Ben Wallace vs. Steve Yzerman

Now in my eyes, there is no comparison between the two captains of the most successful Detroit teams (Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings) although the Detroit Tigers have gone 5-0 to start the season (a miracle).If you live in Detroit or its suburbs, you know that Detroit Pistons fever is sweeping southeastern Michigan. A recent Detroit News article talked about the possibility of Detroit becoming Hoopstown now that the Pistons have better ratings on the regional Fox Sports Net than the Wings. From personal experience, attending Detroit Country Day for high school was awful from that standpoint. From April on, all anyone could talk about was the Pistons. And they just blew the Wings off – very upsetting, indeed.

Anyways, last night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, captain Ben Wallace snapped. According to the Detroit News, this is what happened:

After being taken out of the game with a little under 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter (and the Pistons down by 8), Wallace "stormed to the end of the bench uttering a torrent of unprintables directed at Saunders." After head coach Flip Saunders explained why he took Wallace out (perhaps that he had played the entire second half at that point), Wallace waved him off. When asked to go back into the game, Wallace refused to "even look at Saunders" and firmly sat in his seat. When the Pistons had an opportunity to get a win, Wallace was asked once again to go back on the court. "Again, Wallace waved him off and stayed seated at the bench, not even getting up to join the huddle during timeouts." Afterwards, Wallace said he'll play against the Pacers and that this was not an injury.

In the clear light of a new day, Wallace will regret what he did. To refuse to enter a game is so beyond his character, it's hard to believe it happened. He is a captain and a leader on the best team in basketball. His identity — and thus the identity of this team — has been forged on the principles of going to work every day, having your teammates' backs and relentlessly fighting through all the bumps and hurdles life throws at you.For him to have hung his teammates out to dry like that, for sure, will be tough for him to swallow today. Already, the team was without Richard Hamilton, who was in Coatesville, Pa., attending a family funeral, and Rasheed Wallace, who left in the third quarter because of back spasms.

My thoughts… I have a Ben Wallace jersey. As I mentioned earlier, the Pistons were really popular at my high school and my friends would take me to games (for free) throughout the year. So I bought a jersey to support the team when I was at the games. But now, I'm embarassed. I don't care if Wallace was sitting out to protest the team's "garbage" play of late. Especially as a captain, you have the responsibility to respect the coach (especially in public), encourage your teammates, and play with the best effort you can give. Wallace threw those responsibilities right out the window.You would never ever see Steve Yzerman pull something like that. I don't believe you'd see Nick Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, or Chris Chelios try something close to what Wallace did last night. Veterans and leaders have responsibilities. Disagreeing with a coach's call is alright, but Saunders explained his reasoning and then after a couple minutes rest, allowed Wallace to re-enter the game. If a team is down a couple of key players and the game is on the line, I don't care if you have the best record in the league, you go out and play.

In a recent post, IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman talked about a comment Berry Melrose made regarding the Wings. And while I despise Melrose from the bottom of my heart, he actually said something I wouldn't mind posting:

Detroit is another solid team right now. The Red Wings are such a professional team, year in and year out. What I like most about them is that there’s never any controversy with them. You never hear a player publicly bad-mouthing his teammates or coaches. It’s a tribute to the veteran players like Brendan Shanahan, Nicklas Lidstrom and Steve Yzerman.

If the Wings have problems with teammates or coaches, it is addressed and discussed in private. The public should not know of Wallace's dismay with the team and/or coach, much less they shouldn't hear the team captain swearing left and right at coach Saunders. Yzerman has been known to speak up in the locker room when he sees something happening, but he doesn't protest a coach's move or leave the team out to dry.I was incredibly disappointed in Ben Wallace's actions last night and it only has strengthened my loyalties with the Detroit Red Wings and their captain, Steve Yzerman.

Why the Wings could go all the way…

Personally, I believe this is the Wings' year. I think that we've made enough changes since the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 playoff disasters to prevent an early round exit from happening. I'm really excited for playoffs to start because unlike last season, I really can see Detroit taking it. And that makes me very happy, but also very nervous. So why do I, Christy Hammond, have this much faith in my team?In no particular order…
1. The Captain. Need I say more? It's potentially his last year and I could think of nothing better than for Steve Yzerman to retire after a Cup win. Plus, Yzerman has been stepping up his game of late with 13 points in his last 10 games. According to IwoCPO @ Abel to Yzerman, it's his longest ten game point streak since 2000. The Captain has a way to inspire his troops so if they see him blocking shots, scoring, and working hard, the rest seem to follow.

2. As James Mirtle pointed out, the team who is the hottest at the end of the regular season tends to perform pretty well in the playoffs (ex. Tampa Bay). And which team has the hottest record since the Olympic break? That's right, Detroit.

3. Health. Now I realize that the Wings went from healthy for the most part to Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Schneider injuries. Datsyuk is supposed to return right before the playoffs. Zetterberg missed the second half of the Columbus game last night with an upper body injury (rumors: injury from a puck or the flu). Assuming that those three return in good health before the start of the playoffs, we have our core intact. Now if any of those three especially Zetterberg and Datsyuk remain injured, the rest of my points may just go out the window.

On the bright side, Niklas Kronwall is finally regaining normal form after a preseason injury resulted in knee surgery to repair his ACL and MCL.

4. Goaltending. Now don't get me wrong, I am terrified of the goaltending we will face in the playoffs. It's usually the opponent's goalie that seems to screw the Wings over. However, I think that in Manny Legace and Chris Osgood we have good enough goaltenders to take us to the Finals. They certainly aren't the best goalies in the league, but I'd rather have them than an unhealthy Dominik Hasek. Plus Manny is 5th in the league with a 2.22 GAA and 9th overall with a .912 save percentage.

5. Mike Babcock. I really believe that this guy deserves some recognition. Everyone gives credit to Carolina's coach and Buffalo's coach, but what about Babcock? Sure it doesn't seem much has changed since the Wings are still at the top of the standings, but Babcock knows how to push all the right buttons.

Let's take a look at Brendan Shanahan, for example. Under former head coach, Dave Lewis, Shanny notched 68 points in '02-03 and 53 points in '03-04. This season with 76 games under his belt, Shanny has 73 points with 10 more goals AND 10 more assists than last season. Personally, I believe Babcock is the one to thank for giving Shanny a chance and opportunity to improve.

6. Winter Olympics. After the '98 and '02 Winter Olympics, the Wings took it all. What's to say it won't happen again this year? The Swedish Five would have one pretty sweet year, that's for sure.

Feel free to agree, disagree, or give me why or why not reasons for the Wings likelihood of making it to the Finals and possibly winning it all!

Random Piece of Trivia: Did you know that "The last 18-year-old to score as many points as [Sidney] Crosby has this season was Steve Yzerman, who had 87 in 1983-84." I read that out of the Sports Illustrated Players NHL Poll (on page 30 for those of you who subscribe). SI asked 346 NHL players, "Will Penguins rookie center Sidney Crosby end up being one of the 10 best players of all time?" 49.5% said no, 40.5% said yes, and 10% said they weren't sure.

Since my last post…

Sorry that I haven't updated in just over a week. I had a 5pg group project stats paper, 20pg group project sociology of sport paper and a 20min presentation due this week. As my school year is winding down (my last exam is April 25), updates will probably be not quite so frequent since I need to do well on my exams. Additionally, I will be in Ft. Myers, Florida for 4 days starting April 26 and then I'm having major knee surgery (which is much needed) on May 3 in Cincinnati. During my vacation and surgery recovery, I'll either have lots of time online to work on this blog or I'll be too busy or in too much pain to update.Unfortunately, this will be right during the playoffs but I need to get my surgery over with at the beginning of my summer to allow the longest possible recovery time before I return to the University of Michigan campus in late August. As IwoCPO said: "Christy, your knee problems are second only to The Captain’s." It is so true, he's actually my inspiration when I'm in a lot of pain. He played in the NHL playoffs worse off than my knee is and I can't even fathom it when I have a hard time walking to class! Here's to hoping that Yzerman gets to win the Cup one last time before retirement because if anyone deserves it, he's the man.

Anyways, so what has happened since my last post on March 29? Here's a list:

Wings played Nashville, Chicago, Minnesota, and Calgary in that time span. They went 3-0-1 in those three games including an OT loss to Chicago and a shootout victory over Calgary. Detroit currently leads the league by 4 points over Ottawa and 9 points over Dallas in the Western Conference.

I would personally like to congratulate IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman for reaching the 45,000 visitor mark since December 28! His daily updates and always entertaining game recaps make A2Y a must read website and one of the first websites I visit each morning.

Paul at Kukla's Korner had the wonderful opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Washington Caps' owner, Ted Leonsis. Since Leonsis first invited Eric at Off Wing Opinion to a game, I've become a big fan of the owner and how he runs his team. It's great to see a team owner recognize excellent, and I mean excellent, hockey blogs. I think I'd die of shock if Wings owner Mike Ilitch extended an invitation or offered a phone interview with a blogger. The closest I have gotten is an interview I did with Denise Ilitch, Alternate Governor at the time, in 2003-2004. But that was because my best friend in high school was a family friend with the younger Ilitch generation.

Rumors are floating around that Wings Asst. GM, Jim Nill, may not be with the Wings next year. You can read Ansar Khan's thoughts or check out the discussion at Lets Go Wings. I think, if this was to happen, that it would be a huge blow to the organization. The scouting has been one of great strengths and will continue to be especially with this salary cap era. Personally, I will be sad to see him and his family leave Detroit if he does become a GM elsewhere. His daughter went to my middle school and my brother is great friends with his son so I'd hate for them to leave.

I had been so thankful that our players had remained really healthy this season (aside from Kronwall's preseason knee injury and Fisher's heart condition). But that has changed since my last post. Both Pavel Datsyuk and Mathieu Schneider have a "lower body injury." And since it's close to the playoffs, that is all the detail that we're going to get. Hopefully, we'll see them back in the lineup ideally against Nashville and Dallas, their last two games before the start of the playoffs. We'll just have to cross our fingers and pray that these injuries aren't too serious.

The Wings take on the Columbus Bluejackets this Friday at 7:30 in Detroit and then 7:00pm Saturday in Columbus. Detroit only has 7 games left in the regular season, which is hard for me to believe that the season has gone this fast. Hopefully, we'll have a reason to celebrate in June.

Swedish Wings Autograph Signing

So I went to the autograph signing last night at the Fan Zone in Westland Mall featuring the five gold medalists (Lidstrom, Zetterberg, Holmstrom, Kronwall, and Samuelsson). I had pre-bought a signed 16×20 photograph of the five. I must say that I am very pleased with my purchase. Not so pleased with Fan Zone. But the photgraph will look great in my shrine (aka my room).First off, I was told I could pick my photo up right at 7pm. I thought I'd have to wait in line with the rest of the people who only bought the 16×20 photograph. I waited an hour and a half officially killing my knee. Secondly, I was bummed that I spent $150 and wasn't even allowed to take a photo inside the room of the players. people who spent $20 to get let's say got Kronwall to sign an 8×10 photo got to shake his hand, take photo(s), talk to them, AND get the autograph. I felt shafted. Oh well, I've only gone to like 4 autograph signings so I'm still learning the ropes and I do like my purchase a lot. It made my entire family jealous.

Here are some photos from the event. Sorry that they are blurry and not the best, but we weren't allowed to take photos in the "room" so I shot all but one (which I quickly took inside) outside and people kept walking in front ruining my shots. The first two photos are of my 16×20 photograph & certificate of authenticity. I hope to scan both of them in whenever I can over the next couple weeks, but for now these quick photos will have to work! The guys were lined up with Samuelsson closest to the room's entrance with Lidstrom farthest away (thus, he's in maybe one photo).

My beautiful 16×20 photograph signed by the Swedish Five

Certificate of Authenticity

All five of them (ok, four of them since you can only see Lidstrom's hat)

Samuelsson and a kid posing for a photograph

You can see Lidstrom in this photo all the way to the right

Kronwall

Holmstrom

The room

Zetterberg

Update: A girl on the Lets Go Wings forum took some sweet pictures of the signing, which you can view here. My personal favorite includes this photo below:

Igor Larionov Signing

I attended the Igor Larionov DVD signing at the Best Buy in Novi (the one I actually always go to). Anyways, I got there about 50 minutes early and was between the 5th and 10th person there. I enjoyed the wait very much as I got to talk to 4 wonderful Wings fans about all of their previous Wings encounters the entire time. When 2pm came around, the line started moving.To get an autograph, you had to purchase a copy of his DVD for $25. With that $25, you got the DVD, autograph on DVD, autograph(s) on any other Wings items you brought (stupid me brought nothing else), and a photo taken of you and Larionov. A Best Buy employee took the photo with his own digital camera and they printed it out for you right there. For once, I actually like how I look in the photo – amazing!

Anyways, I don't have a scanner at home so once I get one from my parents' office, I will scan in the autographed DVD cover and photo. I'm also going to Westland Mall on Tuesday to pick up my 5 Swedish Olympian Wings photo and autograph. All of those items will be scanned in for your viewing pleasure, but probably not until this weekend since I have 3 exams and a paper starting today through Thursday.

Until then, these photos below will have to do. Unfortunately, I didn't realize they were this fuzzy (they looked perfectly fine on that little digital screen – otherwise I would've taken more).

The Best Buy in Novi

Larionov signing a guy's coat

Larionov posing for a photo with the same guy

Autograph Signings

I have two autograph signings that I would like to notify my fellow Detroit area readers: Igor Larionov and the five Swedish Wings who played in the Olympics and won gold.Igor Larionov Signing
This weekend, Igor Larionov (aka The Professor) will be signing copies of his DVD entitled "Farewell from Moscow: The Igor Larionov Farewell Game." This Saturday, March 25th, he will be at the Best Buy in Auburn Hills from 2-4pm. The following day, March 26th, Larionov will be at the Best Buy in Novi from 2-4pm. A portion of all his DVD sales will benefit The Igor Larionov Youth Hockey Charitable Foundation. The excerpt below has been sent to me by IMJ Communications, LLC.

After an unparalleled 27-year career, one of the greatest hockey players of all time, Larionov bid farewell to the game on December 13, 2004. An inspiration on-and-off the ice, Larionov continues to give back to the community and to the hockey world through The Igor Larionov Youth Hockey Charitable Foundation. Founded by Igor Larionov in 2004, The Igor Larionov Youth Hockey Charitable Foundation is concerned with improving the condition of youth hockey leagues throughout Russia. During his visits to facilities where young, aspiring hockey players in Russia skate, practice and play the game, Igor was strongly affected by the lack of equipment, use of shoddy and broken gear by the young players, and disrepair of the ice rinks. He also saw first-hand, the poverty that plagues towns in the periphery of Russia's major cities. The parents of children growing up there can hardly afford used skates and equipment and new gear is wholly unattainable. Larionov was so moved by the dedication of the Russian kids to the game that he decided to create a foundation to provide new equipment, repair locker rooms and rinks and motivate the youth to continue to pursue their passion for the game of hockey.In a short span of a year since his retirement from hockey, Igor has made several trips back to Russia, both to the major cities and to the periphery with new equipment, lots of new skates and funding to commence the process of repairing hockey facilities. Through his foundation, Larionov plans to devote substantial time, efforts and funding to building the future of hockey for many years to come.

Since the January 13, 2006 premiere of the documentary at Michigan's Royal Oak Music Theatre sales of "Farewell From Moscow: The Igor Larionov Farewell Game" have continued to raise funds for the foundation.

Touted as one of the best moments in sport's history, Larionov's farewell game, was masterfully captured by Chrome Bumper Films in its entirety and has been incorporated as part of the recently released, cutting-edge documentary/DVD. The fast-paced signature style of A-list director, John "QUIG" Quigley, known for his creation of music videos and other work for leading music artists, including Eminem, brings a vibrant, youthful energy never before seen in a documentary. Under Quigley's direction, Chrome Bumper Films has remarkably weaved countless hours of footage, both on and off the ice, into a captivating masterpiece befitting a legend. Working closely with Larionov, Quigley threaded a refined, articulate and intelligent portrait of the man who captivated fans worldwide with his talent for nearly a third of a century.

"A Farewell From Moscow-The Igor Larionov Farewell Game" is a must-have for the sports-lover's collection. The DVD chronicles all the excitement, energy and passion of Larionov's powerful and emotionally-charged final game while also giving fans a rare behind-the-scenes look at Larionov with candid interviews from him and former teammates and coaches. The DVD is also loaded with many extras, including game highlights spanning Larionov's career, more than 150 photos and footage tracing the players' entire weekend in Moscow.

The "Farewell From Moscow: The Igor Larionov Farewell Game" DVD can be purchased at Best Buy. The Auburn Hills Best Buy is located at 300 Brown Rd. The Novi Best Buy is located at 21051 Haggerty Rd. in the High Point Shopping Center.

Five Swedes Signing This upcoming Tuesday, March 28th, Fan Zone in the Westland Mall will be hosting an autograph signing with the following Red Wings players: Nick Lidstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Mikael Samuelsson, and Nik Kronwall.The signing will start at 7pm. You can pre-order your tickets today by calling 734-762-9618. Here are the prices:

- 16×20 picture of 5 Swedes & signed by the entire group = $150
- Lidstrom is $40 flat / $50 everything else
- Zetterberg $25 flat / $35 everything else
- Holmstrom $25 flat / $35 everything else
- Sameulsson $15 flat / $20 everything else
- Kronwall $15 flat / $20 everything else

The above information was found at Lets Go Wings forums. I called that number inquiring about the group photo and autographs. When I called right before 7pm, there was less than half of the 300 photos remaining. You can order it over the phone with a credit card (like I did), but do it ASAP!

Chelios’ son, Dean, comes on road trip

Remember the father/son trip to the southeast last December? Well Chris Chelios is giving it another try, but this time with his older son, 16 year old Dean, on this 4 day road trip to western CanadaIn the southeast father/son road trip, Dean couldn't tag along with his dad and younger brother, Jake, because of his own hockey schedule (he plays for Cranbrook who recently won a DIII state championship). Since his high school hockey season just ended and this is his spring break, Chris Chelios asked head coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland if he could bring Dean along on this trip (answer: yes).

Since Dean was born the summer after his dad played in the 1989 Stanley Cup Finals in Montreal, he's been growing up with his dad playing in the NHL. However, this trip is giving him a new perspective on the NHL & Wings (much to the jealousy of his Cranbrook teammates). On Friday night, he went to dinner and then a movie with the team. He even got to pick the movie, The Hills Have Eyes. Following the movie, the team returns to the hotel where Dean got to sleep in his own room, "a luxury usually reserved for 10-year NHL veterans who have played 600 or more games."

"There's not too many players that can say their kids are old enough to be able to do this," said Chelios, 44, the NHL's oldest active player. "And just in case, if I don't play next year, at least he'll have been able to do this once."He's a laid-back kid, almost to the point where it drives me crazy. But I can tell (he's excited). He never gets up in the morning at home, but he's gotten up two mornings in a row now on this trip."

"My other son plays like I play — he's a knucklehead," Chelios laughed. "I don't know how the new NHL rules are going to help him, but Dean is perfectly suited for it. He's a goal-scoring demon."

Again on Friday, he played a 20 minute game of "keep-away" with Pavel Datsyuk, his favorite NHL player. The next day he "spent an extra half-hour on the ice working on shooting and skating drills with assistant coach Paul McLean and Chris Osgood, among others." While Dean certainly isn't at the level of an NHL player, he is already three inches taller than his dad at 6'2". Unlike his dad, he plays forward (left wing or center).

"I haven't been on one of these (road trips) in a long time, since I was maybe five years old, so I didn't know what to expect," he said. "But it's just awesome – better than I expected. It's amazing. This has just been really fun."

3/10 Notes

Eric McErlain talked on Sport Bloggers Live about the most hated players in the NHL based on a poll and his own opinion. Ex-Wings Derian Hatcher (2%) and Dominik Hasek (5%) weren't placed very high in the poll results. However, Eric did say that the most beloved active player must be Wings captain Steve Yzerman and I couldn't agree more. Admittedly Yzerman has been captain longer than I've been alive, but he's my favorite hockey player of all time.

To be the most loved figure, it usually means you're closer to the end of your career than the beginning. If we're talking active players, the most beloved has to be Steve Yzerman. Talented, hard working and unassuming. You would always know what you were getting when he showed up at the rink.

Igor Larionov autograph signing on Saturday at 1pm

The Professor, Mr. Igor Larionov, will be signing copies of the recently released DVD documentary, "Farewell From Moscow-The Igor Larionov Farewell Game," this Saturday (March 11) at 1pm at Hockeytown Authentics in Troy (Big Beaver & John R).

The documentary remarkably weaves countless hours of footage – both on and off the ice – into a captivating masterpiece befitting a legend. "A Farewell From Moscow-The Igor Larionov Farewell Game" chronicles all the excitement, energy and passion of Larionov's powerful and emotionally-charged final game while also giving fans a rare behind-the-scenes look at Larionov with candid interviews from him and former teammates and coaches.

Personally, I really enjoyed watching that game and I would like to buy this DVD myself. I would go to the signing, but I'm attending a Gift of Life (organ/tissue donation organization) volunteer training session in Detroit all day so that's not possible. If you'd like to buy the DVD, you can do so at his website for $20.Playoff ticket news
I am incredibly excited! My dad managed to buy two seats (aka their playoff tickets) for this season from my dad's company's customer. Since the company is paying for it, he'll have to take some of his employees which works since I won't be able to go a lot of times (finals in late April, then 4 days in Florida on vacation, followed by 8 days in Cinci for surgery) but I'm going to attend at least one playoff game this season- my first playoff game in my life!

Wings acquire Cory Cross

The Wings made two moves before the 3pm trade deadline today: sent Jamie Rivers packing to Phoenix for a 7th round pick and acquired Cory Cross from Pittsburgh for a 4th round pick.Cross to Detroit from Pittsburgh
Holland acquired Cory Cross making it his third NHL team in six weeks (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, and now Detroit). He has an $847,000 price tag and also cost the Wings our fourth round pick in 2007. I don't know much about him so I don't have much to say although he is a big guy, 6'5" and 225 pounds (Rivers weighs 190 and is 6'0").

"We're very pleased to have Cory," Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a statement. "He's a veteran NHL defenseman that brings size, strength and depth to our blue line. He moves the puck well and will fit into our style of game."

The Detroit Red Wings website has a poll asking fans, "Does the addition of Corey Cross firm up Detroit's blueline for the upcoming Stanley Cup run?" Out of the 401 votes so far, 37.4% said yes he provides good depth, 34.7% said no, and 27.9% said yes he provides grit.ChicagoSports.com has the most direct quotes from Holland that I've seen all day:

"We didn't want to do anything significant because our team has performed pretty well," general manager Ken Holland said in a phone interview Thursday. "A lot of our players are playing well, and some could be better, so we didn't think a major trade made sense. We made two deals to add a player to compete for one of the last spots on defense.""Things just didn't work out with Jamie Rivers and the new coaching staff, and that seemed to start in training camp," Holland said. "That led to him not playing as much or producing like he did two years ago.

"Cross is a veteran that adds some size (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) to our defense, and while he's not really physical, he's not going to get pushed around. Nothing is guaranteed for him, but he'll get a chance to compete for a spot."

Thoughts regarding this dealJames Mirtle:

I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Cross is over Jamie Rivers. He obviously offers a much bigger presence and a different element, but both are, obviously, depth players on a team like the Red Wings. That said, Detroit has played so well this season and gotten such great contributions from players like Andreas Lilja and Niklas Kronwall on the backend that they don't really need any parts for an extended playoff run. You can't lead the Western Conference this season and not be a Stanley Cup contending team. (So much for the dire predictions made at the start of the season for the Red Wings.)

Matt Saler:

Cross has to be praising the hockey gods (offering up incense, sacrificing his new pair of hockey skates or whatever those guys do) he's no longer in the lower ring of hockey hell and has moved to a legitimate and serious contender for the Cup. "Aww," you say. "He won't be able to play with Syd the Kid any more!" No, he'll just get to play with Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios….. you get the point. I think he can find a way to be happy, despite no longer being on the same roster as hockey's Annointed One.

IwoCPO:

And the reaction is not good. Glance at the Wing message boards and the opinion ranges from Holland traded for trading sake (absolutely ridiculous based on Holland’s track record) to just outright stupid considering Rivers and Cross are similar, low-impact players with the advantage to Rivers based on his knowledge of the Wings system.I’m a little more reluctant to fry Holland because (a) there is still time, about 90 more minutes for a deal to be announced and (b) we have no idea what happened today. The Rivers deal was announced about 35 minutes prior to the Cross trade. In the meantime, Witt went to Nashville.

Paul Kukla:

Wings give up a 4th and Cross was just on the Fan 590 and said he is at the hospital now, wife just had a baby. He talked with Holland and he will be a depth player. He will be with the Wings on Saturday for the morning skate.

Rivers to PhoenixRivers seems to be disappointed about leaving a Cup contender, but looking forward to a chance to no longer be a depth player.

"It's tough to leave a contender, but it's not a secret that I've been more of a depth guy this year and haven't really contributed much in terms of games played," Rivers told TSN. "I just think it's an opportunity to show that I can play more minutes in this league and maybe play a bigger role. You never know where the Coyotes might end up in a couple of years."

The 30 year old has only played 15 games this season earning one assist in that timespan while making the league minimum of $450,000. This gave GM Holland an extra roster space to bring in someone else (originally thought to be Brendan Witt before he went to Nashville) and a seventh round pick in 2006. IwoCPO at Abel to Yzerman has some thoughts on Rivers being sent to Phoenix:

Did Holland deal Rivers, clear space, in anticipation of a pending Witt deal that fell through? Or maybe he was angling for Willie Mitchell, who just went to Dallas? If so, he obviously has to take some blame. But, if that was the case what did he lose by taking a chance? Jamie Rivers, who wasn’t going to see the ice in the postseason, in exchange for Cross who may not either?

Karen Newman and More Wings Stuff

Paul at Kukla's Korner interviewed the Wings' National Anthem singer, Karen Newman. Interesting read, I've always wanted to know more about her. I just turned 19 today, but I can't remember a time when she wasn't singing the anthem or Yzerman wasn't playing. I can't imagine the Wings' experience without either, although in drastically different ways…

For those of you who have never heard of Facebook because you aren't a college student or don't know one, this is an online directory. You can join various "groups" and I recently joined the "I hate the Colorado Avalance for life" group. I'm an extremely proud member, I must say. Since I was growing up when the rivalry was crazy, it's hard for me to imagine life without the rivalry (and sad to see it currently fading). The group has a description and here it is:

I know it has been years since Peter Forsberg and Hejduk's ugly foreign butts have almost singlehandedly ousted the Wings from the playoffs. And it has been years since Lemieux re-arranged Draper's face. But scratch those memories.This is a group for you if…..

-You KNOW Vernie and Ozzie both whooped Roy's butt

-you hear the word 'turtle' and you think of Claude Lemieux

-you heart the Russian 5

-you remember Marc Crawford trying to break the glass between benches just to get to Scotty Bowman

-your favorite hockey game ever ended 7-0.

and most importantly, you belong in this group if your favorite play in hockey history is the statue of liberty goal!

I couldn't have said it better myself. The Statue of Liberty goal was one of the best hockey moments I've ever witnessed on television as a Wings fan- I hate Roy with a passion and thoroughly enjoyed seeing him embarrased, and deservingly so.