Big Red Machine

As I’m sure most of you were also doing last night, I watched the NHL Network air the ABC/ESPN broadcast of the 2002 Stanley Cup Game 5 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.  Gary Thorne and Bill Clement kept reiterating the star power, and the to-be Hall of Fame players.  That was a stacked team.

But it got me thinking: with the signing of Mike Modano, the Wings have really added some serious depth to the forward lineup through three lines, and the fourth is chock full of potential.  We’ve been reading and speculating about what they’ll do to solve the glut of players in the system who could all feasibly play next season.  Again, that’s an astonishing amount of depth when you can reunite the Eurotwins and then slate Mike Modano on the third line and call it a day.  This immediately reminded me of having Igor Larionov and Luc Robitaille on the third line in 2002–Future Hall of Famers at the time who, while considered to be in the twilight of their careers, still contributed immensely regardless of being lower down the chart.

Similarly, Modano was clearly thought to be done by the Stars, who chose not to bring him back.  Robitaille had 30 goals and 50 points in the 2002 season with the Wings, playing on the third line and the second unit power play, much like what Modano’s role sounds like it will be.  Granted, Modano is a center, not a winger, and I have a feeling he’ll be dishing to Hudler and Cleary a decent amount.  Still, if he can pop in 20 goals, I’ll be thrilled.

Sports Illustrated had an interesting preview for the 2002 playoffs, which is still online.  Darren Eliot took a look at all four lines, plus first unit power play, and top three defensive pairings, and offered his analysis.  As I was going through this, I kept thinking of how these line’s qualities and characteristics were visible in the current Red Wings’ lineup.  And so I present my comparison of the 2002 team versus the potential lineup of the 2010-2011 Detroit Red Wings.

Today is only the forward lines.  Tomorrow I’ll take a look at defensive pairings and the power play unit.  And while Eliot didn’t offer any thoughts on the goalies, I’ll try to draw some comparisons Monday.

2001-2002	Darren Eliot’s analysis	2010-2011	My comparison
Fedorov Yzerman Shanahan	“This collection of All Stars can do it all—score, check and lead by example. The complete games of Fedorov and Yzerman give the Wings amazing flexibility, with Yzerman sliding between wing and center, and Fedorov moving between lines based on coach Scotty Bowman’s wants and matchup needs.”	Zetterberg Datsyuk Holmstrom	Think about it—Zetterberg and Datsyuk both switch between center and wing, and Babcock has the freedom to move them up and down to spread the scoring out if necessary. This line is definitely able to score, check, and lead by example as well.  Pavel possesses a slickness not unlike Fedorov, and Zetterberg certainly has some Yzerman-esque qualities of determination and will.  Holmstrom… well, he’s no Shanny, but he does just fine.
Devereaux Datsyuk Hull	“This line has been a pleasant surprise throughout the second half of the season. Devereaux does the board work, Datsyuk distributes the puck and Hull pulls the trigger, as he is still one of the best ever at finding/creating open space in the offensive zone.”	Bertuzzi Filppula Franzen	Franzen and Filppula are the Kids, and Bertuzzi can be the Goat on this line–a label I believe more than a few will be happy to label him with this season. Although, you could consider swapping Franzen and Bertuzzi in terms of their roles—it’s not out of the question to think that Mule will be doing more of the scoring than Bertuzzi. Similar to the first line, however, there’s a lot of flexibility here, given that both Franzen and Bertuzzi can (or in Bertuzzi’s case, at least should) throw their weight around while Filppula creates opportunities and dishes.
Robitaille Larionov Holmstrom	“A collection of specialists that comes together occasionally at even strength. They all see time on either the first or second power-play unit, but their real value is when they contribute at full strength, as they did in Game 7 against Colorado. Offensively, they create a mismatch against most third lines and third defensive pairings.”	Hudler Modano Cleary	This was the main point that inspired this whole comparison.  With Modano as the pivot, this really brings the third line up to create that similar mismatch against other teams’ third lines. It’s basically an upgrade on the Hudler-Filppula-Cleary third line from 2008. Which in itself is a jump up from having Miller/Eaves-Helm-Cleary there.  Cleary will take over the “crash and bang” role of Holmstrom, with Hudler playing the role of a (very) poor man’s Robitaille (they’re even close to the same size!)  It’s also extremely likely that we’ll see these three on the second unit power play, Modano possibly at the point opposite Lidstrom on the first.
Maltby Draper McCarty	“Collectively, the “Grind Line” is an excellent energy unit, while individually, each of the players is capable in other roles. Draper kills penalties, Maltby is a low-zone antagonist and McCarty is a physical option who can score a little, as his four goals in the Western Conference finals attest.”	Miller/Maltby Helm/Draper/ Abdelkader Eaves	Hilariously, 2/3 of the line could potentially still be the same. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to almost make a straight swap of Helm for Draper and Abdelkader for Maltby. All of the younger options here are gritty, scrappy players who can also chip in a few goals. Not a bad replacement for the Grind Line…

Edited to add: which do you think is the “better” team, looking at the depth and potential?

Not even kidding.

I received the opportunity to conduct a phoner interview with Brendan Shanahan, currently the VP of Hockey and Business Development (or, as his Twitter profile says, VP of “blah blah blahblahblah”) at the NHL.  I had a double-take moment where I debated the validity of this offer, and then immediately had a moment of panic after accepting.  I’m not a journalist (or a pharmacist, for that matter).  There’s a reason I have a career as a publicist, rather than working the actual media side of things.  But I think I got some decent questions in, and hopefully a little bit of insight from one of the game’s greats.  Maybe nothing Earth shattering, but hey, give me a break–I was talking to Brendan freakin’ Shanahan.  I’m surprised I managed to be coherent at all.

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Gatorade REPLAY is a documentary series that takes rivalry games between some of the biggest high school sports rivalries in the nation, and re-pits them against each other to determine a winner (I believe the games chosen are typically, if not always, ties).

For season 2, REPLAY is taking the Detroit HS hockey powerhouses Detroit Central Catholic and Trenton from a 1999 game, in which the game was stopped at a 4-4 tie and never resumed, due to the nearly fatal incident of a player having his jugular slashed on the ice.  Eleven years later, players from those teams will be undergoing an 8-week training and nutrition program to get themselves back into game-shape for the rematch.  The program was created by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, and will be conducted with local help from the Velocity Sports Performance center in Canton, MI.

So what does Brendan Shanahan have to do with all this?  He and Scotty Bowman are going to be honorary coaches–Shanahan for Trenton, and Bowman for Catholic Central.  I asked Shanahan how his chances are, and if he feels he’s at a disadvantage coaching against the legendary Bowman, to which he offered a sarcastic, “Against the winningest coach in NHL history?  Nah.”

Practices were run on Saturday and Sunday during a “Pro Training Day.”

The game will happen May 9, 3:00pm ET (doors at 2pm), at Compuware Arena.  Tickets are available for $10 starting April 24 at Kennedy Ice Arena at the Sports Service sotre.  Tickets can also be purchased on April 26 in the Catholic Central gym.  Tickets can also be won at Meijer through April 25 (today).  The game will be tape delayed on FSD (air date and time tk–check listings).

Learn more about the series at replaytheseries.com.

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I was really interested in talking to Shanahan about some of the things the NHL is doing in terms of social media and fan outreach, and how, as a former player, he feels it’s worthwhile.  He’s fairly active on Twitter, and can often be found offering insights and humorous comments on memorable events, such as when he scored the 2002 empty netter and subsequently gave Yzerman a bloody nose from rolling around on the ice in celebration, or how he actually hurt Patrick Roy’s shoulder when he went sailing into him during The Brawl.

Getting Shanahan on Twitter was something that I know several of my friends joked about the minute we heard about his hiring at the NHL, and so it was a pleasant shock when I heard he had actually joined on.  It’s important because as a valued voice and a highly respected former player (and personally a favorite and hero of mine), Shanahan getting on board with the blogs for NHL.com and Twitter shows that the NHL is really taking social media seriously, as an effective method of communication.

“The NHL asked me to blog at the Olympics, and then I kind of fell off of it, and picked it back up again.  I get on [Twitter] every once in a while and try to be involved.  For the most part it’s been fun and I have had a good experience.  I try to keep it pretty simple and talk about the subject at hand.”

He added that he was surprised that the first day he signed up for Twitter, he traveled to Vancouver, and then logged on to find he had over 2000 followers in that short time (in no way, am I surprised at this.  The tweet announcing that he was on Twitter was RT’d like wildfire).

Shanahan commented that “I think it’s great” that players can use Twitter as a platform for communicating with fans directly. “Some of the conversations I have with players after games, where they’re just devastated after losses; I’m able to offer a glimpse of that,” continuing to add that getting those views from the players allows fans to connect with their favorite team and players, knowing that they’re all just as passionate and feel the same way about outcome of a game.

Guys like Dan Ellis (@dellis39), who interacts with his fans, and also talks about harmless, random things that are still entertaining and simply funny, are a good example of using the direct line to fans effectively.  It’s certainly made me more fond of him as a player, even though I don’t care for the Nashville Predators one bit.  (Along this note, I was catching up on episodes of the Grindcast podcast with Craig Custance and Sean Gentille of The Grinder blog over at Sporting News, and they have a hilarious segment talking about Ellis’ Twitter account in Episode 4.  I highly recommend listening to it).

Shanahan himself has also done similar, Twittering about things from his dog, to comparing the cleanliness of subway systems in NYC versus Toronto, and what line he rides (it’s the F train, for the record), to jabbing back and forth with Sean Avery (@seanaverydotcom, and talking about LOST: “One time I just made a comment about the TV show LOST, and all of a sudden I was getting hundreds and hundreds of responses about LOST.” With a mix of personal thoughts and hockey-related comments, it’s an extremely effective way to draw in more fans.

But there is, of course, the need for discretion, and understanding by players about how to make social media work for them.  Regarding players using Twitter, Shanahan said, “Players can do it, they just need to learn some parameters.  I’m a little bit of a guinea pig for the players… as we have younger players coming into the NHL now, they’re more comfortable with it–some of the older guys don’t care for it.

He added, “I’ll probably talk about this Gatorade REPLAY game on Twitter.  For someone who wants to get a message out, and talk about a good story, it’s a great way to get the word out.”

This last comment, of course, is something that Red Wings fans are extraordinarily familiar with, given the roaring success of Herm to Hockeytown.

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I also wanted to ask for some of Shanahan’s thoughts on the playoffs, particularly the Red Wings series with the Coyotes.  Again, I’m not going to pretend like I had any deep, insightful questions–I was shaking the entire conversation, and, to be honest, kind of terrified to voice my opinion.

I asked if he was surprised at all by what the Coyotes have been able to accomplish this season, given the ownership and financial issues going on.  He replied that he doesn’t think that kind of stuff really bothers the players:  “It’s a great story, what Tippett has been able to achieve, [but] the ownership stuff doesn’t really touch the lockerroom.” He also stated that he does think the Wings will win the series, but isn’t really surprised that the Coyotes have made it a tough series, and that it’s been good hockey between the two teams.

With Game 6 this afternoon, and the chance for the Wings to close out at home, Shanahan said that the important thing for them to do is to “start well.  A good start is important.  It’ll be a tough game to play from behind.  With the travel back and forth [across the country], it’s less taxing to play with a lead.  They need to pour it on in the first 10 minutes.” This is a fairly common sentiment among the Red Wings bloggers as well, and I admit I feel ridiculously happy that I can say, to an extent, that Brendan Shanahan agrees with what I think the Wings need to do in order to win the series.  Yup.

More seriously, there have been a few interesting story lines and developments this post-season, including but not limited to, the Avalanche actually giving the Sharks a decent run for their money (maybe this shouldn’t be surprising at all, actually, given the Sharks…), the 70 too many men on the ice penalties been called so far this round, the goaltending musical chairs in Montreal, and more.  So I had to ask, what’s the biggest surprise to Shanahan so far, this post-season?

“I’m surprised that the Devils got knocked out early.  They have a good caoch, good depth.  But after the Kovalchuk trade, they weren’t able to really gel as a team.  It’s a team game, and you’re not going to win [if you're not together as a team].”

And, of course, when asked about his favorite playoff moment for himself, Shanahan unsurprisingly replied with, “They’re all special, but the first Cup is the most memorable.” It was certainly one of the most cherished moments for us fans, too, Shanny.

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It was a dream come true to be able to talk for 10 minutes with Brendan Shanahan, and I have to say thank you to Fleishman PR for reaching out to the bloggers, and allowing me this amazing opportunity and honor.

And damn, I forgot to ask about the story behind this photograph.

Well, the Olympics are over and it’s back to the regular season grind.  The Wings are sitting in 10th seed, tied at 68 points with Dallas who has the tie breaker (they had to go all the way to Goals For, strangely, and sadly, Dallas cleaned up in that department), and 1 point behind Calgary.  Colorado is is at 6th with 76 points.  Suffice it to say, it would be great for the Red Wings to start back up on the right foot and get two points in regulation.

Really looking forward to this game–I’m in Colorado right now, and will be making my first ever trip to the Dive.  Should be interesting.  Also, the Wings and Avalanche are the only teams playing tonight, the first day after the Olympics.  Neither of them had more than 1 player in the gold medal game on Sunday (Rafalski and Stastny), and Detroit had one more in Filppula who played on Saturday, along with Babcock from Sunday, but it still seems stupid that they couldn’t schedule it for Tuesday…

The Wings have a (virtually) complete, healthy lineup for the first time this season.  Maltby is officially on LTIR, and Andreas Lilja has been activated, and will play tonight.  It will be interesting to see how many minutes he logs, and also who he plays with.  According to Khan, that will depend on whether or not Rafalski rests or plays tonight.  Here are the two scenarios:

Lidstrom-Rafalski
Kronwall-Stuart
Ericsson-Lilja
Lebda and Meech healthy scratches.

If Rafalski doesn’t play, these will be the pairings:

Lidstrom-Kronwall
Ericsson-Stuart
Lebda-Lilja
Meech scratched.

I’m not going to lie, I’m very excited to see Lilja back in the lineup.  I have hopes that once he gets into NHL game shape, he will be showing some of that shut-down, stay at home defensive play that he was getting good at last year before he got injured.

Howard is starting in net.  Will he be playing at the same level he was before the break, or will his hot hand be cooled a little?  We will see…

Who I’m looking at to have a good game: If he play, Rafalski.  He was so good, both defensively and offensively for Team USA, and he needs to bring that level of play back to Detroit.  Also, Andreas Lilja, for reasons mentioned above, and Jimmy Howard, also stated.

Other Notes:
I know Matt already mentioned this, but Osgood had auctioned off a chance for some kids to come play shinny at his house and backyard rink.  They also got to hang out in his “Man Shack.”  There are a bunch of photos on Facebook, and  the Freep has a writeup of the event.

Brendan Shanahan wrote a couple blogs for NHL.com during the Olympics, with his usual wit, had this to say about Canada’s gold medal win:

Congratulations to all of the Canadian players and management, but especially my buddy Stevie Y. As Executive Director of Team Canada’s gold medal-winning men’s hockey team, maybe a nation will accept that the boy has grown up, and will finally start referring to him as “Steve.”

I doubt it. Way to go Stevie.

I went to Warren 77, Avery’s bar in NYC, this past Friday (with some of my favorite Twitter people).  I had heard about the picture that he had hanging in the bathroom, so of course I had to see it immediately.

And well… see for yourself:

Yes, that’s Brendan Shanahan as Batman and Steve Yzerman as Robin.

(apologies for the glare from the flash–I took it on my Blackberry and there was no way around it.)

I think many of us saw this coming from a mile away when Shanahan’s retirement was announced by the NHL, rather than the NHLPA, as is usual.

Via TSN and Bob McKenzie’s Twitter:

Brendan Shanahan has found a job.

The recently retired NHL star will officially be hired by the NHL today.

Sources say the announcement is expected to come on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s weekly radio show this afternoon.

Shanahan’s title will be Vice President, Hockey and Business Development. He is expected to work both with Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly in the NHL’s New York office, although he’s also likely to be involved with executive vice president Colie Campbell’s Toronto-based hockey operations department.

The Chief thinks Shanny’s sold out.  Petrella of The Production Line disagrees:

Brendan Shanahan immediately becomes the most clear-thinking employee of the National Hockey League, and we at TPL think he’s going to turn this damn thing around if it kills him. Gray skies are gonna clear up…put on a happy face!

Gotta go with Petrella on this one.  There is a very clear reason why Shanahan was not hired by the NHLPA and that’s because some players felt that he was too cozy with the league and the commish during the lockout and his “Shanahan Summit.”  But what that ignores is the fact that he brought the game back.  Period.

Shanahan is not afraid of change, clearly, and I believe that he has the interest of the game at heart, rather than the success of the actual league or the revenue or whatever else.  Back in 2006 he said to Michael Farber:

“You sit around with guys after a game, and you hear all these ideas how to make things better,” Shanahan says. “Then you wake up the next day, and it’s forgotten. I started thinking about [organizing a meeting] after the [November 2004] Hall of Fame induction of Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Larry Murphy. I read comments Coffey made [decrying] the state of the game. So I thought maybe we should all talk about it. I called one player and one agent and asked if a meeting like this could ever happen. They both told me no. So I went ahead and tried to do it.”

Those are words of a guy who cares about the state of the game, how it’s played, and how to make it better.  He’s not going to kowtow to Bettman.  He’s got enough influence to actually improve the game and the league, and I think he’ll get it done.  So congrats, Shanny.

–Edit, 3:45pm–

Just listened to about half of Shanahan’s interview on the NHL Hour with Bettman.  Shanny made a point that I intended to mention, which is that he played pre- and post-lockout.  He said, he knows what it’s like to play with the instigator rule and without it, for example.  He knows what works and what doesn’t, and what players like and don’t like because he was on the ice.  He also thinks that his new title, VP of Hockey and Business Development is “very sexy.”  Oh, Shanny.

Larry Brooks of  the New York Post thinks that the Detroit Red Wings should retire Brendan Shanahan’s jersey and raise it to the Joe Louis rafters alongside Howe, Abel, Lindsay, Delvecchio, Sawchuck, Yzerman.

It’s an interesting question, and one that will be pondered quite a bit this season, I imagine.

He’s a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer.  He’s a member of the Triple Gold Club, 3-time Stanley Cup winner and the only player in league history to amass over 2000 PIMs and 600 goals.  He played a massive role in breaking the 2004-2005 lockout with his “Shanahan Summit.”

Shanahan was the missing piece to the championship teams that won three Stanley Cups between 1997 and 2002, of that there is zero question.  He fought and bled for Detroit for 9 seasons.  Who can forget that moment when he came flying across the ice on March 26, 1997 to clothesline Patrick Roy mid-air?  Or when he banged in the Statue of Liberty goal?  Or when he iced the empty netter in Game 5, 2002 and then lept into Stevie’s arms?  Or that Irish Jig they played when he scored?

But does he deserve to have his number #14 raised?  The immediate answer is no, particularly given that the Red Wings recirculated the number fairly soon after he left (a decision that I found rather disappointing.  I thought they could have waited a bit).

Also consider that the Red Wings are not the Montreal Canadiens, who seemingly retire everyone’s jersey, or the New York Rangers, who just retired the number  of almost everyone on the 1994 Stanley Cup team.  Oh, Detroit could, of course, retire pretty much the entire 2002 team, with all of its Hall of Famers.  But they don’t.

If they retired Shanny’s number, then where would it end?  Would they also have to consider Larionov’s #8?  What about Draper, when he hangs them up?  Osgood?  My opinion is, if you have to ask, then don’t do it.  Sure, I’d love to see Shanny get that sort of recognition–he was one of my favorite players–and it’s simply unfortunate that he played for as many teams as he did.  If he had been in Detroit for just a few years longer, then I think there’d be a chance.  Hopefully they’ll recognize him in some other way, but not by hanging #14 from the Joe.  The next number that goes up there will be #5.

If you feel so inclined, here’s a link to a 2006 SI article by Michael Farber on the Shanahan Summit.

What do you think?  Retire 14 or no?

I’ll have something longer on Shanahan this week, but for now I just wanted to point out an article on NHL.com about Shanny when he was in St. Louis.  I think it really just captures what kind of player Shanny was, and why cities like St. Louis and Detroit fell in love with his style and work ethic.

Kelly Chase, as told to John McGourty, NHL.com:

“The Blues were playing the Winnipeg Jets at the old Arena and Keith Tkachuk comes by and high-sticks Brendan. You know that nasty scar he’s got from his lip up into his nostril? That’s from Tkachuk’s high stick. I came in to see Brendan at the intermission. He’s lying on the trainer’s table, his lip’s peeled back, all the way to the gums. Brendan asks me how bad is it?

“I tell him, ‘Well, Brendan, look at this way: It looks like more chicks for the Chaser,’ and he starts swearing at me. Well, he came out, lip stitched, in the third period of a 0-0 game and got two goals. After that, he went after Tkachuk, hit him a few times and Tkachuk went down. Brendan got an instigator penalty and Tkachuk scored on the power play. We won, 2-1.

“Charlie Spoonhauer comes into our room and says, “Damn, junior, that was a hell of a game. I like that tough SOB Shanahan.’ Brendan comes in and he’s icing his lip with a beer can and I introduce them. Charlie asks Brendan, if he’s not busy the next day, to come talk to his forwards ‘because they’re weaker than decaf.’

“Meanwhile, Brendan’s bleeding everywhere and talking to Charlie. That’s why the people in St. Louis still talk about that game all the time.”

I am so glad to hear that Brendan Shanahan will be returning for another season with the New Jersey Devils–and more importantly, with the National Hockey League.  The league is by far a better place with him in it, and it’ll be a sad day when he hangs up the skates.

Shanahan has a blue-collar attitude and is a true leader of the game.

“I’ve worked hard over my career to be put in every role,” he said. “I didn’t come into the league as a superstar.”

He’s sure as hell going to leave as having been one.

Nearly 7 months after becoming a free agent, former Red Wing Brendan Shanahan is bringing his career full circle. According to TSN the New Jersey Devils have officially signed Shanny to a 1-year $800,000 pro-rated contract. Earlier in the week Shanahan agreed on principle to join the Devils.

Shanahan was drafted by the Devils in 1987, where he played 4 years. In that time he played 281 games, posting a record of 88-126-214.

This is an interesting signing. Shanny was very explicit in his desire to stay near New York City and preferably in the Tri-State area. He’d reportedly received offers from Western conference teams which he’d turned down. He can be of use in New Jersey, but he’d be a much more valuable asset elsewhere. Pittsburgh is dying for a winger for Crosby, and Shanahan would have been a great fit. Not perfect, but great. He’s a 600-goal scorer, 23 of them last year with the New York Rangers. He’s clearly not the presence he once was, but he can still score, control the power play, and even fight. Pittsburgh needs a veteran leader in their dressing room, and that’s really where Shanahan would be the perfect piece. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh is too far away from his family.

I think Shanny is mostly coming back in order to retire, with perhaps one more full season. He’s got 650 career goals and 3 Stanley Cups. I think it’s great that he’s not just going to fade into oblivion, but at least go out the way a player of his stature should.

TSN report