Really, could there be a more fitting time for Don Cherry, the hockey media’s most notorious and self-righteous loudmouth, to make his exit? After all, June 4, 2008 will always be remembered as the date when the Detroit Red Wings became the first NHL team to win a Stanley Cup under the leadership of a […]

Life got a lot better for Detroit Red Wings fans with last week’s announcement that Nicklas Lidstrom had signed a two-year, $14.9-million contract extension. But the fact that Lidstrom will still be playing hockey in 2010 is also crazy good news for supporters of the Swedish Olympic team. Count on him being there in Vancouver. […]

Sergei Fedorov is alive and well and living in Columbus. In his 17th NHL season, the 37-year-old center is averaging just over 17 minutes a night, taking key faceoffs, serving as an assistant captain, and sitting one point away from 100 in a Blue Jackets uniform. Although he lacks the explosive acceleration of his glory […]

The leaves are turning brown and the nights are getting colder. But NHL hockey in October always seems livelier than any other time of the year. It’s nice to think the peak excitement occurs with the Stanley Cup finals, but in June, when you’re down to two not necessarily beloved teams and it’s hot enough […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd Igor Larionov is used to playing on teams with red-and-white uniforms that win all the time. This season, those wins haven’t come so easily for his Detroit Red Wings. But don’t blame Larionov. The former star of Moscow’s Central Red Army and the Soviet national team […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2007 By Lucas Aykroyd Imagine the following scene. It’s just before a game-day skate in the Detroit Red Wings dressing room during the 2006-07 season. Nicklas Lidstrom: “Good morning, fellow Swedish Wings! Are you ready to compete hard for victory tonight?” Mikael Samuelsson: “Captain Lidstrom, I was reminiscing with Henrik […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Although Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings takes his share of abuse screening NHL goaltenders, you don’t normally see the 26-year-old left wing from Pieta hobbling around. But that’s what he did in the Detroit dressing room after the Wings rallied to tie the Vancouver […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd Before Nicklas Lidstrom joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1991, he spent time studying to become an engineer. That must have influenced his style of play. The 30-year-old defenseman from Vasteras, Sweden approaches hockey with mathematical precision, whether completing an outlet pass in his own zone […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When Igor Larionov was traded back to Detroit from Florida on 28 December 2000, you might say it was the end of a failed experiment in emigration. The previous times when the canny Russian center packed his bags and left for a new home, it paid […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When you look at a photo of our Milky Way Galaxy, the stars are so densely clustered that you can’t distinguish individual luminaries. You might think a similar effect would occur with Dominik Hasek on the star-laden Detroit Red Wings. But the 36-year-old superstar goaltender looks […]