Michigan Sports Fan Blog

Rodney Stuckey doesn’t know when he will play again, but he hopes it will be this season.

Three doctors cleared Stuckey for exercise Wednesday after extensive cardiac tests. He collapsed on the bench during Friday’s game at Cleveland and was taken away on a stretcher. He missed Sunday’s game against Houston and will be out again Wednesday against Utah.

“I really don’t know what that means — they told me I can exercise, but I haven’t talked to anyone about if that means I can practice or what,” he said before the Utah game. “I want to play, but we’ll have to see what they tell me.”

Pistons coach John Kuester said he expects Stuckey to return to the lineup before the season is over, but said the team doesn’t have a timeline.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The Detroit Red Wings once were major players on trade deadline day. Those days are gone, mostly because of the NHL’s salary cap.

“It looks like we’re not going to be very active,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Tuesday.

The Red Wings are right against the $56.8 million cap, so Holland said any move they make would require them to shed equal or more salary. Now that the team is almost completely healthy for the first time this season, Holland likes his roster and doesn’t feel any urgency to deal.

“I look at our trade deadline acquisitions as being (Johan) Franzen, (Andreas) Lilja and (Niklas) Kronwall,” Holland said of the players who recently returned from long-term injuries. “I still believe we have a good team. I don’t foresee us doing anything of any significance.”

That hasn’t prevented other teams from calling. Holland said he had spoken with three or four GMs in the past couple days.

“They’re offering decent players, veteran guys who will be unrestricted free agents (after the season), but they’ve got serious cap numbers,” Holland said. “We can’t get into that game. We don’t want to get into that game.

“I don’t believe I can make a move that will make us better.”

Click here to read the full article – By Michigan Live

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The average age on Team USA men’s hockey roster is 26 1/2 . Defenseman Brian Rafalski, the lone Red Wing on the team, is 36.

There’s nothing he can do about that, but one thing is certain: “I don’t want to be here just because I’m the old guy with experience,” he said. “Obviously, I know I can contribute.”

Rafalski is one of three players with Olympic experience on a team that will play its first game of the Winter Games this afternoon against Switzerland.

Rafalski, an alternate captain for Team USA, also was a member of the 2002 Salt Lake team that lost to Canada in the gold medal game and the 2006 Torino team that lost to Finland in the quarterfinals.

Click here to read the full article – By Detroit Free Fress

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Forward Tomas Holmstrom left Detroit Red Wings practice early today and is questionable to play Thursday, when the Wings host the San Jose Sharks. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall is definitely out, coach Mike Babcock said.

Holmstrom has been bothered by a bruised left knee suffered Saturday at Los Angeles and missed Tuesday’s 4-3 shoot-out loss at St. Louis.

“I felt pretty good to start with,” Holmstrom said. “But then I got a pain in my knee, and when I started doing drills and going hard, I got really sore and was in pain. But there is big difference from yesterday to today. And I still was out there for 40 minutes (in practice), but I didn’t go that hard. I hope I play tomorrow, but we need to see if the sharp pain is going away.”

The injury is serious enough that Holmstrom, who missed a month with a broken foot in January, is questioning his readiness for the Olympics, which begin next week. He’s part of Team Sweden.

“I’ve started to worry about the Olympics, a little bit,” Holmstrom said. “I need some games. I’ve been out before this, too. So, yeah. But all you can do is just see, day-to-day.”

Click here to read the full article – By Detroit Free Fress

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Detroit Red Wings defenseman Andreas Lilja has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins on long-term injured-reserve conditioning loan, general manager Ken Holland said this evening.

Lilja went to Grand Rapids today.

“He’ll practice tomorrow, and then play Wednesday, Friday and Saturday,” Holland said. “We’ll probably decide by Saturday whether we appeal for two more games, but it certainly appears that way.”

Lilja has not played since suffering a concussion while fighting Nashville’s Shea Weber last Feb. 28. Lilja is attempting to return to the Wings’ lineup, and the team determined that it’s best if that begins with a stint in the American Hockey League.

Click here to read the full article – By Detroit Free Fress

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Reliever Jose Valverde and the Detroit Tigers finalized their $14 million, two-year contract on Tuesday.

The agreement, which was reached last week pending a physical, includes a $9 million option for 2012.

Valverde saved 25 games in 29 chances for the Houston Astros last year before filing for free agency. The 30-year-old right-hander was 4-2 with a 2.33 ERA. Valverde led the NL in saves with Arizona in 2007 and Houston in 2008.

Detroit needed a closer after choosing not to re-sign Fernando Rodney and Brandon Lyon.

“We think Jose is one of the premier closers in the game,” Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. “He addresses to us what was our biggest need on our ballclub and gives us a chance, we think, to have a very solid pitching staff.”

Rodney received an $11 million, two-year contract from the Los Angeles Angels, and Lyon signed with Houston for $15 million over three season.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

The Detroit Pistons will attempt to put the brakes on a seven-game losing streak Tuesday, when they welcome the New York Knicks to The Palace of Auburn Hills.


The Pistons will also play host to Chicago on the brief residency and are 8-6 at home this season. They suffered their seventh consecutive defeat on Sunday in a 102-95 decision at Toronto, as Richard Hamilton returned to the lineup from a sore right hamstring and scored 15 points for the Pistons

Ben Gordon netted 15 points off the bench, while Rodney Stuckey had 14 points, eight boards and five assists in a losing cause.

“Early in the game I didn’t feel like I had my legs, but it got better as the game went on,” Gordon said. “We had some decent looks later in the game, but just couldn’t make the shots.”

Click here to read the full article – By of sportsnetwork.com

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Todd Bertuzzi broke into a big grin. After 22 fruitless shots over nine games, he finally fired the puck — and saw it sink in behind the goaltender.

Was that smile a sign of pure relief?

“To say the least,” Bertuzzi said. “I love to score, and when you’re not scoring, it’s not that much fun. I just shot it on net. I think he thought I was going to make the pass, because I know Turcs really well, and he knows me from playing against me. So I think he thought I was just going to throw it cross-crease. So it caught him short side.”

Bertuzzi’s fourth goal was set up by Pavel Datsyuk, his linemate for the past several weeks — many of them frustrating as the two, along with Tomas Holmstrom, went game after game without producing.

Click here to read the full article – By Detroit Free Fress

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With three regulars among the forwards out of the lineup, the Red Wings are getting more and more use out of two of their newest members.

Drew Miller topped 13 minutes in the Wings’ 4-3 shoot-out victory Saturday against St. Louis, the most he has played since first suiting up for the Wings on Nov. 12 after being picked up off waivers from Carolina. Patrick Eaves, signed in August as a free agent, played nearly 15, the most in eight games, and set up Kris Draper’s goal.

“Eaver has created his own identity here with this team and that’s something that is helping everyone here,” Draper said. “We had a big turnover this summer and players were finding their way in here, finding the structure and system that we want to play. …

“Eaver is one of the guys that certainly is playing with a lot of confidence right now, and that’s what you need.”

Click here to read the full article – By Detroit Free Fress

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Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz isn’t second-guessing his decision to start Matthew Stafford.


“No second thoughts at all,” Schwartz said Friday, a day after his rookie quarterback threw four interceptions in a 34-12 loss to Green Bay. “Him throwing the interceptions had nothing to do with his shoulder.”

Stafford separated his left, non-throwing shoulder at the end of a Nov. 22 game against Cleveland, but after a penalty returned to throw a touchdown pass with no time on the clock to secure a 38-37 win over the Browns.

It was one of five touchdowns for the first pick in the 2009 NFL draft, who became the second rookie quarterback to do so.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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