On Monday evening, with the trade deadline less than 24 hours away, the Red Wings announced their acquisition of Kyle Calder from Philadelphia, as part of a three-way deal. Jason Williams went to Chicago as part of the deal. The whole deal seemed to be a lateral one--Calder is about the size of Williams and doesn't really have good stats this year. Actually, Calder's plus/minus was a very dismal -31! Damn. But, then he WAS playing for the Flyers--and they are the last team in the league this year. One can always hope.
Tuesday night, Calder was already suited-up and getting ready to play his first game as a Wing. Five seconds into his FIRST shift, he scored! I wouldn't have been more surprised if you would have slapped me in the face with a dead fish! Hot damn, but that was a nice surprise. And to make it even nicer, he got an assist later in the game. Welcome to Hockeytown, Kyle Calder--glad to have you. Now, I don't expect he will be doing that EVERY game, but it was nice to see how well he played that night. Actually, the entire team seemed to be a bit revitalized on Tuesday--maybe the fresh blood did it!
Until the pre-game show on Tuesday, I thought Calder was it for Detroit in terms of trades. Then they announced that Todd Bertuzzi was coming to town. Now, if anyone thinks THIS news didn't cause one heck of a firestorm on the message boards, then they don't know hockey. In 2004, Bertuzzi hit an opposing player--a cheap shot, probably (I've never seen video of the hit, I'm just reporting what I have read)--and broke his neck, ending his career. Bertuzzi was fined, suspended, and vilified for what he did. He apologized and is still facing a civil suit because of his actions. As I said, I never saw video on the hit, so I have to try and stay neutral as far as that is concerned. We'll have to see how he plays, but everyone hopes he learned his lesson--as I'm sure he did. Other than the 'incident' looming over him is the fact that he hasn't played a game since his back surgery in November! It will be interesting to see if he comes back after this. Detroit didn't pay much for him, so if he doesn't work, at least there won't be much in terms of money or future talent wasted. Bertuzzi is expected to begin playing in about two weeks.
Going back to the game on Tuesday. I was surprised at how well the team played, considering all of the injured players that they have. Cleary is out with a knee problem for about two weeks. Samuelsson is still out with his foot--not sure when he'll be back. Kopecky probably won't be back for the season with his collarbone. AND, worst of all, Zetterberg is out for about two weeks with a back problem! It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the team steps up and works to make up for the loss of Hank. At least, hopefully, they all (with the exception of Kopecky) will be healthy for the play-offs--and Bertuzzi will be there, too.
