Sport-scan daily brief

"There was a lot of hate built up on Friday heading into Toronto on Saturday."

Kocur took part in the announcement by wearing one of the Red Wings' alumni jerseys while former Toronto captain Darryl Sittler – who played one season in Detroit at the end of his career – modeled a Maple Leafs alumni jersey.

Sittler agreed that having the teams in the same division will make the Winter Classic even bigger.

"For sure," he said. "I mean, you know what Detroit is like for their hockey fans. They've had great success over a number of years, but right across the border there's a lot of Leafs' fans and a lot of Red Wings' fans that are going to be here to support it and there's going to be a lot from Toronto will come down to support.

"The fact that they're in the same division, I mean, it made sense that they should have been way back – for whatever reasons they weren't – but now they are and I think it's even better."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the game would be played at 1 p.m. He expects the Winter Classic to set a world hockey attendance record with at least 105,000 fans inside The Big House.

Bettman also said the Winter Classic will be part of a two-week series of events that will include the Alumni Showdown – two games, in fact, because so many players want to take part – as well as AHL, OHL and high school games in addition to the Great Lakes Invitational for college teams.

All of those games will take place at Comerica Park, where there will also be public skating sessions for fans.

"This attraction, this event, is so big that not even The Big House can contain the excitement and entertainment we have planned for our fans," Bettman said during the news conference on the Joe Louis Arena ice before the Red Wings' 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

"So as promised, we will conduct a winter festival, which will provide several additional activities for fans and families who want to connect with the Winter Classic experience and excitement.

"We expect nearly 250,000 fans will attend the events at Comerica Park and downtown Detroit."

Tom Wilson, president and CEO of Olympia Entertainment, thanked Bettman for giving Detroit a "mulligan" after the 2013 event was canceled by the lockout.

Wilson said in addition to the various hockey games, there will also be entertainment that will include concerts at Joe Louis Arena and the Fox Theatre.

"This is going to be a celebration of hockey," Wilson said. "If you're a hockey fan of any age, it's going to be a memorable experience. It's truly going to be an amazing couple of weeks.

"It may be cold outside but it's going to be a hot time in Hockeytown for two weeks."

Next year will mark the Red Wings second appearance in the six-game history of the Winter Classic. They beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 in 2009 before 40,818 at Wrigley Field.

Michigan Live LOADED: 04.08.2013

668760 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings struggle to generate attack, lose again at home, but Mike Babcock liked the effort

Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com By Ansar Khan | akhan1@mlive.com

on April 07, 2013 at 11:03 PM, updated April 07, 2013 at 11:04 PM

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock could have been upset about his team's inability to generate much attack Sunday while getting shut out for the fourth time this season.

He could have lamented his club losing too many valuable points at home (1-3-1 in its last five games). He could have been fretting over falling into eighth place in the Western Conference standings in a highly competitive multi-team playoff chase.

Instead, Babcock lauded his players' effort in a 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Joe Louis Arena.

“I thought our guys played hard enough,'' Babcock said.

“I enjoyed coaching today. I enjoyed watching our players compete. I liked our game.''

It was a hard-fought game, but no less frustrating for the Red Wings, who threw 28 shots at Brian Elliott but didn't sustain much pressure or force him to make many spectacular stops. Chris Porter's goal at 16:28 of the second period was the difference.

“It was really tight, felt a little bit like a playoff game almost,'' Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “Not a lot of room out there, didn't feel like there were a lot of chances either way. I thought we had some good opportunities in the third, but their goalie came up with some good saves.''

Elliott has been struggling this season, coming into the game with a 3.43 goals-against average and .866 save percentage. But he played more like the goaltender who shared the Jennings Trophy last season with Jaroslav Halak for best team goals-against average.

This was the first time the Red Wings were shut out at home since Feb. 4, 2011, by Steve Mason of Columbus (3-0).

The Blues (21-14-2) have won four in a row. They moved one point ahead of Detroit (19-15-5), into seven place in the West, and have two games in hand on the Red Wings. St. Louis won the season series 3-1-1.

Babcock called it a good hockey game. It was, if you don't mind tight-checking affairs with little room to skate and not many chances.

“Both teams played a real tight game, so there wasn’t a lot of ice, and not a lot of stuff happened on the rush,'' Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “You had to fight to get on the inside and I think we created enough chances to win the game, but when we got a chance we couldn’t put it away.”

Porter's goal came during a scramble around the net. He whacked the puck past Jimmy Howard while it sat in the crease.

“The message in their goal was simply we had the puck, we went to shoot it in, it hit their guy in the leg and ended up changing direction and in a scrum in front of our net,'' Babcock said. “That’s playoff hockey.''

Detroit's power play, which had converted 13 times in its past 13 games, went 0-for-3. It registered only two shots but the Blues did a good job of cutting off shooting lanes, blocking shots and keeping the Red Wings to the outside.

“They tried to be in lanes and it’s tough for the D to get any shots through,'' Zetterberg said. “Basically had to go through three of their guys, and we tried to get more shots from the flanks, but we couldn’t make it happen.”

It was the kind of game that makes Blues coach Ken Hitchcock smile.

“They didn’t get any second or third shots, but it’s not fun watching 40 (Zetterberg) and 13 (Pavel Datsyuk) come at you in the third period,'' Hitchcock said. “We were gassed. The Chicago game was really emotional and the Columbus game was just physical beyond belief.

“And then to come back and play like we did today is really impressive. These were hard, physical hockey games. Not just skating, but skating with all the body contact.''

The moral victory Babcock described wasn't good enough for Howard.

“We know what’s going on, we see the (standings) board every single day,'' Howard said. “We know we need the points right now, and when we’re not getting them, it’s just frustrating.''

Sheahan back to Grand Rapids: Babcock said after the game that center Riley Sheahan would be reassigned Monday to the Grand Rapids Griffins. Sheahan, recalled on Saturday, had no points and one shot on goal in 6:47. He played on a line with Cory Emmerton and Patrick Eaves.

Michigan Live LOADED: 04.08.2013

668761 Detroit Red Wings

NHL Winter Classic to take on 'a lot more meaning' with Red Wings, Maple Leafs in same division (video)

Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com By Brendan Savage | bsavage@mlive.com

on April 07, 2013 at 8:00 PM, updated April 07, 2013 at 8:32 PM

DETROIT – It goes without saying the 2014 NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium will be a career highlight for players from the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

There will be more than 100,000 people on hand, the game will played outdoors on New Year's Day between two Original Six teams, and it might be the only chance many players get to take part in a Winter Classic.

But the fact that it will also be a division game is going to make the event all the more meaningful. The Red Wings are moving to the Eastern Conference next season under NHL realignment and will play in a division that includes their longtime rival from Toronto.

Had the Red Wings-Maple Leafs Winter Classic not been postponed this year by the NHL lockout, the game itself wouldn't have held nearly as much importance in the standings with the teams located in division conferences.

"It going to be different because (this year's postponed Winter Classic) was probably the only time we would have faced each other," said Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard. "Moving to the East next year, we're going to see them a lot.

"I'm sure there's going to be a lot more meaning to that game."

It might even be like the old days, when animosity would build up as the teams would often play each other in a home-and-home series on back-to-back nights in Detroit and Toronto.

"It was always heated," said former Red Wings tough guy Joe Kocur, who attended the announcement and will play in the Alumni Showdown scheduled for New Year's Eve at Comerica Park. "It seems like we always played Friday-Saturday nights and Saturday night was in Toronto.

"There was a lot of hate built up on Friday heading into Toronto on Saturday."

NHL Winter Classic highlights video shown at news conference announcing 2014 game NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was at Joe Louis Arena Sunday to announce the Red Wings and Maple Leafs would play in the sixth Winter Classic on New Year's Day at Michigan Stadium

Kocur took part in the announcement by wearing one of the Red Wings' alumni jerseys while former Toronto captain Darryl Sittler – who played one season in Detroit at the end of his career – modeled a Maple Leafs alumni jersey.

Sittler agreed that having the teams in the same division will make the Winter Classic even bigger.

"For sure," he said. "I mean, you know what Detroit is like for their hockey fans. They've had great success over a number of years, but right across the border there's a lot of Leafs' fans and a lot of Red Wings' fans that are going to be here to support it and there's going to be a lot from Toronto will come down to support.

"The fact that they're in the same division, I mean, it made sense that they should have been way back – for whatever reasons they weren't – but now they are and I think it's even better."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the game would be played at 1 p.m. He expects the Winter Classic to set a world hockey attendance record with at least 105,000 fans inside The Big House.

Bettman also said the Winter Classic will be part of a two-week series of events that will include the Alumni Showdown – two games, in fact, because so many players want to take part – as well as AHL, OHL and high school games in addition to the Great Lakes Invitational for college teams.

All of those games will take place at Comerica Park, where there will also be public skating sessions for fans.

"This attraction, this event, is so big that not even The Big House can contain the excitement and entertainment we have planned for our fans," Bettman said during the news conference on the Joe Louis Arena ice before the Red Wings' 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

"So as promised, we will conduct a winter festival, which will provide several additional activities for fans and families who want to connect with the Winter Classic experience and excitement.

"We expect nearly 250,000 fans will attend the events at Comerica Park and downtown Detroit."

Tom Wilson, president and CEO of Olympia Entertainment, thanked Bettman for giving Detroit a "mulligan" after the 2013 event was canceled by the lockout.

Wilson said in addition to the various hockey games, there will also be entertainment that will include concerts at Joe Louis Arena and the Fox Theatre.

"This is going to be a celebration of hockey," Wilson said. "If you're a hockey fan of any age, it's going to be a memorable experience. It's truly going to be an amazing couple of weeks.

"It may be cold outside but it's going to be a hot time in Hockeytown for two weeks."

Next year will mark the Red Wings second appearance in the six-game history of the Winter Classic. They beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 in 2009 before 40,818 at Wrigley Field.

Michigan Live LOADED: 04.08.2013

668762 Detroit Red Wings

Loss to St. Louis drops Red Wings behind Blues in standings

By Chuck Pleiness

DETROIT – With nine games left in the regular season for the Detroit Red Wings, they suddenly find themselves clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

That’s because they failed once again to take advantage of playing on home ice as they fell to the St. Louis Blues, 1-0, at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The win moved the Blues ahead of Detroit in the standings and they’ve played two fewer games than the Wings.

“We all know what’s at stake here and we have to do a better job,” Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “Tonight we didn’t do enough. The power play has to be better and be a factor each night and tonight it wasn’t.”

The Wings were 0-for-3 on the power play and now drop to 1-3-1 in their last five at home.

“Anytime you’re at home you want to try to take advantage of them,” Kronwall said. “Tonight we did a lot of good things but couldn’t find a way to beat (Brian) Elliott. It’s very disappointing.”

Elliott, who came in just 2-6-1 lifetime against the Wings, stopped all 28 shots he faced to record just his first shutout of the season. The Blues netminder had nine shutouts last season.

“It’s a no brainer, we know what’s going on, we see the (standings) board every single day,” said Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, who made 24 saves. “It’s imperative we get points and that means we have to dig a little deeper.

“It’s frustrating,” Howard continued. “We know we need the points right now and when we’re not getting them it’s just frustrating.”

The Wings are now just 10-7-3 at home this season. Last year they won a record 23 consecutive games on home ice.

“That part is frustrating as well,” said Howard of the team’s lack of success at home. “We were so good at home last year. It’s just frustrating we’re not able to get the job done at home.”

Chris Porter scored the lone goal of the game late in the second period.

“We’ve got to get to the point where we stop looking behind us and the rungs below us,” St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We’ve got to start looking above us. We’ve got to start thinking about getting a higher seed. We spent two months looking over our shoulder. Ten days ago, we were in 11th and we were not looking good. Then we won four in a row against real good teams and now we’re looking at, ‘Can we get to sixth place?’ We’ve got to start looking up.

“I think the teams that narrow their focus at this time of year are going to be successful,” Hitchcock continued. “Everybody’s talking about best of threes or whatever. For me it’s one day at a time, find a way to compete and get points any way you can.”

Gustav Nyquist had the Wings’ best scoring chance in the second period with eight minutes left to play.

Taking advantage of Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk lost his edge at the Wings blue line, Johan Franzen fed Nyquist just over St. Louis’ blue line, but Elliott got a piece of his shot with his blocker.

A few minutes later, the Blues got the only goal of the game thanks to the efforts of Porter going hard to the goal crease. After Howard made a save on Patrik Berglund, the puck laid in the blue paint where Porter pounced on it and jammed it over the goal line.

Elliott did the rest, winning for a third straight time.

One of his biggest saves came on Pavel Datsyuk with 20 seconds left to play in regulation. Datsyuk skated left, dangling the puck on his stick and shot back right. Elliott was up to the task snaring the shot out of midair.

“Brian is on top of his game right now,” Hitchcock said. “They didn’t get any second or third shots, but it’s not fun watching (Henrik Zetterberg) and (Datsyuk) come at you in the third period. We were gassed.”

Now the Wings wait until Thursday to play again, as teams behind them in the standings – Phoenix, Edmonton and Columbus – have two games each to play and look to leapfrog Detroit into a playoff spot.

“I thought our guys played hard enough,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “We had a few chances, but they got one goal in. The message in their goal was simply we had the puck. We went to shoot it in, it hit their guy in the leg and ended up changing direction and in a scrum in front of our net. That’s playoff hockey.”

The Coyotes are three points behind Detroit, followed by the Oilers and Blue Jackets, who played Sunday night, both four points behind.

“I enjoyed coaching today,” Babcock said. “I enjoyed watching our players compete. I liked our game. Our power play I thought could have been more dangerous. Our penalty kill was good. I just thought it was a good hockey game.”

Macomb Daily LOADED: 04.08.2013

668763 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers ‘have to be more intense’ against talented Ducks — captain Shawn Horcoff

By Joanne Ireland

Edmonton Journal

April 8, 2013 12:04 AM

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Pragmatic Edmonton Oilers captain Shawn Horcoff figured the team just had it too easy in the two games against the Calgary Flames, which is why they were snapped back to reality in the two losses that followed.

After they rolled up a cumulative score of 12-3 against their struggling provincial foes, the Oilers were exposed by the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and on Saturday by the Los Angeles Kings, the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Now after two straight losses and just 10 games left to play in the NHL season, the Oilers sit on the outside of the Western Conference playoff cut-off line with a 16-15-7 record.

“We played a couple of pretty good teams and they kind of taught us the level we’re going to need to get to, to be successful,” Horcoff said after an off-ice day in California. ‘We have to be more intense. We have to increase the level of our game.”

The Oilers close out their four-game road trip Monday against the Anaheim Ducks. It’s the first meeting of the season between the clubs and the first of three they will play between now and the end of the campaign.

“We got pushed back a little bit, but we need to take that as a lesson. We still have a chance and we need to realize that,” said Horcoff, referencing two teams that took advantage of the Oilers’ undisciplined play. In both losses, the Oilers got into penalty trouble with some lazy stick infractions and paid the price.

“We know it’s going to take another little run like the one we just went on, but we just did it. Why can’t we do it again?”

The Ducks played the Kings Sunday night, so the Oilers have no excuse not to get off to a more energetic start in the Honda Center — especially if they are convinced they have a shot at making the playoffs.

To do so, they may need to win eight of their 10 games.

At the very least, they need to get back on track before the curtain closes on this lockout-shortened season.

“We need to get points now. Too late is going to be quick if we don’t,” said goaltender Devan Dubnyk. “We have to find a way to pick up our game individually and as a team.

“We need to look at how (the Canucks and Kings) played — and played hard. That’s how it’s going to be from here on in. We’re playing a lot of good teams to finish the year and we’re going to have to find a way.”

The Oilers had strung together five consecutive wins on the heels of their 8-2 victory over the Flames to start their road trip. The next night, the Canucks beat them 4-0, then the Kings scored a 4-1 win on Saturday.

“These last 10 games, we have to raise our level every night because the games are just going to keep getting harder,” said centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “We need to find a way to get better here.”

Defenceman Ladislav Smid said the Oilers need to “get some desperation into our game. We have to realize that all we have left are these 10 games and we have to pretty much win all of them.

“We have to wake up.”

The Ducks faced L.A. without Ryan Getzlaf (leg injury). He is listed as day to day and while he leaves a 43-point hole in the lineup, the formidable Ducks are going to present a challenge for the Oilers.

Jonas Hiller (14-4-4 with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage) is expected to get the start in net.

“The way the year has gone, it seems like every time we’ve had a setback, we’ve responded fairly well,” said Oilers winger Jordan Eberle. “We realize we have a bit of a mountain to climb here, but at the same time I think this is a situation that will make us a better team in the end.

“This is a team we haven’t seen yet and we’re going to push back. What better way than to do it against these guys. This is an opportunity for us to prove to the league that we’re for real and that we can move up the standings.”

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 04.08.2013

668764 Edmonton Oilers

Ducks’ pond may not be a safe place for Schultz

By Joanne Ireland

Edmonton Journal

April 7, 2013

ANAHEIM, Calif. — For the past 38 games, Justin Schultz has just gone about his business without much in the way of fanfare.

But the Edmonton Oilers rookie defenceman could be stepping into foreign territory when he skates onto the ice at the Honda Center.

The Oilers play Anaheim on Monday, which is not only the first meeting between the teams this season, but the first chance for Ducks fans to let Schultz know what they think about his decision to spurn their team so he could become a free agent.

Drafted by the Ducks in 2008, Schultz took part in two development camps while he was still with the University of Wisconsin. He spent time with Scott Niedermeyer, who once anchored Anaheim’s defence, and according to some in the Ducks’ camp, he even told management he wanted to play for the California club.

But last summer, Schultz elected not to sign his entry level contract by June 25, which activated a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that allowed him to became unrestricted free agent. After sifting through his many options, he chose the Oilers.

It was not a decision that sat well with Ducks fans or Anaheim general manager Bob Murray.

Schultz, 22, said again on Sunday that it wasn’t anything that the Ducks did or didn’t do. He just wanted a chance to be a free agent.

“I saw an opportunity in Edmonton and I don’t regret that decision,” said Schutz, who said he has thought about playing at Anaheim in an Oilers jersey, but really doesn’t know what kind of reception he’ll receive.

When he was with the Oklahoma City Barons during the NHL lockout, he played an American Hockey League game in Abbotsford, B.C., and heard from fans in Vancouver’s bedroom community. The Vancouver Canucks were one of the teams Schultz turned down last summer.

“We’ll see when game time comes,” he said. “If we had come here first, it would have been tougher, but we’ve played a lot of games, so I think it will be a little easier.

“It was a really tough decision to make. I was drafted here, but again, it was having an opportunity, which you don’t have many times in your career, to choose where you want to play.”

Defenceman Fistric draws into lineup

The Oilers didn’t run a full practice on Sunday, so there was no indication which way head coach Ralph Krueger was leaning with respect to his lineup, but he said defenceman Mark Fistric will play.

The hard-hitting veteran has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games.