Hockeytown Quick Hits

A cool baseball story

2010-08-01T22:17:55Z

[I apologize for the lack of posts in July. As you all are pretty well aware, it has been a ridiculously slow summer for hockey/Red Wings news, leaving me with a handful of baseball subjects I could talk about but laziness quickly takes over. I love baseball--it's right up there with hockey in terms of my favorite sports--so I figure I can pass the time by writing about another sport I love.]

In today's Detroit Free Press, I came across a very cool article in the sports section briefly profiling some people who were fortunate enough to catch a foul ball at Comerica Park on July 22.

The reason I link to it, besides the fact that it's a unique project that tackled an aspect of the game that I love (a likely once in a lifetime opportunity to catch a foul ball at a game), is that it reminded me of the time I got a foul ball at a Tigers game.

I was sitting down the third base line on May 30, 2003, a game in which the Tigers lost to the New York Yankees 6-0. Bobby Higginson was at the plate. (Remember him? The guy who Detroit management paid $11,850,000 in 2003 for an OPS+ of 88 and a .320 OBP? He now is a partner in a limo company located in Michigan. Brings me back to the dark days of Tigers baseball.) He hit a high fly ball toward my section, and just happened to be coming right at me. Unfortunately, I didn't catch it on the fly (I was nine or ten, give me a break), but it landed right behind me, and a Japanese man, who didn't speak English, picked it up and handed it to me.

After the game, a security guard probably risked losing his job by stopping Higginson as he was pulling out of the garage in his Jaguar, and asked him if he could sign the ball. He did, "casually" rolling down his passenger window and without saying a word, signed the souvenir. Then he drove off in his career 113 OPS+ lore.

It was incredible luck I guess, considering the attendance that day was 28,003, that I was able to walk out of the stadium with a foul ball. The Elias Sports Bureau says that there are around 5o foul balls every game, so to be one of the approximately 50 fans that snagged one that day is certainly something I will remember for a long time.

Joe Morgan hasn't changed

2010-07-18T15:59:50Z

Hi there. Just a real quick thought. While Joe Morgan conducted this chat on July 13, it doesn't change the fact that he probably should be fired. This is what I'm talking about:

Tito (Brooklyn): Joe, who do you think is the best overall CF in the NL?

Joe Morgan: Well, I guess the question would be defensively or offensively? CF in the NL, you have Shane Victorino is a good defensive OF. Matt Kemp as well. That's an interesting question, because I don't think there are a lot of great CFs in the NL. Those are two that are exceptional. Drew Stubbs has a chance to be a good CF.

First, Joe gets off to a good start, and by good start I mean he doesn't really answer the question that well. Tito's question was: who is the best overall center fielder in the National League, to which Joe responds by asking if he means defensively or offensively. The answer to that is right in the question.

Second, he throws out two names, Victorino and Kemp, but doesn't even mention Chicago Cubs CF Marlon Byrd, who is (and I'm assuming we're talking about who is the best right now) probably the correct answer to the question.

Byrd: .320, .378, .487, .846, 122 OPS+

Victorino: .253, .317, .453, .770, 103 OPS+

Kemp: .258, .314, .460, .774, 110 OPS+

Byrd's 61 and 64 point OBP lead over Victorino and Kemp, respectively, is probably enough to give Byrd the edge. And while I don't really like batting average, Byrd is batting at a .320 clip, which is good enough for second in the NL and tenth in all of baseball.

Since we're talking about best overall, defense should be taken into account as well. Byrd has the lead in that as well...

UZR / UZR/150

Byrd: 8.6 / 15.8

Victorino: -2.2 / -4.1

Kemp: -16.0 / -29.9

Just for fun, here are their RC27 numbers too:

RC27

Byrd: 7.08

Victorino: 5.42

Kemp: 4.62

A team of nine Maron Byrds would outscore nine Shane Victorinos by nearly 1.7 runs per game and nine Matt Kemps by 2.5 runs per game.

Perhaps the craziest thing is that Joe doesn't even mention other NL center fielders like Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez (who you could make a case for instead of Byrd) and St. Louis' Colby Rasmus.

Meech, Lebda, and more

2010-07-17T21:04:20Z

We are currently in the midst of one of the most thrilling, exciting, mind-blowing, gripping, riveting, and dramatic off-seasons in recent memory. Every day, I can't wait to flip open the MacBook Pro and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (face hits keyboard).

Right now I am looking at antonyms for the first word in that list, "thrilling": boring; uneventful; lackluster. One could use those words to describe this off-season for the Red Wings.

This isn't something that's surprising, though. There wasn't going to be a lot of cap space after Nick Lidstrom (one-year, $6.2 million), Todd Bertuzzi (two-years, $3.875 million) and Tomas Holmstrom (two-years, 3.75 million) re-signed, and after that all Ken Holland had on his summer checklist was to lock-up the restricted free agents and explore the possibility of bringing on a veteran sixth defenseman.

Even with Mike Modano possibly coming into the fold, his waiting game is taking almost as long as a Monopoly game. Add all this up, and you get a relatively quiet summer. There still are some subjects that can be talked about:

Mike Modano

Earlier, I mentioned that I would refuse to write about Modano, but it looks like I lied. I only said that because this "situation" has been beaten to death so many times that if something could be beaten to death twice, this would fall into that category. (Also falling into that category: LeBron James, Brett Favre, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Beards of War favorite, J*stin B*eber.)

But if everyone jumped off a bridge, I think I would too, so I may as well throw in my opinion. To be completely honest, I think that the team will be fine with or without the American hockey legend, but if I had to pick a side, I'm like, 51/49 on the side of not wanting him to come to Hockeytown. The extra one percent is in there because if Modano does sign here, like Mike Babcock expects, and if it's a two-year contract, that means Justin Abdelkader would likely not get off the fourth line until he's 25 or 26.

While the Detroit Red Wings obviously value player development, holding Abdelkader back for one or possibly two years of Mike Modano isn't really something I'm interested in.

Reportedly the deal could be worth $1.25 million--way too high in my opinion. And while I've never been that high on Mattias Ritola, it looks like he would be the odd man out if Modano does sign. I'd like to see what he can offer to the big club before he gets shipped off somewhere.

In addition to losing Ritola (while I don't think this would hurt us as much as others do), signing Modano would also leave Detroit unable to sign either Lilja or a veteran defenseman, leaving Jakub Kindl, Doug Janik, Derek Meech, and possibly Brendan Smith to battle for the already unstable (if Jonathan Ericsson can't rebound after last year) third D pairing.

All in all, I just don't think it's worth it.

Brett Lebda

Gone is the player who provided, quite possibly, one of the greatest videos ever.

But it's okay, because gone is a player who scored one goal and seven assists in 63 games last season. And because Brian Burke likes giving money away, apparently, Brett Lebda is now making $1.45 million US next season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Here now is a list of some defenseman who are paid less than or equal to $1.45 million and got more points than Lebda last season:

Matt Hunwick

Kris Russell

Jack Johnson

Josh Gorges

Andy Greene

Keith Yandle

The point is: Brett Lebda making $1.45 million is insane. I do wish him well, and I don't think he was that bad, he just didn't apply his skills to the fullest extent, which is why he now has a chance to play more minutes and perhaps some power play time in Toronto.

Derek Meech

Despite getting a 3% raise, Derek Meech is still only making $500,000, which is the lowest a player can make under the collective bargaining agreement. Meech has his sights set on making our top six this year. If he is able to accomplish that, I will delete this blog, delete my Twitter accounts, delete my Facebook, and go into hiding. Luckily, I don't think that will be the case. It certainly looks like Meech will be traded after the exhibition games or perhaps sooner than that, so similar to Lebda, I hope he does well if he does in fact get traded. Just even getting a shot to play regular minutes might help him become a full-time starter, but, unfortunately for him, Detroit isn't the place to get that chance.

It was a good move by Holland to get this deal done before they were scheduled to go to arbitration, because who knows how that could have turned out. (The "judge" could be the same person who gave me a 3 on my AP US History exam, and Meech could have walked away making more than $500k.)

Oh...Chicago

I just wanted to give a quick update on Chicago's situation. After matching San Jose's offer sheet to D Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Blackhawks have approximately $.03 to sign 218 players.

There is a downside to this, however. With Tomas Kopecky playing on the second line now, the rivalry between Chicago and Detroit will now be depleted again and it will possibly hu--

Oh. I don't have to be objective here? Okay.

Who am I kidding? Watching this play out is absolutely hilarious.

We should know more answers soon. In Ken Holland We Trust. Is it October yet?

About Hockeytown Quick Hits

2010-07-15T02:33:00Z

All-Star Stupidity

2010-07-14T04:27:00Z

I will divert from the sport of hockey here occasionally--this is, after all, my site--and while this is a viewpoint that has been shared so many times since the inception of the rule back in 2003, I am going to go ahead and share it one more time.

The fact that whatever National League team that participates in the World Series this year will have home-field advantage because of a win by the NL in the All-Star Game is, in my opinion, the stupidest rule in sports.

Eight years after the establishment of the rule, it still blows my mind. I just have never been able to understand what Bud Selig was thinking after the infamous tie in 2002. An exhibition game decides whether or not a team plays at home or on the road in a (potential) Game 7 of the World Series. Instead of, you know, deciding which team gets home-field advantage by basing it off of their regular season records, which might actually make September games meaningful for some ball clubs. (Perhaps even crazier(!), Joe Morgan once said that home-field advantage should be alternated year-by-year. This is why he should be fired.)

Just think about it. I know it's not that likely--and in all honestly I'd be shocked if this were to happen--but let's say that the Detroit Tigers magically make the World Series this season. The series goes seven games, and while Detroit had a better record in the regular season, the National League team gets to play in the friendly confines of their home ballpark in the must-win Game 7. This is all because Brian McCann happened to hit a bases-clearing double in an exhibition game. (A little side-note: McCann's double was the first bases-clearing double in All-Star Game history.)

I know that I'm throwing around a lot of hypotheticals and "what if?" statements, but I don't think it's too farfetched to ask these hypotheticals.

Nineteen of the last 24 World Series' have been won by the team with home-field advantage. The last eight World Series Game 7s have been won by the team with home-field advantage. Now, I've never been big on stats like that because each team and each year is different, but I do think that they have at least some tangibility in this type of situation.

I really, truly hope that someone in the upper tier of the Major League Baseball hierarchy finally comes around and tells Bud, a former used car salesman, that the rule needs to be changed. It's incredibly obvious that it has to be.

A couple of updates

2010-07-12T00:21:58Z

A couple of days ago I made a post similar to this over at the site (that did not transfer over), which was hosted on Blogger. Since then, I've made a couple of changes, as you might have noticed.

First, I'd like to welcome you to the new site. I had previously been running this on Blogger's software, and while that was more customizable and easier to use, I like what Go Daddy's Quick Blogcast offers. Quick Blogcast seems to be flexible in terms of not only posting, but with podcasts and even video blogs (vlogs). With these options at my hands, I may look into doing some podcasts and although I won't ever be able to compete with The Obstructed View, I think it would be kind of cool to expand on my mediums a bit and possibly snag guests sometime down the road.

At the moment I'm thinking of making intro video to the site to post on YouTube and my Facebook page because unfortunately this software doesn't allow me to add an about me page or contact page (at least not that I know of). In addition to the (possible) video I'll throw up a couple of posts for an about me and contact page that I can link to in the mean time.

As you can see, the site is pretty plain but I'm still learning the ropes with this client. I fixed that white space next to the banner earlier today and while the design won't blow anyone away, I think I'm pretty happy with it.

If those of you who have so graciously linked to Hockeytown Quick Hits in your blog roll could switch the URL of this site to hockeytownquickhits.com because the BlogSpot address is--while still working--pretty much obsolete. Speaking of which, if you have a Red Wings, or even just hockey, themed blog, don't be afraid to shoot me the link and I'll throw it up on the blog roll.

You can contact me via e-mail, through my personal Twitter account or the one I have set up for the blog. I've also set up a Facebook page, so in the category of shameless self-promotion, if you could Become a Fan or Like it or whatever it is now it would be much appreciated. This afternoon I created a YouTube channel for the blog, although I'm not sure how often I'll use it or what I'll use it for.

RIP, Bob Probert

2010-07-06T16:50:00Z

Ian Laperriere probably said it best in a text he sent to Denver Post columnist Adrian Dater: “Scariest player to ever play against, for sure.”

At only sixteen I can only fondly remember watching him don the red and white. But you didn’t need to actually see him play to remember Bob Probert. Legendary YouTube videos and comments from rival players are all you need.

By now you all know that Probert died Monday boating on Lake St. Clair. His father-in-law performed CPR but wasn’t able to revive him. He was only 45.

I was devastated when I learned of his passing Monday afternoon. I had a similar feeling back in May when Ernie Harwell died--crushed because a piece, no matter the size, of Detroit sports, even sports in general, was gone. These were feelings that were unique and new to me, considering no one close to me has died. It was weird because they were two people I really didn't have a emotional connection with. I didn't grow up listening to Harwell call Tigers games on the radio, and I didn't grow up watching Probert destroy people on the ice at the Joe.

But maybe that's what made Probert such a large hockey icon. The fact that people (well, kids I guess) like me can spend an hour or so looking back on his career shows what kind of hockey player and guy he was. Sometimes we get lost in his fighting ability, but he actually was a really good player and makes you wonder how much better he could have been if not for the drugs and constant alcohol abuse. (Which reminds me, I played pick-up with a friend of his I believe. Someone that knew him pretty well. In the locker room he mentioned that Probert would drink heavily before pick-up games and did drugs, cocaine I'm guessing, in between periods. Really unfortunate.) Look at his 1987-88 stats with Detroit: 29 goals, 33 assists for 62 points in 74 games. All while committing 398 minutes worth of penalties. He did that plus tallying 21 points in the playoffs that year.

What was the thing I've came to like the most about Probert?

You touched Steve Yzerman, and that's what happens. Here is another one of my favorite Probert fights:

In today's game, how often do you wait for months for Round II of a fight? It just doesn't happen anymore. That's why it feels like we lost a piece of sports yesterday. Who knows when there will be another Bob Probert in the National Hockey League. Never mind his off the rink problems. Yesterday we lost one of the most popular players to lace them up for the Winged Wheel and (perhaps) the best fighter in the history of the game. And for that, we can only hope he rests in peace.

Is it October yet? Pre-season schedule announced

2010-06-20T13:24:00Z

I don't put too much stock into the pre-season. This past season the Wings went 4-4-1 in exhibition games, and are 20-12-4 overall (including 2009-10) in the pre-season since 2006-07. Needless to say, a win or loss in the pre-season generally doesn't mean much for a team in the regular season. Just ask the Detroit Lions.

The 2010-11 pre-season does have an added incentive though: a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first sporting event in their new building, the CONSOL Energy Center. What a nice way to kick-off the season that would be, eh?

I was a bit perplexed when I noticed we play back-to-back-to-back two times, but that seems normal after looking back on previous Detroit pre-season schedules.

Anyway, here is the schedule from DetroitRedWings.com

September

22 Wednesday @ Pittsburgh, CONSOL Energy Center, 7 PM EDT

24 Friday vs Chicago, Joe Louis Arena, 7 PM EDT

25 Saturday @ Chicago, United Center, TBD

26 Sunday vs New York Rangers, Joe Louis Arena, 5 PM EDT

29 Wednesday @ New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden, 7 PM EDT

October

1 Friday vs Toronto, Joe Louis Arena, 7 PM EDT

2 Saturday @ Toronto, Air Canada Centre, 7 PM EDT

3 Sunday vs Pittsburgh, Joe Louis Arena, 5 PM EDT

Don't worry, I'm still here

2010-06-18T16:00:00Z

It may be hard to believe, but I actually am alive and do in fact plan on posting at a somewhat consistent rate this summer. I usually visit the site a couple of times a day just to stare at it and hope that a post will magically write itself, but unfortunately things don't work like that. I do realize that my last post here was on June 5, and coupled with the fact that as I write this it's June 18, gave me the motivation to put at least something up.

In retrospect, I am somewhat regretting naming this blog Hockeytown Quick Hits. Well, perhaps the name is fine, but I don't think that I'll be promoting it as exclusively a Red Wings blog from now on. Of course, that's not to say that the majority of the content will not be Red Wings based -- it will -- but experiments like my World Cup live chat and posts about other sports are things I'm interested in and will try to talk about every so often.

Speaking of the World Cup live chat, I'd like to quickly mention the fun time I had running (along with Andy from Fight Night at the Joe) it during the USA-England 1-1 draw. I would thank everyone who showed up, but I'm afraid that if I did, I'd miss someone and I don't want that to happen. These live chats are certainly something I will look into for future events, possibly another World Cup game and I think they could work during Red Wings games as well.

It's impossible to not use this cliche in posts like this, so I'll go ahead and post the inevitable: School is out, and I'll try my best to at least put something new up at a reasonable rate.

USA-England Live Chat

2010-06-05T13:25:00Z

Yes, this is a hockey blog, but I'm into soccer as well. What better way to start my live blogging career than with a World Cup match? It's USA-England and should be an awesome match, and I'll enjoy talking about it with all zero of you. (At least if I screw up, no one will see it.) I'll kick this thing off at 2:00 PM ET, about a half hour before kick-off, which of course you can watch on ABC.

Update: Thanks to those who stopped by. Perhaps this is something I could explore for the upcoming Red Wings season. I'll take a draw with England. We're still in good shape to advance out of the group. You can replay the chat below.

Updated: FOX 2: Holmstrom signed to a two-year deal

2010-06-03T14:38:00Z

We have breaking news coming out of Detroit.

FOX 2 sports reporter Jennifer Hammond is reporting that Tomas Holmstrom has signed a two-year deal with the Wings.

Another Swede gets locked up by the Wings as the team comes to terms on a new two year deal with the net front warrior Tomas Holmstrom.

The 37-year-old scored 25 goals in 68 regular season games in 2009-10. I'll update this post as news begins to leak on the potential signing.

Update (5:51 PM): WXYZ-TV sports reporter Tom Leyden replied to me on Twitter regarding Holmstrom. He says he hasn't heard anything, but that's only due to the fact that he's been working on the Armando Galarraga story.

Update (6:22 PM): George Malik just pointed out that FOX 2 has posted Hammond's report online. "Sources" tell Hammond that Holmstrom has come to terms with the Red Wings. So far, she's the only media member to report the signing.

Update (6:25 PM): Hammond's report was also mentioned on FOX 2's 6:00 news broadcast.

Update (7:56 PM): Greg Brady out of AM 640 in Toronto tweeted about ten minutes ago that the contract is in fact for two-years, and the cap hit is 1.875 million per year. Sounds good to me.

Update (8:33 PM): Ansar Kahn files a report on the subject, saying the deal will likely be completed sometime next week. Brady has specifics on the cap hit after saying he got the figures right from the people who signed him, yet Kahn's report doesn't even mention financials and indicates that the deal is almost done, but not quite there.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Ken Holland appear on FSN Detroit

2010-06-01T16:15:00Z

I'm not sure that it's necessary to explain the Nicklas Lidstrom signing, for two reasons:

1) Unless you live under a rock, you already know that the Detroit Red Wings captain is coming back next year, signing a one-year deal worth around $6.2 million.

2) I could write the most thorough and insightful essay ever, yet it still wouldn't come close to topping what The Triple Deke posted today.

It's been a busy day for Lidstrom. He allowed us to breathe a sigh of relief this morning, and tonight he visited with Rod Allen and Mario Impemba in the third inning of the Tigers-Indians game on FSN Detroit. Wings general manager Ken Holland joined the two broadcasters in the fourth as well.

As I expected, the answers were relatively short but it is nice to hear what Nick and Kenny have to say about the signing.

I'll try and keep this simple by posting Lidstrom's responses to Rod and Mario's questions.

Nick on the signing: "I've very excited to be back with the team. I never did leave but I'm very happy to come back for another year."

On his long tenure with the Red Wings and the city of Detroit: "Doesn't seem like it's been 19 years. Time has been flying by and it's been a lot of fun and a lot of success and that's why I want to continue to be with the Wings."

On being voted best defenseman by his peers in a Sports Illustrated poll: "It is special, especially when it comes from players that you face on a daily basis. I think they know you the best, they know your tendencies and what kind of player you are so that means a lot when that comes from the players."

Lidstrom talking about his kids and their hockey careers: "I got four boys and they all play hockey so they're keeping the household busy [laughs]. They love doing it and I've very supportive of what they're doing. If they're going to have success I'll be very happy with that, but if not I'll take that too. I really know that they're enjoying the game."

On what it means to be a Red Wing: "It means a lot playing for the Wings. It means a lot to be part of this organization. Our owners [the Illitches] have been tremendouus and really supportive of the team and help put the best players possible on the ice."

In the next inning, Holland entered the booth and had high praise for Lidstrom, and talked just a bit more than Nick.

He began by talking a little about the signing, saying, "It's a great day for the Red Wings. Obviously, Nick's been the best defenseman of his era and we haven't missed the playoffs since he's been here. I think he was seriously considering his options and we're thrilled to have him back."

Impemba mentioned a quote that Holland gave that talked about how Lidstrom is such a mentally strong player. Holland expanded a little more on what he meant by that. "He makes everything look easy. He lets the game come to him. A lot of people chase the game but he knows how to position himself," Holland said. "He's physical when he needs to be but for the most part he's a quick stick, he knows how to take the puck away, he knows how to play the game, and he makes it look so easy."

Holland ended the question by mentioning something that is perhaps one of Lidstrom's greatest skills: "He wows you by watching him day after day with his attention to detail."

The conversation turned to a discussion about when Lidstrom became the six-time Norris Trophy winning Lidstrom we know and love.

"Nick really became Nick Lidstrom in 1997 when we had the car accident, and Nick knew that he had to take his game to another level," the GM noted. "He started to get lots of minutes against the other team's best players and all of the sudden his confidence took off and he took his game to another level. He was a really, really good defenseman, but from 1998 on he just took it to another level."

Mario and Rod followed up on their question to Nick about his fitness, and Holland added: "The great ones have something special that others don't have. Nick's 40 but he's really only 31, 32, or 33. He works real hard off the ice but [his body] is also a bit of a gift."

Probably the most intriguing part of the interview took place when Holland gave us a glimpse of what he's currently working on and his offseason plans. As previously reported, Holland mentioned that they are in fact talking to Tomas Holmstrom and Todd Bertuzzi.

"We're talking to Holmstrom and Bertuzzi. Ideally we'd like to get them done at numbers they're happy with and we're happy with. We'd like to keep them both."

Holland spoke about his intentions with the young guys on the roster: "We're going to move some kids up. It's time for Justin Abdelkader to be on our team full time. We want to give young players like [Mattias] Ritola and [Jakub] Kindl a chance to make our team. We're trying to move some kids in but at the same time we feel we have a real good core."

He also talked about the Wings' options after free agency begins.

"We find out what the cap is the last week of June and July 1 is free agency, and if we can get some people done and have a little money left over, we'd like to explore, maybe get a little toughness and some kind of secondary scoring," Holland said. "We're going to see how it sorts itself out in June."

The interview closed with the Tigers broadcast duo asking Holland about how the Wings develop their players:

"If you bring kids up too soon, and they start to face some adversity, they lose their confidence and then it just spirals out of control. It's really just how mentally tough they are.

"We try to leave our players in the [American Hockey League] for two or three years. When they come up, they're really mentored by Lidstrom, [Steve] Yzerman, [Chris] Chelios, [Chris] Osgood and [Kris] Draper. We're big on the mentoring and when they're ready, they're ready."

It's nice to know what Holland has planned for his offseason, and of course, very nice to know that our captain will be continuing to wow us night in and night out.

Report: Lidstrom's decision coming soon

2010-05-29T19:18:00Z

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun said on CBC's Hot Stove tonight that The Perfect Human, Nicklas Lidstrom, will make his decision regarding his future within the next seven days.

It was also mentioned that the Wings have began contract negotiations with Tomas Holmstrom and Todd Bertuzzi (much to Petrella's displeasure), George Malik at Snapshots notes.

I put up a poll asking what you think Lidstrom's decision will be: stay or retire? I expect him to re-sign at a salary slightly below what he's making right now ($7.45 million). He's shown that he can still play at a Norris Trophy candidate level, and if this was a "down year" for him, it was one heck of a down year.

Let's hope he decides to stay -- him and Yzerman leaving in the same week would be harmful to my health.

Defenseman Brendan Smith signed

2010-05-27T12:58:00Z

One thing we've always known about Kenny Holland and the Wings is that they make the most of their draft picks - and Brendan Smith should be no exception.

The Wings signed the Wisconsin Badger defenseman to a three-year entry-level contract today. Smith was the 27th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, and spent the past three seasons in Madison, Wisconsin.

He put together a fine collegiate career:

Led the nation among defenseman in scoring this year, posting a total of 52 points (15 goals, 37 assists).
His points-per-game average of 1.27 was good enough for top-15 in the nation.
2009-10 Hobey Baker finalist.
All-WCHA first team.
WCHA defensive player of the year.
Smith scored 26 goals, to go along with 61 assists, for 87 points in his three-year Wisconsin career.

This is a guy who improved each year at Wisconsin, from finishing second in rookie scoring for the Badgers his freshman year, to leading UW defenseman in goals his sophomore campaign, to being possibly the best blueliner in college hockey this past season.

Now, obviously it's too early to know if he will pan out to be the top line d-man we expect him to be, but he most definitely has the skills to be that type of player.

I got the chance to see him play at the Frozen Four this year, and everything the scouts say about him is dead-on. He moves the puck very well, as shown by his five-assist effort over RIT in the semifinals, and his impressive vision complements that very well. He is a fantastic skater and is smooth with the puck in pressure situations. (Something he was good at with the Badgers, and hopefully he'll be able to retain that with Detroit.)

He's 6-foot-2 but will have to continue to bulk up, which will help him in improving the defensive side of the game. Additionally, he'll have to prove that he can stay healthy, something he really wasn't able to do in college, and make smarter decisions as far as when to pinch in the offensive zone.

He will attend training camp up in Traverse City then start the season in Grand Rapids. Let's hope the 21-year-old can continue to improve and become the front line defenseman that will be vital to success in Detroit.

Goodbye, Stevie Y

2010-05-25T13:03:00Z

Sports bring out the best, and worst, of our emotions. It's one of the few things in this world that can collectively bring an entire group of people, regardless of age, popularity, and location, together in celebration, or grief.

Perhaps even rarer than that, though, is when one single person has the ability and character to inspire a city, as well as lead a team through the tough times.

Steve Yzerman is one of those people.

Words cannot describe how much he means to the city of Detroit and Red Wings fans all around the world. We've been blessed with a man who's led us through the best and worst of those emotions. As Jesse at Bingo Bango said, he's set the stage for what a leader should be. He's set the stage for what a hockey player should be. He's set the stage for what a professional athlete should be. He's set the stage for what a person should be. How often can we say that about someone?

He led us through the pre-dynasty era. The close-but-not-quite years. Even with all that, we knew we'd be okay because he was The Captain. Led us through the Vladimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov tragedy, through the Avalanche rivalry, through the 2001 playoff loss to the LA Kings, but we knew we'd be okay because we had The Captain.

The same captain who brought us three Stanley Cup championships. Who nearly single-handedly revived the franchise and turned us into Hockeytown. Who brought us 27 years of Hall of Fame skill, class, and integrity.

Which is why it's nearly impossible to look at the image above. Like @Whoabot said, it still looks so strange with that logo next to his name. And it will, for however long Yzerman is on board with teams other than the Wings.

But we owe it to Stevie Y to accept his decision. And we have. All it takes is a search for "Red Wings" on Twitter and you can see that we have. We may not like it. It's killing everyone inside. But it's not fair, considering all that he did for the franchise, to criticize him or have doubts about him for taking the Lightning GM job. (Although, for the sanity of hockey fans, it is unfortunate he beat out Pierre McGuire for the job.)

It's clear he wasn't going to get to be a general manager here in Detroit -- for a while at least, as Kenny Holland is here to stay. Apparently, Mike Illitch had asked Holland if he wanted to move up to the vice president position, but he declined, wanting to stay as general manager. We can't blame him for the decision. We knew he wanted to run his own team, and clearly that wasn't going to happen in Detroit, but that doesn't make the news any easier to take.

I think that Tampa is a good place for him to get his feet wet and take over a NHL franchise. His five-year, $2.5 million per deal allows him to try and turn a team that was 25h in the league this year into the winner it once was only six years ago. He'll take over a team that has possibly the best player no one talks about in Steven Stamkos, an anchor on the blue line in Victor Hedman, and two players that are capable of carrying a team in Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis.

The Lightning are $21 million under the cap, but have only 13 players signed for a combined $40 million. It will be interesting seeing what type of team Stevie wants to build, how he handles it, and who he hires as coach. He has some options, including current Wings assistant Paul MacLean and Portland Pirates coach Kevin Dineen. Will he lure MacLean down to Florida?

All I know is this: I now have a new favorite Eastern Conference team. Sorry, Montreal.

(I also invite you to join this Facebook page I made - Steve Yzerman: Good luck in Tampa.)

Meeting Jimmy Howard

2010-05-19T11:37:00Z

Jimmy Howard was signing autographs at Perani's Hockey World in Livonia last night. It was total luck that I happened to be there (my sister had to get some goalie stuff) just as the line was starting to get bigger. I had no idea that I was even going to Perani's, or that Jimmy was even signing there -- so let's just say luck was on my side.

Realizing that, hey! I have nothing for him to sign!, I quickly bought one of those street signs that say "Red Wings Rd." on it. I stood in line for roughly over an hour -- well worth the wait.

The first thing I realized was that he writes left-handed. Which is awesome, because yours truly is left-handed as well. I figured it was best to not tell him that, though.

I pretty much avoided talking with him, which is pretty much what I did when Mike Babcock asked my mom and I to watch his computer at the Novi rink when he went to tie his daughter's skates. (This actually did happen.)

When we got up there, my dad told him that he once landed in Odgensburg, New York, where Jimmy grew up. My dad said something like, "I bet you were playing about 10 years ago." As you might expect, I stood off to the side, trying to figure out just what level of awkward that moment was.

I'm not sure what I was expecting -- but Jimmy sat there and said, "Ahh, 10 years ago? Wow, that was a while ago." I then got my picture with him, as you can see above. That was it.

It really doesn't seem like much, but that 45-second, maybe minute long encounter epitomizes just how special hockey players are. They're the most genuine, down-to-earth athletes we follow, which I think says a lot about their character, especially when you consider the game they play. He said thanks, didn't charge money, didn't just sign a picture and move on. I'm positive he made every single one of the kids' days, and I'm willing to bet that while the session was scheduled to end at 8 PM, he was there past that to make sure everyone got a chance for an autograph.

With all the trouble athletes are getting into in the other sports, it makes me glad to say I'm a hockey fan first, and a sports fan second.

This is your TV deal, NHL

2010-05-16T16:18:00Z

Joe Yerdon summed it up perfectly with this tweet:

NHL Broadcast partner my ass.

In case you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll do a quick recap.

The first stage of the Tour de California was on Versus, tentatively scheduled to end at 7 PM, right before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

I say tentatively because Versus apparently isn't all that interested in broadcasting hockey games.

Instead of, you know, cutting to the hockey game, Versus decides to keep it on cycling for an extra five or six minutes. Why? To show the podium ceremony.

You can't make this stuff up. As I said on Twitter, this is YOUR TV deal, Mr. Bettman. On a network that obviously still doesn't seem that interested in hockey. (I'll even throw NBC in there as well -- as it was pointed out to me that today was the first time an article from Pro Hockey Talk made it on the NBCSports.com homepage.)

I realize that yes, viewers did not miss any of the action, but still, I would not be happy if I'm an NHL exec right now.

I really can't say anything other than that this league still continues to amaze me, night in and night out.

Red Wings sign Mitchell Callahan

2010-05-14T15:18:00Z

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the Red Wings have signed 18-year-old Mitchell Callahan to a three-year entry-level contract.

Callahan was drafted by Detroit in the sixth-round (180th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft. He's spent the past two seasons playing for the Kelowna Rockets, who played in the 2009 Memorial Cup, in the Western Hockey League.

He scored 20 goals and had 27 assists for 47 points in 72 games this past season. At 5-foot-9 and only 175 pounds, I was a bit surprised to find out he also tallied 165 penalty minutes, but he has played the agitator role very well for Kelowna in his time there.

He is going to have to get bigger if he wants to keep up his style of play in the NHL. Players like Callahan are usually ones the Wings tend to not draft, but they saw potential in him as a future third- or fourth-liner.

According to hockeyfights.com, Callahan dropped the gloves 19 times this year, which was the second highest total in the WHL.

He seems to fit the typical agitator definition: a yapper, has the ability to get under a player's skin, and hits everything.

His size will hamper him at the next level, but I think that he has the qualities -- hard-hitter, high-energy, afraid of no one -- to be a grinder and checking line type of player with Detroit.

End of the year thoughts

2010-05-11T17:20:00Z

The end of a season is always a heartbreaking experience for a team and its fans. It's obvious enough that I am pointing out the obvious, but I think that I've come to learn that each season has to be treated differently for the pain to slowly ease away. Previous seasons, like the terrible end to the 2006 campaign or last seasons Stanley Cup Final debacle, hit me hard and still continue to so. (Actually, I really don't know if I will ever be able to fully get over that Game 7 loss.) Handling a playoff loss, especially when you know that no matter how dedicated you are as a fan, there really isn't anything you can do about the result, isn't always easy.

That's not to say that this year's loss to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference semifinal was easy to take. It wasn't, we all know that, but so far, I think it's fair to say I've taken it relatively well compared to other postseason losses in the past.

Part of me wants to be objective, I guess, and say that maybe we actually were playing like a team that was a five seed, albeit a strong five seed. There was no doubt in my mind that this team could win the Stanley Cup for the 12th time in franchise history, but I think that after we barely survived the scare that was the Phoenix Coyotes and were simply outplayed by the Sharks, it was just as far as we could go this year.

The other side of this would argue that that logic is somewhat flawed due to the incredible amount of injuries we had sustained throughout the season, and the fact that our guys had played more hockey the past four seasons than any other NHL team.

The Wings had a total of 312 man-games lost this year, a number I'm sure puts us within the top-five in that category. Ten(!) Wings missed at least five consecutive games, and I'm willing to bet we all remember when we fielded the Detroit Griffins at one point in the season, where eight guys were out at one time.

Franzen (torn ACL) missed 55 games. Filppula (broken wrist), Williams (broken leg), and Kronwall (sprained knee) missed 94 games combined. Zetterberg, Cleary, and Ericsson were out a combined 34 games in December.

These weren't just injuries -- they were significant injuries, and I think when I look back on this season one of the things I will definitely remember was this team's ability to overcome these losses, especially the Franzen one, in my opinion, on their charge to the playoffs.

Now obviously that's no excuse for how we played in the playoffs, but I think it's pretty amazing that this team was able to make the playoffs, let alone be a five seed in the very tough Western Conference. How they accumulated the 102 points wasn't always impressive, but it is impressive that we had the seventh most points in the league, including finishing with one more point than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

As Matt Saler said, it makes me very proud to be a Detroit Red Wings fan. We did overcome great adversary this year and I thought that Babcock and the players handled it very well.

These adversaries made this one of the most exciting seasons ever for me as a fan. While watching and struggling through the rough start in Sweden and the "meh" months of October-December wasn't always fun for us, the ups-and-downs of the season made we feel more committed than I've ever felt before as a Red Wings fan.

That, along with the emergence of Twitter, made this one of my favorite Red Wings seasons, despite the postseason exit. It's good to know that such a classy organization has such a great fan base, and I think things like Herm 2 Hockeytown and the great blogs we're able to read prove that.

I look forward to the 2010-11 season and the road to the Stanley Cup. For the 12th time.