Sunday, February 01, 2009

Hockey happenings Feb. 1, 2009

Tidbits from what I've been reading and watching. It's a bit random, some old and some new.


The Sporting News' Ray Slover came out in defense of fighting in the NHL.
If hockey really wants to clean up the game, it should crack down on stick fouls.
So pay no attention to the recent poll that said a majority of Canadians interviewed said fighting should be abolished. Listen, instead, to the people whose lives are spent in hockey. A poll is only as good as the people who participate in it.

That's fine. Again I can take fighting or leave it. My only concern is if it is banned, stick work and other nastiness will increase.


The Detroit Red Wings signed Henrik Zetterberg to the longest contract in team history, a 12-year, $73 million deal that will keep the star forward in Hockeytown until 2021.
Zetterberg, 28, will be paid $7.4 million next season, $7.75 million from 2010-11 through 2012-13, $7.5 million from 2013-14 through 2016-17, $3.35 million in 2017-18, and a $1 million in the each of the contract's final two years.

Cool, but I'm a bit concerned about the length of the contract.
Kevin Allen of USAToday thinks if Marion Hossa and Johan Franzen take a hometown discount, Ken Holland, the Red Wings General Manager, will be able to re-sign them both. I hope they do, and he does.


Suspensive
Some journalists, like Bob Wojnowski at the Detroit News, posted that the Niklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk suspension could be critical later in the season.
It's not a gigantic controversy but it's the principle, really. I understand the NHL's reasoning, and so do the players. The truth is, because they're injured -- Lidstrom has taken several cortisone shots this season -- more rest shouldn't hurt. But what if the Wings lose tonight and eventually finish two points shy of home-ice advantage?

Good point. Yet just like a bad call in a game, overcome it, but please stop whining.
I also understand the hypocrisy surrounding this ruling and letting Steve Mason skate free. Yet the agreement was about the All-Star Game not the Young Stars Game. Oh well, suck it up and drive on. Get the rule changed to include the Young Stars Game too.


Alexander Ovechkin torched the Wings Saturday for two goals, the game-winner and the insurance.
Still high on that win and not filing lethargic at all it seems, he scored another three Sunday.
All aboard the Ovechkin bandwagon ... he's an amazing player! He plays with physicality and grace. It bears repeating: Saturday's game with the Wings, defending Cup champions, and Ovechkin, a dynamic player, should've been broadcast nationally.

Also worth noting, Ville Leino's goal on Saturday. It seems many are ga-ga for it. Yet I bet it didn't even make ESPN's highlight reel for the day.
Wow!

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