Big Red Machine

Dear fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning,

Today you have received a gift.

His name is Stephen Gregory Yzerman.  He comes with 3 Stanley Cups as a player, 1 more as an executive, 692 career goals, 1063 career assists, an Olympic gold medal as a player and another as the GM of Team Canada.  He has a Selke, Pearson, Masterton, and Conn Smythe trophy.  He is a Hall of Famer.

He’s Stevie Y, and for the past 27 years he’s been ours.  He is The Captain and the definition of a leader.  He built Hockeytown.  He took the Dead Things on his shoulders and raised them up to the hockey club they are today.  In return we raised his #19 to the rafters forever.

We love Stevie, and he’s belonged to Red Wings Nation and to Detroit and to Michigan for the last 27 years.  We’ve been spoiled to have him all to ourselves so for long.  And now we’re trying to learn how to share.

We understand that you’ve had a rough past few seasons.  You won the Cup in 2004, but where have you gone since then?  You’ve had a circus act of an ownership, had Barry Melrose behind your bench, and finished towards the bottom of your conference again.  You need someone who is unwavering and who will lead you.  Stevie can do that.  He will do that for you.  He gave his heart to Detroit, and we have no doubt that he will give what he has left to you.  Please be gentle with it.

We’re willing to share, but you have to promise us something.  Promise you’ll be patient.  Promise you’ll understand that he’s inheriting a mess of contracts and salaries.  Promise you won’t get angry with him over the mistakes of others.  Promise you won’t expect him to turn the Lightning around tomorrow.  Promise that you’ll believe he’s doing his best.

We want him to succeed, and to further cement his legacy.  If it takes 27 years in Tampa to build a perennial contender, so be it.  We love him and only want to see him excel, even if that means he’s no longer in Detroit.

After 27 years we are carefully handing him over to you, for now.

Take care of him for us.

Sincerely,

Fans of the Detroit Red Wings

–EDIT 8:52PM MT–

I’ve had some more time to absorb today’s news that Steve Yzerman is the new GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  I was stunned this morning when I woke up to find the announcement on Twitter.  Stunned, but honestly, not overly surprised.  I think that we all knew this day was coming sooner or later.

I watched his press conference this afternoon, and listened to him trip over his words while trying to describe his dreams and vision for this hockey club in Florida.  And I couldn’t decide how I felt about the whole situation.  It just seemed surreal.

Then I watched the interview he did shortly afterwards with Rick Peckham.  In the background you can see the marquee scrolling part of the phrase “Lightning Welcome Steve Yzerman.”  That’s when it completely sunk in.  Stevie’s not just ours any more.  We’ve already shared him with Canada, but this is completely different.  This is… weird.  There’s no other way to put it.  It’s really, really weird.

There was a question floating around the twittersphere earlier today, which was how do Red Wings fans feel about this news?  And I hope there isn’t anyone who is angry or mad with his decision to leave the Wings.  It doesn’t mean that he’s not still a Wing for life.  It doesn’t mean that he’s not still a hero and a legend and an icon in the city of Detroit.

I talked about this with Matt just a short bit ago, and as much as I’d love to see him come back to Detroit some day soon, I don’t want it to be because he failed in Tampa.  I don’t want to see impatient fans in a nontraditional market drive him out because their team hasn’t improved enough fast enough.  If it takes 27 years in Florida, so be it.

I wrote earlier today that it’s kind of like being happy for the person you’re in love with, who’s decided to be with someone else.  Because you love them, you want the best for them.  And that’s exactly how I feel about this situation.  Above all else, I want Steve Yzerman to succeed and thrive as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  I want him to win, and I want him to prove that he can run an NHL club without the failsafe of Detroit’s front office behind him.  I want him to prove that he can manage a team that isn’t built from a fantasy roster of options.

I want people to be able to say that he was the ultimate player, Captain, and GM.

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It’s official.  After much speculation and a lot of “yes he will” and “no he won’t” talk, the announcement has been made.

Steve Yzerman is going to be the new General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Being in Mountain Time, I woke up to this news first thing this morning, and for a moment I kind of wanted to cry a little.  I know, in the short term it’s better for Detroit to keep Ken Holland, the best GM in sports.  I know that Yzerman wants to run an NHL team.  I know he’s capable of turning around a mess like Tampa.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t be sad about it.  He’s been a Red Wing for 27 years (almost to the day, according to TPL).  He’s a hero and a legend in Detroit.  He is hands down all time my favorite player.  I cannot even imagine seeing him wear the logo of another NHL team.  I know the Lightning will present him with a jersey at the press conference this afternoon.  I know he won’t put it on, but just the image alone is seriously unsettling:

That’s just… wrong.

On the flip side, I’m happy for him.  It’s kind of like still being (or trying to be) happy for the person you’re in love with even though they’ve decided to be with someone who isn’t you.  Because you love them, and you want the best for them.  He’s made it no secret that he wants to run his own club and that he knows he’d possibly have to leave Detroit in order to do that.

And so I wish him the best of luck.  This may be his first ever NHL GM job, but look what he did with the Canadian Olympic team.  Some of his player selections were questioned at the time–no Mike Green, no Dion Phaneuf.  But he won Gold with that team.  I’ll defer back to Petrella who put it well:

It may not be quick, and they’re still embroiled in a messy ownership debacle, courtesy of Saw guy and hardly-was NHLer. But, rest assured, like he always did on terrible Red Wings teams, Steve Yzerman will find a way to make the most of it.

I don’t have an Eastern team that I really root for, but I might have to adopt the Lightning for now.

Dear Detroit Red Wings,

Thank you.

Thank you for another great season, and memories.

From opening the season in Sweden (it feels so long ago, doesn’t it), through a rash of injuries, to today, in San Jose, it’s been an amazing season.

We may have gotten frustrated with you at times, called you out, or have been disappointed in you.  You may have made our hearts ache once or twice, but you never broke them.  We still love you and are proud of you–proud to be fans of the best organization in sports.  Always.

We’ll see you in September at training camp.

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This was one of the most fun seasons for me, personally.  Seeing the Wings play in person 7 times.  Meeting the team at the HHOF in Toronto.  H2H, turning fake friends into real friends, and meeting fellow Wings fans around the world.  Doing my first full season of blogging.  TOV.  Being able to watch 94 games this season with all of you on Twitter.  The #redwingscommune (even if it was through video rather than in person).

It’s been a blast, and I want to say thanks to you all, too.  I love you all.

Let’s Go Red Wings.

It’s another Game 7 tonight. Elimination is possible.

Let’s Go Red Wings.

This was reminiscent of Game 7–in an elimination game, the Wings really have brought it.  The question is now, can they keep it up for 3 more?  Each game from here on out is a Game 7.

The Wings proved that they’re not done yet, but realistically, it’s one game.  And a blowout, no less.  It’s not abnormal to get that in an elimination situation.  It’s keeping it up and not losing in San Jose for Game 5.

Goals were as follows:
Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi (pp; Franzen, Zetterberg); Johan Franzen (Zetterberg, Lidstrom); Johan Franzen (Bertuzzi, Lidstrom); Johan Franzen (unassisted); Valtteri Filppula (Holmstrom, Datsyuk); Brian Rafalski (pp; Bertuzzi, Franzen); Johan Franzen (Bertuzzi, Lidstrom)
San Jose: Dany Heatley (pp; Thornton, Marleau)

+ Holy. Johan. Franzen.  He was saying he hasn’t felt 100% yet.  We’ve all been saying “where’s the post-season Mule?”  Mule got hit with a too many men on the ice penalty a minute into the game, and Babcock was clearly unhappy with him, since it took about 4 minutes after that gaffe for him to see ice.  But boy oh boy did he make an effort to get out of the doghouse, with a hat trick.  Franzen recorded the 2nd fastest hat trick in playoff history in 3:26, only 2 seconds off the current record by Tim Kerr from 1985 (source: ESPN).

Welcome back, playoff Mule.  It reminded me of the 2008 Colorado series.  TSN showed a shot of Mule on the bench and he just looked so focused, and in the zone, it was incredible.  Utter domination.

+ Clearly, making the line changes up top helped.  Bertuzzi, Zetterberg and Franzen all combined for 13 points.  All three of them had a fantastic game.

+ 5 goals in the first period.  That’s what I’m talking about.  Hilariously, SJS actually outshot Detroit in the first, where all the scoring happened, 11-9.  For his services, Nabokov sits on the bench with a .444 SV% after 20 minutes.

+ Also, aLOL (™ Tyler) at Dan Boyle.  He tried to pass to Douglas Murray, who was camped out right in front of Nabokov, and the puck bounced off Murray’s skate, and slid past Nabokov, who wasn’t very aware.  That’s pretty much the second time this post-seaon that Boyle has, for all points and purposes, scored in his own net.

– I hate how GameCenter Live never shows the full feed from TSN–they cut to reruns of commercials and filler from NHLN during TV time outs and intermissions, and then I miss information.  Like Brad Stuart getting hit hard in the 1st and not coming back.  Good news is, he’ll likely be back for Game 5.

– Pot, meet kettle. Joe Thornton was making diving motions with his hands when he got sent to the box for knocking over Holmstrom, and has been quoted as saying “I thought they were diving around there pretty good.”  Just… shut up.  Seriously.  Now, I don’t condone the Wings stooping to their level, but the Sharks do deserve a taste of their own medicine, so to speak.

+ I love seeing Abdelkader being gritty and mixing it up.  He owned Nichols in their “fight,” just dropping him to the ice.  I’ve said it before, but he’s becoming the next Kirk Maltby in terms of agitating, and playing a simple, solid defensive 4th liner role.

What needs to be kept in mind is that this is one game–a game that several are calling an outlier because it was such a blowout.  And many are also quick to point out that the Wings haven’t strung together two strong games back to back in this post-season yet.  But Saturday’s another Game 7.  And from what we’ve seen, the Wings have done pretty well in elimination scenarios.

They’re bringing out their brooms in San Jose.  The Wings are teetering on the edge, down 0-3.

You don’t need to make history tonight, Detroit.  One game, one chapter at a time, you just have to start writing it, not complete the book.

Let’s Go Red Wings.

I work in publishing.  I’m a publishing nerd.  That said, here’s some non-Red Wings specific news for anyone who’s interested.  Both of these sound pretty cool.  Also: 244 player profiles with 400 4/c photographs for $19.95?  Nice.

source: Publishers Weekly

Firefly Books Inks Partnership with Hockey Hall of Fame
by Leigh Anne Williams
May 05, 2010

While hockey fans are engrossed in the NHL playoffs, Firefly Books announced this week that it made a deal with the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum in Toronto to produce six books over the next three years.

Firefly Books, which is known for high quality, photo-laden books, plans to publish the first two books this fall. The paperback Official Guide to the Players of the Hockey Hall of Fame slated for release this September will have 400 color photos and will include profiles of the 244 players inducted into the hall since 1945. The second book, Hockey Hall of Fame Book of Goalies, will be published in October. Firefly intends it to be “a comprehensive illustrated reference” book on the 33 goalies in the hall, and it will include contributions from goalie historian Bob Duff, Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated and Brian Costello of The Hockey News. The books will be priced at $19.95 and $35.00 respectively in both the U.S. and Canada.

“I’m delighted to partner with the Hockey Hall of Fame,” said associate publisher Michael Worek. “Working with the Hockey Hall of Fame is a dream come true for us – they have all the resources we could ask for and they are as passionate about hockey as we are.” Firefly declined to answer questions about the financial aspects of the deal.

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Firefly Books Ltd., established in 1977, is a North American publisher of non-fiction and distributor of non-fiction and children’s books. Firefly’s goal is to bring readers beautifully produced books written by experts at reasonable prices.

It’s all life or death from here on out.

The 1975 Islanders were the last NHL team to rally back from a 3 game to none deficit.

Will history be made?

Check it out here.  This week has George Malik of Snapshots, Jessie from Bingo Bango, and Michael Petrella from The Production Line joining Chris.

I know I haven’t posted anything regarding the series against the Sharks, and quite frankly, after watching Game 2, I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring myself to talk about it unless the tides turn and the officiating gets its head out of its ass.

Things have been a bit rough right now, and the Wings being down 0-2 doesn’t help.  Let’s get this boat turned around, boys.