Detroit Red Wings Updated: October 8, 2002

Team News

by Andrew Loughrey, Detroit Correspondent

What have you done for me lately?
Winning a major championship in professional team sports is an odd phenomenon. A team toils all season long just to get to the playoffs (it's true in the West, anyway). Almost two grueling months later, one team emerges as the champion. What is the reward for all of its hard work? In hockey, it's the Stanley Cup, sure, but how long do the players and coaches and front office-types truly get to celebrate and retain the title? Not long, these days. The next season starts within days, as players get back to their off-season workouts and coaches and GMs figure out who they are losing, who they can sign, and then save it all to their memory card. So just like that, the party's over. As soon as the next season begins, announcers, pundits and other media-types immediately dub the team "defending champion" (one notable exception is the 1998 Florida Marlins -- people simply referred to them as the Durham Bulls after they won the World Series).

Anyway, my point is a team can't just sit back and chill after winning the Cup. Players from the winning team cannot say things like, "Um, I won the Cup four months ago. Why don't you kiss my (sunshine) and skate back to the bench?" Well, if anyone says anything like that, the opposing player would probably laugh at him as he puts his head through the glass. Why? Because it's a new season; everyone is trying to get to where the champs were last year; and every team they play wants to beat the "defending" champs. But hey, I'm sure the "defending champs" aren't complaining too loudly. I hear those rings are real purdy and can probably be traded for at least two cases of Steel Reserve.

As the Red Wings transition from "champion" to "defending champion," they seem set on proving to everyone that it is business as usual in Hockeytown. Detroit finished the preseason 6-2-1. While it may be debatable if the preseason is any more important than the regular season, the preseason is definitely more meaningful than All Star Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - combined. Fortunately for Detroit, quite a bit of good news emerged throughout the preseason. As with any preseason though, a few question marks remain.

The Swedish Bikini Team Invasion (minus the bikini team)
The Red Wings swapped out aging Swedish defenseman Fredrik Olausson for young superstud left winger Henrik Zetterberg. Talk about an upgrade... Some of you may remember Zetterberg's name from the Olympics. He was the only non-NHL player on the Swedish Olympic team, and he more than held his own. He was also named the MVP of the Swedish elite league last year; as a result, he came across the Atlantic to much hoopla and lofty expectations. Comparisons to the Avs' Peter Forsberg abound, but so far the 22-year-old Zetterberg appears unaffected by all the attention. What did he do this preseason, you ask? Oh, he only tallied four assists to go along with his three goals, putting him tied for second on the Red Wings' preseason points leaderboard. How's that for immediate impact? Zetterberg was even used in many a special team situation. Granted, the coaches wanted to see what Zetterberg could do, so they gave him ample playing time (and one of his goals was an empty netter). Still, seven points in nine NHL preseason games isn't too shabby, no matter how much ice time a player logs.

There's really no reason why Zetterberg should slow down as the season starts. Look for Henrik to spend time on a line with veterans Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov at the start of the season. A rookie on the first line? If that rookie is as polished as Darren Pang's head, and if Steve Yzerman is recovering from knee surgery, then yes.

One Kid And The Goat
Boyd Devereaux came into camp six-guns a blazing. He led the team in goals during training camp scrimmages and opened up the preseason with a goal and an assist against the Dallas Stars. His reward? A slash to the left hand and a broken thumb; 4-6 weeks on the injury list. In the meantime, head coach Dave Lewis will most likely keep together the other two members of the self-dubbed "two kids and a goat" line of Brett Hull, Pavel Datsyuk and Devereaux. Stacy Roest, Jason Williams and/or Sean Avery are available to replace Devereaux until he can return. The Wings are hoping the injury does not slow down Devereaux' smokin' start. Once reunited, this line will be expected to both produce goals and matchup against the top lines of other teams, too. Lewis is expecting a maturation in Datsyuk's game, which basically equates to higher accountability on the defensive end. No more leniency for being a rookie, comrade.

Sunny Acres, here we come for real
Remember when I said Fredrik Olausson was gone? Well, so are Uwe "Snow Dogs" Krupp and Steve "Summer's Eve" Duchesne. For the first time in a while, Detroit is actually fairly green along the blue line. Of course, the only living player to have sup'd with the actual Lord Stanley and Lady Byng, Chris Chelios, is still around and paired with the increasingly solid Jiri Fischer. Nick Lidstrom will likely pair up with Mathieu Dandenault in the beginning. Which leaves Jesse Wallin, Maxim Kuznetsov and Dmitri Bykov, a Russian rookie who knows exactly one English word for every Yankees win in their ALDS this year. Oops, doesn't look like Bykov's English will be improving anytime soon...

Good thing Detroit isn't lacking players who speak fluent Russian. Those times when Igor Larionov, Fedorov, nor Datsyuk are on the ice, Lewis may decide to pair Bykov with Kuznetsov. At least until Dmitri gets a little more comfortable with the system. Then again, Kuznetsov and Wallin aren't exactly "comfortable" with the system yet, either. I, for one, welcome this youth infusion on the blue line and am hoping to see some new blood, young legs, and an over-zealous hit or two from these bottom three blueliners. We'll see how dicey they can make things for CuJo... (we'll get to him in a sec)

We can rebuild him. We have the technology.
The Steve Yzerman Recovery Watch gained some possibly interesting news recently. The Detroit News reported that the 17-year captain of the Red Wings is off of crutches three weeks earlier than expected. Whether this actually translates into an early return for Stevie Y remains to be seen. In the meantime, head coach Dave Lewis has revealed that no one on Detroit will wear a 'C' until Yzerman's return. Nick Lidstrom and Brendan Shanahan will be Alternate captains all year, with Sergei Fedorov wearing the third 'A' for home games and Chris Chelios donning the 'A' for road games. A classy and wholly correct move on Lewis' part (not that any player would dream of wearing the 'C' while Yzerman is still on the roster).

Finally, I am blaming whatever meds the doctors currently have him on for the following quote from Stevie: "I can't wait to start sweating and grunting and getting something accomplished. Right now they are light and easy. I don't feel I am getting anything accomplished now." For Yzerman's sake, I sure hope he was talking about hockey. OK, I'm starting to get that same uncomfortable feeling I did when Janice and Ralphie were in bed together two weeks ago, so let's move on...quickly.

One crybaby for another
Dominik Hasek was known for his flopping and attention-grabbing on-ice antics almost as much as he was known for his incredible skill and unique playing style. Curtis Joseph has a rap for not showing up in big games, and he just recently discovered a severe allergic reaction to press conferences in Toronto. Did anyone else envision a drunken, spitting, disheveled Pat Quinn standing next to CuJo at his press conference yelling, "There's no crying in hockey!"? Or was that just me?

Well, believe it or not, Curtis Joseph was the only high-profile new free agent signed by the Wings this offseason. What's even more shocking is that the CuJo signing was prompted out of necessity, rather than largesse. The Dominator's expected second retirement forced the Wings to go out and grab the goalie with the most recognizable and oft-used nickname on the market. Dafoe has yet to really earn the nickname "Lord" Byron, and who knows when "Eddie the Eagle" will offer some unsuspecting Mountie a billion dollars Canadian to not put him on the back of his horse. So the Wings went with CuJo. The rumor that Hasek will come out of retirement again, sign with the Rangers right before this year's trading deadline, and play in their last few games before failing to make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year are as yet unconfirmed.

Right off the bat, Joseph will want to prove his status as an elite netminder and a worthy stand-in for Hasek on the Red Wings' Rent-a-Goalie program. That should be more than enough motivation for Joseph. In case it's not enough, Joseph should be happy to know that the Western Conference is full of many "big" games. If CuJo wants to shed his reputation for disappearing in "big" games, well, he came to the right team. He will face more than his fair share of "big" games playing for the "defending" Stanley Cup Champions. In front of Joseph, the Detroit players will also want to disparage any comments insinuating Hasek was the main reason they won the Cup last year.

So I stand behind the center of the bench now, right?
The final big reason the Wings' players will be motivated from the beginning of the season is their new coach. Owner Mike Ilitch received a call from the Hall of Fame shortly after Game 5 of the Cup finals. Turns out his lease on Scotty Bowman was up, and the Hall needed to reclaim Scotty for immediate installation into their brand-new "Ask a 10-time Cup Winner" exhibit. Consequently, Detroit ownership was forced to make a tough decision: replace Scotty from within or without? The argument for going outside the organization was that the Wings had amassed a rather expensive collection of talent. Would a first-time head coach be capable of handling the types of players currently on the team? What's more, could a rookie head coach get these superstars motivated to keep winning Cups? It's no secret Detroit plays better when they have specific motivation. In 1997, they were tired of being so close for so long, they finally decided to win. In '98, they had a crippled teammate and team masseuse for whom to play. Last season, they had the pressure of being "the greatest team ever," and to not win the Cup was unacceptable.

So when Ilitch decided to go with Dave Lewis, longtime Detroit assistant coach, I think it was the smart move. The players all like Lewis, and they will be eager to go out and put up some wins to make Lewis look good. On that note, I am looking forward to this season in Detroit with much more interest than I did this time last year. There have only been a couple of changes this year, but the changes were important enough to cast just the right amount of uncertainty onto the team. Last season, everything was just too good to be true -- all the pieces aligned a bit too perfectly. Last year's ending was a foregone conclusion (well, after Game 3 of the first round). As this season opens, just the right amount of "newness" (goaltender, head coach, defensemen) permeates the Red Wings' locker room. It should be a much more interesting trip, so sit back and enjoy it. Fans and detractors alike should find plenty of reasons to watch.

Fun with numbers
The Red Wings finished with a healthy 6-2-1 preseason record. In those nine games, Detroit scored six power-play goals while giving up eight power-play goals. Detroit surrendered no shorthanded goals against but scored two (including one game-winner by prodigal youngster Stacy Roest). Jiri Fischer scored one-third of the Wings' game-winning goals in the preseason. The Red Wings took 247 shots on goal and gave up 231 shots against. Sergei Fedorov led the way in points with eight (3G, 5A); Brett Hull (4G, 3A), Jason Williams (3G, 4A) and Henrik Zetterberg (3G, 4A) finished close behind with seven points apiece. Detroit was 1-2 against Eastern Conference teams in the preseason and, therefore, undefeated against Western Conference foes (5-0-1). Kirk Maltby, though nagged by a back injury, is the only skater on Detroit's opening day roster who did not register a point in the preseason. Wheee...

A look ahead
The Wings play four of their first five games on the road, including a three-game West Coast swing to start the season. A quick look at how their upcoming opponents did in the preseason:

- Oct 10 @ San Jose (3-5-1)
- Oct 12 @ Los Angeles (7-1-0)
- Oct 13 @ Anaheim (3-4-1)
- Oct 17 vs Montreal (7-2-0)
- Oct 19 @ Minnesota (7-0-1)
With the exception of a 7-4 win, all of the Kings' preseason games were decided by one goal. As stated at the beginning of this report, the Wild are the only team to go undefeated in the preseason.

So that's what happened during the preseason. The meaningless games are all over. Bring on the meaningless games!