09/13/2006

Wings make change in the goal, but goal is unchanged

Early exit from playoffs came after 124-point regular season

BY DENNIS CHASE

dchase@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Detroit Red Wings' general manager Ken Holland talks about changes to this year's roster.

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TRAVERSE CITY — For more than six months, the Detroit Red Wings marched through the regular season, winning 58 games, racking up 124 points and smashing National Hockey League records for most road wins in a row (12) and in a season (31).

Then, two weeks into the playoffs, it was over. A stunning loss to the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers abruptly ended the season and started an internal debate.

Was the first-round ouster a fluke? Or did the Oilers expose a flaw?

How would the Wings respond? Would General Manager Ken Holland simply tweak the roster for the 2006-07 season? Or would he overhaul it?

"We struggled with that internally for probably four to five to six weeks, leading up to July 1 (start of free agency)," Holland said. "In the end, we felt we had a pretty good team. We had one of the most successful regular seasons in the great history of Red Wings hockey. It's hard to blow that up. So we're bringing most of our team back to try it again."

The Wings, who start training camp at Centre ICE on Friday morning, moved to shore up their defense with the free agent additions of goalie Dominik Hasek and defenseman Danny Markov.

Holland also inked forward Greg Johnson after the club lost veteran icons Steve Yzerman (to retirement) and Brendan Shanahan (to free agency).

Hasek's return — he helped Detroit win the Stanley Cup in 2002 — topped Holland's off-season shopping list. Hasek, who played in Ottawa last season, was second in the NHL in goals against (2.09) and save percentage (.925). But his season was cut short when he injured his groin during the Olympics.

Hasek replaces Manny Legace, who was third in the NHL in goals against (2.19), but was victimized in the playoffs.

"Manny Legace played great for us his entire Red Wings career," Holland said. "Unfortunately, he wasn't able to elevate his game (in the playoffs).

"We felt that was one position where we wanted to bring in somebody who had playoff experience. We've done that with Dominik Hasek."

Holland said the Wings were ready to gamble on Hasek's health for two reasons — the veteran goalie performed at a high level prior to his injury last season and the team had already signed Chris Osgood as an insurance policy.

"If you had voted on the Vezina Trophy at the Olympic break, Dom would have won it or at least been in the final three," Holland said.

Holland initially sought out another free agent, Eddie Belfour, but when the two sides could not reach contract terms Hasek became a more viable option. Plus, he wanted to return to Detroit.

"Dom called me three or four times (in July)," Holland said. "He text messaged me. I got the feeling in talking to Dom and his agent that he really wanted to take one more crack in coming back to Detroit. He's got the passion.

"Obviously, there's risk with the groin. But we were able to structure a contract with a base of $750,000 with everything else (bonuses) put into the playoffs.

And by having a veteran backup in Chris Osgood, I thought we could take the risk. We know Dom's competitive. We know what we're getting. He's been in Detroit. He knows the pressure. He's one of the best to have ever played the game. Like all goalies, he's a little different. But that's what makes him great.

"Our players know him. We all feel when he's in the net he's going to give you a chance to win the game. He's going to find a way to make the big save."

Markov was inked to make Hasek's job a little easier. Detroit's defense took a hit early last season when Niklas Kronwall suffered a knee injury and Jiri Fischer went down with a serious heart ailment. Kronwall returned late in the season, but Fischer's career is on hold.

"We like our defense," Holland said. "We have a lot of different ingredients."

Markov will fill Fischer's role.

"Jiri Fischer was a guy who could eat up to 20 to 22 minutes and would play hard," Holland said. "Danny Markov is not nearly as big as Fischer, but he plays hard and he has experience. He'll give us grit.

"I don't know if we're going to scare anybody by putting you through the wall, but with the addition of Markov, and with a healthy Kronwall, we've got enough guys now who will go in the corners, who will go in front of the net, and battle for the puck and battle for position."

Holland said Fischer is working out — at a level approved by doctors — but will not be at camp.

"Jiri still has hope that one day he'll be healthy enough to play hockey again," Holland said. "But that time isn't right now. When? I can't put a timetable on it. It's a decision that heart doctors are eventually going to make. If one day Jiri walks into my office and says he feels he's ready to go, we're going to get him to two or three of the best heart doctors in the United States and they're going to make the decision."

Offensively, the Wings will need to replace Shanahan's 40 goals and Yzerman's 14 — plus their leadership.

Shanahan also provided the Wings with a physical presence on the ice. With his departure, opponents might try to be more physical with the Wings.

"There's no doubt that's something I'll watch," Holland said. "We were one of the teams that had the least amount of fights last year. You don't want your best players fighting. But Brendan was certainly a physical presence. Playing on Pavel Datsyuk's line, he obviously created some space for Pavel. That's something we're going to have to monitor.

"Last year in training camp we discussed this internally. I said to Mike Babcock, 'If you don't have toughness, you better have a good power play.' We had the No. 1 power play in the league last year. It's hard for teams to get physical with you if you're able to score goals. They don't want to put you on the power play. But I'm not oblivious to the fact we don't have a lot of toughness."

Still, Holland likes his team. He thinks the younger players who assumed key roles last year — Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Jason Williams, Johan Franzen and Kronwall — will only get better. And the team still has a solid core of veterans to lead the way.

"We feel good about our team," Holland said. "If we can stay healthy, we think we can compete for most points in our conference.

"We've lost some goals. I don't think we're going to score as much. But if we keep our differential (goals for to goals against) at about 60 to 80 — we were about 100 last season — we'll be competitive. That 100 goal differential helped give us 124 points (last season). We don't expect to get 124 points this season, but you certainly need to push 100 points to have home ice in the first round."