Keith Gave

Author of a new book, The Grind Line. Also: The Russian Five; Vlad The Impaler; A Miracle of Their Own. Cold War veteran. Recovering sports writer. на здоровье

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Alex Ovechkin, newly minted Stanley Cup champion, shows of his copy of 'The Russian Five' and 'Rule No. 1: Don't Be No. 2' by @HockeyAgent1. Thank you, Dan Milstein. #Believe #RedWings #allcaps #RussianFive #NHL #LGRW

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Pretty much nailed it. Wwll done.

[Joe Chapp @JCSportsDetroit]

Understand what the two positions actually are. Larkin wants out — reportedly because he wants to win, which is the one motive nobody can really argue with. Yzerman wants a return that helps Detroit compete immediately, because a decade into this tenure with no playoff appearance, he is squarely in save-your-job mode. Both positions are individually rational. Together, they're a deadlock. Larkin's three-team list guts Yzerman's leverage; Yzerman's win-now demand guts the list's viability. Neither man is wrong by his own logic, and the collision of those two logics produces exactly nothing — no trade, no reconciliation, no resolution, all summer.

And if the reports are accurate that the captain and the general manager went an extended stretch without speakiung, then this deadlock wasn't fate. It was manufactured. A conversation — an actual, adult conversation between the two most important people in the organization — either prevents this or resolves it early enough to act on. Instead, agents around the league reportedly knew about the freeze-out, which quietly answered a question fans have been asking for years: why don't the good free agents come here? Why does a franchise with Little Caesars Arena, a state-of-the-art practice facility, and one of the great brands in hockey keep finishing second for players? Because the people paid to represent those players could see what we couldn't.

Meanwhile the neighborhood got better. Toronto improved. Florida — already the class of the conference — added Brady Tkachuk to a lineup getting Aleksander Barkov back. The Atlantic Division is an arms race, and Detroit's contribution to it this summer has been a staring contest with its own captain. The Red Wings didn't get better for now. They didn't sell for the future. They picked the one option with no upside in either direction: nothing.

The cruelest part is that fans can't do anything about it except what they've always done: buy the tickets, watch the games, refresh the feeds, and wait for two men who reportedly couldn't be bothered to speak to each other to figure out what the rest of us pay for the privilege of watching them not decide.

Larkin will land somewhere fine. Yzerman will survive this. The fans get the summer of limbo, the season of consequences, and the bill for both. That's the saga, stripped to its studs. Everybody in it has an exit except us.

Link to video; https://t.co/CCd181iMUi

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Might need a hostage negotiator and the Pope in that "group hug" presser, but i like your thinking, John.

[John C. Wharton IV 🇺🇲 @johnnywharton]

Larkin not adding to his 3 team list tells me that the other team he'd want to play for is the Detroit Red Wings... which is increasingly the most likely end of this saga. And with the moves Yzerman has made (so far) this summer, he should.

And a unifying presser would go a long way towards a group hug with the fan base. This is hockey, not a new season of Real Housewives.

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Hmmmm. . .

[Hogamadog @hogamadog]

I saw this kid play once when his CSKA club was touring North America in 1989. I wonder what became of him? 🤔

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Stupid question.

[Woodward Sports Network @woodwardsports]

Sergei Fedorov or Pavel Datsyuk

Who is the Better All-Time Red Wing?

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Same to you, Johnny! I'll take a hot dog charred black and a burger on the rare side, thank you. . .

[John C. Wharton IV 🇺🇲 @johnnywharton]

Happy Independence Day!! Enjoy your freedom and don't listen to anyone that tells you that you don't live in the greatest country in the world!! 🇺🇸❤️

[Allan Walsh🏒 @walsha]

In the pre-salary cap era before 2005, owners colluded to mostly avoid them. The facts are today- teams need players and many of the best are locked up in long term deals. The only place to find elite young players is the RFA marketplace. 2/2

[Allan Walsh🏒 @walsha]

Funny to hear some commentators expressing an opinion that players are somehow being disloyal to their team by signing an offer sheet. Players can be traded without notice, put on waivers and sent down. Is that disloyal? One NHL owner told me players are “fungible assets”. 1/2

[Brian Fisher @BrianFisherLORW]

These American players are turning into the biggest divas in the NHL

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@stoli70 @313Hockey Too kind, Brian thank you!

[George Malik @georgemalik]

"Vernie" was only with the Red Wings for 4 seasons, but he won a Stanley Cup, the Conn Smythe trophy, competed in 2 Stanley Cup Finals, and he mentored Chris Osgood into a 400-game-winning goaltender. Vernon was incredibly important to the Wings' 90's runs, present and future.

[Bob Wojnowski @bobwojnowski]

If you were alive for the Summer of the Bird, you saw pure baseball joy as never seen before .... and never seen since.

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@Johnubacon @detroit_liz5323 Yanks

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@takingiteasy76 You and me both, Shawn. Sad and angry.

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Not enough serious golfers in the Detroit front office. The whole Traverse City experience has slowly dissolved since Ken Holland left. His Prospects Tournament was among the best of his creations. Wings staying home is a big loss of a payday for the TC region.

[John U. Bacon @Johnubacon]

@KeithGave And what's the upside? Everyone seemed to love it -- coaches, players, fans (even reporters -- but no one cares about us!), and the team bonded and got ready.

[Allan Walsh🏒 @walsha]

The decentralized draft is a self-inflicted disaster for the NHL. The Draft used to be a unique event with a mystical atmosphere bringing together the entire hockey world to one place for a special weekend. Almost everyone I speak to hopes it goes back to an in person draft.

[JayTakes @SportsWithJay0]

Colin Cowherd goes OFF on the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark snub:

“They dropped a commemorative poster for 30 years of the WNBA. Caitlin Clark isn’t on it… but Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese are.

When she entered the league, they had to move her road games to bigger arenas just to fit her fans. She upgraded the WNBA from Southwest back rows to private jets.

Yet she’s left off the 30-year anniversary poster?

It’s either incompetence or intentional. Both are embarrassing.”

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@WeckesserBill Jim Devellano and Yzerman speak frequently. Devellano is the team's Senior VP. Influential? Hard to say who or what influences this GM. But no, Jimmy D. would never advise draft picks over star players at this stage of the rebuild.

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@DDirezze @GregEno @freepsports @detnews_sports So very kind. Thank you!

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

@jcharb31 Oh man, thank you John!

[Keith Gave @KeithGave]

Amen.

[Greg Eno @GregEno]

Dylan Larkin's trade request was revealed a few weeks ago. But since then, we haven't heard a PEEP from the coach or any of his teammates. Where is the reporting by the beat writers at @freepsports or @detnews_sports? #RedWings #lgrw

We could use a little New York around here.