What we have feared and known for months has now become official.
The NHL has imposed a league-wide lockout.
Unable to come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, NHL Comissioner Gary Bettman locked out players at 12:01 a.m. after the Saturday night deadline passed.
NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr said this in a statement:
“Today, we suggested that the parties meet in advance of the owners’ self-imposed deadline of midnight tonight. Don Fehr, myself and several players on the negotiating committee were in the city and prepared to meet. The NHL said that it saw no purpose in having a formal meeting. There have been and continue to be private, informal discussions between representatives of both sides.”
Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard said this prior to the lockout becoming official:
“It’ll be weird. I don’t know if I’ve wrapped my head around it. It’s just one of those things you have to take day by day.”
Forward Henrik Zetterberg was angered by Bettman’s position and the previous lockout in 2004.
“We did enough last time in 2004. We gave them basically everything they wanted so we didn’t want to be in that situation (again), but here we are again.
“We’re ready to have a fight here.”
The last lockout saw the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season.
This wasn’t the way the Detroit Red Wings were looking to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It was a hard-fought game one contest that saw unlucky hops and bounces. For the Wings, that is. Nashville would consider them to be lucky.
Gabriel Bourque scored two goals for Nashville and Pekka Rinne had 35 saves and the Predators took Game One of the Western Conference Quarterfinals by a final score of 3-2 Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena.
“Anytime you lose Game 1, especially when you’re the road team, I think it’s a great opportunity to win a game for sure,” said Wings coach Mike Babcock. “Now we just have to get refocused and we’ve got to win a game in here.”
The Predators edged out the Wings for home ice advantage and the No. 4 seed, making it just the second time in nearly two decades that Detroit has started the playoffs on the road.
After Paul Gaustad scored early in the first period, Henrik Zetterberg evened the score with a power play goal at 02:29 into the second period.
But Bourque answered with two goals of his own, coming at 12:29 in the second and 11:35 in the third.
After a brief 5-on-3 power play opportunity turned into a 4-on-3, Tomas Holmstrom netted a power play goal to bring Detroit to within one goal with 2:07 remaining.
But the Wings couldn’t break through the nearly impenetrable force that was Pekka Rinne.
“That’s why they call it a series,” Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart said. “There’s more than one game, and we have the opportunity to make up for it.”
Darren Helm’s return to action was short-lived. The forward suffered an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return.
Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard was solid, but stood no chance on two Nashville goals. Howard stopped 23 shots.
“Let’s be honest,” Babcock said. “Their first goal and their second goal were kind of seeing-eye pucks. Those things happen in the playoffs. They won today. We’re going to come back next game.”
The drama didn’t end near game’s end.
Nashville’s Shea Weber and Zetterberg were battling for the puck behind the Nashville net in the final seconds. With 0.5 seconds remaining, Weber punched Zetterberg in the back of the head and then grabbed Zetterberg’s head in both hands and slammed it into the glass.
Weber will likely and should be suspended for this incident. You stay classy, Nashville.
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GAME BROWSER: DET 2, NSH 3
Most Valuable Wing: Henrik Zetterberg scored Detroit’s first goal and broke a 1-0 deficit in the process in the second period.
Three Stars: 1. Gabriel Bourque (NSH), 2. Pekka Rinne (NSH), 3. Paul Gaustad (NSH)
DET: H. Zetterberg PPG (02:29 – 2nd), T. Holmstrom PPG (17:53 – 3rd)
NSH: P. Gaustad (06:59 – 1st), G. Bourque (12:29– 2nd), G. Bourque (11:35 – 3rd)
Goalies
DET: J. Howard (L)
NSH: P. Rinne (W)
The Good: Both of the Red Wings’ goals were on the power play. Solid goaltending by Jimmy Howard.
The Bad: The Red Wings had several chances in the third period to tie the game or jump ahead but failed to capitalize. And that Shea Weber incident…just disgusting.
Key Stat: 37 –Shots on goal for the Red Wings, who out-shot Nashville 37-26.
Next Up: Game Two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals is Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena.
The start to the regular season is less than a month away which means that training camp is fast approaching.
The Red Wings are set to open training camp on Saturday and it will run through Tuesday.
Danny Cleary, Henrik Zetterberg and Coach Mike Babcock took the time to talk with DetroitRedWings.com about training camp before boarding the bus to Traverse City.
It’s clear that everyone is anxious and excited to get back to work.
Cleary is excited to get back to work.
“I’m very exited. I think everyone is looking forward to it,” he said. “The summer’s gone pretty good. There’s some new faces on the club and we’ll see some old faces up there.”
He also said that maybe some of those new faces combined with some of old faces is exactly what this club needs.
“Maybe it’s something that we need,” Cleary said. “We’ve had a lot of early exits that some guys here sometimes aren’t used to and obviously we don’t like that. It’s a big season for us. We’ve got Nick Lidstrom back so that’s always a plus.”
Zetterberg is also anxious to get back to work. He noted that while they’ve been skating during the offseason, the real work doesn’t begin until they hit Traverse City.
“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “We’ve been skating for awhile but it doesn’t really start until you get up to Traverse City and get the official training started.”
“It’s always fun for us to go up there and have a great time up there. This year it’s been a few more days but we’re all looking forward to it.”
Babcock is excited to have his team get back to work and build toward being a strong contender for the Stanley Cup again this season.
“There’s no question that this has been a long time coming,” he said about training camp. “We’re excited for the guys and they’re excited for the growth of the players. Each year every team is very optimistic right now. Everybody believes that they have a chance. The reality is that eight of those teams are going to get in in the West and we want to be one of them.”
Stay tuned to Hockeytown Beat for complete Training Camp coverage beginning Saturday and check out our training camp page for more details.
Over at Hockeytown Beat we’re going to start your morning off just right with the latest morning headlines (Playoffs Edition!) around the web about your Detroit Red Wings. So sit down, grab a cup of coffee and read on about all the latest Red Wings goodness you can absorb this morning.
Here is your morning scan of headlines around the web about your Detroit Red Wings, brought to you by Hockeytown Beat:
Watch This. None of us want this to happen again. Just remember, San Jose, payback is a bitch and that bitch is a team full of angry Red Wings (and their fans). Your refs can’t save you this time.
Over at Hockeytown Beat we’re going to start your morning off just right with the latest morning headlines (Playoffs Edition!) around the web about your Detroit Red Wings. So sit down, grab a cup of coffee and read on about all the latest Red Wings goodness you can absorb this morning.
Here is your morning scan of headlines around the web about your Detroit Red Wings, brought to you by Hockeytown Beat:
Henrik Zetterberg will miss the final two games of the regular season and will be day-to-day for the start of the playoffs after he sustained an injury in Wednesday night’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Henrik Zetterberg will miss the final two games of the regular season with a left knee injury which might affect his availability for the start of the playoffs.
“I will say it’s better than I thought,” Zetterberg told reporters this afternoon following a workout at Joe Louis Arena. “The only thing I know is I won’t play this weekend. We’ll go day by day and see how much better it gets.”
Zetterberg underwent an MRI on what the Wings called a lower body injury and all indications are that the injury is to his left knee. (MLive.com reported that Zetterberg was spotted in the weight room with a brace on his left knee.)
“Feel a little worse today, as expected,” Zetterberg told reporters. “It stiffened up a little bit. I think the next few days will be critical to see how fast I turn around and hopefully it will come sooner than later.”
The injury won’t require surgery, which Zetterberg called “good news.” Hell, that’s GREAT news.
But Zetterberg didn’t rule out an extended period of absence.
“Depends. Could be day by day by day by day by day.”
Don’t torture us, Z.
“I did this before once. It’s definitely more pain this time than last time, so that kind of scared me at first. You just have to deal with it and hopefully it’ll heal fast.”
For the love of Gordie Howe, it had better heal fast.
When asked if he will be back for the playoffs, Zetterberg said, “Absolutely.”
You heard the man. He’ll return for the playoffs. Red Wings Nation can breathe a sigh of relief.
Henrik Zetterberg will likely miss the final two games of the regular season against Chicago with a leg injury.
Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg will likely miss the final two games of the regular season, according to Coach Mike Babcock.
Zetterberg was injured about midway through the first period in Wednesday night’s 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“He got his leg tangled up with someone out there. We’ll have our own people check him out when we get back tomorrow,” Babcock told reporters. “He probably won’t play through the weekend. We’ll see after that.”
The severity of Zetterberg’s injury is unknown at present but will–and should–keep him out for the final two games against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Even if the severity of the injury is minor and he could go in one or both games against Chicago, it would be smart to hold him out until the playoffs.
Zetterberg, the team’s leading scorer, has 80 points on the season, including 11 points in his previous 10 games.
The effort was there, sure, but pray tell me where was the execution?
The Red Wings were shutout at the hands of Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-0, on Wednesday night in Carolina.
Detroit’s offense was a serious letdown, mustering 42 shots on Ward and not banking a single one in. Chalk it up to Ward’s performance? Yes. Chalk it up to poor execution, as well? Hell yes.
But the most heartbreaking aspect of this game wasn’t the shutout–hell, I wouldn’t have minded it as much–but the loss of one of Detroit’s–and the NHL’s–best players: Henrik Zetterberg.
Zetterberg left midway through the first period after he got tangled up with a Hurricane. They are classifying his injury as a lower body injury, most likely a leg or ankle.
Zetterberg will miss the final two games of the regular season against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The team’s leading scorer, the loss of Zetterberg really hurts, though the severity of the injury is not yet known. I can tell you that I am really pissed right now and when I watched as Zetterberg limped to the locker room that I felt my heart break a bit. Not now. Not with the playoffs this close.
So in the game preview I addressed the need for Detroit to leave the regular season with a bang. Well, looks like they’ll have to wait until a two-game set against Chicago, which begins Friday.
With the race for a postseason berth in the Western Conference wages on, it still very much remains a possibility that the Wings could indeed hurt Chicago’s chances of making the playoffs. And I’m clinging onto that with everything I’ve got right now.
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GAME BROWSER: DET 4, MIN 2
Most Valuable Wing: Fan who threw an octopus on the ice with five minutes left in the shutout game. Too bad it wasn’t enough to inspire the Red Wings, though. But the octopus always wins.
Goal Scorers:
CAR:D. Joslin (PPG, 04:04 – 2nd) , J. Skinner (18:47 – 2nd) , E. Cole (05:44 – 3rd)
The Good: The Red Wings are still Central Division champions and have a spot locked up in the playoffs.
The Bad: Henrik Zetterberg left the game midway through the first period with what was classified as a lower body injury. Not. Cool. The playoffs are so close and we need one of our best players on the ice when it kicks off…The Red Wings offense couldn’t muster a single goal off a 42 shots. Unacceptable…Jimmy Howard allowed three goals. Enough said.
Key Stat: 0- Goals that the Red Wings had in the loss to Carolina. Detroit’s offense was a serious letdown.
Up Next: The Red Wings have just two more regular season games to go and will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
It’s hard to imagine that just last week the Detroit Red Wings were faced with a five-game losing streak and their play was in question.
That seems to all behind them now.
Led by Henrik Zetterberg, who hadn’t scored a goal in nine games, the Red Wings topped Eastern Conference powerhouse Washington 3-2 on Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.
“Every time you’re in a slump you start to think and doubt yourself,” Zetterberg told the Detroit News. “It’s definitely good for the confidence to see you can still score goals.”
After pulling ahead by Zetterberg’s second goal, Detroit came just as close to facing overtime with an angry Washington hockey club. Alex Semin’s shot hit the crossbar and flutter past goalie Jimmy Howard with just :08 remaining in the game.
“A Tim Wakefield knuckleball,” Howard told the Detroit News of the shot. “It hit the top part of the crossbar after it went by. I just heard the ding (of the crossbar).”
Brian Rafalski, who returned to the lineup after suffering back spasms, had a strong showings, assisting on all three of Detroit’s goals and recording three points in the process.
“You try to take advantage of the opportunities and try to do the right thing,” Rafalski said. “We had the puck in their zone a lot in the first period and they left us open on the points.”
The Capital’s loss to Detroit was its first loss in the last nine games.
The match-up between Detroit and Washington was surely an entertaining one and you have to wonder why the Eastern and Western Conferences don’t play each other more often. Certainly hockey fans would be interested in hyped match-ups, such as this one. Even the players want it.
“It’s fun to play against good players,” Zetterberg told the Detroit News. “Especially ones we don’t see very often. It’s easy to get fired up for a game like this.”
On a side note, Chris Osgood was expected to serve as Jimmy Howard’s backup in Wednesday night’s game but was scratched due to soreness he felt during the morning skate. Joey MacDonald was recalled from Grand Rapids and served in his place. While the Wings would like to have Osgood ready for when they journey down to Columbus on Thursday, his status remains day-to-day. Patrick Eaves missed Wednesday’s game but seems hopeful to return on Thursday.
It’s been quite a roller coaster since the All-Star break came to a close and I was beginning to seriously doubt the credibility of my Detroit Red Wings. But games like Friday night’s 6-1 beating of the Boston Bruins remind me of the team that the Wings seemed to have forgotten they are, over the past week.
Detroit has struggled mightily over the past week with getting goals on the board. They didn’t take long on Friday to show that Mike Babcock’s message during a grueling practice on Thursday had gotten through. The Wings scored on their first two shots of the game, taking an early 2-0 lead off the sticks of Todd Bertuzzi and Daniel Cleary.
Henrik Zetterberg would contribute a goal and then seconds later Bertuzzi would get his second of the night, as well as earn his 700th career point. Tomas Holmstrom finally began to look more like his old self with a rebound goal in third period to make the final 6-1.
Honestly, Jimmy Howard is giving me whiplash. One game he is allowing four goals on 16 shots and then another he allows one goal on 25 shots and comes up with some mind-boggling saves. His inconsistency still worries me, especially in regards to the playoffs when stability is a goalie’s best friend. Howard needs to find some sense of stability–I don’t care where the heck he gets it from–if the Wings are to feel confident about their goaltending situation. Getting veteran Chris Osgood within the next couple of months should certainly help things.
While this win feels good–real good–I have learned–in just the past week–that things change game-to-game. I honestly don’t know what to expect when these teams meet for the second time in three days on Sunday afternoon in Detroit. Could we see a repeat performance or perhaps another discouraging setback?
I hope you had a good vacation, boys, because from here on out it is nonstop.
DET: T. Bertuzzi (01:10 – 1st) , D. Cleary (03:10 – 1st) , J. Hudler (01:09 – 2nd) , H. Zetterberg (PPG, 16:14 – 2nd) ,T. Bertuzzi (16:38 – 2nd) , T. Holmstrom (PPG, 13:51 – 3rd)
BOS: D. Krejci (PPG, 17:53 – 1st)
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MOST VALUABLE WING
Congratulations to Todd Bertuzzi on 700 career points, as well as his two-goal performance in Friday night’s win over Boston. Bertuzzi scored Detroit’s first goal on their first shot of the game and later he would score his second of the game, the Wings’ fifth, and his 10th goal of the season in the second period.
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QUOTED
DET, Nicklas Lidstrom: We played with a lot more sense of urgency. You could tell from the puck drop that we wanted to score. I think it showed that we were going after pucks and getting pucks at the net.”
DET, Mike Babcock: “We think we’ve got a good hockey team but we weren’t playing like a good hockey team.”
DET, Jimmy Howard: “It was a bit of an eye-opener for us. That’s not the way we want to perform for our fans. They deserve better.”
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The Red Wings host the Bruins on Sunday afternoon at Joe Louis Arena. The puck drops at 12:30 PM.
*Select content provided by DetroitRedWings.com and NHL.com
