Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:
1. Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe examined 8 Stanley Cup champions “who survived early deficits“:
3) 2002 Detroit Red Wings
If there are any Canucks fans still reading after we mentioned the 2011 Bruins, this section should finish them off.
The 2001–02 Red Wings were easily the Cup favourites heading into the season; they were coming off a 116-point season in a year when nobody else managed more than 101. But the eighth-seeded Canucks seemed poised to pull off the upset, stealing the opener on Henrik Sedin’s OT winner and then rolling to a 5–2 win in Game 2.
With the Red Wings on the ropes and a raucous home crowd cheering them on, the Canucks tied Game 3 with a goal midway through the second period and were headed into the intermission with a chance to shove the favourites into an impossible hole.
Every Canucks fan remembers what happened next:
The goal held up as the winner, and the Canucks didn’t win another game. The Red Wings went on to beat the Blues and Avalanche on their way to an easy final matchup with the overmatched Hurricanes.
But look on the bright side, Canucks fans. While the series may have featured one of the most devasting gut-punch goals in modern NHL history, at least it served up a legendary Brian Burke press conference.
2. USA Today’s Kevin Allen compiled a list of 15 potential unrestricted free agents of note, and the Wings are mentioned in the cases of two potential UFA players:
Goalie Carter Hutton: With the Islanders, Hurricanes and Red Wings all looking for goalies, Hutton suddenly could be a hot commodity. He’s not going to command a large contract.
For him, it could come down to the opportunity to play more. He has always been considered a strong backup goalie. Could he thrive if given more starts? He posted a .931 save percentage last season and owns seven shutouts over the past two seasons (62 games).
…
Defenseman Mike Green: While the Detroit Red Wings are rebuilding, they would love to have him back. He was their best defenseman. He likes Detroit.
But they won’t give him a longer deal. Is he what the Florida Panthers are looking for? How about the Canadiens?
3. And DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examined the 2017-18 “numbers” produced by Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist:
21 — Nyquist ranked second on the team in goals with 21, three behind team leader Anthony Mantha. Larkin, Frans Nielsen and Andreas Athanasiou were tied for third with 16 goals.
44 – Nyquist had 44 takeaways, which ranked third on the Wings. Larkin led the team with 56 and Zetterberg was second with 51.
40 — Nyquist had 40 points, which was fourth on the Wings. Larkin led the team with 63 points, Zetterberg had 56 and Mantha had 48.
very underwhelming numbers for Nyq… like to see him moved at the draft along with a couple of our spare part d-man to open up opportunities and acquire more assets.
I think you might be expecting a little too much from Nyquist if you think his numbers were very underwhelming.
This exactly. He’s a complementary top 6 player. 2nd on team with goals, 4th in points, can’t expect much more from him on a team like this. Bonus, he brought up his defensive game and on many nights was one of the few wings to seemingly be trying to win the game. Especially, compared to last year when my eyes told me he look disinterested quite a bit.
Completely agree. He’s a complementary player with not much to complement.
When him and Tatar made the big show during that Olympic year and made some noise fans acted like it was the 2nd coming of Datsyuk and Zetterburg. Management played it off the same. “Zetterberg and Datsyuk were not Zetterberg and Datsyuk until they were 26-27” How many times do you have to hear that? Both Nyquist and Tatar are roll players. That’s it. On this roster, how much can you really expect?
Amen my friend
I’m with Big Daddy. Slightly underwhelming. Cant expect him to be at 30 goals, those years of a 17% shot percentage are long gone.
But all that PP time and top line minutes with just 40 points?
Exactly, I am not looking for him to lead the team in all categories, but he is getting a lot of quality minutes. If he is disinterested in playing like Benzo mentioned, then bench him … I thought ice time was earned or is that only for the young guys?
Lidstrom had a knack for scoring big goals from Center Ice during the playoffs. He looks like he can still play. Let’s throw a contract at him and see what happens…
Yzerman built onto his legend for the 02 series. Iirc, he made a speech after game two.
In a room full of legends, he stood above them all and led them on just an awful knee injury.
LEGEND.