Another Chapter in Hockey's Summer of Tragedy...

Everyone's heard the news about Ruslan Salei and Brad McCrimmon by now, but I'm guessing most of us are still trying to process it. I know it sounds silly to mourn the loss of someone you've never met before, but passionately following a sports team has a way of forging a strong (and admittedly one-way) bond with the players you root for game in and game out. You listen to their post-game pressers, watch interviews they give about locker room antics, see them grimace in pain out on the ice, and grin from ear to ear as they celebrate a goal or a victory. If you watch enough games, you come to recognize their skating stride or the way they handle the puck without having to see the name or number on their jersey. You take photos during warmups and laugh at the goofy face they happened to be making as you snapped the picture. Little by little you “get to know them.” Obviously you don't really know them, but over time you come to have some sense of their personality. You know which player is the practical joker, which one is the cranky old veteran who wants to yell at the rookies to get off of his lawn, which one has the unwavering intensity every second he's on the ice from warmups to the final horn. Even if they're caricatures in your mind, they become “real” people to you. When they're wearing your team's uniform, you celebrate together and you hang your heads in despair together. You have the same foes, whether they're wearing another team's uniform or black and white stripes. You're on their side, and in a way, they're on yours.

It's no surprise that over the course of as little as one season, you get attached to players. When one loses his life suddenly and unexpectedly, it's jarring. You get slapped in the face with your own mortality. Here were a bunch of guys in the prime of their lives on an airplane heading to a hockey game and in an instant they were gone. We always assume that there'll be a tomorrow, a next week, even a next year. We take that for granted—every one of us does, no matter how hard we try not to—and every once in a while something comes along and reminds us that there are no guarantees. Being able to put faces and personalities with the names you see on the lists of the dead makes it hit home that much harder.

Three men with ties to Detroit lost their lives in the plane crash, so naturally Wings fans everywhere are mourning. It's not just Wings fans who were impacted, though. I was at work when I heard the news this morning and part of my job was to talk to groups of students from all over the country who were just arriving to start their internships. In the course of my spiel, I always bring up hockey by mentioning the Lightning. In one of the groups that I talked to, a girl interjected and asked if I'd heard about the crash. She was a Blues fan and neither one of us was aware that Pavol Demitra was among the dead yet. In our brief discussion about the tragedy, we shared a moment—the kind that bonds the small but passionate hockey community. When I saw Demitra's name listed later, I thought about her; I wondered if her heart broke a little when she heard the news.

Most of all, though, I think about the families the players left behind. Their wives, their kids, their siblings, and their parents who have to pick up the pieces of their lives and find a way to move on. One of my first thoughts when I heard about Salei's death was about his infant daughter who will never know her father. This story also broke my heart, as did the reports of a player's mother who suffered a fatal heart attack upon hearing the news of her son's death. If you thought that we as fans were devastated by the news, imagine what those closest to the players are feeling tonight.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this summer of hockey tragedies to be over.

Kris Draper Calls it a Career...

This has been kind of a rough summer for Wings fans. Sure we all breathed a huge sigh of relief when Lidstrom announced that he'll be returning for another season, but we've now dealt with three retirement announcements. At this point, I'm just wondering which of my childhood icons will be hanging up his skates next week.

I never quite got around to writing about Ozzie last week. His announcement came in the middle of a crazy work week that was followed by a long weekend visiting home. I did at least crack open a Pepsi in his honor as I sat at my desk reading the text updates from his conference call. I'm going to miss that guy. He's never gotten the respect he deserves, and that's a shame. If things go as they should, though, he'll end up with his name in the Hall of Fame at some point.

Draper's retirement hit me the hardest of the three we've seen this summer. I'm not really okay with the fact that the entire Grind Line is now retired. I really got into hockey during what I like to call the Glory Years, and those guys were a huge part of that. Obviously I don't know what it's like to be a fan of another team, but I can't imagine another town that loves its blue collar guys like we do here in Hockeytown. Draper never had the kind of stats that his teammates did over the years, but he'll go down as one of the Wings' legends anyway. He was always one of those players who was just so “Detroit” that fans couldn't help but love him. How can you not like a guy who works as hard as he did every single game? He never had those shifts where it looked like he was just going through the motions like you see from some other players around the league. Every time he hopped over the boards, he was going full speed ahead, doing the dirty work, driving opponents crazy, and kicking the Wings into gear when they needed it. And he was almost always grinning. You can't put a value on that, but I promise you that it's more than a dollar.

Red Wings Blogger Roundtable...

Be sure to check out the third installment of this year's Wings Blogger Roundtable hosted over at Winging it in Motown.  We've got a good discussion about the Central Division, Brendan Smith, and who we think is going to exceed or fall short of our expectations this season.  I even bothered to drop in this time around.  Stay tuned for more discussion next week.

Nick Norris Back for More...

Well, it's been over a month since I actually bothered writing something here. A lot has happened in the meantime. For example, I recently discovered that the playoffs continued even though the Wings were no longer playing. The League even awarded the Stanley Cup to Boston recently (I hope that didn't spoil the surprise for anybody). At any rate, I've been seriously lacking in motivation to write anything. We reached the point about six weeks ago where stepping outside feels like you're walking through a wall of warm Jell-o, which, I'm not ashamed to admit, saps me of my will do do anything but sit as still as possible in front of the air conditioning vent.

Maybe it was my glorious return home for a few short days—breathing refreshing Michigan air, having my first serious hockey conversation in six months, seeing Wings logos on hats, shirts, and bumper stickers everywhere I went—but I immediately felt back in the groove. That doesn't necessarily mean that I'll be posting regularly throughout the summer, but I do at least have the desire to write something for a change.

Of course, it also helps that I have exciting news to write about. By now, you've all heard that Nick Lidstrom will be returning for another season. It's pretty obvious that he was just waiting for me to come back to Detroit to make the announcement so that I could celebrate it appropriately. You see, in Florida, my roommates and friends think of my love of hockey as kind of a quaint little personality quirk. Nobody there would've understood why I was dancing around my room in my pajamas and grinning madly after being rudely awoken by a text message (side note—you should probably be breaking news as exciting as Lidstrom's contract if you plan on texting or calling me before the clock hits double digits in the morning). They wouldn't have understood my excitement over seeing the cap numbers released or the pre-season schedule announced. Nor would they have understood why rumors about a potential free agent signing could get me all riled up. Life in a hockey wasteland is tough, but it makes me realize and appreciate how spoiled I was growing up in Michigan.

I wasn't just spoiled by being surrounded by hockey growing up. I was surrounded by some unbelievably good hockey. And a lot of that unbelievably good hockey was played buy a guy wearing a #5 jersey. There's not a whole lot to say about his re-signing. This is one we can all agree on, right? There's not really any room for a pro/con debate; there's nothing to argue about. TPH is back with yet another Norris Trophy in tow, and the team remains a contender. End of story.

Now that Lidstrom's all taken care of, we get to relax a bit and sit back as Kenny Holland spends those valuable cap dollars in his usual savvy way. There are still holes in the lineup and questions to be answered, but everything's going to be just fine. We're going to be treated to another season of brilliance from Lidstrom, another chance to send him off the right way, another opportunity to witness perfection on ice. And that, sunshines, is as much as any hockey fan can ask for.

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Seven GP...

3 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Cake, don't fail me now.)

Three things:

• Anything can happen—It's Game Seven. One bounce, one bad break, one turnover can decide the series.
• Goalies—Howard and Niemi may very well end up deciding which team moves on to the Western Conference Finals.
• Mental edge—The Wings have had it throughout the whole series. Here's hoping they'll use that to their advantage tonight.

Red Wing Zen:

Justin Abdelkader

0-0-0, +/- -4, 22 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Six GP...

2 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Might as well stick with the cake theme, eh?)

Three things:

• Showing up—Which Wings team will show up tonight? And for how long? The team that played the third period of Game Five is nearly unstoppable. The team that muddled through the first period? Not so much.
• Taking charge—Despite facing elimination, with the series shifting back to Detroit, anything could happen. The Wings' fate is still in their hands. Win or lose, the outcome is going to be their own doing.
• Mule—He's still a huge question mark. Babcock wants to play him if he's able to go, but is it worth it to risk being down a man if he re-tweaks it again? The injury's obviously been affecting him this series as it is.

Red Wing Zen:

Henrik Zetterberg

1-5-6, +/- 4, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Five GP...

1 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

(Since the cake picture worked out for Game Four, I present this one that's even better.  Just look at that frosting.)

Three things:

• Intensity—Playing like they did in the first period of Game Four would go a long way towards prolonging the series.
• Sixty minutes—Did you know that that's how long the game lasts?
• Special teams—Whoever wins the battle of special teams is going to win the game. The powerplay and PK have been huge factors all series long, and the Wings haven't been particularly good at either one.

Red Wing Zen:

Patrick Eaves

3-1-4, +/- 2, 6 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Four GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 3

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• One game at a time—If Philly could do it last season, who's to say that the Wings can't?
• Pride—Please, for the love of the Hockey Gods, don't go down with a sweep.
• Franzen—This is the game where he's supposed to go crazy and play like an unstoppable machine according to last season's series blueprint.

Red Wing Zen:

Jiri Hudler

1-2-3, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Three GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 2

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• Win the game—It doesn't matter how. It just has to happen.
• Goals—You know what else would be fun? Scoring more than one goal in the game. It would also help accomplish point number one.
• Discipline—The Wings looked frustrated during the third period of Game Two and played uncharacteristically chippy hockey. With any luck, they can turn that frustration into positive energy and come out looking better than they have thus far in the series.

Red Wing Zen:

Brad Stuart

0-0-0, +/- 2, 4 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day:

Tomorrow will be exactly one year since we pulled this crazy stunt.  Shockingly, we're in exactly the same spot we were in back then.  Here's hoping that it turns out better this time around.

Red Wings vs. Sharks Game Two GP...

0 Red Wings vs. Sharks 1

Random picture from a google images search of "Red Wings" that caught my fancy:

Three things:

• Jimmy Howard—If he keeps playing like he did in Game One, I like the Wings' chances of coming back in this series.
• Penalties—You all know the drill on this one. I don't want to talk about it because I'm just going to get riled up again.
• Intensity—The Wings got outplayed for long stretches of the first game. They were lucky to be in the position they were at the end of regulation, officiating nonsense aside. They're going to need to step things up today if they want to pull even.

Red Wing Zen:

Jonathan Ericsson

0-1-1, +/- 1, 2 PIM

Red Wings Youtube video of the day: