with players and management, alumni autograph session, and hockey memorabilia exhibits.
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to a serious illness in my family and was in South Carolina. As a result, I’m going to have to forward you along to Kris’ detailed account of the player Q&A sessions at Snipe Snipe, Dangle Dangle.
–When someone asked if it was frustrating to have goals called back because of goalie interference, Lidstrom cited an example from the ’08 playoffs against Dallas. Holmstrom said, “You still mad at that?” Lidstrom replied, “Now that you mention it, yes.”
–Fan: “I saw that on NHL.com Sidney Crosby was voted the NHL’s biggest wuss. Do you agree?” Homer: “Yah.” Then everyone laughed. It’s also possible that he was joking. But I like to think he wasn’t. …–When all of the injuries were disclosed at the end of the playoffs, I seem to remember reading that Draper had torn cartilage in his neck. Apparently he fractured his thyroid, which is a common injury from strangulation. The injury happened in a game against Buffalo, and he was supposed to be out 6-8 weeks. However, he said that after the Wings lost Game 6 to Anaheim, he pushed to get back in the lineup even though it had only been 5 weeks.
According to The Detroit News, it sounds like Lidstrom’s elbow isn’t 100% but has improved during the offseason.
“My elbow is doing OK,” Lidstrom said. “I’ve been trying to rest for a few weeks, healing up, then you have to start doing rehab, trying to build all the muscles up around the area that’s hurting. It’s slowly getting better but I think it’s something that it’ll be part of the rest of my career, I think.”
Update: The Detroit News added a tidbit from the Q&A session with Steve Yzerman at HockeyFest. He addressed a fan, who asked what he would do should he receive an offer to be another team’s GM.
“I really enjoy being involved in the management of the team,” Yzerman said. “I enjoy working with Kenny and Jim (Nill, assistant GM
) and Ryan Martin (salary cap) in the front office. I really find it interesting. Being involved with Team Canada is something I really enjoy as well. I feel I’m a relatively young guy in this business and I have a lot to learn. “To answer your question, I’m very content doing what I’m doing right now and if the right opportunity did come along at some point, I’d probably consider it.”
