...In With The New

Well, the Wings have filled the Assistant Coach position, and it was a name we Wings fans actually expected.  Taking the offensive duties this season will be former Wing Brad McCrimmon.  He played defense with the Wings for three seasons (90-91 to 92-93) and was recently the Assistant Coach for the Atlanta Thrashers (yay for stealing from the East! apparently that's our latest habit).  McCrimmon is also a Saskatchewan man like our Coach Babcock!  Hooray for great coaches from the Sask!

We now need to fill the Video Coach position, and I know who I've got MY fingers crossed for... one Bruise Brother that always made me squee with joy because of his fists of fury, and he currently has my heart through my stomach because of his Fenton, MI restaurant, 'The Penalty Box'.  Yep, Mr. Joey Kocur, the man with the one-punch knockout.  He was our VC for some time before Babcock took over and replaced the entire support staff with his own, but with Woodie (Jay Woodcroft) bookin' it for the San with McLennan, I'm thinking a favorite son who knows the job would be a nice addition.  Heck, maybe he could give Tomas Kopecky and Jonathan Ericsson, some young guys who have the build to do some damage, a few pointers on holding their own? Dreaming :)

Also in Wings news...

Both Ericsson and Jimmy Howard have signed 3-year deals.  This tells me a few things - one, that Howard likely isn't going to steal the #2 away from Ty Conklin this season but will have two full NHL years, and two, that Ericsson might get NHL time, but not enough to keep him a RFA, so we wanted to lock him up longer term.