April 4, 2006
Yzerman Leads wings
 Everyone CALGARY, Alberta -- There was a thought in coach Mike Babcock's mind about sending Steve Yzerman home before Monday's 2-1 shoot-out victory over Calgary.
Babcock felt it would be good to get Yzerman some rest, since Monday's game in Calgary would be the Wings' fourth game in five nights.
Yzerman, who scored a goal and was among the most effective players on the ice, would have nothing of it.
"He didn't want to go home," Babcock said. "He and Cheli (Chris Chelios, 44), they're hockey players. They want to play."
They're playing well, too, as are the Wings, who tied an NHL record with 28 road victories this season.
"At this point of the season, I can't complain about the way I'm feeling at all," said Chelios after the victory, one of the Wings' most impressive of the season.
"Being that it was the fourth game in five nights, we have to be pleased."
Yzerman scored for the Wings while both teams were 4-on-4, his 14th of the season and fifth in the last nine games. Over that span, Yzerman has 12 points (five goals, seven assists). He now has 692 career goals, two behind Mark Messier.
The victory was the Wings' 28th road victory (28-6-3) of the season, tying the all-time league mark that New Jersey earned during the 1998-99 season
It was also the Wings' ninth consecutive victory on the road, setting a team record.
"That's nice, but it's not our focus," Babcock said.
The reason for the Wings' success on the road this season?
"We play a simpler game, we're not as cute," Babcock said. "We don't make that one extra play and that's what allowed us to be successful."
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary's superb rookie defenseman, scored the Flames' goal in the first period.
In the shoot-out, Pavel Datsyuk and Jason Williams scored against Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
Chris Osgood, who was just as effective as Kiprusoff all night, stopped Matthew Lombardi and Jarome Iginla, making the third shooter on each team not necessary.
"The moves those guys (Datsyuk, Williams) made, any goalie would have had trouble stopping them," Osgood said. "We're not afraid to get into a shoot-out."
Ted Kulfan can be reached at (313) 223-4606, or ted.kulfan@detnews.com.
April 4, 2006
Fisch wants to come back
Everyone
According to the Detroit News... better news than no news...::::::: here goes::::
Jiri Fischer hopes to play hockey again with the Detroit Red Wings.
Fischer, who collapsed and nearly died after a shift during a game Nov. 21, 2005, said in a televised interview on FSN Detroit Monday night that his goal is to return to the highest level of competition.
"You can obviously play hockey on a lot of levels, but for me, the only level that would be the true satisfaction of playing again would be in the National Hockey League and playing for the Red and White," Fischer told John Keating during the interview. "There is no other place that I would rather want to play. Playing for the Detroit Red Wings, that's the only place I would like to play. But, there will have to be a lot of things done to kind of reassure everybody that it (the incident) will not happen again."
Fischer, 25, has not played since his collapse from a life-threatening heart arrhythmia. He likely would have died had it not been for the immediate use of automated external defibrillator (AED).
There is the chance that even if Fischer is cleared medically, the Red Wings or any NHL team might not want to take the risk. It's possible the team wouldn't be able to get insurance for him because of his condition.
Fischer said he is aware the Wings or any team might be wary because of the incident late last year.
"I don't have that fear at all," Fischer said. "As a matter of fact I don't have a fear of pretty much anything right now. There's a lot of things you realize and I have realized. Everybody said health is the No. 1 thing in the world. Everybody knows that. I think everybody appreciates that to a certain point. I think I appreciate it to a whole new level than I did before.
"I'm not the only one to decide. I understand there's a huge liability that comes with playing in the NHL and for the Red Wings ."
Fischer said he remembers very little about the night he collapsed.
"I remember being scored on the last shift of the hockey game," Fischer said. "That happened to be my last shift until now basically. And then when I woke up at the hospital everything was clear since then.
"There's still a little window that I don't remember. I'm hoping it's going to come back. When you come that close to basically dying -- now I'm not afraid to say it, it's part of my life now. It's actually very uplifting that I came that close and I'm fortunate enough to be in a fine condition now."
He said he has lost about 40 minutes of his life that he simply can't recall. Because he was so unaware of everything that happened to him that night, Fischer said is almost pleasantly oblivious to the fact he nearly died.
"I guess I'll never fully realize how serious it was, because for me, I fell unconscious then I woke up perfectly fine in the hospital," Fischer said. "Perfectly fine, meaning that I had full functions of my body and I could think pretty clearly."
Fischer admits it might sound cliché, but he simply is grateful he is still living and breathing, and contemplating a life that could include playing professional hockey.
"I don't look at that night as a bad thing at all," he said. "Everybody that I meet and I haven't seen them for a long time, they come up to me and (say), 'I'm very sorry for what happened,' which I extremely appreciate, but I always say, 'Why would you be? It could have been a lot worse.'
"Until now, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not trying to be cheesy, but when you get that close to not being here -- everything could have been taken away instantly -- and being here, being healthy, mentally being fine, which a lot of people don't come out of the condition that I was in having fully functional brain or limbs or any organs as a matter of fact, it's really like winning the lottery, so I've already won mine. I don't have to win any more. I don't take very many things for granted anymore, so I feel very good about every day."
Fischer is bright and inquisitive and always has been interested in everything around him. He has not become self-absorbed, but he has become more self-aware.
"Everybody's got their own path -- that's what I believe -- that everybody has to follow," Fischer said. "Sometimes you take turns when you should try to get back to your path. The hardest thing is figuring out what your purpose is.
"Obviously when I had the unfortunate incident during the game, the next few weeks were very stressful, a lot of doubting. What's the purpose? Why it happened and is it going to happen again? How can I prevent it? What's going to happen in the future? How is my career going to continue, which at that time, it (career) was the absolutely most important thing I could imagine. It's still extremely important, but then the last few months I realized that if you're not healthy, you can have all the money in the world, all the fame, but that's not really worth much."
You can reach Angelique S. Chengelis at Angelique.Chengelis@detnews.com
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