Red Wing News - March 2001

3\31 Roman Cechmanek stole a game for the Flyers who beat the Wings 1-0. Detroit peppered him all 
game and he didn't give. Next up: Washington Sunday at the Joe. A win clinches the division.

3\29 Brendan Shanahan's goal at 19:35 of the second capped it for the Wings, beating the Blues 5-2.
Shanny has now scored 30 or more goals nine times in his 14-season NHL career. Also scoring were 
Devereaux, Maltby, Larionov, and Lapointe(en). Chris Osgood played very well. The Wings now lead 
the Blues by 7 with five games remaining for both. A Detroit win and St. Louis tie or loss would 
clich it for the Wings. Next up: at Philly on Saturday.
   Larry Murphy moved passed Stan Mikita and into 10th place on the career assists list with 927.
Steve Yzerman and Steve Duchesne both returned for the Blues game.The Wings were 3-0-2 against 
the Blues this season, their first undefeated series against them since the Blues entered the NHL 
in 1967.

3\25 Six players scored for Detroit and officially knocked the Rangers from the playoffs with a 
6-0 win. Chris Osgood got the shutout, his first this season and 30th(?) all time. Slava Kozlov 
netted his 200th goal. Also scoring were Lidstrom, Shanahan, Lapointe, Holmstrom, and Dandenault. 
Next up: St. Louis at the Joe on Wednesday. 
    Scotty Bowman was given the Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the 
United States on Friday.

3\23 The Wings proved too much for Minnesota, winning 4-2. Scoring were Kozlov, Draper(1+1sh), 
and Lapointe. Next up: at the Rangers on Saturday.
    Steve Yzerman was selected as one of the first eight players for the Canadian Olympic team.
Chris Chelios had surgery on his thumb today. He's scheduled back in about 3 weeks.

3\22 Steve Yzerman tweaked his groin last week against Calgary and may rest tonight. Chris Chelios
is expected back for the playoffs. Nick Lidstrom was selected by the Swedish hockey team and Tomas
Holmstrom is expected to follow for the 2002 Olympics. Sergei Fedorov is expected to be selected 
by Russia. So far, they are the only two nations of the six with automatic bids that have begun 
their selections. 

3\21 Chris Chelios has a broken left thumb and may require surgery on it. Darren McCarty has a 
sprained ankle and will miss 2-3 weeks. Sergei Fedorov is expected back for Thursday's game 
against Minnesota and Yuri Butsayev was recalled from Cincinnati to fill the void. The Wings 
still have eight healthy defensemen. Also, the media had been hyping up Lidstrom for the Norris 
this year. The guy with the most hype usually wins it (i.e. Pronger('00), MacInnis('99), 
Blake('98.)

3\19 After allowing the Sharks to come back from a 3-0 lead, the Wings regrouped behind Tomas 
Holmstrom's first career hat trick to win 6-4. Also scoring were Shanahan, Lapointe, and 
Lidstrom. From the Detroit News, "Sergei Fedorov didn't play. He had trouble breathing Sunday 
as he recovers from a broken nose. Chris Chelios was given the night off. The Wings also lost 
Darren McCarty at 8:47 of the second period. He crashed into the boards feet first chasing down a 
puck with Sharks defenseman Jeff Norton. McCarty was helped off the ice and didn't return. The 
immediate diagnosis was a sprained right ankle, with McCarty expected to have X-rays today."
Next up: Minnesota at the Joe on Thursday.
    Happy 34th birthday to Vladimir Konstantinov. We still miss you buddy.

3\18 Poor defense and an early Joe Sakic goal lead to disaster for the Wings 5-3. Scoring were 
Lidstrom, Fischer, and Verbeek. It was Fischer's first career goal. Next up: at San Jose tonight.

3\16 Brendan Shanahan had a rocket in his ass, scoring 4 goals(2pp, 1sh, 1en)to lead the Wings to
a 5-2 win against Calgary. Also scoring was Lidstrom. This was the first Detroit 4 goal game since 
Sergei Fedorov scored five Dec. 26, 1996, against Washington. The hat trick was the 13th of his 
career. The Red Wings are 15-2-5 in their last 22 games and increased their lead to four points 
over the St. Louis in the Central Division. They are 12-0-2 in their past 14 games at JLA and 
haven't lost there in the 2001 calendar year.
   From the Freep: "(Detroit)beat writers nominated goalie Manny Legace for the Masterton Trophy, 
awarded for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication. Beat writers in each city nominate a player
from the teams they cover. Legace landed his first steady NHL job this season, after six seasons 
bouncing around the minors. He is 20-5-5, and his 2.09 goals-against average and .919 save 
percentage ranked fourth in the league entering Thursday. "It's been a dream season for me," 
Legace said."
   Gilles Lupien, the agent for Martin Lapointe, said Lapointe will test the free-agent market if 
a contract isn't completed by the playoffs. He makes about $1.25 million now, but he could easily 
get twice that.

3\14 Slava Kozlov scored with 1.5 seconds to go to help the Wings comeback for a 2-2 tie. Also 
scoring was Fedorov. Next up: Calgary at the Joe tomarrow.
    Jiri Fischer has been recalled from Cincinnati since the 23 man roster limit is now lifted.
Look for Jason Williams and Yuri Butsayev to be with the team closer to the playoffs especially if
injuries start to occur. If Cincinnati makes the AHL playoffs though, they may stay.

3\13 The Trade deadline has come and gone and the Wings decided to stand pat. There was a lot 
available, but most were overpriced rent-a-players. It would have made no sense to trade laterally,
but, expect the Wings to sign some significant people this off-season. There are mant free agents 
this summer including Joe Sakic and John LeClair. 

3\10 Brendan Shanahan's overtime powerplay goal gave Detroit it's first ever win vs. Minnesota 3-2.
Also scoring were Dandenault and Gill. Sergei Fedorov made his return and played well. Next up: 
Vancouver at the Joe and the trade deadline on Tuesday.

3\10 Steve Yzerman broke a 0-0 tie early in the third and Brendan Shanahan tied it up to answer
the Blues 2 straight goals (the final was 2-2.) Next up: at Minnesota today.

3\7 Steve Yzerman scored two beautiful goals and Marty Lapointe and Mathieu Dandenault had one a 
piece as the Wings continue their dominance over Vancouver 4-3. The Wings haven't lost to 
Vancouver since 1997. Next up: at St. Louis on Saturday.

3\4 L.A. gave the Wings an old fashioned ass-whoopin' 6-3. After 13 unbeaten contests, it was 
bound to happen. The game featured two fights between Chelios and Robitaille (Luc was charged 
with instigating on the second, believe it or not.) (Freep)"Oh, he's a warrior; he's a 
killer," said a smiling Chelios, who's usually friendly with Robitaille. "Don't let Luc 
flatter himself. I wouldn't call that fighting, what he did. Just because you get five minutes 
doesn't mean you fought. "He can't even beat up a 40-year-old (actually, Chelios is 39) guy with
four kids. What's wrong with him?" Like a couple of schoolboys, Chelios and Robitaille each said 
the other started it. Chelios said Robitaille hit him in the nose during a scrum. Robitaille said 
Chelios sucker-punched him. "I was kind of upset," Robitaille said. Scoring were Holmstrom(2) and 
Yzerman. Saturday night's crowd of 18,477 at Staples Center was the largest ever to see a hockey 
game in California, the Kings announced. Next up: at Vancouver on Tuesday.
 Yuri Butsayev scored his 22nd goal of the year with Cincinnati the other day. Not bad.

3\3 The Wings blew a two goal lead in the third period and tied the Coyotes 2-2. It was 0-0 most 
of the game and Manny Legace was spectacular. Scoring was McCarty and Verbeek. Detroit's unbeaten 
streak is now 13 games. That is longest by any team this NHL season and two games short of the 
franchise record. Next up: at LA tonight.
   Sergei Fedorov was placed on I.R. yesterday, but I believe it was just to make room for Larry 
Murphy. (From the Freep) Sergei might wear a form-fitting face mask to protect his broken nose.
The mask would be similar to those worn by basketball players.
  "It's never been done in hockey, but it might be our best option," trainer John Wharton said. 
"We're going to try it."
  Wharton said Fedorov was worried that a normal full shield would affect his vision. A face mask 
should distribute force away from an injured nose better than a shield, anyway. The trick will be 
to modify a face mask to fit a helmet.
    After the morning skate Friday, coach Scotty Bowman had a little fun with Kris Draper. Bowman 
said Draper's high shot had hit goalie Manny Legace. Then Bowman approached Draper, who was 
unlacing his skates at his stall, and asked how Legace had been hurt. Draper said his shot had 
struck Legace in the shoulder. Legace was fine. No big deal.
  Then Bowman turned around. As he headed for the door, within earshot of much of the team, 
within earshot of reporters, he deadpanned, "Usually the safest place to be is in the net when 
Draper's shooting." Players laughed. Draper asked what Bowman had said, then turned to reporters.
  "That's not a quote," Draper said, "whatever he said." Too late. sked later whether he was just 
kidding around, Bowman smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I like to get him going."


3\1 Manny Legace was 9 seconds away from a shutout when the Ducks scored their lone goal. Wings 
win it 3-1. All three goals came on the powerplay (7 powerplay goals in the last two games.) 
Scoring were Duchesne, Larionov, and Verbeek. Next up: at Phoenix on Friday night, and they'll
be ready: they've allowed 18 goals in their last three games and are sure to be pissed.
   The Red Wings' victory over Anaheim gave them a 9-0-2 record in February and extended their 
unbeaten streak to 12 games. Their last loss was 3-1 January 30 at New Jersey. This marks the 
first time in the glorious history of this team that they have gone unbeaten in a calendar
month.
   Sergei Fedorov and Slava Kozlov are both expected to begin practicing again today.
   Rumors out of New York say Adam Graves will wear the winged wheel again soon. Graves was 
selected by Detroit in the 2nd round (22nd pick overall) of the 1986 NHL Entry Draft. He was
traded to Edmonton with Petr Klima, Joe Murphy and Jeff Sharples for Jimmy Carson, Kevin 
McClelland and Edmonton's 5th round choice (later traded to Montreal who selected Brad Layzell) 
in the 1991 Entry Draft on November 2, 1989.

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