In Red Wings Land
Steve Yzerman ‘eases the pain’ of being a Detroit Red Wings ticket holder
It’s no surprise that season ticket holders are going to have to face some tough decisions ahead. Not only because it costs a lot of money to see a team that was awful last season, but also because the details of next season are completely up in the air.
The Detroit Red Wings are offering refunds and incentives to season ticket holders still waiting to find out if there will be any more hockey this season.
Ticket holders, by and large, sounded an encouraging note even as they endured a losing season, investing their hopes in Steve Yzerman, their first-year general manager.
The Wings, who at 17-49-5 are guaranteed a last place finish, had four home games remaining among an 11-game slate when the NHL paused the season March 12 because of COVID-19. There were three games in March, against Florida, Philadelphia and Washington, and the April 4 finale against Tampa.
Around the NHL
2000 NHL Redraft: Lundqvist climbs more than 200 spots to No. 1
While you always have to take these re-drafts with a grain of salt (it’s easy to say, hey Detroit could have drafted Lundquist! But….so could every other team 6 or 7 times), I think they are fun to look at the alternate history.
For Detroit, this would be a huge difference, since they took Niklas Kronwall with this 29th overall pick. Even considering that, in an alternate universe, maybe DiPietro doesn’t get hurt in the 2008 All-Star skills competition. The 15 year contract was always ridiculous, but it seems highly unlikely Detroit would have given him anything close to that. Could he have also flamed out in Earth 2? Sure, but it’s an interesting alternative to think about.
29. Rick DiPietro, G, Detroit Red Wings (No. 1 by New York Islanders) — Injuries derailed DiPietro’s career, which ended in 2013 after he gave it one last shot with Charlotte of the AHL. But over four seasons from 2003-08, he had 111 wins (eighth in NHL in span; first in 2000 class) and 14 shutouts (11th; second), representing the Islanders at the 2008 NHL All-Star Game. He’s understandably forever linked to the 15-year contract he signed with New York on Sept. 12, 2006, but there’s no disputing how talented DiPietro was when healthy. — Brian Compton, deputy managing editor
