FanHouse

Holland On The Hossa, Franzen Talks

Matt Saler — 2009-03-19T12:35:00 00:00

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press has the latest from Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland on the contract talks with Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa, and the team's economic situation. George Malik of mLive's Snapshots blog picks up the discussion with a look at the tough questions the Wings face. [Free Press, Snapshots]

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Detroit's Holmstrom Out With Knee Strain

Matt Saler — 2009-03-17T12:59:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings' Tomas Holmstrom will sit out Tuesday's game against Philadelphia with a knee strain. He apparently suffered the injury during the team's 4-0 win over Columbus Sunday when his skate caught a rut. He is listed as day-to-day.

Holmstrom has already missed 26 games this season due to injury. He underwent his second sports hernia surgery in less than a year in early February, and was only four games into a return from that injury after sitting out 18. For a player who takes such a ridiculous amount of abuse on a nightly basis, he's been remarkably resilient over the years. This just hasn't been his season.

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Detroit's Hossa Set to Return

Matt Saler — 2009-03-13T18:27:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

Marian Hossa is slated to return to the lineup Saturday in St. Louis after four games missed due to neck, back, and knee injuries. It looks like he'll skate with Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary against the Blues and the player that caused his injuries a week and a half ago, Roman Polak. [mLive]

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Zetterberg Lays Out Phaneuf

Matt Saler — 2009-03-12T22:51:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Flames, Red Wings, NHL General

Buried in Detroit's wild, exciting, disappointing, dominant, pathetic, frustrating and strange shootout loss to Calgary Thursday night was an unequivocal bright spot for Red Wings fans: Henrik Zetterberg's thundering center ice shoulder check on the Flames' Dion Phaneuf.

Zetterberg, not known for physical play, was no doubt looking to exact some revenge for Phaneuf's earlier hit on linemate Dan Cleary. Cleary had to leave the game for half a period with an ankle injury as a result of yet another example of the kind of numbskull play Phaneuf has made his trademark. Whether it was revenge or not, tt was good stuff in a game full of things for Wings fans to be depressed about. Video below:

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Detroit's Hossa Looks To Return Thursday

Matt Saler — 2009-03-11T12:56:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

Update: The latest out of Detroit says Hossa is out Thursday, but possible for Saturday. - 3:58 PM

Detroit Red Wings forward Marian Hossa is about ready to come back from a bout with soreness that came as a result of an awkward collision (YouTube) during the team's 5-0 win over St. Louis on March 3rd. He has skated this week and will return to the lineup Thursday night against Calgary if he checks out in the morning skate.

The big Slovak has missed four full games already with a combination sore knee, sore neck, and sore back. Fortunately, tests following the incident did not reveal any long-lasting damage. Hossa and the Wings dodged a big bullet. They'll now hope he won't get injured in his second return from similar injuries in a week and a half.

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Detroit Takes Hit On Blueline

Matt Saler — 2009-03-10T12:42:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

The troubled defense of the Detroit Red Wings took a hit Monday with the news that Andreas Lilja would be placed on the long-term injury list in order to allow him time to recover from a concussion suffered during a fight in the team's 8-0 loss to Nashville on February 28th. The big Swedish defensemen has been dealing with daily headaches since about the third punch of the tussle with Shea Weber (YouTube).

Lilja left the game after the fight, and hasn't returned to the ice since. He underwent tests in the days following the game, but had further tests Monday when his symptoms didn't abate. He has missed three games already, and will miss his fourth tonight when the Wings face Phoenix. He is not eligible to return until March 27th, after ten games out of the lineup.

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Detroit's Defense Reaches Critical Mass

Matt Saler — 2009-03-09T13:15:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

The defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings have hit a couple significant road bumps this month in their bid to repeat. Those bumps came in the form of a pair of Saturday losses in which they surrendered a total of 16 goals to possible first-round opponents. The losses provided a stark reminder of the team's major issue this season: defense.

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Detroit Recalls Jimmy Howard, Puts Chris Osgood On Shelf

Matt Saler — 2009-02-20T19:20:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

The big news out of Detroit today is the call-up of goaltending prospect Jimmy Howard from the team's AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. The move comes at the expense of a struggling Chris Osgood, who will sit out the next ten days " to get a mental breather and clear his mind and work with (goaltending coach) Jim Bedard," as GM Ken Holland told mLive's Ansar Khan.

Howard will back up Ty Conklin in tonight's home game against Anaheim. He will start tomorrow night in Minnesota and is expected to be sent back to Grand Rapids after the game. The move allows the Wings a chance to get a look at Howard at the NHL level, something they have not gotten since this time last year (Februry 23rd).

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Detroit's Franzen May Return Wednesday

Matt Saler — 2009-02-17T19:10:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

Johan Franzen has declared himself ready to return to the lineup, reports Detroit beat writer Ansar Khan. The big Swedish forward has been out since taking a teammate's shot off his hand in the team's February 7 win over Edmonton.

Franzen's return will bump a forward from the lineup, though head coach Mike Babcock would provide no information on who will sit. He told Khan that he may keep Ville Leino in the lineup, which narrows the choice down to the veteran Kirk Maltby and the young Tomas Kopecky. Given his somewhat lackluster season, Kopecky may be the odd man out here.

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Defending the Cup: Nashville More Trouble Than Expected

Matt Saler — 2009-02-11T08:53:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Predators, Red Wings, NHL General

The Central Division rival Detroit Red Wings and Nashville Predators met for just the second time this season Tuesday night in Tennessee. The result was 5-3, which is about the score you'd expect, except when you drop Pavel Datsyuk's late empty-netter.

The Wings outshot the Predators 51-21, but came disturbingly close to losing. They led 3-0 after five minutes into the second period, but the game was within a goal of being tied by a minute after the halfway mark. Detroit pulled head again, only to see the Predators come within one goal, again. What should have been a clear-cut win turned out to be in doubt until the final minute.

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FanHouse Roundtable: Red Wings, Penguins Meet Again In Pittsburgh

Matt Saler — 2009-02-08T09:00:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Penguins, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins meet for the second time this season Sunday afternoon on NBC. The Penguins hold a 1-0 advantage in the regular season Finals rematch series with a come from behind win on November 11th.

The two teams have had trouble since that game, but have found success in their recent games. Detroit won its third in a row Saturday with an 8-3 decision over Edmonton, and Pittsburgh has won its last two. Both teams will look to continue their respective turnarounds today. Hit the jump to read the discussion resident Pens guy Adam Gretz and I had on the game Saturday afternoon.

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Detroit Pulls Off Second Consecutive Win

Matt Saler — 2009-02-05T08:45:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Coyotes, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings continued their sluggish recovery from five-game losing streak Wednesday with 5-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. The game came two nights after an ugly win over St. Louis and was just the Wings' fourth in ten games.

It was a game of role reversals relative to Monday's against the Blues. Whereas Monday it was Chris Osgood who kept his team in it and put them in a position to win in shootout, Wednesday it was Osgood's teammates who carried their goaltender to a tick up in his win column.

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Detroit Halts Skid With Ugly Win Over St. Louis

Matt Saler — 2009-02-03T08:50:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Blues, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, in shootout Monday night to bring an 0-4-1 skid to a halt. It was perhaps their ugliest win of the season, as they allowed 33 shots to the last-place Blues while mustering just 21 of their own.

The win should provide a boost to a team struggling under the weight of injuries to key players such as Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom and Brad Stuart. Their troubles in recent weeks have been reminiscent of last season's awful, injury-plagued month of February, their worst of the season. Last night may have been what the team needed to snap out of it.

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Saturday Matinee Roundtable: Detroit Goes to Washington

Matt Saler — 2009-01-31T08:00:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Capitals, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings and the Washington Capitals face off today at 12:30 ET for the one and only time this season. Although the game could be considered a potential Stanley Cup Finals matchup, it hasn't received a lot of hype this week. Eric McErlain and I discussed the game Friday, covering topics ranging from the matchups to the future of both franchises. To a fan who rarely gets to see Washington in action, Eric had a lot to offer. Hit the jump to check out what he had to say.

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Detroit Gives Henrik Zetterberg 12-Year, $72 Million Extension

Matt Saler — 2009-01-28T00:46:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

The big news out of Detroit early Wednesday morning is that the Detroit Red Wings will announce the signing of forward Henrik Zetterberg to a reported 12-year, slightly-over-$72 million contract extension at a 2 PM press conference. The deal will make Zetterberg a Red Wing until he hits 40.

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Shorthanded Wings Face Bubble Jackets

Matt Saler — 2009-01-27T08:39:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Blue Jackets, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets face off for the third time this season Tuesday night in the first game after the All-Star Break for both teams. The series stands at 2-0 Detroit with three more meetings to come.

Detroit will play the game with an empty lineup spot due to a combination of injuries and a punitive measure meted out by the league office. The former is Brad Stuart's sore neck, an injury suffered when harmless contact with Phoenix's Steven Goertzen resulted in a head-first collision with the endboards. Stuart narrowly avoided major injury. He did not skate Monday and is listed as day-to-day. The Wings will also be short Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk, in part because of injuries.

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Lidstrom, Datsyuk Drop Out of All Star Game

Matt Saler — 2009-01-21T20:01:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General, NHL All Star Game

A morning NHL press release dropped something of a bomb on Detroit fans Wednesday. The release, picked up by Paul Kukla, included the official announcement of the injury replacements for Sunday's All Star Game in Montreal.

Stephane Robidas' inclusion was not a surprise to anyone who read Mike Heika's blog Sunday. Patrick Marleau's inclusion was less surprising, perhaps, given the year he's had. The real surprises, however, came with the news that both Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and forward Pavel Datsyuk would sit the game out due to injury, leaving the Wings without ASG representation aside from Mike Babcock.

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Injuries Bite Wings in Loss

Matt Saler — 2009-01-21T08:49:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Coyotes, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit's 6-3 loss in Phoenix Tuesday would have been hard enough for Wings fans to take without two key injuries adding to the pain. The team lost defenseman Brad Stuart in the first period and Pavel Datsyuk in the third en route to being embarrassed in the final stop of their pre-All Star Game road trip.

The two injuries added to a missing players list already including big forward Johan Franzen. The loss of Stuart's big frame and Datsyuk's seemingly effortless offensive abilities added to the team's road fatigue turned out to be a losing combination. The injury to Stuart was perhaps the most important of the two.

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Ken Holland Reports Progress in Henrik Zetterberg Talks

Matt Saler — 2009-01-19T08:36:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Red Wings, NHL General

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James Sunday that progress has been made in the contract extension talks with forward Henrik Zetterberg over the past two weeks. According to Holland, "[t]here's still a little work to be done," but things appear to be on track enough to describe a deal as "close," as St. James does.

Holland hopes to have Zetterberg signed to a long-term contract by the March 4 trade deadline. That would be a month earlier in the year than Pavel Datsyuk signed a seven-year extension on April 6, 2007. Datsyuk makes $6.7 million a year, but is likely to be underpaid relative to his Swedish friend. Most reports on the Zetterberg talks have numbers in the $7-$7.5 million range.

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Best In West Face Off in San Jose

Matt Saler — 2009-01-17T13:30:00 00:00

by Matt Saler

Filed under: Sharks, Red Wings, NHL General

The Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks meet Saturday night for the third time this season in a battle for supremacy in the West. A regulation win for Detroit would put them in first, while a point for San Jose would preserve their place in the standings.

The series is tied 1-1, with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Red Wings decisively winning the most recent meeting, and the Sharks winning the first. The Sharks will be looking for payback for the 6-0 drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Wings on December 18th.

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