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DETROIT -- Henrik Zetterberg wants to play in the playoffs. John Randle Authentic Jersey . "Thats the goal," Zetterberg said Wednesday, speaking to reporters for the first time since he had back surgery Feb 21. The Detroit Red Wings hope to give their captain what he wants, but theyve got work to do. Detroit would be in its 23rd straight post-season if the regular season ended Wednesday, but it is in a logjam for one of two spots in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. The Red Wings, who have 10 games left in the regular season, will play Montreal on Thursday night at home. Zetterberg is aiming to return after the playoffs begin April 16. "I think the timeline is eight weeks without contact," he said. "Thats what the doctors say and thats what were going to stick with, and then well re-evaluate after that." Zetterberg said he felt great when he went to Winter Olympics. After Zetterberg played his one and only game as Swedens captain, he woke up in pain because a lingering back problem became debilitating. He had surgery about a week later in New York. "This had to be done," he said. "We went in, took away two pieces from my disc that were pushing on the nerve. Once this is healed and properly rehabbed, I shouldnt have an issue again." Despite not playing for Detroit since Feb. 8, Zetterberg still leads the team with 48 points. The Red Wings have been resting Pavel Datsyuk since Feb. 27, hoping it will help his left knee heal enough to help the team late in the regular season and the playoffs if they earn a spot. Datsyuk has been skating this week, but it is not known how longer he will be out. Detroits front line has been bolstered recently by the return of Darren Helm and Joakim Andersson. Tomas Jurco, who has been out for two weeks with injured ribs, is expected to play Thursday against the Canadiens. "The big thing is you get them back, but theyre good for one game and then it takes them about three games to get their conditioning up to speed," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. Zetterberg led the team with 16 goals for a while, but Gustav Nyquist has surged into the lead with 25, including two in each of the previous two games and nine during a six-game streak. From Jan. 20 through Tuesdays games, he scored an NHL-high 20 goals -- five more than the leagues second-leading scorer during that stretch. "Hes the hottest player in the league right now and we hope its going to continue," Zetterberg said. Nyquist, who scored four times in 40 NHL games entering the season, has made the most out of his opportunities to play a lot for a banged-up team that has been missing a slew of forwards. Detroits fourth-round pick in 2008 previously scored a lot for the AHLs Grand Rapids Griffins, at the University of Maine and in the Swedish Junior League. "Hes on a roll and feeling good about himself," Babcock said. "You never know until these players play whether they can do it in this league. Hes been a dominant scorer in every league hes ever played in." Rhett Ellison Authentic Jersey . -- The linebacker with 100 per cent attendance says theres a 99 per cent chance hes done. Brett Favre Authentic Jersey . - The Oakland Raiders have signed quarterback Trent Edwards and defensive tackles David Carter and Torell Troup to reserve/future contracts. NEW YORK -- Major League Soccer hopes to place its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. "Were making progress in both of those markets. I wouldnt say were close," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Tuesday ahead of this weekends championship game between Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City. Former Manchester United, Real Madrid and Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham is leading the Miami effort and has the right to an expansion team at a discount fee of $25 million. "We are very excited about the opportunity of David putting together an ownership group and finalizing a stadium site in downtown Miami," Garber said. "We cant go to Miami without the right stadium solution. David understands that. The city understands that. That is an indisputable fact." New teams have been announced for 2015 in New York City and Orlando, Fla., increasing the leagues total to 21. MLS began with 10 teams in 1996, expanded to 12 and then contracted to 10 in 2002 when Miami and Tampa Bay were eliminated. "The Miami today demographically, socially, politically is very different from the Miami of 2002 where we folded the Miami Fusion," Garber said. "So we believe Miami could work if we get the right stadium situation. We dont have that yet." Falcons owner Arthur Blank heads the Atlanta venture, which would play at a new stadium for his NFL team, a venue scheduled to open in 2017. "Weve been working on a downsizing technology that we think would be unique, would be the only one of its kind anywhere in the world," Garber said. "Weve got to continue to work hard with Atlanta to see if this whole project makes sense for them. But I am encouraged by the discussions and hope to be able to finalize something." They would give the league 23 teams, one short of the leagues goal for 2020. Garber said Tuesday that Minneapolis, San Antonio, St. Louis and Austin, Texas, are among the possibilities for a 24th team. MLSs regular-season attendance average increased from 15,504 in 2006 to a record 18,807 last year before dropping slightly this season to 18,594. Garber said the league is spending more than $20 million annually on player development and must grow revenue. "Major League Soccer still loses money as an enterprise, and weve got to find a way that we can get closer to being a break-even enterprise," he said. The league receives an average of about $28 million annually from its national broadcast contracts with ESPN, NBC and Univision, which expiire after the 2014 season. Alan Page Authentic Jersey. In the first season after Beckham left the Galaxy, regular-season ratings dropped from an average of 180,000 viewers to 170,000, according to Nielsen Media Research. However, viewers for the playoffs not including the final have increased from 240,000 to 270,000. "We did a heat map of the MLS broadcast schedule against that of the EPL, two other European leagues and the four other major leagues in this country, and you get dizzy looking at the MLS schedule," Garber said. "What we need to have is a consistent game of the week or games of the week that run from the beginning of year to the end of the year as much as we can at consistent times. And if that can be a Friday or a Saturday or a Sunday, that would be a positive." In its first season televising the English Premier League under a $250 million, three-year contract, NBCSN is averaging 429,000 for games televised in the U.S. mostly on weekend mornings. Nine games on NBC are averaging 788,000. "I think what NBC did for the Premier League is unprecedented in the history of pro sports. They really took the Premier League and made it as important as anything that was going on in the NBC Universal family, and its paying off in ratings and its certainly making economic sense for them," Garber said. "So if were able to create that kind of a scenario with a broadcaster, I think it would be beneficial for us." Garber also went into detail on the leagues examination of whether to switch its March-to-December schedule to the international calendar, which runs from August until May. MLS discussed playing from July until December, taking a break and finishing from late February until May. "Its not just about are we going to play a few more games in cold-weather markets at an earlier time of the year. Its about what do we do with an extended break, because I dont care what market it is, were not playing in February and in January in places like Toronto, Vancouver," he said. "We went through some fairly extensive discussions as a league to figure out if we could do this sometime in the future. It wouldnt have been for 14. But thats not something that were going to do in the short-term." He also promised more transparency in the leagues complex and opaque player control rules, which make if difficult at times to determine which teams control rights. "We are still evolving," he said. "and we still are doing some of this stuff on the fly." ' ' ' |
