Valtteri Filppula News

Ten days after the start of NHL free agency, there still are notable players available for the Detroit Red Wings, who suddenly have a little more spending money than they anticipated and a need to bolster their offense.

The Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod suggests that Red Wings forward Jiri Hudler's decision to sign with Dynamo Moscow isn't a surprise: July 8, RedWingsCorner : I was more surprised by Mikael Samuelsson's departure.

DETROIT -- Throughout the regular season, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland joked the only news conferences he'd hold this summer would be to announce what players aren't coming back.

As MLive.com's own Ansar Khan noted , Hockey Canada released its list of 46 players for its Olympic orientation camp in Calgary, Alberta, and Red Wings forward Dan Cleary garnered an invite to the gathering, which takes place between August 24-27 . Chris Osgood didn't receive a nod from Team Canada executive director/Red Wings VP Steve Yzerman.

Red Wings scout Hakan Andersson is rarely-photographed, rarely seen as he makes his way into rinks in the middle of Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Russia, and other countries' "nowheres," and he does so to attempt to find equally anonymous NHL players, and the Macomb Daily's Bruce MacLeod profiles Detroit's super scout: June 25, ...

The Sports Forecaster conducted its mock draft today, and its Red Wings pick is a Swede not named Carl Klingberg: June 25, The Sports Forecaster : 29.

On Sunday, Mats Sundin told Expressen's Gunnar Nordstrom that he has chosen to decline any invitation from Sweden to participate in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

DETROIT ? They turned a ton of grit into 35 pounds of silver. They did it one shift at a time and one period at a time and they did it together.

Final numbers for 2009 Stanley Cup final scoring chances. Valtteri Filppula was asked to step up in the 2009 Stanley Cup finals, to take on a far more difficult assignment, and his lack of success is one of the main reasons the Detroit Red Wings were unable to thwart the Pittsburgh Penguins this year.

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, left, after taking a crushing hit from Wings centre Johan Frazen during Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final Friday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Both MLive.com's own Ansar Khan and the Detroit News's Ted Kulfan doled out Red Wings grades/assessments, but they did so slightly differently.

DETROIT This certainly wasn't what Marian Hossa signed up for. The biggest name on the free-agent market last July, he had two choices take the big bucks and long-term contract being offered by the Pittsburgh Penguins, or go with the one-year deal the Red Wings placed on the table.

Staal, 20, has played in many winner-take-all games with the championship on the line.

Paul Kukla of Kukla's Korner spotted this gem from Ray Ratto, the San Francisco Chronicle's version of Drew Sharp .

A few more Red Wings-Penguins videos popped up on the radar screen during the middle of the afternoon: Both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKA posted videos from the Penguins' rally held earlier today; ESPN's EJ Hradek and Matthew Barnaby previewed Game 6 in a 4:31 clip... As well as a 2:15 clip of Barry Melrose's game preview... The NHL's "Cisco ...

Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins lets shot by Valtteri Filppula #51 of the Detroit Red Wings get past him in the second period during Game Two of the 2009 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Joe Louis Arena on May 31, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan.

One of the key plays in Detroit's 5-0 win Saturday in Game 5 was goaltender Chris Osgood's long outlet pass to Marian Hossa during a change by Pittsburgh.

Dan Cleary addresses the media on Sunday. Wings lead series 3-2 THE CANADIAN PRESS DETROIT -- With one more victory, the bruised and battered Detroit Red Wings will be Stanley Cup champions for a second year in a row.

Today: We give readers a little French in today's gallery. This could be Bill Guerin's last Cup final.

Chris Osgood makes a save during the first period of Game 5 against the Penguins.