It’s Detroit or nowhere for Mike Babcock next season
Babcock not going anywhere for at least one season Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock might indeed want to coach Sidney Crosby like some media outlets claim, but it’s certainly not going to happen next season (2014-2015). Babcock who has one year left on his contract, is very loyal to the Red Wings and won’t consider moving his family this year even if the Red Wings were to fire him (not going to happen) due to his son being a senior in high school. Babcock tells Nick Cotsonika of Yahoo Sports that he is “a hundred percent” committed to the Red Wings for the next season. “I have a contract for a year; Ken Holland has a contract for a
Dan Cleary’s comments spot on in regards to where the lockout is headed
Good luck to anyone trying to find a small group of NHL players on or off the record who really believe this is going to be a short lockout as in just weeks or a month. According to a number of players and league insiders, the reality is that the lockout is going to last at least a couple months, possibly even the entire season as neither side knows how to get the ball rolling. While there’s no chance that the owners will come off their stance, for progress to be made it’s going to come down to the players caving but issue here is that the players are extremely united and comments from Red Wings winger Dan Cleary to
NHL Free Agency Buzz: Already weak free agent group continues to get weaker prior to July 1
NHL FREE AGENCY BUZZ Stuart returning to Sharks Defenseman Brad Stuart won’t have to wait until July 1 to return to the West Coast. The Detroit Red Wings today traded the rights of Stuart to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for center Andrew Murray. Stuart, 32, is an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and said months ago that he wanted to return to the West Coast as his family still lives in the San Jose area. Stuart is expected to sign a multi-year deal with the Sharks who drafted him in the first round in 2003. If the Sharks, as expected, do sign Stuart, Detroit also will receive a seventh-round pick in 2014. Stuart would fill a top-4 role
Pens/NHL Buzz & Tidbits: Martin, Park due back; Four team race in Atlantic? Latest NHL Rumblings, Early Hemsky suitors
Emphasis of winning division games: Pittsburgh needs to start winning division games aside from beating up on the New York Islanders. They have two big ones this weekend with back-to-back home games, hosting the conference leading New York Rangers Friday night and facing the New Jersey Devils Saturday night. “We need these two points, ” winger Pascal Dupuis said today. “Itâs a really tight race and we have teams in front of us that we need to catch.” Pens know importance of points as midpoint nears: Things are so tight in the Eastern Conference that just three points separate the Penguins and 9th place Winnipeg. “We know coming in this weekend that its going to be tough games, but a
Red Wings sign Chris Conner to a one year deal
27 year old winger Chris Conner has signed a one year deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Conner established himself as a regular with the Penguins this past season but was seeking a one-way contract from Pittsburgh, something the Penguins had no interest in.
Latest on Pens pursuit of Jagr & other tidbits
Latest buzz on Pens pursuit of Jagr Here’s a rundown of some of the latest Jagr developments and likely the last update of the day on Jagr: *A decision from Jagr will not happen today, although one could be coming on Wednesday or at least a decision to push forward from Jagr’s camp with their prefered team. *Everything still points to the Penguins and Red Wings being the front runners for Jagr but with Jagr you just never know. Nothing with him surprises me and one former agent of Jagr’s told me today that he hears the KHL is still very much in play. *The third mystery is not believed to be the New Jersey Devils, according to Rob Rossi
Pens courting Jagr as a decision is expected by the Draft
Three years later, will the Pittsburgh Penguins end up beating out the Detroit Red Wings for a star right winger? That remains to be seen but within the past 24 hours, the Penguins have suddenly emerged as a front runner with the Red Wings for the services of 39 year old winger Jaromir Jagr. When Red Wing officials felt they were closing in on Jagr over the weekend, the future Hall of Famer and former Penguin didn’t want to move forward without at least exploring Pittsburgh’s level of interest, sources confirm. A reach out to the Penguins on late Friday afternoon from his agent Peter Svoboda, has now led to discussions between Jagr and key members of the Penguins brass.
Red Wings success with plethora of injuries shows strength of team
Despite being plagued by a wide range of injuries, the Detroit Red Wings (28-11-6, 62pts) keep on winning and enter Monday’s action with 62 points on the season. Unimaginably, their lineup has been ravaged by injuries for the second straight season: Pavel Datsyuk suffered a broken hand Dec. 22, Danny Cleary a broken ankle four nights later, and Brad Stuart a broken jaw Jan. 7. Chris Osgood underwent sports hernia surgery Tuesday, and Tomas Holmstrom left with a broken hand Friday. Mike Modano has been gone since Nov. 26 with a lacerated wrist. Now goaltender Jimmy Howard is day-to-day with a knee injury. How have the Wings responded? By collecting 18 of a possible 26 points from Dec. 22 through
NHL: Kovalchuk, Devils resume talks; Kariya, Ducks latest?
By Will DePaoli and James Conley NHL News and Notes: Arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled in favor of the NHL today in the Ilya Kovalchuk case. This was a major win for the NHL as the league has their eye on dramatically changing the structure of contracts in the next CBA. The CBA is set to expire in September 2012. Bloch stated in his ruling that the contract was fully compliant with the CBA but felt it was a retirement contract. New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello issued a statement this evening and remains hopeful that the team will be able to resign Kovalchuk. “We have reviewed and respect Arbitrator Bloch’s ruling in the Kovalchuk matter. We also note and
Red Wings having productive off-season; Updates on Marleau, Horton
Red Wings having productive off-season While teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins are having difficulties re-signing their own pending free agents, the Detroit Red Wings have had a very productive off-season. The Red Wings took care of their top priority, re-signing defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom to a one year deal worth $6.2 million. GM Ken Holland then locked up wingers Todd Bertuzzi and Tomas Holmstrom to two year deals with both players having cap hits under $2 million per season. Detroit has also boasted their winger situation going into next season with the return of 26 year old winger Jiri Hudler. Most importantly Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch gave five year extensions to Holland and assistant GM Jim Nill this week.