Abel to Yzerman
An informal update from the last day of Red Wings training camp/Wings-Pens roster
by George Malik on 09/21/10 at 04:30 PM ET
Comments (29)
Real-time entry time: As I sit up here in Centre Ice Arena’s media lounge, the MSM are busily typing away at the stories you’ll be reading this afternoon, this evening and tomorrow. I’m sitting here trying to digest what might have been my last access to the players and ability to get into a rink for free for a long time with a smile on my face because I saw an excellent Red vs. White game in which the red team won 5-3—expect a full report to come this evening—and got to speak to Jim Nill for ten minutes, talk to Pavel Datsyuk about his blacked-out stick (and I quote, “It’s not some secret KGB weapon”), Jiri Hudler about returning from Russia and Tomas Holmstrom, for about five minutes, about the art and science of tipping pucks past goaltenders.
I also happen to have the roster for the Red Wings-Penguins game sitting next to my laptop, so here it is:
Red Wings roster for game against Pittsburgh Penguins, 9/22/2010
Forwards:
Johan Franzen-Valtteri Filppula-Todd Bertuzzi
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Dan Cleary
Mattias Ritola-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves
Drew Miller-Justin Abdelkader-Aaron Downey
Defensemen:
Brad Stuart-Jakub Kindl
Jonathan Ericsson-Ruslan Salei
Derek Meech-Brian Lashoff
Goaltenders:
Chris Osgood (starting)
Thomas McCollum
Initial impressions from the game: the Modano line is a work in progress, big time; Todd Bertuzzi and Johan Franzen talk to each other very regularly to sort out coverage while playing alongside Filppula; Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom remain a well-oiled machine; expect the fourth line to consist of Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves, who have fantastic chemistry and have been surprisingly effectively in terms of generating offense, with Justin Abdelkader;
The Brad Stuart-Brian Rafalski pairing’s looking solid, with Rafalski pinching much more regularly; ditto for Nicklas Lidstrom, who sometimes switches off with Niklas Kronwall and plays right defense; Ruslan Salei and Jonathan Ericsson have some working out to do as Big E tends to wander too much for his own good;
Chris Osgood was superb again, as was Jimmy Howard, whose best asset may be his ability to get his leg pads down low along the goalposts to stop rebound opportunities;
Jordan Owens, Jan Mursak, Tomas Tatar, Joakim Andersson, Brendan Smith and Brian Lashoff acquitted themselves very well, as did Logan Pyett;
Jakub Kindl can be up and down, but he’s more NHL-ready than Mattias Ritola in my opinion;
Kris Draper was there in person and looked happy;
Derek Meech made a push to impress, and Aaron Downey nearly decked people a couple of times;
Thomas McCollum remains better when he’s upright, and Joey MacDonald still has some holes;
Tomas Holmstrom had a goal waived off as he tipped a Nicklas Lidstrom shot from head level, and he got a penalty, too, so there’s no love for Homer, even in scrimmages;
Nobody got hurt, which was perhaps the best news of the scrimmage;
And being here has been a tremendous privilege all around and the people who’ve volunteered here at Centre Ice Arena can’t be thanked enough for their hospitality or the work they put in. At the end of the game, the Red Wings posed with the entire staff of volunteers, or at least the vast majority thereof, for a photo before skating off to their locker rooms. It’s 2:30 PM and I’m willing to bet that the team buses have already pulled away, or are nearly ready to do so, and the equipment trucks will soon follow. I’ll be here for another evening and will write up a recap a little later.
The MSM interviewed other people and got all of Babcock’s presser, but my job’s to hunt around for details as a complimentary presence, and after seeing that Tomas Holmstrom understood I’m a kindred spirit, I can’t help but leave this rink with a smile on my face. As I told Brian Lashoff—who chatted me up off the record for about five minutes as I waited for Homer to shower—it’s much, much, much more fun being a fan because every second of this experience is a delight, and being a Red Wings fan on top of it makes this job (and it is a job, and a very hard one at that sometimes) unbelievably fun, exciting, and just plain old…
As Mike Babcock would say, “FAN-TASTIC.”
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Comments
“He has the ability to be a gamebreaker,’’ Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Gamebreakers have a tendency to want to break the game (open) all the time.
“As you become a pro you realize you (need to be) patient. Lots of shifts nothing happens and you wait for your opportunity and then you take advantage of it and then you don’t get yourself in trouble because you’re not forcing things. He’s a kid and he’ll get it figured out.’’
_________________________________________________
I see what Babcock did there. What seemed like a compliment turned into a carefully and precisely worded critique of what Smith needs to learn before he’s ready for a shot with the Big Club.
Because if it’s one thing Smith wouldn’t want is to come up too early, find himself out of position, cost us a game and become the focal point of the Babcock Death Stare.
What an amazing statement by Babcock. “Gamebreakers have a tendency to want to break the game (open) all the time.”
And that’s not normally a good thing.
Posted by RWBill from the open bar on The Hasek. on 09/21/10 at 04:38 PM ET
George, you’ve hit the jackpot: you’ve found what you love to do and what you’re good at in the same place. We should all be so lucky.
Posted by Amerinadian from Chicago via Toronto on 09/21/10 at 04:41 PM ET
Johan Franzen-Valtteri Filppula-Todd Bertuzzi
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Dan Cleary
Mattias Ritola-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves
Drew Miller-Justin Abdelkader-Aaron Downey
This would be a pretty solid regular season team for most teams in this league. Add Z, Pasha and Homer and it gets sick.
Anyone else think Ritola is going to go the way of Leino? He’d be a good player on nearly any team, just not one this deep.
Posted by redxblack from Akron Ohio on 09/21/10 at 04:43 PM ET
Thanks George once again. You don’t need to write 10,000 words for our sake, but I know you will and spend hours doing it because you love to.
So THAT’S what having a good job is.
Posted by RWBill from the open bar on The Hasek. on 09/21/10 at 04:46 PM ET
Initial impressions from the game: the Modano line is a work in progress, big time
Yep. Even Ken Kal said that Modano had two chances to put a shot on net and elected to go for the extra pass. That line looked a bit confused for lack of a better word.
Posted by SYF from a viewing moratorium of NBC's hockey coverage on 09/21/10 at 04:47 PM ET
Anyone else think Ritola is going to go the way of Leino? He’d be a good player on nearly any team, just not one this deep.
i see Ritola clearing waivers though…
i think another season in GR might work for him, and he’ll be the 1st call up..
but it;s nice to think we’ll have Ritola, Tatar, Mursak, Emmerton, Tardif and Anderson all waiting to go in GR, not to mention Maltby and maybe Downey..
if the Griffins don’t make the playoffs this year something is seriously wrong
Posted by Pharazon from England on 09/21/10 at 04:50 PM ET
That line looked a bit confused for lack of a better word.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 09/21/10 at 02:47 PM ET
Agree. Modano and Hudler especially tried a lot of little cute dink-and-doink passes that didn’t work. I believe it was George who said that Hudler is still trying to get used to the smaller North American surface again and that’s exactly what it looked like. Hudler was trying to play a KHL game. They’ll get that sorted out.
Of course, it also didn’t help that they were playing against 2/3rds of a defense-first line (and Ritola is a solid 2-way player of his own right).
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/21/10 at 04:56 PM ET
The neat thing I got out of that line, JJ, is that 40-year old Willa can still fly real damn fast on his skates. Damn, that guy can still fly.
Posted by SYF from a viewing moratorium of NBC's hockey coverage on 09/21/10 at 05:09 PM ET
i see Ritola clearing waivers though…
i think another season in GR might work for him, and he’ll be the 1st call up..
I don’t see him clearing waivers, and if he does then he’s in GR for the season because he’ll have to clear again if he gets called up, and it’ll be on re-entry waivers which means he’s half-price.
Posted by Garth on 09/21/10 at 05:17 PM ET
The neat thing I got out of that line, JJ, is that 40-year old Willa can still fly real damn fast on his skates. Damn, that guy can still fly.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 09/21/10 at 03:09 PM ET
Damn straight. When they get that chemistry, they’ll be awesome.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/21/10 at 05:34 PM ET
Anyone else think Ritola is going to go the way of Leino? He’d be a good player on nearly any team, just not one this deep.
Posted by redxblack
I have considered him over-rated from the beginning.
I have a tendency to watch what a player is doing when he doesn’t have the puck.
Of course…
I have been wrong more than once…
( I tagged Dangle as a ‘narcissistic little turd’ during his hardball contract negotiations after the lockout, on my blog)
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 09/21/10 at 05:47 PM ET
I think that the Wings might be sold on Ritola’s long-term potential more than one would think. The Red Wings believe that Ritola is, to some extent, a long-term project that will continue to improve and eventually become a scorer at the NHL level if they’re patient with him, whereas it looks like Miller’s seen as someone who’s already maximized his potential in terms of what he can give the team. The decision will be made based upon their exhibition season performances, that much I know.
What I don’t know is whether the Wings are willing to waive Ritola as they seem to believe that his status as a Swedish Wing could yield a pick-up—even though players clearing waivers happens with much, much more regularity these days.
It’s going to be a race, and there’s something to be said for the fact that Kirk Maltby’s playing like his old self now that his shoulder’s finally healed.
As for Hudler, Cleary and Modano, Hudler did admit that he’s adjusting to the North American rink somewhat, but they’ve got two weeks to get everybody skating in the same direction at the same time.
“Willa” did indeed overpass, but it was his defensive game that shone in the scrimmage more than anything else.
Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 09/21/10 at 06:04 PM ET
Wow Gramps, I didn’t even know you knew those kinds of words. “I have been wrong” 
Ritola may or may not clear wavers. That was part of a long discussion over the summer and no need to rehash it again.
I hope the best for Meech. If he’s not going to be the 7th guy, or even if he does, he needs regular playing time and a real chance. He would be useful for a lot of teams.
Looking forward to your write up GM.
Posted by Osrt on 09/21/10 at 06:11 PM ET
Hudler, Cleary and Modano are going to have an adjustment period. You’ve got 3 guys that have not played on the same line before, and given Hudler’s readjusting to the North American rink and Cleary coming back from the injury, it may take some time. Let’s just remember that this is our THIRD line, so it’s not like we need them to be potting 2-3 goals every night at the start of the season.
Posted by Amerinadian from Chicago via Toronto on 09/21/10 at 06:15 PM ET
Be interesting to see Meech paired with Salei for at least 5 games
(against more than 1 team)
Betting on a much better +/-
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 09/21/10 at 06:15 PM ET
Be interesting to see Meech paired with Salei for at least 5 games
(against more than 1 team)
Betting on a much better +/-
With 9 preseason games and some of them not involving the squads that all of those guys are on, I don’t think we’ll get that much time. I agree though. I’m probably overreacting thanks to lack-of-hockey madness, but Ericsson’s performance today hurt. I mean, actual physical pain. I thought he would come back better-prepared, but he was just atrocious in the 2nd period.
I’d probably give Kindl a bigger shot next to Salei though to see how he’ll react. At this point, I’m confident I know Meech could step in and be a serviceable #6 guy next to Ruslan, so if Kindl doesn’t wow us and earn that spot, we’re good to go.
Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 09/21/10 at 06:42 PM ET
Great stuff, per usual, George. Love it.
Espeicially love hearing that Ozzie’s having a good training camp. I’m hoping that translates well into one hell of a 1-2 tandem between Ozzie and Howard this regular season. If Jimmah avoids a sophomore slump and Ozzie returns to Wizzard form, we could go from being a team full of stars with questionable goaltending to easily the best overall team in the league. Not that that isn’t something we’re used to.
I’ve got a helluva feeling about this year. Hockey’s so close I can taste it and it’s gonna be a damn good time. Tickets to see our boys murder some bandwagoners’ dreams this Saturday just arrived in the mail. Cannot wait.
Posted by CaptNorris5 from The Winged Wheel, stuck in Chicago on 09/21/10 at 06:52 PM ET
Damn, that guy can still fly.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 09/21/10 at 03:09 PM ET
That was on a list of things we as fans missed the lock out year…
The “flappity flap” of his jersey.
Posted by MOWingsfan19 from I really like our team on 09/21/10 at 08:27 PM ET
3 games on the paystation tonight.
I’ll start with Flyers/Devils and end with Flames/Canucks.
Damn it has been a long summer.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd on 09/21/10 at 08:41 PM ET
Hockey, please…please give us some hockey
Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 09/21/10 at 08:48 PM ET
I was at the game today, and my impressions were:
The magic circus line is flying.
Modano and Bertuzzi both look really sharp.
Cleary was going hard to the net.
Filpulla was flying.
Kronwall showed no evidence of any knee problem.
Howard and Ozzie were both very good.
McCollum is good, and he is as big as a barn door.
Mursak and Emmerton are flying…..I was impressed.
Salei looks real solid…a lot like Stuart.
Brendan Smith…the puck follows him around. I think he got both a goal and an assist, and he frequently took the puck to the net. I saw Babcock talking to him a lot after the game. I think Babs liked his game as much as I did.
Kindl had a wicked shot to score, and can really skate.
I did not see much action from Tatar.
Ericsson gaave up a turnover in front of the net to Helm, who scored.
Everyone else looked real “crisp” and ready to roll.
Posted by w2j2 on 09/21/10 at 08:58 PM ET
It’s not some secret KGB weapon.
And Pavel remains the best quote-generator in all of hockey.
The Brad Stuart-Brian Rafalski pairing’s looking solid, with Rafalski pinching much more regularly; ditto for Nicklas Lidstrom, who sometimes switches off with Niklas Kronwall and plays right defense; Ruslan Salei and Jonathan Ericsson have some working out to do as Big E tends to wander too much for his own good;
Nick looks like someone said, “This year, with Nik Jr. as your partner, we want you to be a fourth forward when you’re on the ice.” No one drove the net better than Nick did today. I’ll bet he feels like he’s a 30-year-old right now.
As for Big E, well, if he keeps playing like he did today, we’ll get achance to watch a lot of Kindl this year. He was absolutely horrible. Salei, on the other hand, is an incredible bargain at $750k.
He’s a kid and he’ll get it figured out.
Babs, as always, is right. Smith is an offensive force to be reckoned with. Once he accepts that he’s also a defenseman, he’ll be a staple on the Wings blue line for years and years to come. And I’m betting that Fraser gets that through to the kid in the first 20 games of the Griffins season.
Watching the streaming video, I had a few gut reactions:
1. I’ll bet Uncle Mike’s eyes bugged out of his head when Owens took that puck to the net and scored today. Owens’ stock had to shoot up exponentially after that.
2. There’s a reason that, at this point in his career, Joey Mac is playing in GR this year. Let’s hope that he never gets into a Wings game if he gets called up.
3. Tatar (Tater, Spud-boy, whatever) is so damn fun to watch, I thought he was Pavel at times. He’s got it all. And the fact that he was the 60th overall pick in 2009 simply amazes me. What confuses me is why Ferraro was picked ahead of him.
4. If I was an opposing team and I knew Happy, Modano and Cleary constituted the Wings’ third line, I’d be working my third defensive pairing overtime getting them ready. That threesome is gonna tear some teams apart.
...and after seeing that Tomas Holmstrom understood I’m a kindred spirit, I can’t help but leave this rink with a smile on my face.
Anyone who considers himself a kindred spirit with Homer (or vice versa) is aces in my book. I’m extremely jealous of your opportunity, George. And I’m also extremely grateful that you’re finding your niche in that tenuous territory between reporter and fan. We’re all the richer for it.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids, MI on 09/21/10 at 09:07 PM ET
I really like our chances this year as well.
So here’s knocking on wood when it comes to injuries.
Posted by SYF from a viewing moratorium of NBC's hockey coverage on 09/21/10 at 10:26 PM ET
And I’m also extremely grateful that you’re finding your niche in that tenuous territory between reporter and fan. We’re all the richer for it.
Posted by OlderThanChelios
Beautifully phrased.
Posted by Osrt on 09/21/10 at 10:33 PM ET
Everything you have written from TC has been very good, but that interview with Nill….WOW…just…WOW. I listened to it twice. I can guarantee Nill will remember you after that one, George. Such an intelligent discussion between 2 guys who genuinely love the game, the development of players, etc. Nill will remember that next time he sees you.
Great work, George. I’ll definitely be tossing into the collection jar again next year.
Posted by WingsFaninCO on 09/22/10 at 02:08 PM ET
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About Abel to Yzerman
Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com
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