2/22 Notes

According to the Free Press, the Wings were one of the teams actively going after former Chicago center Alexei Zhamnov before he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Hawks immediately asked for Jiri Fischer, a player the Wings are obviously not willing to give up and so, after discussing other options, they took the Flyers' offer. It seems to me that the Wings' new organizational depth is causing some problems for them in situations like that. The rest of the NHL knows the Wings have a need but they also know who the Wings have and they seem to be taking advantage of it by making it tough for Ken Holland to make a deal which would actually help the Wings. There seems to be a concerted effort to avoid making a trade with the Wings and it is especially noticeable to me when I look at the trades that do go through around the league. The Flyers got Zhamnov for very little and the same goes for the Sens with Peter Bondra. I think the desire for top young prospects outweighs the need to drop large contracts, at least when the opportunity arises to make a trade with the Wings. I thank Holland for standing fast and refraining from trading away the talent the organization was smart enough to find. The other teams are obviously trying to make up for the mistakes of passing over guys like Datsyuk and Zetterberg in their respective drafts. I personally doubt the Wings will be able to acquire a big name by the March 9th deadline because of their stance on their talent. I am confident, however, that Holland will find someone who fits the Wings' need, just as he has so many times in the past. Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News believes Dominik Hasek should go back to the Czech Republic and leave the Wings alone. I completely agree. The fact that Dominik is still hanging around the team after abandoning them sickens me. The last thing the Wings need is for him to continue being a distraction. Ken Holland had better do something about it soon so when the team returns from their three-game, four-day Western Canada trip, they no longer have to see Hasek's face around while they carry on with their daily affairs. Dominik is done in Detroit and there is no reason for him to be allowed to stick around. If he absolutely has to continue attending the team's games, that's fine. He should not be allowed to be around the team otherwise, however, and the Wings need to end it or they could have a serious problem down the road. Get Dom to give the team the money he hasn't earned and then get him the heck out of here. Ken Holland has provided a little clarification on the rule he wants implemented. Instead of outlawing goalies playing the puck completely, he wants to see them restricted for playing the puck forward. That means they would be able to stop the puck from going around the boards but they would not be able to advance it past the goalline. I like the clarification more than the initial proposal but I am still against it. I'd rather have goalies be fair game so they can choose whether to risk going out or not. They currently have no reason to fear leaving the net and that is the reason they have been able to have such an impact on the flow of the game. If they had a reason to think twice about going out, they wouldn't do it so much but would still be able to play it if they have to.