2010-2011 Detroit Redwings Season Reflection (REDWING77)

Check out 1:08 and the last 40 seconds of this film. Incredible. Datsyuk is good.


What a Year

We had our ups and downs or lefts and rights, so to speak, but our year has come to an end thanks to an incredible Game 7 performance by the San Jose Sharks. Interesting, to me, that the goaltender that did us in was the same goaltender that last year was cast aside as being a nice story but will be the soft spot that will eventually sink the Hawks. I wonder how Philly is feeling knowing that they could've gotten Niemi if they wanted him. To be honest, I'm not even sure they tried.

What a Career

It's largely anticipated, if it hasn't already been announced, that Mike Modano will retire from hockey. This is a guy who has been incredible for pretty much his entire career. He put the US on the map when it comes to all time hockey greats. Sure, he's no Gretzky or Howe. However, until Modano came along, we were always the "Feel good" story to hockey. The "little brother God bless him" of hockey. It's true that Canada still dominates the hockey world and the hockey legend arena, and will probably do so for eternity to come, but it's nice to be in the mix.

I wish him the best and I thank him for being a team player his final year after being such a pivotal part of the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization.

Oh, and by the way, this was the guy who wanted to end his career in Minnesota. He wanted to sign with Minnesota after the lockout and Risebrough balked saying that Modano's game "wasn't compatible with the Wild system of hockey." It's not often that someone who is a surefire, first ballot Hall of Famer isn't described as a sure fire fit, even if the Hall of Famer to be is in the twilight of his career. That's ok. The Wild are great offensiv... ahm... Moving on...

I'd also say that Chris Osgood's career, at least as a Red Wing, is over. Or it should be. Can't imagine wanting to pay Osgood to be a backup when you had pretty good backup goaltending in Joey MacDonald and a potential NHL prospect in McCollum in the wings.

My Awards:

Unsung Hero: Nicklas Kronwall -> It's hard to call any Red Wing unsung. I wanted to put Franzen here, but how is he unsung? Kronwall is one of the best open ice hitters in the game and he can contribute in both the offensive and defensive zones. Maybe Jimmy Howard belongs here.

Most Improved Player: Abdelkader - The guy didn't impress me at all his rookie season. He did ok this year. Not top line good, but certainly much better at what he was asked to do.

Best Overall Player: Nicklas Lidstrom -> He's 41. He's better than most D half his age. And Chelious may have played longer but only Lidstrom has been effective almost his entire career.

Best 2 way forward: Pavel Datsyuk -> Need I explain this? Oh, and by the way, I wonder what GMs who drafted players before Datsyuk (he went in the 6th round) thought of him before he was drafted. It's not hard to imagine what they think of him now.

MVP: Datsyuk again. The guy is arguably top 5 among active players in terms of overall value to his team. I wonder what kind of frenzy would occur if he hit the free agent market?

The morning after; Sharks and Redwings game seven

Last night I witnessed one of the more climatic ending to a game seven that I have seen in some time, the Bruins and Habs series was pretty good as well during the first round, for disclosure, I have to admit that I am a Boston Bruins fans first and foremost, second; I am an NHL hockey fan so I will watch any team, at any time play hockey on television, I have had the NHL package on cable for at least 8 season in a row. Finally, I am more of a San Jose Sharks fan than I am a Detroit Redwings fan, that being said, it was hard to take my eyes off of the television screen last night, the action in this game was fast and furious, thank God this game wasn’t a clunker by any means. We had enough clunker games in the Nashville and Vancouver series.

Finality of a Knockout game

I also think that both teams in this series were very good solid balanced hockey teams – great talent through the forward lines, good defense and very good goaltending. Special team for both clubs are very good as well it was a shame that one of these two teams had to lose.

I believe that either team could have won this game/series if the bounces had gone their way. Last night the bounces went the Sharks way and they were able to stop a three games slide. The thing that made this series very good was that both teams got up and down the ice and the games were played at a fast pace, when one team got a few good scoring chances, the other would counter attacked very well in response.

Last night I thought the Sharks started the game the way they wanted, they got a two goal lead one off a very bad turnover and they limited the Redwings time and space. The Sharkswere very fast through the neutral zone and were generating offensive opportunities from the Redwings miscues and untimely turnovers.

It was a shame that one of these teams had to lose but that's hockey and I always love watching the teams at the end of a series shake hands and wish the other team well. It’s very interesting to watch the hand shake because both of these teams got after it during this series it was a very heated and contested series, unlike the later games of the Bruins and Flyers.

Pavel Datsyuk is awesome

After watching the Redwings the last couple of season I have to say that Pavel Datsyuk is currently one of the best two way players in the NHL and I would love to seem him on my favorite NHL (X2) teams. It was revealed that Datsyuk had an injured wrist and wasn’t taking faceoffs but still managed to score (2g-7a-9pts) and 8+ in seven games. If the Redwings had advanced to the finals I believe that Pavel Datsyuk would have been a very good candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

Joe Thornton should be ashamed of himself with this shameful dive.

h/t to Puck Daddy.. This is absolutely shameful and unbelievable, the league officials are starting to look like a joke when they let this stuff go on... Joe Thornton should be fined by the NHL for embelishment and should have been given a 10 minute misconduct for this despicable behavior. I mean seriously, are we to believe that little love tap from Johan Franzen would cause a big man like Joe Thornton to crumble to the ice like he had been shot. In looking at the video I am not sure Franzen even touched him. If I was Franzen I would be upset as well.

Ut...Oh... (Redwing77)

It's been a while since my last rant so here goes...

Poor Poor Bettman

NHL Ninconpoop Gary Bettman is now demoralized again. First, his beloved Pens were eliminated. Next, he finds out that Crosby was holding out on him on his condition (so all along Gary held onto the hope that Crosby would be back just in time for naught). Now, his second favorite team (albeit red headed stepchild indeed) is gone. Tampa Bay eliminated the Craps in 4 games today. This behind 75 year old Dwayne Roloson's stellar play. Hey Wild fans, Roloson is in the Eastern Conference Finals. At least one former Wild is enjoying life right now.

In any case, I can revert back to being a general hockey fan now that the Craps are gone too. Perhaps we'll get to see what the NHL PR department has up its sleeve now that they have to try to promote someone not named Ovechkin or Crosby and not teams like Pittsburgh or Washington. I can't wait to see their creative juices flow.

Finishers anyone? Maybe finished is the better term.

Yup, I'm calling out the Red Wings. They've played San Jose close. Too bad they've rarely played San Jose well. They seemed lackadaisical at times and almost over confident. This OT was the first time I saw Detroit actually taking it to San Jose... only to see the D abandon them once again.

They now find themselves down 3-0 to San Jose. The big question, from my seat, is thus: Will Detroit end their season being swept or will they at least take one game? Right now, they seem to be unable to finish. San Jose seems to find finishers when they need it the most. Oh, and weak goals are great, right Howard? Setoguchi's second goal was W-E-A-K. Detroit's stupidity at D helped San Jose tie the game.

It's a stupid charge but... if Detroit wants to prove something, they're going to have to win Game 4 in big fashion... like by 3+ goals. I'm not saying Howard has to pitch a shutout, because with the D in front of him, that's like asking positive thinking along to stop mudslides from occurring in California. It's just not going to happen. Game 3 was a must win. They lost. buy a lottery ticket folks, you have a better chance at winning than Detroit has to move on. Stats and odds be darned.

Win or you're considered a pretender not a contender. I'm not going to say that Detroit has to win out to prove themselves because, this Red Wings fan thinks that there's now way Detroit advances. But if they want to have ANY respect at all from me, they're going to have to challenge San Jose more than they already have.

Color me a pessimist, but I doubt it.

And before anyone calls me out for daring point to a bunch of hockey players and call them pretenders or losers and then cite how I vehemently defend UND and collegiate hockey players know this: Datsyuk isn't an amateur. Howard isn't an amateur. Detroit isn't a member of the NCAA. These guys are PROs. They are being paid hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars per year to push their team towards the Stanley Cup. Detroit, further more, isn't the Atlanta Thrashers or Florida Panthers. They shouldn't just be happy to have made the playoffs.

Play like you want to be there or dress all your young players so they can get playoff experience and pack it in.

Oh, and last but not least...

Anyone want to earn some notoriety? I hear they're looking for a goaltender in Philadelphia. They've got plenty of backup goaltenders ready to push for your starting job so there is some pressure involved. The good news is, if you can stop a beach ball from going behind you, you have a pretty decent team in front of you. With Pronger on the ice, your team may even injure enough players to make it even if it isn't!

Video from the Probert Funeral

Former tough guy Bob Probert was laid to rest today. R.I.P. Probie.

NHL News (sorta) and LeBron James

Ok, I'm lying about LeBron James.

I'll let all those basketball rubes inflate his ego beyond all precedence. He needs it. I disliked Kobe because of his antics in Colorado but now... well. I don't see how anyone can be a LeBron fan. Not even Jordan had this kind of ego. So much for LeBron being likable. At least, after tonight, ESPN can return to normalcy... waiting to hear what Brett Favre has in mind.

Anyways, similar to LeBron, everyone's waiting for Ilya Kovalchuk to hold a press conference to let us know how well orchestrated his obliteration of the fun of the early free agency period has played out.

Seriously, I hope he joins Evgeni Nabokov in SKA St Petersburg of the KHL. Leave the egos to the NBA and NFL.

Nabokov left for the KHL and with him, goes the best free agent goaltender on the market. I know he never quite did well in the playoffs. I know his work ethic was questioned at times. I know his inconsistency as the season wore on. However, I give you this for consideration: Watch San Jose this season. They'll be ok, but not as good as they were with Nabokov. Why? Because I think Nabokov meant more to the Sharks than most people realized. And when that happens, failure happens. The Hawks didn't win because of Niemi. In fact, I think Niemi was their weakest link (and he played well so...). The Pens didn't win their cup because of Fleury. Fleury is still the weakest goaltender still playing today whose name is on the Cup... I know I know, Chris Osgood sucks, but he's got an excuse. HE'S OLD!

Rumor Nabokov got paid $24 million over 4 years with the KHL. Good for him. No way was he going to get that kind of money in the NHL.

This leaves the Flyers looking for a #1 goaltender. They've shown interest in Tim Thomas, but that fell through. They showed interest in Nabokov, but that's out of the question. They are left with Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher. They did great last post season but I doubt they'll repeat even with the dynamic defense Philly has put together.

So where does that leave them? They could stand pat (and they may have to) or they could go after Marty Turco (which is basically Turco's only shot at being the #1 at this point) or they could do what Chicago and Minnesota have done in finding a hidden gem in the Finnish Elite League.

Who knows.

In Detroit news, the Wings resigned former MSU Spartan Drew Miller and former Shattuck product Patrick Eaves. But they lost Lebda to the Maple Leafs.

They've made waves by going after Mike Modano, but I don't know if that's going to come to fruition.

I've maintained they need to get younger. And Modano isn't young.

They still have Meech, Abdelkader, and Helm unsigned and only $4.3 million to do it. If Modano signs with the Wings, ESPN suggests that it will cost at least $1 million. Abdelkader is going to be a multi year deal and could cost a pretty penny.

Unless they fail to sign the youth, this offseason is going to be long for a Red Wing fan.

Former Redwing Bob Probert dead at age 45 (linkorama)

Yesterday, Bob Probert 06/05/1965- 07/05/2010 one of the toughest hockey players to ever play in the National Hockey Leagtue died of an apparent heart attack while boating with his family, Probert was 45. The final Probert line 935 NHL games 162 goals – 221 assists and 384 points and 3,300 penalty minutes. Rest in peace Probie.

character from a video game

“I’ve always thought, ‘I’m Bob. I’m big guy Bob. I don’t need anyone’s help,’” he once told me. It was the kind of bitter honesty that made you want to give him another chance.

He got a lot of them.

Young kids won’t understand our fascination with Probert. They don’t make his kind anymore. But there is a reason you still see people wearing his jersey at Joe Louis Arena, more than 15 years since he last played for Detroit.

Coming up in the 1980s, Bob Probert was the sort of warrior they now model video game characters after. Relentless. Brutal. Single-minded. Unafraid of blood. He was an enforcer, a goon, a guy whose main purpose was to make sure nobody messed with his team’s stars. Someone touched Steve Yzerman? Bob Probert touched back hard. Someone ran the goalie? Probert ran him harder.

His fights are legendary and are no doubt being downloaded at a record clip this morning, after news of his sudden death Monday while boating with his family on Lake St. Clair.

His time in Detroit ended badly

“Even when he’s just gotten in trouble,” Jacques Demers once lamented, “he has that look that says, ‘I’m sorry. Help me.' "

And you wanted to help. You wanted Probert to shake his demons. He had that ruddy face, that goofy grin, that tousled hair, the look of a man who could be so happy when he was happy. And he had such skill. So Demers, the coach, stuck out his neck, and Jimmy Devellano, the general manager, stuck out his neck, and Mike Ilitch, the owner, stuck out his neck, and in the end, they all got burned. Probert walked away after a motorcycle crash, signed a free-agent deal with Chicago and made millions more before retiring, finally, in 2002.

By that point, he was a memory here, part of the Bruise Brothers days, a guy who averaged more than 3.5 penalty minutes a game. Ironically, he checked out before the Wings began winning Stanley Cups and he never did get a ring. He had several incidents with the law and alcohol in 2004 and 2005. Most of us don’t know what the last few years have held.

He was 45 when he collapsed Monday afternoon. News spread quickly around here — “Bob Probert died?” — and we were stunned because he seemed so indestructible.

But no one is indestructible. Who knows what finally took him? But it took him too soon. Even to the end, you wanted Probert to make it. He should not be remembered by the worst he did, and he cannot be whitewashed by the best. But whether an opponent, an image, an addiction or a past, Bob Probert was always fighting something. He can lay down his arms now. And finally be at peace.
[Detroit Free Press]

Links to the Story

Bob Probert was boating when chest pains struck [Detroit Free Press]

How we'll remember ex-Red Wing Bob Probert [Detroit Free Press]

Joe Kocur: Bob Probert was the brother I never had [Detroit Free Press]

Bob Probert still fights the battle of his life [Detroit Free Press]

Ex-NHL enforcer Probert dies at 45 [CBC.CA]

Former Red Wings, Blackhawks enforcer Bob Probert dies at 45 [USATODAY.COM]

Bob Probert Dead: Died At 45 [The Huffington Post]

Bob Probert, Legendary Tough Guy, Dead at Age 45 [Bleacher Report]

Former NHL tough guy Bob Probert dead at age 45 after collapsing on a boat [Winnipeg Free Press]

Remembering Bob Probert as the 'teddy bear', the 'heavyweight champ' and 'one of the toughest guys ever' [Puck Daddy]

Ex-Hawks enforcer Probert dies Collapses on boat after complaining of severe chest pain he was 45 [Chicago Tribune]

Ex-Blackhawks enforcer Bob Probert dies at age 45 [Daily Herald]

Former Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert, 45, dies after collapsing on boat [MLive.COM]

Summarizing the reflections on former Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert's untimely death [MLive.COM]

Former NHL tough guy Bob Probert dies after collapsing on boat [CNN.COM]

Bob Probert fight log at Hockey Fights [Hockey Fights]

Bob Probert Dies at 45 [Hockey Fights]

Bob Probert suffered 'severe chest pain' before collapsing, father-in-law says [Windsor Star]

Legendary NHL tough guy remembered for kindness, generosity and love of family [Windsor Star]

FORMER NHL ENFORCER PROBERT PRONOUNCED DEAD [TSN.CA]

Farewell Bob Probert [The Ciskie Blog]

Troubled former NHL enforcer Bob Probert dies at age 45 [Vancouversun.com]

Former NHL tough guy Bob Probert dead at age 45 [Globe and Mail]