Red Wing For Life

It's official. Henrik Zetterberg has signed a 12 year, 72 Million dollar deal. Henrik has stated that he wanted to be a member of the Detroit Red Wings for his entire career. His wish has been granted.

The fine details are still being worked out in regards to the breakdown per year. Some contracts are Front loaded, meaning a higher salary per season up front, and less as the contract goes on or back loaded, where the bulk of the payment is made later in the 12 year term. These details were not discussed during the press conference, but Ken Holland did say "we've got a good cap number". I guess we'll see what that translates into shortly.

I can't comprehend a number low enough to have money left over to sign BOTH Franzen and Hossa before next season starts. The Red Wings management team has some hard decisions to make in the short term in order to retain the talent we currently have. According to my math, and making a few assumptions, here's where the Wings finances currently sit.

IF the cap remains around $53-$55 Million, and assuming Zetterberg's cap hit is $6 Million next season, Detroit would have between $6-8 Million remaining to sign Hossa, Franzen, and Hudler.

Not bad for a guy drafted 210th overall in the 7th round of the 1999 NHL entry draft. Detroit did well despite not having a selection for the first 4 rounds!

Here's a quick look at the 1999 Draft order... I took the top 5 players, and skimmed the list for some notables...

1 Patrik Stefan - Atlanta Thrashers
2 Daniel Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
3 Henrik Sedin - Vancouver Canucks
4 Pavel Brendl - New York Rangers
5 Tim Connolly - New York Islanders
--------------------------------------
26. Martin Havlat - Chicago Blackhawks
40. Alex Auld - Florida Panthers
44. Jordan Leopold - Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
70. Niklas Hagman - Florida Panthers
91. Mike Comrie - Edmonton Oilers
115. Ryan Malone - Pittsburgh Penguins
138. Ryan Miller - Buffalo Sabres
182. Fedor Fedorov - Tampa Bay Lightning
191. Martin Erat - Nashville Predators


Anyone wondering why the Toronto Maple Leafs are fighting for last in the standings this season, can look to their less than stellar drafting as one reason why.
Here are Toronto's fine draft choices that year;

24 Luca Cereda
60. Peter Reynolds
108. Mirko Murovic
110. Jonathan Zion
151. Vaclav Zavoral
161. Jan Sochor
(Zetterberg was taken 210th)
211. Vladimir Kulkov

Has anyone heard of these guys before??

Zetterberg Extension??

While watching the Detroit Red Wings play shorthanded against the up-and-coming Central division Jackets, (a 3-2 OT loss for the Wings) there was mention that Detroit has scheduled a press conference tomorrow @ 2pm. A topic hasn't been revealed, but Detroit still needs to sign Zetterberg, Franzen, Hossa and Hudler before next season starts.

GM Ken Holland has stated that signing Zetterberg is his top priority.

In the NHL "Salary Cap Era" this press conference could potentially define the future of the Red Wings.


- UPDATE Jan 28th, 2009 -

Rumours on TSN.ca are reporting a 72 million dollar deal over 12 years... not sure if it's front loaded or back loaded. More info after the press confrence at 2pm...

Thornton Traded to San Jose - The Retrospective

So my father and I were having one of our regular hockey discussions this evening, when the subject came to the Boston Bruins recent success. He noted that the Bruin's management must be feeling better about trading away Joe Thornton now that they are on top of the league. Now both of us are avid hockey fans, but try as we might, we were unable to recall who Boston received from the Sharks in exchange for Big Joe. So I went to the internet;

On Nov 30th, 2005
San Jose Sharks get:
C Joe Thornton

Boston Bruins get:
LW Marco Sturm
C Wayne Primeau
D Brad Stuart

So to determine if Boston has 'gained' from trading Thornton, we need to dig deeper.


Marco Sturm has been consistent for Boston and set a career high of 56 points in 2007-08.

Wayne Primeau only played 101 games for the Bruins before he was traded to the Calgary Flames. Primeau scored 29 points and posted a -25 during his time in Boston.

Brad Stuart only played 103 games, and put up 48 points before being traded to Calgary.
Now since this post is examining if Boston is performing so well as a direct result of the Thornton trade, we'll have to see who Boston received Primeau and Stuart.

On February 10th, 2007
Calgary Flames get:
D Brad Stuart
C Wayne Primeau

Boston Bruins get:
RW Chuck Kobasew
D Andrew Ference

Chuck Kobasew played in 83 games for the Bruins, and tallied 41 points during that time.

Andrew Ference has played 85 games with Boston, and scored 18 points for Boston.


Now for Joe Thornton's statistics;

Joe Thornton played in 222 games for San Jose, and put up an impressive 302 points (or 1.36 PPG) since joining the Sharks.Now lets look at this these stats combined;

So clearly Joe has blossomed in California, and although it's resulted in several players coming and going from Beantown, the numbers are comparable. Now I realize it has taken 5 guys to put up numbers close to a franchise player like Thornton but regardless, the Bruins have put together a solid team this season, and don't seem to be suffering as a result.

It does raise the question... what if Boston still had big Joe?

RROD - Red Ring of Death

Do you think the 4th time is the charm?? My XBOX 360 game console has suffered the notorious "Red Rings of Death" (RROD)... again. For those unfamiliar with the RROD, it occurs when you turn on your XBOX console, and as opposed to a 'ring' of 4 green lights circling the green power icon, you find yourself staring at 4 red lights where your pleasant green LEDs once were. I've had quite the tumultuous experience with my XBOX 360's to say the least. I was one of the original 360 owners. (I have having a friend who worked at Best Buy set me up with one of the original systems without having to wait in line with the ravenous masses before the Christmas rush in November of 2005.)

The first unit I received was one of the initial 360 consoles where the RROD was quite common. After about a year of average video gaming, I was struck with the RROD. I filled out the forms on the XBOX website, and after about 4 weeks, I was up and running again with a shiny new 360 to play. Shortly there afterwards, my house was broken into, and all my electronics were stolen, including my newly acquired gaming system. After a lengthy bout with my insurance company, I was able to purchase yet another XBOX 360 to replace the stolen unit. The 3rd edition lasted much longer than the 2 before it, but now suffers from a similar condition. I have three red LEDs flashing on the front of my console, and from reading the Microsoft website it appears that this requires me to mail it back for repairs. I've completed the online form, and the waiting game begins.

I did see several people on YouTube perform some type of towel trick where you essentially wrap your system (while powered ON) in 3 towels and force an XBOX with 3 red lights to overheat. When you overheat the console, it displays two red LEDs letting you know the system is too warm and you need to unwrap your warm 360, power OFF, and let it cool down for about 15 mins. After doing so, it shows the system should power up as if nothing was wrong. Now I have not tried this myself, but from the few videos I've watched, it appears to work.
* In one video, the person on camera does point out that he now has to do this every 5 days.

I think I'll settle for the Microsoft repair. Lets hope the 4th time is the charm.

Rules are made to be broken...

This weekend the NHL All Stars take to the ice in Montreal for the 57th annual showcase of talent. The first game was played in Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens on Canada's Thanksgiving Day – October 13, 1947. The NHL All-Stars defeated the defending Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs 4-3. Read that sentence again... STANLEY CUP CHAMPION MAPLE LEAFS... it even feels funny writing it.

Now before I start, I want to clarify something. I enjoy the NHL All Star Game. I enjoy the NHL All Star Skills Competition. I think it's a great weekend event to showcase the sport of hockey for everyone from the avid hockey fan, to the casual viewer. Now for my rant. First off, having the 'fans' vote for the NHL starters somewhat backfired on the NHL this season. A fan in Montreal wrote a script to automatically vote for players from the Canadiens. As a result, the entire staring line-up was Montreal Canadien players leaving the league leader Evgeni Malkin, and the 'face of the league' Sidney Crosby on the second string. Eventually, this script was blocked, and both Crosby and Malkin made it into the starting 6. (with the other 4 positions still held by Montreal players)

Now with the bad publicity the sport of hockey has received in regards to hot topics such as the NHL lockouts/insider gambling/and recent death as a result of a hockey fight in the minor leagues, I can understand that the NHL wants to have an All Star Game to show off the talent and class of it's current crop of players. If a player selected to play in the NHL All Star game is injured and unable to participate, the NHL as a rule in place that you must sit out for the next regular season game following the All Star break. I can understand the logic behind such a rule (to prevent players from taking this week off and rest/heal as opposed to acting as ambassadors for the sport), but what if a player is actually injured, and doesn't want to risk further injury to play in a meaningless game against the wishes of his employer? A prime example would be the two Detroit Red Wing players selected to play in the 2009 All Star Game. Both Nick Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk (The captain and assistant captain of the Wings) were both injured in the last regular season game versus the Phoenix Coyotes. Both players left the game and did not return, and have opted to skip the festivities in Montreal this weekend. As a result, Gary Bettman (the commissioner of the National Hockey League) has announced that he will suspend both players for the next game immediately after the All Star game. In similar news, Sidney Crosby himself announced that he will withdrawal from playing this weekend, but will be in attendance in Montreal to watch the events and as a result, Gary didn't suspend Sid. Interesting rationale, but as a good friend of mine recently told me "Everyone is created equal. But some people are MORE equal than others." Another example of Gary's waffling would be looking at the NHL Young Stars game. (basically an All Star game for 1st and 2nd year players) Four players have withdrawn from the Young Stars game, and Gary has explained that the Young Stars game is optional, and therefore if players choose to rest, they are able to do so without punishment.

So from a Wing-nut perspective, Detroit won't have a single player representing the team this weekend (Mike Babcock is the assistant coach for the West) and when Lidstrom and Datsyuk were scratched, the league opted for Patrick Marleau and Stephane Robidas to replace them. Now I am actually a big Marleau supporter. I like the way he plays, and think he deserves to be an All Star. But with both Red Wing representatives missing due to injury, don't you think they should have looked to see if Detroit had anyone else worthy of playing? a few players come to mind... Rafalski? Franzen? HOSSA? Maybe I'm biased, but it seems like another situation where Gary Bettman is trying to make a name for himself.

So why is this a big deal? Because the Detroit Red Wings are scheduled to play the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first game following All Star weekend, and the winged wheel will be without the services of Lidstrom and Datsyuk, but in the visitors dressing room, the Blue Jackets will have Steve Mason in net. The Rookie net minder who has been stellar for Columbus this season, and despite being selected for the Young Stars game, he won't play due to injury. Thanks to Mr. Bettman, the Jackets goalie won't have to lose sleep about facing a shooter like this.

- UPDATE Jan 26th, 2009-

I was annoyed by this suspension thing, but a great blogger from the Abel to Yzerman blogs, posted some interesting options for the first game following the All Star Break. He blogged about some options for the Wings due to the fact they are short 2 players, and can't call up replacements due to salary cap limitations.

He writes;

Here’s what’s been suggested and it’s not a bad idea.

Forfeit the frigging game. Forfeit it because it’s unnecessarily unsafe. This isn’t a case of two forwards getting hurt in the midst of a game. It’s a situation where the league knowingly placed ten other skaters at jeopardy by keeping two players out of the lineup without any possibility of replacement. Intent to injure. Hell. The Wings could legitimately sue the league.

Or how about this. This was suggested too. Dress Lidstrom. Dress Datsyuk. Or call up Leino and Haydar or Home Keys or Kindl. Call ‘em up, dress ‘em and skate them tomorrow night. Even if it takes us over Gary’s Cap.

In other words, tell Gary, the Wing haters, the elitist Montreal Canadien media to take this suspension and shove it right up their a$$es...if it’s not too much trouble.

And if whatever the Wings decide to do cost them two points, or a few million in fines, or their reputation in the eyes of the hypocritical league office? Too bad.

Oh, and to the the players who stood by Bettman’s side publicly? Like you Sid, ya little princess? You just wish you played for a GM with the balls to do what Kenny Holland did. And you wonder why Marian Hossa’s a Red Wing? Cry over that.

So, bottom line? Screw it. All you did Gary was piss off a bear who’d been sleeping the first three months of the season.

Exactly what we needed b!tch. Thanks in advance.

Hahaha... that's classic.

Introduction

Allow myself to introduce.... myself. I'm Sabotage.

Sabotage is the online alias that was bestowed upon me by my friends in regards to 1) being a fan of the Beastie Boys and 2) losing a bet, and having to show up at my office job, dressed like the boys in the Sabotage video.

I've been intrigued by the thought of blogging for quite a while now, with various blogs that I frequent from time to time for information, comedic relief, or just to gain perspective on life from various other sources. Here on Sabotage's Blog, you'll quickly learn that I'm an avid sports fan, so expect some Detroit Red Wing talk, as well as general sporting conversation as I feel pertinent. Early on in my University career, I suffered from an intense bout of insomnia, and at a sleep clinic, one of the specialists suggested writing down anything and everything that comes into my head in order to clear my mind and thus allowing me to sleep. I'll admit, while skeptical, I did try this technique, and didn't find it helped, but now that the insomniac in me has returned, I supposed I'll take that advice to the next level, and blog about whatever is on my mind.

So kick back, put your feet up, and enjoy your stay.