The Pressbox

It was interesting flipping back and forth during post-game coverage of the Detroit Red Wings’ win over Anaheim in Game 7 of their playoff series Thursday night.

Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond were positively giddy. There was a brief delay after Daniel Cleary’s game-winning goal and Redmond was indignant, wondering what the officials could possibly looking at and calling the complaints of Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller “sour grapes.”

There was a completely different tone on CBC. Ron MacLean and Don Cherry maintained that the goal should have been disallowed because Cleary pushed against the Hiller’s pads, forcing the puck into the net. They said it would have taken a lot of guts by the officials to make the “right call.”

Perhaps they are right technically, but it would be impossible to make that call in that situation. Besides, MacLean and Cherry had the benefit of watching the play in slow motion. I don’t know how any official could have decided in real time whether it was Cleary’s stick or Hiller’s pad that pushed the puck into the net.

On top of that, the Red Wings had already been cheated out of one crucial goal in this series. They deserved this one.

So, it is on to the Western Conference finals for what should be a fun Original Six series against the Chicago Blackhawks.

You asked for it, you’ve got it.
During our last live chat on the Detroit Tigers, someone suggested that we do one on the Red Wings. It was a great idea. It’s going to happen at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14.
I’ve dragged my buddy and fellow Evening News writer Ray Kisonas in for this one. He is a long-time hockey fan with plenty of opinions on the game.
Join us for some lively discussion on the Wings and the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Here is the link:

http://www.monroetalks.com/livechat/index.php?theCase=enterChat&chatID=5

The NHL can’t seem to get it right.

Coming off the triumph of the outdoor game on New Year’s Day, the league announces its All-Star Game starters a few days later. And it was a joke.

Montreal fans proved to be the best ballot-box stuffers, electing four Canadiens to the starting lineup. I guess that’s not as bad as it could have been. At one point in the voting, Montreal players led at all six positions. At least Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh snuck in at the end. But Alex Ovechkin the reigning MVP and arguably the best player in the game was snubbed.

It wasn’t any better in the Western Conference where three Anaheim players and three from Chicago will start. I could understand having a few San Jose Sharks in there. They have the best record in hockey. And Calgary is having a fine year as well. Instead we get three players each from a pair of second-place teams.

And no one from the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings made it.

No Nicklas Lidstrom. No Pavel Datsyuk. No Henrik Zetterberg. No Marian Hossa.

That’s a farce.

The NHL needs to do something about the selection process. Perhaps take some of the power away from the fans and have the starters selected by a combination of fan, player and coach voting.

The National Hockey League has stumbled into something great with its annual outdoor game on New Year’s Day.

I surprised myself with how much of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game I watched last year in the midst of my college football feast.

And hockey had the clear advantage over football on my television Thursday with the Red Wings playing Chicago at Wrigley Field.

I’m not sure if I’d actually like to attend one of the games. The fans seem like they are miles from the action and sitting outside in freezing temperatures with winds whipping up to 35 mph couldn’t be too much fun. But it makes for an incredible television event.

And on top of that, the Wings showed once again what a great team they are. They showed no signs of panic after falling behind 3-1 in the first period. They just kept constant pressure on Chicago until the Blackhawks finally cracked.

There are a lot of nice things about winning the Stanley Cup.

You get to put your name on the greatest trophy in the world, you get a swell parade and you get to bask in the glory of being a champion.

Another less obvious benefit is that players want to be part of your team.

That seems to be what happened Wednesday when the Red Wings signed high-scoring winger Marian Hossa (for more details go to http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HKN_RED_WINGS_HOSSA?SITE=MIMON&SECTION=SPORTS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-07-02-15-54-00)

Hossa had offers for more money elsewhere, but wanted a shot at the Stanley Cup.

This is another brilliant move by Detroit general manager Kenny Holland. He swooped in to grab one of the plums of the free-agent crop when no one expected the Wings to be interested.

And the real beauty of this deal is that it is for one year. It will not interfere with the Wings signing some of its own players after next season.

If Hossa is a bust, they can just let him walk away. If he helps them win a Stanley Cup, they can worry about finding the money to re-sign him later.

Is Chris Osgood playing himself into the Hall of Fame?

There was some sports radio talk in recent weeks whether or not Chris Osgood deserved Hall of Fame consideration.

My immediate reaction was no, but he does have some pretty impressive career numbers and back-to-back shutouts in the Stanley Cup finals against a potent Pittsburgh team certainly adds to his credentials.

Osgood has been spectacular in the first two games, but also has been getting plenty of help from his defense. The heralded Sidney Crosby has looked pretty ordinary in the first two games.

The Detroit Red Wings are making the Stanley Cup Playoffs look easy. They never looked seriously challenged during Thursday night’s 4-1 win over Dallas in the opener of the Western Conference finals.

Since Chris Osgood replaced Dominik Hasek in goal, they have looked unbeatable. Osgood has been a calming influence for the team. He doesn’t take as many chances as Hasek, so the defenders know where he will be at all times. They can play with more confidence and force the play a little more. Detroit is 7-0 since he took over as the starter in net.

And offensively, the emergence of Johan Franzen as a goal-scoring machine, makes it harder for the opposition to focus on Pavel Datysuk and Henrik Zetterberg.

The Wings are flying high.

Remember the old Sparky Anderson quote, “If you don’t like Dave Rucker, then you don’t like ice cream”?

Rucker is only remembered by the most hard-core Tiger fans, but that quote works when applied to Chris Osgood.

How can anyone not like the Detroit Red Wing goaltender?

The baby-faced veteran has endured lots of ups and downs in his career, but through it all has maintained his demeanor as a friendly, classy athlete.

It was so great to see him get the shutout Sunday as the Detroit Red Wings closed out their first-round playoff series against Nashville.

Osgood outplayed Dominik Hasek during the regular season, but coach Mike Babcock decided to go with Hasek when the playoffs started. Osgood had good reason to be upset, but he never complained. He just kept working hard and was ready when his opportunity arrived.

Kudos to Babcock for making the switch and to Osgood for making it work.

What a great story it will be if Osgood led the Wings to the Stanley Cup.

Every year the Red Wings seem to turn a goalie into a star in the playoffs.

Who ever heard of Dan Ellis before this playoff series with Nashville started?

Now, he is, as they say, standing on his head to make saves. He made 52 Friday night before Detroit finally got the puck past him in overtime on a nifty move by Johan Franzen.

The bad news for the Wings is that they will see better goalies than Ellis if they continue down the playoff road.