Nobody is surprised the Red Wings locked up Henrik Zetterberg with a long-term contract. He is a terrific player, destined to be one of the Red Wings’ all-time greats. It appears to be a creative deal, too, one that will allow the Red Wings some flexibility with the salary cap.
I do wonder, however, if Zetterberg is still the obvious heir apparent to Nicklas Lidstrom as the Red Wings captain.
What about Pavel Datsyuk? He is older, has been with the Red Wings longer and is, arguably, the better player. Granted, it is just splitting hairs when you are talking about these two great players. I still think the odds of the Red Wings keeping both Marian Hossa and Johan Franzen following this season are slim.
The better bet: Franzen stays, Hossa goes. There is only so much Red Wings general manager Ken Holland can do with the salary cap, especially considering it could go down in the future because of the flagging economy.

Random Thoughts

- The Red Wings still received a point Tuesday for their overtime loss at Columbus, despite essentially playing without Zetterberg, Brad Stuart, Nicklas Lidstrom and Datsyuk for virtually the entire game.
Still, if they finish just one point short of securing home-ice advantage for the playoffs, suspending Lidstrom and Datsyuk for the Columbus game will go down as one of the worst things Gary Bettman has done as NHL commissioner.

- Count me among those who feel Kurt Warner belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but only if he and the Cardinals turn in a respectable performance Sunday. That doesn’t necessarily mean winning the game, but not having it be an awful performance.

- Some might think the Lions’ town meeting was disingenuous, but I think it was a good thing. Matt Millen purposely distanced the Lions organization from their fan base. Reconnecting is good from both sides. To me, the town hall meeting was a good start in that regard. It’s a sign Tom Lewand gets it in a certain way Millen did not.