Trading Ville Leino wasn't a mistake for Detroit

With the sudden surge of Ville Leino with the Flyers in the post season many have started to ask: Did Detroit make a mistake when they traded Ville Leino?

If you want to look at the here and now with Detroit out of the playoffs and that the Flyers are up 2-1 in their series with the Canadiens then I guess you can say it was a mistake; however, if you want to look at the bigger picture I say no.

Ville Leino was resigned by Detroit over the summer for two years on a one way deal after his one year 'trial' contract was up. Leino was never drafted and the Red Wings picked him up after the 2007/2008 season which he spent in the SM-liiga (Finnish Elite League). After spending most of his first contract in the American Hockey League with the Grand Rapids Griffins he was given a shot to make the big team with the second contract.

At the start of the 2009/2010 season for the Red Wings the Ville Leino/Valtteri Filppula/Jason Williams 3rd line was the best line the team had. They were on fire. Then Williams broke his leg and Filppula broke his wrist. Leino never got back to form with the Red Wings.

Coach Mike Babcock tried Leino with a number of differnt player combinations but it just was not clicking like Detroit needed Leino to click. Ville just wasn't fitting the system. This isn't to say Leino isn't a good player. He is a very good and highly skilled player you don't need me to mention his 2008 Lasse Oksanen trophy to understand that (basically the SM-liiga equvelnt of the Hart Trophy).

With all the injuried the Red Wings faced in the regular season players were being asked to have a bigger impact than expected. Players were even brought in like Justin Abdelkader (who was project to spend the season with the Grand Rapids Griffin's in the AHL spent the majority of the season with a Winged Wheel on his chest instead) and Drew Miller (brother of Buffalo Sabres and Team USA goalie Ryan Miller) was claimed off of a wiaver from Tampa Bay Lightning. When players started coming back from being on long term injured reserve Detroit had to clear up the cap space that was now being used to get other players back. So what did Detroit do first? Traded Ville Leino to the Flyers for Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a 5th round draft pick in 2010. Doesn't seem like much for a highly skilled player like Ville Leino (especially since I have read that Tollefsen has now signed with MODO of the Swedish Elite Leauge), but who knows what Detroit will do with a 5th round draft pick - odds are they wont "get lucky" but they'll just find another Henrik Zetterberg or Pavel Datsyuk. I mean really they found Leino who was never drafted.

Trading Leino meant that the Red Wings would not have to put players on waiver (other than Brad May who did clear and made it to the Griffins) or trade anyone else to clear up cap space with Johan Franzen and Andreas Lilja came off of LTIR. Kirk Maltby was the only player other player to be displaced. On the last year of his contract and late in the grinders career Maltby decided to opt for surgery and cleared up the last of the space needed so that no other players would be lost. Maltby took one for the team and for that has my greatest respect.

The lose of Leino from the Detroit system that he wasn't fitting in with for the ability to keep players that are fitting the system and getting another late round draft pick that the Wings' have made it their office to find talent.

The real question is: When Flyers get their injured players back (ie Cater) where does he fit into the system there?

Habs keep on keeping on

I honestly don't even know how to start this. Nothing I can think of after my 2 hours of sleep comes close to the awesome greatness of the Habs beating the Pens in game 7 last night. Sorry Pens fans I know the pain of your team washing out in the second round, my favorite team did too. But any fan of the sport has to look at what is going on with the Canadiens right now and be impressed.

For a team that had so man injuries in not just their regular season but started in their preseason and keep rolling though the playoffs I am impressed. At the start of the season it was said that the Habs were "too small" because their players are smaller build than the rest of the league as a whole. As I read on a Twitter post last night (wish I could remember who it was at the moment) the Habs are no longer the underdogs but are now "the little team that could".

I give the Habs my full support for the play offs. Who doesn't like a good underdog story? Besides making it 25 on the 100th - maybe it is just destiny.

2010 Detroit Red Wings

What a season!

It feels like it has been forever since that trip to Stockholm where the so called "Swede Wings" got swept by the Blues in the Globen. How memorable that trip must of been for the team, especially the mass amount of Swedes that don the Winged Wheel.

It was a rough season for the Red Wings' no doubt about that - I think I heard 50 times a day how the Red Wings are washed up, they are too old, and my 'favorite' that the Dead Wing Era has returned. Though injuries and rookies not living up to potential the Wings pulled it together. Even after having a rough start to the season rookie Jimmy Howard played a huge roll in getting the team to the play offs. Something that had been written off by so many.

One of the most touching things that most hockey fans probably didn't even take not of was that Kirk Maltby took one for the team. A player that has been so dedicated and played a huge roll for Detroit since his arrival in the Motorcity opted to go have surgery (rather than wait until the off season) to free up cap space to allow Andreas Lilja to come back without bumping another player to waiver/trade. To you Kirk Maltby I say THANK YOU. Thank you for all you have done for Detroit and not just on the ice; but your work with charity and just being a great roll model for the next hockey generation.

The Olympic break came and went. Three Olympic medals were given to the Red Wings for their efforts. Coach Mike Babcock won the gold with host team Canada, while defenseman Brian Rafalski played a huge roll for the young Team USA (which no one had any faith in winning anything - so noted by the NHLPA who booked all their flights home to take place BEFORE the gold medal games - thanks for the confidence!) and of course Valtteri Filppula who came out and showed the rest of the hockey world that he is a force to be reckoned with - won the bronze with Finland.

After the Olympic break the battle for a playoff spot was red hot. The Flames and the Red Wings battled it out almost to the last regular season game. However hard the road traveled was they still made it. 19 straight years - and Lidstrom has never missed making the post season.

Now that the season is over you would think that unknowing stressful feeling of 'what if' would disappear. You know that feeling - the one every hockey fan loves but hates about the playoffs. This time that feeling has not gone away, in fact, I think it has only grown more heart wrenching. Now the 'what if' is 'what if Lidstrom doesn't return to the ice' I have never known hockey without Norris Nick - they go hand in hand. My first jersey was a Lidstrom jersey - I have worn it to every game I've attended and they've always won. My two year old daughters first jersey was also a Lidstrom jersey and during the Olympics when he wore the Tre Kronor she ran to the tv and pointed screaming "Lidstrom! Lidstrom!" Could moments like that really be over? Only he can decide.