Brendan Shanahan: The Atypical Hockey Player

Brendan Shanahan shouldn't have been a hockey player. He should have been tasting wine, or taking in the theater. Or maybe he should have been in the aisle behind you at the bookstore, helping some pretty young thing pick out a title for her dad on Father's Day.

Instead, he elbowed, bulled, and plowed his way into goalies' nightmares. He put his movie star good looks on the line every night, until slowly his face got that Etch-a-Sketch look that befalls all hockey players, if they play long enough.

Shanahan played long enough. He said so, retiring yesterday at age 40, which in the NHL is the new 30 anymore.

Before Shanahan, power forward was a basketball designation. "Cerebral" and "hockey player" were antonyms. Someone named Brendan was probably a Pistons assistant coach.

Shanahan started and ended a Devil, and it's only fitting that he bookended his career, because he was a library on skates.

He knew his movies, for one. Shanahan didn't only play on lines, he could recite them. From many a flick. That's another thing he could have been: a movie reviewer. He wouldn't have looked out of place in a camel jacket, a sweater vest, and glasses.

Brendan Shanahan brought the word "refined" to hockey, both in terms of his demeanor off the ice and his goal-scoring skills on it. He was, at his best, perhaps the most complete player in hockey. He might have led the league many a season in the Gordie Howe Hat Trick: a goal, an assist, a fight.

Yeah, he could fight. Can't all Irish men? In his career, he scored 656 goals and was whistled for over 40 hours worth of penalties. Often, that was the only way to keep Shanahan off the scoresheet---by hoping he'd end up in the penalty box.

The Red Wings grabbed him in his prime, hoodwinking the Hartford Whalers into coughing him up for an aging Paul Coffey and a meh Keith Primeau early in the 1996-97 season. Shanny was 27 at the time and coveted by every team in the league---at least those interested in winning hockey games.

Forget all the Detroit jokes. Shanahan couldn't wait to get here. He was traded the afternoon of the Red Wings' home opener, and made like those poor folks on "The Amazing Race" just so he get to Joe Louis Arena in time for pre-game introductions.

So he makes it and it's his turn to have his name called, and the roar is deafening. They stood and cheered and hollered and the guy hadn't even taken a shift yet as a Red Wing.

But the people of Detroit, so knowledgeable about their hockey, knew their team had fleeced the Whalers and had brought to town a player the likes of whom hadn't been spotted wearing the Winged Wheel since Bobby Probert turned people on with his own kind of hat trick: a goal, a fight, and another fight.

Shanahan was more talented than Probert, though. That, too, was no secret.



Shanny looked like a matinee idol and played like an action hero. The ladies who showed up at Joe Louis Arena wearing oversized Red Wings sweaters were smitten. He might have seemed like just another sniper on a team that was full of them, but then you'd look up and some poor sap was in a headlock and Shanahan---Brendan---was using the guy's noggin as a punching bag.

He scored 309 goals as a Red Wing, nearly half his career total, and his best years were spent in Detroit, both in terms of individual accomplishments and those of the team. Three Stanley Cups he won playing with Yzerman and Draper and Lidstrom and Maltby and the rest.

Oh, and there was the time when he saved hockey.

Exaggeration? Sure---like calling water that's at 210 degrees boiling.

It was after the horrific canceled season of 2004-05 that Shanahan went to work, making like Jimmy Carter and bringing the Players Association and ownership together. Others helped him but Shanny took the lead, putting his big brain to use and being instrumental in chiseling out an agreement that took the game out of conference rooms and put it back onto the ice.

Without Shanahan, the NHL might still be in hibernation. Another "exaggeration."

It ended for him in Detroit shortly after Steve Yzerman retired in July 2006. Shanahan didn't care to be part of the good old days. He thought his continued presence in the Red Wings locker room would stunt the growth of some of the kids, so he made like Sinatra and wanted to be a part of it---New York, New York.

But Shanny was getting closer to 38 and he could no longer score his age in goals. He popped in 29 pucks his first season as a Ranger, 23 the second. It used to be that he could score that without breaking a sweat. Now it was all he could muster without needing an oxygen mask.

Then a swan song last season with the Devils, the team he broke into the NHL with as an 18-year-old in 1987. In New Jersey he couldn't play his age---at age 40 he skated in 34 matches. He scored six goals. The action hero was now just an extra.

So now it's done---21 years in the books as an NHLer, 1,354 points scored, and all those penalty minutes. And three Stanley Cups. And still a face for movies.

He shouldn't have been a hockey player, much less one helluva one.

Yet he was both. Go figure.

Last Night on "The Knee Jerks": Icing the Puck with MLive.com's Ansar Khan

First, a semi-major announcement: "The Knee Jerks" will be moving up a couple of hours!

Beginning December 14, you'll be able to get your jerkosity two hours earlier. The show will debut its new 9:00-11:00 ET time slot, so everyone can get some sleep on Monday nights!

The first quarter of the Red Wings' season is almost done with, so on "The Knee Jerks", my weekly gabfest with Big Al Beaton, we figured it was time to get a perspective on the team from someone who covers it, day in, day out.

Our guest was Ansar Khan, the team's beat writer for MLive.com. Ansar has been on the Red Wings' beat for about a dozen years, starting with his days at the Oakland Press.

Ansar gave us some good ice time, going up and down his wing and not committing any costly turnovers, as he gave us an insider's look at the Red Wings. It was worthy of two points.

After talking Red Wings, including Ansar's experience of being at Steve Yzerman's Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Al and I got down to Detroit sports talk business.

Al wanted to riff on the Tigers' off-season plans, particularly as they relate to the rumors swirling about the team possibly shopping Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson. So we plunged into that, along with chiding some of the so-called "experts" who have been reporting some pretty zany things that GM Dave Dombrowski is supposedly considering. Al's voice went up a couple of octaves upon the mentioning of pitcher George Sherrill, and I went off on all the people in town who look at Granderson through rose-colored glasses.

After that, it was on to the Lions.

Al likes QB Matthew Stafford's toughness, and feels that the kid won over some teammates after enduring the brutality that was Sunday's game in Minnesota. I crabbed about the less-than-accurate throws and the drops of the accurate ones. We both agreed that if the Lions lose to Cleveland this Sunday, they may be looking at having the No. 1 overall pick two years in a row.

We took a few minutes to grind Patriots coach Bill Belichick into the turf for his boneheaded decision to go for it on fourth down late in the game against Indianapolis. I called Belichick unlikable, and Al said the decision smacked of hubris. I know--a $20 word, eh?

Then, as Al said, we had to "hustle" and go to our "Jerks of the Week."

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, for updates on scheduled guests, time changes, etc.

Upcoming guests/topics:

Nov. 23 U-M/MSU football post-mortem
Nov. 30 TBD (likely Pistons-related)
Dec. 7: NHL Central roundtable with Bleacher Report writers from Columbus, Chicago, Nashville, and St. Louis
Dec. 14: Gregory Shamus, one of the best sports photographers you'll ever know (Getty Images, Pittsburgh Penguins, Red Wings, Cleveland Cavaliers, and others); don't forget---this will be our first 9:00 show!


Some highlights from Monday's show:

Big Al

On the Tigers: "I can't believe they're going to dump payroll now. They could have up to $60 million come off the books before the 2011 season. And some of the rumors coming from out-of-towners are ludicrous!"

On the Lions: "How many different ways can we say that they suck?"

On Matthew Stafford: "He didn't have happy feet. He showed a lot of toughness against the Vikings. Way more so than Joey Harrington or Scott Mitchell."


Eno

On talks of trading Granderson: "There are a few bloggers in Detroit who I respect, who went on as if the Tigers had announced they were going to start drowning puppies!"

On the Lions-Browns game: "Maybe the NFL can black it out in Cleveland, too."

On the No. 1 overall pick in 2010: "If they lose to the Browns, I think the Lions WILL get the No. 1 overall pick. They'll have lost to the Browns AND the Rams."

You can listen to the episode by clicking below!

TONIGHT on "The Knee Jerks": Red Wings Crazy, with KHAAAAN!

It's a hockey-centric episode tonight (Monday) on "The Knee Jerks," my weekly gabfest on Blog Talk Radio with my co-host, Al Beaton, as we talk all things Detroit Red Wings and NHL with Kahn. Ansar Kahn, that is.

Khan has been the Red Wings beat writer for Mlive.com and Booth Newspapers since the 2000-01 season, and for several years prior to that for the Oakland Press. You can get the latest Red Wings insight from Kahn online at Mlive. After getting the scoop on the Wings and NHL, the Knee Jerks will spew all sort of thoughts on the past week of Detroit sports.

Tigers: We'll give our thoughts on all the trade rumors surrounding the supposed availability of Curtis Granderson, Edwin Jackson, Brandon Inge and even Miguel Cabrera. There's nothing wrong with listening to offers, but what do I think of some of the proposals being thrown around by the MSM? I'll give you a hint. Starts with "ludi", ends in "crous".

Lions: Another Sunday, another loss. Same old, same old, right? Not exactly, as Matthew Stafford showed a toughness in getting beat up by an aggressive Vikings defense we never saw from such luminaries as Joey Harrington and Scott Mitchell.Coming up for the Lions is a huge game with the Browns. Why "huge" when they are playing the 1-7 Browns? The 1st overall pick in 2010 may be at stake.

Wolverines: Another Saturday, another loss. Another Monday, another possible NCAA "issue". But it is tOSU week, so could it be possible the staggering to the end of the season Wolverines can step up their game? Uh...no. However, John Beilein's basketball team started the season with a bang, as Manny Harris had a triple double in a win over NMU. Funny how the Wolverines' fanbase is now pinning all their winning hopes on the hoopsters, when they were persona non grata a little more than two years ago.

Pistons: Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon are showing signs of being a solid one-two scoring punch . Even more unexpected is the offensive firepower backup PG Will Bynum is bringing off the bench and the surprisingly effective Ben Wallace.

As always, At the end of the show, we'll also name our respective Jerk of the Week!

Tune in at 11PM every Monday night for the latest and greatest in sports talk...sports talk with a Detroit attitude! Of course, if you can't tune in live, the podcast will be available for download and streaming at our show page Tuesday morning!

Lions Pour More Losing Concrete in Minneapolis Stinker

The Lions proved once again that they have a losing foundation.

The mix that was poured to create it includes an impressive blend of poor blocking, miserable tackling, and obscene pass rush and coverage.

It's rock solid, this foundation, and the trouble is, their coach has been thwacking away at it with a hammer, when he really needs a medicine ball swinging from a chain.

On top of this foundation, the Lions play football and show us various ways every Sunday to come out on the losing side of things. It's really quite an art, like David Copperfield showing us how he can make different things disappear.

But below that surface is the foundation---the common denominator, if you will.

The Minnesota Vikings were the latest team to make mincemeat of the Lions---27-10 in the Metrdome on Sunday.

The foundation was rock solid as usual.

Impenetrable poor tackling of running back Adrian Peterson. Concrete-like strength of a non-existent pass rush. Waterproof, non-porous protection of an accordion-like offensive line.

The Lions could give the Mafia a run for their money with the concrete they pour every Sunday.

The Vikings padded their stats but not the scoreboard in the first half. It was 10-3, Minny, and the Lions were still hanging around, like the kid brother who won't let you spend time alone with your girlfriend.

The Vikings only scored ten points in the first 30 minutes despite raining long passes to Sidney Rice, who was as open as a 24-hour diner all afternoon, and despite Peterson running around, past, and through the Lions, who again showed why they're the football version of the Washington Generals.

Mack Sennett, God rest his soul, would love these Lions. So would have Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx. The Lions could have been perpetual co-stars. Margaret Dumont would have been out of work.

But the Vikings didn't do themselves any favors, either. They started shooting themselves in the cleats, with fumbles and penalties. So off they trudged at halftime, with a 10-3 lead and video game-like stats.

Peterson had rushed for 100 yards before the first beers were down, I think. Brett Favre would give him the ball and you could almost hear the Keystone Kops music and see everything turn to sepia and in fast motion.

But it was still just 10-3. Sennett would have put up a caption card in his silent short that said, "WTF?"

Ahh, but then Kevin Smith fumbled to open the second half, the Vikes pounced on it, and a couple of Peterson saunters later, the score was 17-3 Vikings and all was right in the world again.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford was harrassed by the Vikings' front four more than Sean Penn by photographers on a Hollywood sidewalk.

Stafford was denied one of the creature comforts of playing quarterback: time enough to look for a receiver. The result was a flurry of hurried throws, many of which came nowhere near their intended targets. It's hard to have accuracy when you can tell every d-lineman what he had for breakfast.

But a word about Kid Matthew.

On the occasions when he does have time to throw, why does he insist on forcing his receivers to make circus catches? The football is never delivered between the numbers; sometimes it's rarely delivered between the shoulder blades. It's like Stafford has sunk some dough into a highlight reel montage of diving, sprawling, mind-boggling catches.

Sometimes the Lions receivers oblige. Then again, sometimes Matthew gets the ball in the general area of the receivers' chest or hands and it doesn't matter, anyway. If the Lions don't lead the league in dropped passes, then I want a recount.

Favre beat the Lions again. He's spent about 13 percent of his career playing them---two out of 16 games every year---so I say we dock him and make only 87 percent of his numbers worthy.

The drumbeat of losing goes on for the Lions. They are 1-25 in their last 26 games. Jason Hanson is even missing field goals. Who do they think they are? The Italian Army? Wile E. Coyote? The Pittsburgh Pirates?

This isn't a football season anymore, it's a disaster management drill. Pretty soon they're gonna call in FEMA and give Martin Mayhew pointers.

The Lions play the Cleveland Browns next week. Frick and Frack, at Ford Field. Football theater of the absurd. If there's going to be any action on that one in Vegas, it'll be done by members of Gamblers Anonymous.

The game is likely to be blacked out in Detroit, which is a version of the mercy rule.

Vikings 27, Lions 10.

The End.

Wallace Giving Pistons Great Minutes, But Maybe Too Many of Them?

Ben Wallace is a 35-year-old NBA big man who is playing like he's 25. For now.

There's been a lot of ballyhoo over Wallace, who the Pistons snatched from the jaws of retirement last summer and signed for a league pittance.

The signing was decried, but not by me. But that's because I figured Wallace could come off the bench when some energy was needed, maybe block a couple of shots, grab a few rebounds, and then sit back down, his night done after 10, 15 minutes.

I had no delusions of grandeur about him. No idea that he'd even be considered for a starting position, let alone be granted one.

But my blessing of the signing came with a caveat.

When a guy is publicly talking about retirement, when he's already in that "mode," be careful, because you have no idea when those feelings might suddenly reappear.

Wallace spoke openly after last season, which ended with him as a non-factor with the Cleveland Cavaliers, about hanging up the sneakers. Injuries had frustrated him, as did his time in Chicago, which never met anyone's expectations---Wallace's or the Bulls'---after he signed his big free agent contract in July 2006.

But he wanted to give it one more shot, and the idea of doing that in Detroit intrigued him, as it did the Pistons. So I figured, why not?

Now, after seven games, Wallace is being heralded as "the old" Ben Wallace. Not "an old" Ben Wallace. There's a difference.





I think it's terrific that Wallace is giving the team far more than it had ever dreamed when training camp began. He's back to being Windex personified. He's disrupting shots, and blocking some of them. He's providing sage defensive advice to the team's kids. He's almost, dare I say, a coach on the floor that way.

But he's playing way too many minutes for my comfort. Not that anyone bothered to ask me.

The NBA season is an 82-game marathon. And Wallace has sprinted from the start, racing out to a big lead.

But refer back to the opening paragraph, please. Ben Wallace is 35 years old.

Pistons president Joe Dumars subscribes to a theory which has merit, but still makes me shudder at the number of minutes Wallace is logging so far---well over 30 per night, and sometimes close to 40.

The theory says that big men can last longer in the NBA, can play well into their 30s, because they don't run up and down the court, as a rule, at the same speed as the smaller guys, i.e. the guards. OK.

But 35 is 35. And Wallace is more active than most big men.

Not to be Chicken Little, but let's see where Wallace's production's at come February, if he's still playing 30+ minutes per game. Then let's see if he has anything left for a playoff run a couple months after that.

The Pistons' frontcourt rotation, however, is probably not the same now as it will be down the line. New coach John Kuester still has to see what he truly has. And, in his defense, it's hard to yank Wallace off the floor when he's playing the way he is.

"Ben sets the tone for us defensively," Kuester told reporters recently.

Yes, he does. For now.

And about that retirement thing. Wallace says basketball is fun again, because he's healthy. Point taken. But what if something becomes the matter with him again this winter? He's already been in retirement mode once this year.

Food for thought, but it's unseemly to chew on it now, isn't it?