RED WINGS RARING TO GO: We just can't wait

Players gather at rink in Troy

A motley crew of hockey players took to the ice Tuesday morning in Troy, ranging from promising to proven to pensioned.

Officially, the Red Wings do not start training camp until Sept. 15, but about a dozen couldn't wait and have opted to start early. They included goalie-of-the-future Jimmy Howard, elite defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom and veteran broadcaster Mickey Redmond. Robert Lang was at the Troy Sports Center, too, as were Kris Draper, Mathieu Schneider, Andreas Lilja, Chris Chelios, Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Holmstrom, among others.

It was a relaxed affair: Draper had his wife and kids meet him after practice. Lang brought along his Scottie, Mickey. The dog, though, proved to be the better behaved: He sat quietly in the locker room while his master jokingly blasted the team's future captain. Seeing reporters gathered around Lidstrom (whom the Free Press reported last month would take over the "C" from Steve Yzerman), Lang laughed.

"I voted against him, if you want to know," he said. "You can write it down."

Should he surmount a Lang-led insurgency, Lidstrom would relish the role of leader.

"It would be an honor to be the captain, especially for a franchise like this," Lidstrom said. "There are a few Swedish players who are captains throughout the league, but over the course of history, not many Swedish captains have been named, so it would be a real honor."

Swedish club commanders number four: Toronto's Mats Sundin, Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson, Vancouver's Markus Naslund, and Los Angeles' Mattias Norstrom.

Lidstrom said he never had been a captain, but there's no question among his teammates about his ability to take the helm.

"Nick is a guy that just goes out and leads by example," Draper said. "You know you're not going to get a lot of Nick verbally but night in and night out, he's the top defenseman in the league and one of the top players in our sport."

Plus, it's not as though Lidstrom would be leading a group of greenhorns.

"I think we have lots of veteran players on our team -- Cheli, Langer, Schneids, myself, Homer, Drapes," Lidstrom said. "We have a good group of guys that have been around for a long time who can be good leaders in the locker room."

The announcement doesn't sound like it will come until later this month.

"I think they're going to wait till everybody gets back," Lidstrom said. "I'm sure they want to talk to the other players, too, some of the veteran players. So I think we're going to go into camp and then figure it out from there."

NOTEBOOK: While the Wings don't head to Traverse City until next Wednesday, prospects camp opens up Thursday. Assistant general manager Jim Nill will be on hand to watch guys such as 2006 draft picks Cory Emmerton and Shawn Matthias, as well as Howard, who was the only goalie at the Troy Sports Center. There are eight teams in the tournament, all made up mostly of prospects, a maximum of four guys who have played a year of pro, plus undrafted invitees.

"It's a good test to see where your draft picks and your players match up against other teams' players," Nill said. "It's good because kids are playing against players their own age, so it's easier to evaluate when you're going against your own level."