Speculation: Possible 2017 Off Season moves

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Bigger ones that come to mind:

*He had the Rick Carlisle firing when no one was even thinking about firing a coach with back to back 50 win seasons.
*He had David Brandon being out at UofM about a week before the news broke on the mainstream.
*Said Jim Harbaugh was in talks to be the UofM coach while every talking head/mainstream reporter was saying no way he is returning to college.
*Was reporting that Mike Illitch was extremely sick and basically on the verge of death well before the Detroit media picked up on it and he actually died.
*Had the news that 105.1 was shutting down before anyone else did.
*Had Ken Daniels' son passing away, again before any local newspaper had the info.

Four of those are worthless ramblings that anyone without journalistic need for proof could hit on.

David Brandon was clearly on his way out long before the story came out.

The talking heads have their heads up the NFLs rearend. You had Ian Rappaport being certain that Harbaugh wasn't going back to UM while he was riding on the plane to A2.

Not to be rude and RIP Mr. I, but if you had eyes you could tell that Mike Illitch was very sick and didn't have long to live. Sorry, I'm not giving him credit for breaking a story that an 85 year old man who has been ill for awhile got sick and died.

He got 105.1 closing down before everyone else because nobody gives a damn about 105.1. If 97.1 (the station that actually carries the majority of the professional sports calls and carries the sports talk ratings) shuttered itself, the news would pick up on that much quicker.

And lastly, what the hell is it with this guy and obits? Why don't you just call him the grim reaper?

The vast majority of those stories are either things the entire public could infer (David Brandon, Mr.I) or things the public doesn't give a damn about (105.1) or things that maybe a family might not want broken (Ken Daniels).

The Carlisle firing, good call. That was in 2003, though.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Bigger ones that come to mind:

*He had the Rick Carlisle firing when no one was even thinking about firing a coach with back to back 50 win seasons.
*He had David Brandon being out at UofM about a week before the news broke on the mainstream.
*Said Jim Harbaugh was in talks to be the UofM coach while every talking head/mainstream reporter was saying no way he is returning to college.
*Was reporting that Mike Illitch was extremely sick and basically on the verge of death well before the Detroit media picked up on it and he actually died.
*Had the news that 105.1 was shutting down before anyone else did.
*Had Ken Daniels' son passing away, again before any local newspaper had the info.

It's kind of amazing that he's the best journalist we have in Detroit when it comes to actually breaking news. The beat writers are basically writing press releases for Kenny. Typically links to his stories are removed from here pretty quickly which is interesting to say the least. From what I can tell Gregg Henson is his primary source. One of his buddies is also really good friends with Jack Johnson so he gets some stuff through that connection.

The suggestion he's some rando making stuff up is clearly wrong. He's got connections and unlike the deep diggers he'll post stuff the sports organizations would prefer not to be public knowledge.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

It's kind of amazing that he's the best journalist we have in Detroit when it comes to actually breaking news. The beat writers are basically writing press releases for Kenny. Typically links to his stories are removed from here pretty quickly which is interesting to say the least. From what I can tell Gregg Henson is his primary source. One of his buddies is also really good friends with Jack Johnson so he gets some stuff through that connection.

The suggestion he's some rando making stuff up is clearly wrong. He's got connections and unlike the deep diggers he'll post stuff the sports organizations would prefer not to be public knowledge.

Yeah, it's all a big conspiracy and Jeff Moss is ****ing John Locke printing news that is not approved by the King.

He has a couple sources. That doesn't mean that his sources are infallible and that he's some bastion of journalism. He's a guy who knows a couple people who runs a blog that "breaks stories" on things where if you pay any attention to the tea leaves, you can pick it up.

And lastly, he's a blog that has zero money and therefore not a whole lot to lose if a team lost it and wanted to sue him. An org like the Detroit News or USA today? If they run a report (particularly on something like the Swedish Mafia nonsense) or the death/imminent death of a person without verification, they will get their ass sued so fast. They live by their reputation. Jeff Moss? He's basically in a no-lose area. Say something on the bleeding edge and you can either pass it off as "Hey I'm just a blogger" if it turns out to be wrong or "Hey, I hit on a story before the big guys" if you're lucky enough for it to be right.

Like that other poster was talking about... Jeff Moss isn't following the same kind of journalistic integrity rules as those he is "competing against" for breaking stories in the big media outlets. They HAVE to be right or they can be in deep trouble on a sensitive story. Jeff Moss doesn't have that worry.

 

[njx9]

Oh come on. The Red Wings would be moronic to sue the Free Press or USA Today or anyone else if they'd printed the Swedish Mafia stuff. They'd lose, and they'd look like idiots.

And it's not like ESPN, for instance, doesn't already employ a large number of hacks who are free to say ridiculous things with far less basis in truth (and again, I don't think there's a lot of truth in the SM story) with little to no accountability. Moss isn't somehow freer, just because he's running a blog - in fact, it'd likely be much easier to intimidate him into silence, since he probably has no way to mount an expensive legal defense, even if he's in the right.

 

[izlez]

Man, I can't belief the mainstream media got scooped on one of their friend's and colleague's son passing away. The people needed to know that story as fast as possible. They should have been sprinting to get that story out as quickly as possible and the only reason they didn't was because they are in the pockets of the teams.

Oh wait...they have things called dignity and class.

 

[Pavels Dog]

The suggestion he's some rando making stuff up is clearly wrong. He's got connections and unlike the deep diggers he'll post stuff the sports organizations would prefer not to be public knowledge.

There is a difference between having connections and actually knowing the facts. Something like the "swedish mafia" is extremely difficult to fact-check and that means it's both hard to confirm and to disprove.
There are reasons that professional journalists don't report on rumors like that unless they have multiple sources backing it up. As a random blogger this guy isn't really bound to any ethical or moral codes so he can "break" things like someone's son dying while the media holds off on making the pain and suffering of their colleague public knowledge. He can report on rumors from the Wings lockerroom while journalists try to fact-check and come up empty.

 

[njx9]

Man, I can't belief the mainstream media got scooped on one of their friend's and colleague's son passing away. The people needed to know that story as fast as possible. They should have been sprinting to get that story out as quickly as possible and the only reason they didn't was because they are in the pockets of the teams.

Oh wait...they have things called dignity and class.

Two words that have never been associated with TMZ, off the top of my head. Or the hundreds of other media outlets that raced to loudly broadcast the details of, say, Prince's death.

God forbid you ever know what you're talking about before hitting submit, though.

 

[Winger98]

Two words that have never been associated with TMZ, off the top of my head. Or the hundreds of other media outlets that raced to loudly broadcast the details of, say, Prince's death.

God forbid you ever know what you're talking about before hitting submit, though.

Is TMZ going to be the bar we set for journalistic standards?

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Two words that have never been associated with TMZ, off the top of my head. Or the hundreds of other media outlets that raced to loudly broadcast the details of, say, Prince's death.

God forbid you ever know what you're talking about before hitting submit, though.

TMZ is basically a glorified blog itself. They make money going quantity over quality.

And you're misunderstanding the point. Prince was an incredibly famous figure and many many people are interested in the happenings of his life. Until he died, were you even aware that Ken Daniels had a son? Even if you were, you would know Jamie Daniels as Ken Daniels' son if you were just a member of the public.

Hell, even Ken Daniels himself... if he happened to pass away, it would be huge news in Detroit and less than a subscript anywhere else.

 

[newfy]

...because we didn't have any better options?

This whole thing reeks of people trying to construct an elaborate narrative to explain something they don't like.

You dont have to believe it like I said. I've heard it from someone who would know about this type of stuff before any of this came out. Like I said, I'm not some inside source that you need to believe but I also think where theres smoke theres fire. Be sceptical all you want, I'm not saying it isn't exaggerated possibly, but dont bury your head in the sand just because you dont think its possible. I would say some people in here are too attached to Red Wing players to believe they arent all saints in the dressing room and get along perfectly.

I mean we've seen for years how much it seems these guys dont give a **** about each other. Dont stick up for each other at all hardly, dont look like a team that cares about each other. I also forget where I read it but someone wrote/ former player said that the wings dressing room isnt close at all, they dont hang out outside of the rink and things like that.

I think there were definitely better options over Ericcson as well, or at least worth trying for more than 2 games to see if it works out. After the last Olympics Ericcson did not deserve to be where he was in the line up. Is that because of the Swedish Mafia stuff? Maybe not, maybe just idiotic coaching but I tihnk its possible

It's kinda like Eklund. Do you take what he says as a credible source or do you want for a verified report?

If Eklund is writing about Philadelphia, the town hes based out of and has local connections I would absolutely believe him. Hes just tried to make money league wide after the fact because he had credibility in Philly. Its worked and he has a successful website because of it, but who was it that broke the Jeff Carter/Mike Richards massive trades before anyone? Eklund.

Some people sound more like if they dont like a blogger they refuse to believe theyre credible.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

You dont have to believe it like I said. I've heard it from someone who would know about this type of stuff before any of this came out. Like I said, I'm not some inside source that you need to believe but I also think where theres smoke theres fire. Be sceptical all you want, I'm not saying it isn't exaggerated possibly, but dont bury your head in the sand just because you dont think its possible. I would say some people in here are too attached to Red Wing players to believe they arent all saints in the dressing room and get along perfectly.

I mean we've seen for years how much it seems these guys dont give a **** about each other. Dont stick up for each other at all hardly, dont look like a team that cares about each other. I also forget where I read it but someone wrote/ former player said that the wings dressing room isnt close at all, they dont hang out outside of the rink and things like that.

I think there were definitely better options over Ericcson as well, or at least worth trying for more than 2 games to see if it works out. After the last Olympics Ericcson did not deserve to be where he was in the line up. Is that because of the Swedish Mafia stuff? Maybe not, maybe just idiotic coaching but I tihnk its possible



If Eklund is writing about Philadelphia, the town hes based out of and has local connections I would absolutely believe him. Hes just tried to make money league wide after the fact because he had credibility in Philly. Its worked and he has a successful website because of it, but who was it that broke the Jeff Carter/Mike Richards massive trades before anyone? Eklund.

Some people sound more like if they dont like a blogger they refuse to believe theyre credible.

1) All I know of Eklund is his nation-wide "appeal" where he makes crap up and is completely and totally a joke. He loses credibility when he says random crap.

2) On the "smoke there's fire" aspect... there is a huge gap between "guys don't get along" and "the Swedes have usurped the locker room". I don't care what smoke has been coming out... you damn well better have a five alarm blaze if you're going to publish a story like that if you want it to be believed. The whole source of the story has been a source of a source of Justin Abdelkader. Who's to say that something like this didn't happen.

Abby: Who the hell does Hank think he is by yelling at me, the coach?
Friend: Yeah...

Friend to Moss's source: Abby is pissed off, he thinks Hank wants to be the coach

Moss's source to Moss: Zetterberg is attempting to usurp control of the locker room.

Maybe this is exaggerated, but it's the same kind of thing that happens over and over and over. First person vents about something dumb, second person puts their spin on the story, third person puts even more, and then at the end, the story doesn't even resemble what actually happened.

Further, if there was as much smoke as you're talking about... why the hell has their been NO breaks of this story or active tension in the Wings locker room for the year+ since it came out outside of Jeff Moss? If there was so much to this story that it was worthy of publishing... surely someone, anyone else in the world has seen it and thought it was interesting enough to report on. Even a Chicago or Colorado blogger who has EVERY reason to publish something about Detroit being an embarrassing joke. Certainly there would be another player who would say something, anything to a friend. If the place was as dysfunctional to the point that the Swedish players commandeered the team, someone would think that was interesting enough to research and report.

But no... all we have are anecdotal stories about how the team isn't friends when they're not on the ice and one blogger who doesn't write articles so much as post personal attacks on those that he feels deserves it (see the Drew Sharp crap about Verlander's no-no and his Malik bashing in this current article) coming up with a story about how all the Swedes have taken over the team.

Sorry, I just need more than "smoke and rumors" and stories three people removed.

If Moss stopped at "hey, there are rumors of the team not getting along?" Sure, I can see that. But rumors of a portion of the team pulling a Varsity Blues and leaving their coach out to dry? There is literally no way that a story like that would go unreported for a year and only see the light in one blogger's postings if it was true.

 

[Frk It]

Even if it's 100% true, who cares?

These guys all have like 1 year left in the NHL, and the coach they are supposedly overruling is on the hot seat too.

I seen a ton of discussion on if this guy is right or not, but even if he is, I don't see the big deal.

Side note - He'd probably have an easier time getting people to believe him if he didn't write like a jackass.

 

[njx9]

Is TMZ going to be the bar we set for journalistic standards?

TMZ is basically a glorified blog itself. They make money going quantity over quality.

I quoted a poster who referred to "mainstream media" of which TMZ is undoubtedly, for better or worse, a part. I have at no point suggested that Jeff Moss' ethics are something to aspire to, and it'd be great if people would stop putting those words into my mouth. I'm disagreeing specifically with the assertion that he did something "mainstream media" wouldn't have done because of "dignity and class".

And you're misunderstanding the point. Prince was an incredibly famous figure and many many people are interested in the happenings of his life. Until he died, were you even aware that Ken Daniels had a son? Even if you were, you would know Jamie Daniels as Ken Daniels' son if you were just a member of the public.

Hell, even Ken Daniels himself... if he happened to pass away, it would be huge news in Detroit and less than a subscript anywhere else.

I have no idea what this has to do with anything. Again, the poster suggested the only reason it wasn't reported on elsewhere was the "dignity and class" of the "mainstream media", which is demonstrable BS. OP was arguing something very, very different than what you're arguing.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Side note - He'd probably have an easier time getting people to believe him if he didn't write like a jackass.

Yeah, he's a Howard Stern fan and it's quite apparent in his writing. I guess his DGAF attitude is why he can break so many stories while the lap dogs at the Freep/SNews/Mlive wait for Holland to give the OK before they post so much as the lineups during practice.

 

[Syckle78]

I believe that swedes had control of the locker room. Groups of players take control of the locker room all the time. Just that it happens to be swedes in this instance, which is completely irrelevant just allows for a cutesy Swedish mafia nick name. But that nickname is a big deal for some reason and gives the usual suspects of buryyourheadinthedirt syndrome for anything negative about the wings an excuse to blow it off. But, whatever, this team has 99 problems and this is near the bottom of the list.

 

[lidstromiscool]

I wonder what Green's market will look like this coming year. He is MILES better than Shattenkirk. And we better not even make an attempt to sign Shattenkirk from what I've seen from him in the playoffs.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

I wonder what Green's market will look like this coming year. He is MILES better than Shattenkirk. And we better not even make an attempt to sign Shattenkirk from what I've seen from him in the playoffs.

Well if mike green actually tries after the wings are done he could bring a similar return. He's definetely not way better then shattenkirk

 

[Reddwit]

Moss does have his connections - there's that little troupe of Cranbrook boys too - but a lot of people here are equating "breaking" news with being one of the first people to know. In reality, the guy has no journalistic integrity (if we can even call him a journalist), so I'm not willing to say he has some great, consistent channels when a lot of the stuff he has been the first to put out are things that most invested journalists aren't going to spit out without clearance.

 

[Reddwit]

I believe that swedes had control of the locker room. Groups of players take control of the locker room all the time. Just that it happens to be swedes in this instance, which is completely irrelevant just allows for a cutesy Swedish mafia nick name. But that nickname is a big deal for some reason and gives the usual suspects of buryyourheadinthedirt syndrome for anything negative about the wings an excuse to blow it off. But, whatever, this team has 99 problems and this is near the bottom of the list.

Yeah, its definitely one of those things that coincides with a very sensible, non-dramatic answer. Zetterberg is your best player and captain, Kronwall is your best defenseman, Ericsson has years of the organization/Mike Babcock in his corner while we have ****-all options on defense...etc.

 

[obey86]

Moss does have his connections - there's that little troupe of Cranbrook boys too - but a lot of people here are equating "breaking" news with being one of the first people to know. In reality, the guy has no journalistic integrity (if we can even call him a journalist), so I'm not willing to say he has some great, consistent channels when a lot of the stuff he has been the first to put out are things that most invested journalists aren't going to spit out without clearance.

Jeff Moss is not a journalist, and he would be the first to say that.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Moss does have his connections - there's that little troupe of Cranbrook boys too - but a lot of people here are equating "breaking" news with being one of the first people to know. In reality, the guy has no journalistic integrity (if we can even call him a journalist), so I'm not willing to say he has some great, consistent channels when a lot of the stuff he has been the first to put out are things that most invested journalists aren't going to spit out without clearance.

If he shares stories that the mainstream news sources sit on because they want to be on the team's good side, then I'd say he has a useful role?

Like it's nice if it's 'common knowledge' among team insiders, but most of us aren't hanging out all the time with their front office staff or something.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

If he shares stories that the mainstream news sources sit on because they want to be on the team's good side, then I'd say he has a useful role?

Like it's nice if it's 'common knowledge' among team insiders, but most of us aren't hanging out all the time with their front office staff or something.

Sure, if the details are completely accurate.

But we are getting a second (third?) hand account trying to attribute a specific detail to the issues in the locker room (Coach says one thing, Zetterberg tells them not to do said thing). Nobody else has picked up or even mentioned it. That is where I am skeptical of the validity of this specific part.

 

[obey86]

Sure, if the details are completely accurate.

But we are getting a second (third?) hand account trying to attribute a specific detail to the issues in the locker room (Coach says one thing, Zetterberg tells them not to do said thing). Nobody else has picked up or even mentioned it. That is where I am skeptical of the validity of this specific part.

Have our Red Wings beat writers ever broken a single story? They only report what Holland tells them to report...they are all basically propaganda for the organization.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I can't say I know how reliable Moss is, but I agree the Detroit media hasn't done actual reporting on the Wings in decades. As long as the Wings were a 'winner' it made sense to just go along with the org's take on things in exchange for access. After all, why get on the bad side of a Cup champion? But that's like almost a decade ago now. As long as the streak lasted, they could just continue the charade like everyone else.

But now they need to adjust to the new reality of the Wings being a losing organization. Nobody needs to hear 20 stories about how genius the Wings' front office is when they're a lottery team.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Have our Red Wings beat writers ever broken a single story? They only report what Holland tells them to report...they are all basically propaganda for the organization.

I don't understand this crazy need for beat writers to "break stories" or "ask hard questions". Is Ken Holland really going to skip on signing Frans Nielsen if Malik browbeats him? Is he really going to dump Jonathan Ericsson to the minors and eat 3.35M if Helene St. James lights him up?

I will never understand the "Oh, they need to hold them accountable" rabble

The media has **** all to do with the decisions that a front office makes. If what a beat writer reports (outside of something actually wrong and immoral) influences a personnel decision, you need to be out of that job right away.

There is one group of people that Holland is beholden to. The Illitches. And the Illitches care about money coming in the door. Fans stop going, they make a change.

So unless there is something actually amiss at JLA beyond "we paid a few too many guys too much money for too many years", I don't see the point in getting angry about it. Seems like just getting pissed off to get pissed off.