AJC > Sports > Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2005 > December > 12
Monday, December 12, 2005
Surprised by Wings’ success?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Detroit, which visits Philips Arena on Tuesday for the first time since the 2002-03 season, is always a big draw. Last week Thrashers general manager Don Waddell said about 16,000 tickets already had been sold for the game, so don’t be surprised if it’s a sellout.
For the last 15 years, the Red Wings have pretty much been the gold standard of NHL franchises. Today I was talking with Bobby Holik and Jaroslav Modry and they spoke with reverence about playing against Detroit when they could field a five-man all-Russian unit — Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, the Thrashers’ own Slava Kozlov and Igor Larionov – and how skillful those players were in possessing the puck.
To some, the Red Wings have been a surprise this season. Look at their top three leaders in points and they’re all young players: Pavel Datsyuk, Jason Williams and Henrik Zetterberg. But they still have that core of veterans: Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Chris Chelios, Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby and Tomas Holmstrom, who, with the exception of Chelios, were there for all three Red Wings’ Cups in the ‘90s.
In the past, the Red Wings certainly managed well, but they also had one of the league’s top two payrolls. Are you surprised that in the salary-cap era, the Red Wings have been able to maintain their standing as one of the league’s top teams?
