Today is a sad day at NHL Hot Stove as we close up shop.

I would like to thank every one who has ever contributed, commented and read our site. It was a fantastic ride which unfortunately we can no longer keep up.

Myself and David Strehle are taking on bigger roles at RLDHockey.net while Dustin Leed and The Hockey Guys has been generous enough to give a home to our other excellent contributors. Please be kind enough to give both sites a read.

By Christina Roberts

Well, it’s about damn time, Valtteri Filppula.

Right now, the first Finnish player drafted by the Detroit Red Wings is on pace for the best season of his career. He has ten goals and fifteen assists for 25 points in 30 games, and is rated a +10. He’s being projected to hit around 65 or 70 points by the end of the season, which easily trumps his career high of 40 points hit in the 2008-2009 season.

It is seriously about time for this 27-year-old.

I’ve been a fan of Filppula since he made it on the roster full time back in 2006-2007. I saw how much potential he had, and for seasons following that, I kept telling people how good he was going to be. And it was all because he had his sporadic moments of looking like the perfect cross between Pavel Datsyuk‘s mad deking skills and Henrik Zetterberg‘s ability to make a play out of nothing (and a wicked good wrist shot).

But season after season, Filppula never put up the numbers fans and the organization expected of him. And there were games where I was screaming myself hoarse at the television, hoping the Finn would hear me yelling, “STOP PASSING THE PUCK AND SHOOT!” Much like Datsyuk when he first started playing in the NHL, he had a knack for not taking the chances presented to him and instead continually passed the puck to linemates.

Filppula still has his moments of doing that, but this season, he is certainly more aggressive than seasons past. And it’s showing. Look at the numbers he’s been putting up so far. And it may also help that he’s found a rhythm with linemates Zetterberg and Jiri Hudler (who has been putting up better numbers than last season as well).

Everyone assumed last year was going to be Filppula’s breakout year where he would show his true potential. Toward the end of the season, when his numbers were pitiful with what everyone was expecting, there was a lot of chatter on my Twitter feed about trading Filppula for someone who would actually perform.

But the Red Wings organization was patient, much like they always are with their younger players and prospects. And for that, they are reaping the benefits of Filppula’s productivity. They can keep Datsyuk and Zetterberg on separate lines and not worry about whether the top two lines will perform.

This season, Filppula has definitely shot the puck more and taken those chances that I used to scream about. His numbers reflect that, too. 2011-2012 is the season I’ve been prophesying about for years now. And unless something drastic happens, the Finn is definitely poised to have the best season of his career.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

The NHL announced tonight that they will change their current six-division setup into four conferences. For the first time since 1998, the League’s board of governors reached an agreement that not only alters the current outlook but also will allow every team to play a home-and-home series. The NHLPA will still need to approve the realignment but that appears to be a formality at this point.

These four conferences break down as the following:

Conference 1

Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Anaheim Ducks
Colorado Avalanche
Phoenix Coyotes

Conference 2

Winnipeg Jets
Detroit Red Wings
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild

Conference 3

Toronto Maple Leafs
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning

Conference 4

Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Carolina Hurricanes
Washington Capitals

The current playoff configuration will also change with the first two playoff series coming within the Conference. However, eight teams will still make the show but there should be much more parity. For example, a team in a ‘weaker’ division would not be allowed to grab the third seed if they narrowly make the playoffs.

Furthermore, the schedule works out well for all teams. Home-and-home series should account for roughly 44-46 games with the remaining games getting played in rivalries within the conference. This change, as well as keeping natural rivals like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; Chicago and Detroit; Calgary and Edmonton; should pave way for more excitement and interest around North America.

Now that we have the details down, let’s get to the fun part. What do we name these conferences? Do they get the old names: Norris, Campbell, Adams and Patrick? Do we rename them something more current like Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe and Orr? Put your vote in below and give some write-ins into the comments.

Wednesday night marked the first time Steve Yzerman has been back to Detroit since he became the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s general manager.

So how do you greet back one of your franchise’s greatest players (and the best captain) of all time after leaving to join the front office of an opposing team?

The Detroit Red Wings made a tribute video to the captain, ending simply with, “Welcome Back.” The jumbo screen then showed Yzerman himself, giving his trademark smile and waving to the arena. The crowd gave him a standing ovation. And started the chant of, “Stevie, Stevie!” It gave me goosebumps just being there for it.

There’s no other way to greet an old friend, a longtime companion.

As for how Yzerman’s new team performed against his old one, they kept the Red Wings on their toes. The 1-3-1 trap only appeared for a short amount of time in the second and third periods, once Tampa had tied the game. The cure for that? Winning the faceoff on a power play and making a tic-tac-toe play to score a goal within ten seconds and take the lead.

Okay, that one was mostly luck, especially since the “toe” part of that play involved Tomas Holmstrom tipping the shot out of midair past Dwayne Roloson.

Much like the Red Wings/Lightning match up that took place last year in Tampa Bay, both teams showed their stuff. The Red Wings played it cool and controlled the puck for the majority of the game, but the Lightning proved that they have youthful players ready to fight back every second of the game.

Seriously. Just look at the third period of the game. The Red Wings had a four minute power play for a high stick on Todd Bertuzzi, and the Lightning had a solid thirty seconds of pressure in the Red Wings’ zone. Let’s not forget the two breakaways with solid saves by Jimmy Howard, either. I was definitely holding my breath with every shot they took. But Howard was on his game.

And while Roloson let in four goals, he saved some wide open shots on goal that had me stumped (and begging the jumbo screen for a better angle replay).

So what else can be said about Yzerman’s return to Detroit that hasn’t already been said everywhere else? He is one person who will always be welcomed with open arms back to his “hometown.” Unless Tampa Bay beats Detroit in the Finals for the Stanley Cup. But even then, we’ll only be a little angry.

It’s Steve Yzerman, after all.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Just 11:14 into Tuesday nights tilt between the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings, forward Chris Stewart would drive defenseman Niklas Kronwall into the boards. The hit, which was several feet away from the boards, came from behind and was therefore given the appropriate checking from behind major and game misconduct.

See for yourself, Kronwall had close to no way of protecting himself from becoming a human accordion.

Stewart could face further disciplinary action from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan even though Kronwall would later return to the ice. While the hit appears clear cut, Blues captain David Backes felt the punishment fit the crime. From St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“Kronwall comes back,” Backes said. “(Stewart) has already been penalized for five (minutes) and missing the game … a five-minute power play against Detroit can be a death sentence. I don’t know. You look at the criteria put forth. (Stewart) has never been suspended before, never had a hearing before. Kronwall looks injured on the play, but he comes back. Is it an ugly hit? Yeah, it’s not pretty. But he’s a hard-nosed guy that has to play with that edge to be effective out there.”

We can certainly understand where Backes is coming from. Stewarts’ clean record could help him out when it comes to judgment day — Stewie holds 209 NHL games on his NHL resume. Then again, just because someone never committed a dirty play in the past doesn’t necessarily mean they are incapable of doing so.

As usual with questionable plays and suspensions we leave a vote to the user, who can help guide us through this much debated topic.

The 12th annual Toast of Hockeytown took place at Joe Louis Arena on Wednesday evening. What’s the Toast of Hockeytown, you ask? It’s a charity event benefiting the Detroit Red Wings Foundation. What does it entail? The ice at The Joe being turned into a swanky club with food around the boards, a silent auction area in the middle, a live band playing at one end, and almost a dozen tables set up for wine tasting.

And the Red Wings team is there as well.

Now, my brothers (Matt and Mike) and I, being the huge hockey fans we are, have been wanting to do this for several years now. Our problem has been that I’ve been under 21 years of age, since it’s a wine tasting event. This was the first year we could finally go.

Getting a one-on-one (or three-on-one with Matt and Mike there, too) with the players, how could I not ask them a question I’ve always wanted to know:

Outside of Joe Louis Arena, what’s your favorite arena to play in?

Johan Franzen was the first player we talked to, congratulating him on his hat trick in the previous game. “Favorite place to play? Probably Colorado,” he told us. It makes sense, of course, since he scored more goals than the entire team in the 2008 Western Conference semi-finals. “There are a lot of fun places, though,” he added.

Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, and Darren Helm all said Chicago for the National Anthem (and the Original Six rivalry). Helm added, “Montreal is fun, too. And I’m excited for Winnipeg,” though the Red Wings won’t visit there until next season.

I startled Valtteri Filppula with my question. He didn’t have an immediate answer for me, and it took him a fair amount of time to come up with an answer. “Calgary,” he told me. We also asked him what he thinks Nicklas Lidstrom‘s chances are for winning the Norris Trophy this year. His face lit up and he laughed a bit. “Ohoh! Pretty good! If he keeps playing like this… it’s unbelievable.”

Then it was Pavel Datsyuk‘s turn. You think he’s hard to understand in interviews? Try an arena with a loud, live band playing and hundreds of people talking. Matt told him, “Hands down, you are the most entertaining player to watch in the NHL.” Datsyuk chuckled, gave a noncommittal shrug, and said, “Thank you. I try harder.”

When asked about his favorite arena in which to play, he said, “Old Pittsburgh. Mellon. But now it’s new… they all similar. Big, fans far away, lots of lights.” He mentioned another old arena that isn’t play in anymore, but couldn’t recall the name.

We asked him what he thought Lidstrom’s chances were for the Norris. He smiled and said, “He should have retired eight years ago. But he win seven of them, so…”

Tomas Holmstrom took fake offense to my question, mostly because I started out by saying, “Okay, Homer, you’ve been in the league a long time…” I patched things up between us, though, and he said he enjoys Toronto and Montreal for the fans.

“So you’d favor a move to the Eastern Conference?” asked Matt.

“Oh, for sure,” Homer said. “Right now, we always have to leave the time zone to plan an opponent.”

Henrik Zetterberg said he enjoys Chicago for the Original Six rivalry. “The fans recognize me on the street and give me a hard time,” he said with a laugh. Unlike a place like St. Louis or Columbus where “we’re just left alone to do our thing.” Of course, this is all null and void anywhere in Canada.

A few weeks ago, various Red Wings players visited local businesses around the Metro Detroit area. Datsyuk ended up serving coffee at a Tim Horton’s drive-thru. Start watching this video around a minute in, and you’ll see Zetterberg drive up in his car and ask where his coffee is. So I had to ask, “How much fun was it to drive through the drive-thru at Tim Horton’s when Datsyuk was working?”

Zetterberg started laughing. “Oh yeah. I was really hoping he was the ‘Welcome to Tim Horton’s’ guy, you know, just so you couldn’t understand him. And then I wanted to order fourteen coffees…”

Jonathan Ericsson took a different approach with his answer and said anything out west is good. “Mostly because it’s warm, so we can see the sun in the winter,” he explained. he also enjoys Florida, though the Wings don’t travel there often. Also, he told me he was 6’4,” and I’m pretty sure he’s lying.. I’m 5’8″, and he makes me look ridiculously tiny.

And then, of course, there’s the man himself. Nicklas Lidstrom. The wait to meet him was longest, by far, but absolutely worth it. Of course, the three of us had met him last season at the Season Ticket Holder Open House, but when he’s behind a table and you’re being ushered forward, it’s hard to carry on a conversation.

Obviously, you don’t walk up to him and ask him what he thinks his chances are of winning the Norris. I shook his hand heartily and grinned at him. While he signed my program, I asked, “You’ve been in the league for a while, so I’m curious – what’s your favorite arena to play in, aside from the Joe?”

“Oh, the Shark Tank!” Lidstrom told me immediately.

“Well, it does have an awesome name,” I agreed.

“Yeah, and the fans are always so loud,” he added. And with playing the past two postseasons there, I’m sure he’s grown a little fond of the place, even if the team ticks off almost every single Red Wings fan.

By far, the best conversation of the evening was with Niklas Kronwall. Matt, Mike, and I all had a different question to ask him or a comment to tell him. “If you’re willing to divulge this information, where did you get your glasses?” Mike asked.

“Polo Ralph Lauren,” Kronwall told him, laughing. “But it wasn’t in Detroit.” He told us he doesn’t wear them anymore; he had Lasik surgery at the end of this past season.

Matt asked the standard favorite arena question. “Montreal for their fans,” Kronwall said. “Calgary, too. Vancouver has a nice atmosphere. …And Nashville! Because they have so many fans.”

“Yeah…we’re not a fan of those games because of some of the chants they do,” Mike said.

Kronwall chuckled. “I can see that.”

Mine was a little more personal, and a bit of an anecdote. “Okay, I have to tell you…” is how I started it all. “Our neighbors set up an ice rink in their backyard every winter. And when we shovel it, we push all the snow to one side and stack it up so we can check people into it.” I looked at Kronwall. “We named it after you.”

“Really?!” he asked.

“Yes. It’s the KronWall of Check,” I told him.

“That’s amazing!” he exclaimed, absolutely ecstatic.

In other interesting facts, Drew Miller talks with brother Ryan a couple times a week. You know, just in case you ever wondered.

We asked Ian White how he likes playing for Detroit, and he said he’s glad he came here. He said he’s not fond of the twenty minute drive down to Joe Louis Arena from where he’s currently living; he was used to a five minute drive back in San Jose.

By far, the most talkative, friendly players were Eaves, Kronwall, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom. Datsyuk was, too, in his broken English way.

To learn cool little facts about the players and have one-on-one, almost private conversations with them was a treat. If your respective NHL team has anything like this, I say do it. While you may be able to go every year, it still feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity. And it’s an evening you will never forget.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

Let’s leave the “What’s wrong with the Detroit Red Wings?” question at the door right now before we even start. That’s another article completely.

Many Red Wings fans were given good news on Halloween when the turned on their computers and went online and/or opened up the sports section of a newspaper and saw that Ken Holland worked his magic again:

Niklas Kronwall remains a Red Wings defenseman for seven more years.

And why wouldn’t he? He was given the title of “Alternate Captain” this season, swapping out with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The Red Wings need that physical kind of force on their ranks, and keeping Kronwall around is a smart move. Plus, with Nicklas Lidstrom on his way out at some point in the future, the team needs some defensemen on which they can rely and not have to worry about re-signing every other year.

Kronwall signed for seven years, $33.25 million; at thirty years of age, this lengthy contract pretty much guarantees he’ll be wearing a Winged Wheel for his entire career, unless otherwise traded. His contract gets a little tricky. The salary cap hit will be $4.75 million, but the breakdown is more intricate than that (naturally).

2012-13 sees him making $4.25 million. The following three seasons, he ears $6 million, then $5.5 million in 2016-17, and the last two years of his contract will be $3.5 million and $1.75million.

Kronwall will earn $4.25 million in 2012-13 and $6 million in each of the next three seasons. He’ll make $5.5 million in 2016-17 and $3.5 million and $1.75 million, respectively, the final two years of the deal.

With a cap hit of $4.25 million, it puts him in the same ranks as Chris Pronger, Kevin Bieksa, Mike Komisarek, Dan Hamhuis, Jack Johnson, and Tomas Kaberle, to name only a handful.

So how does Niklas Kronwall compare statistically with these other defensemen?

Firstly, he’s always been fairly prone to lengthy injuries (one to two months of the season); the 2008-2009 season only saw him missing two games and getting 51 points and 50 PIMs. 2010-11, he only missed five games and hit 47 points and 36 PIMs. Twelve games into the season, he has two goals and two assists, though let’s not forget the Red Wings went through a six-game slump of only scoring six goals total.

Now let’s compare these stats to some of the previously mentioned defensemen. Kronwall’s stats are fairly similar to Pronger’s, if you can believe it. However, Pronger has come close in several recent seasons to hitting sixty points whereas Kronwall still struggles to hit fifty. Last season, Pronger only played fifty games, but still scraped up 25 points, almost identical to Kronwall’s 48 game, 22-point season.

Against a player like Bieksa, Kronwall has more offensive output (and a lot fewer penalties), with Bieksa’s highest offensive season coming in 2008-9 with 43 points. The same goes with comparing him to Komisarek and Hamhuis.

Kronwall is also pretty identical to Jack Johnson, both in offensive output and penalties. They both get around 35 to 45 points per season and hit somewhere around 40 PIMS.

His comparison to Kaberle is very similar to that of Pronger. Kaberle hits anywhere between forty and sixty points per season while keeping his penalties to a minumum. One thing is for sure, Kaberle really hasn’t missed a majority of a season like Kronwall has in the past. But if the Swede can stay healthy and aggressive, anything is possible.

Now after comparing all of these stats, would you find it strange to compare Kronwall’s output to Pronger’s output? People usually rank Pronger up there with Lidstrom, Zdeno Chara, and Shea Weber, but Kronwall gets lost in the mix, and is usually only known for his bone-crunching hits. Well, it all started from the scouting level…

As Hakan Andersson, the director of European scouting for the Red Wings, once said, “I know one scout who tried to bring up Niklas Kronwall’s name with his team. They just laughed at him. They never even had a serious dialogue. They just stopped him. They said ‘a 5-11 Swedish defenceman?’ [The Red Wings] organization is more open-minded than that.”

But the Red Wings like their players to be under the radar and overlooked.

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

Johan Franzen is known to his Detroit Red Wings teammates and fans as The Mule. It was a name bestowed upon him by Steve Yzerman because the captain saw Franzen’s on-ice strength and how he used it so he wasn’t pushed around easily by opponents.

In the book The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Detroit Red Wings: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments from Detroit Red Wings History by Ted Kulfan, there’s a wonderful quote from Franzen about his nickname:

“‘It’s different,’ said Franzen of the tag, which isn’t exactly the most common nickname around. …’I like it. I was a little surprised at first, though. I wasn’t sure what a mule was.‘”

Obviously, a comic needed to be drawn to show what his train of thought probably was. (Yes, I sometimes draw hockey comics for fun. There will be more in the future, though they will be on the computer and not scanned in. And not as crummy, but still pretty crummy.)

It’s a fun nickname, especially when you hear the national announcers call him “The Mule.” And it’s fairly fitting, too.

Red Wings fans have come to hope every season that Franzen will perform to his full potential – or what we assume can be his full potential. But every season, he seems to go down with an  injury two weeks into the season…usually during a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. (It happened two seasons in a row…)

Just take a look at how many games he’s played each season. The most was back in 2005-2006 when he played 80 of the 82 games in his rookie season with the Red Wings. The seasons after that, he was only in 69, 72, 71, 27, and 76 games. Yes, he was only out for six games last season, but he was so streaky, it didn’t really matter. He scored five goals in one game against the Ottawa Senators, and proceeded to not score for another twenty-some games.

Talk about not showing up…

So, four games into the season, with a healthy, physical, rearing-to-go Franzen on the second line, he already has two goals – both of them game-winners at that.

Do Red Wings fans dare get their hopes up that this will be the season Franzen hits sixty, seventy points and/or thirty/forty goals? Right now, he has two goals and two assists, putting him on pace for 82 points this season, which would be a career high. But when are the “on pace for…” predictions even remotely close to what actually happens?

And Franzen hasn’t played a game against Chicago yet. There’s always room for concern.

With every Detroit sports team doing pretty dang well (the Tigers made it to the Conference Finals, and the Lions are 5-1 for this first time in pretty much forever), is it smart to get our hopes up for a terrific year from Franzen? Everything has been looking up sports-wise for this city…do we dare believe Franzen will stay healthy for all 82 games and be one of the offensive leaders on our team?

And what if he does stay healthy? Red Wings fans wait with bated breath, wondering if The Mule will be able to hit sixty points, thirty goals, (forty goals?!), or end up petering out over the course of the season and only hitting twenty goals, maybe fifty points. There are so many questions that it can end up driving you crazy with how often you run around in circles trying to figure it out.

If Franzen does stay consistent and hit career-high numbers this season, you can bet it will take a lot of pressure off of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. That’s not to say that any less will be expected of them, but more of the fact that opponents will have another offensive player to keep in check. Most teams in the Western Conference know to keep an eye on Franzen, but he’s been so streaky and/or injured that it hasn’t mattered much. But if he does stay consistent, you can be sure that the Red Wings opponents will always have a man or two on him every game, and maybe slack a little on Datsyuk and Zetterberg (Red Wings fans can only hope…)

But then we need to dial it back and remember that it’s hockey. Anything can happen.

For now, we sit and wait to see what each game will bring. Will Franzen be the player the organization (and fans) know he can be? Or will he fall to another early-season injury? As the band Asia would say, “Only time will tell.”

Christina Roberts
NHLHS Detroit Red Wings Correspondent
Twitter: @franzenmuth
Email: christina.roberts@nhlhotstove.com

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Yesterday, we let you in on our contest to play a ‘One Day FREE Fantasy Contest‘ to win $100 in cash prizes from Draft Steet. Well, I signed up, How about you?

Here’s my lineup, I challenge you to beat this roster:

LW: Zach Parise — $11,018
LW: Daniel Sedin — $14,799

RW: Bryan Little — $5,941
RW: Martin St. Louis — $13,081

C: Mark Letestu — $5,990
C: Valtteri Filppula — $6,118

D: Niklas Kronwall — $6,547
D: P.K. Subban — $7,817

G: Jonathan Quick — $20,665
G: Brian Gionta — $7,976

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