Month: March 2018

From the Free Press’s Helene St. James comes good news regarding defenseman Mike Green:

Green said after Thursday’s practice at MTS Place he will play Friday when the Wings face the Winnipeg Jets. It’ll be Green’s first game since a hit Feb. 15 at Tampa Bay that aggravated a neck injury dating to last season. His 29 points in 56 games leads team defensemen.

“He brings offense in a variety of ways,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “One is on the power play — he’s a weapon up top. One is just him jumping in the play — he really pushes up the ice, but also just his ability to break out and make outlet passes. He’s one of our best passers. Mike has really become a real top-four defenseman in the NHL on any team. He’s really built his defensive game up as well, so he’s a big piece for us.”

Green, 32, might have been a big piece for a Stanley Cup contender had he not been injured  leading up to Monday’s trade deadline. The Lightning and the Capitals both had interest, but were wary as the missed games grew. Furthermore, once the New York Rangers became sellers, the Lightning ended up successfully pursuing a trade for defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Green had consented to waiving his no-trade clause, but no good offer materialized.

“Obviously it was bad timing,” Green said. He’d had “a few discussions, maybe a handful,” with general manager Ken Holland about trade scenarios. Green learned 30 minutes before the 3 p.m. closing bell that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“At the end of the day, I’m here, I’m focused and I’m happy,” Green said. “You never know what’s going to happen and the day off, it can weigh on you. After it’s all said and done, yeah, there’s a little bit of relief.”

Continued, and St. James posted a clip of Green and Blashill’s off-day remarks:

From the AHL:

JARED COREAU NAMED CCM/AHL GOALTENDER OF THE MONTH

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The American Hockey League on Thursday announced that Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Jared Coreau has been selected as the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month for February.

Coreau allowed just nine goals against on 185 shots and finished unbeaten in six appearances during the month, compiling a 4-0-2 record, a 1.46 goals against average, a 0.951 save percentage and two shutouts before being recalled by the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 20. He combined for 66 saves during back-to-back shutouts of the Western Conference-leading Manitoba Moose on Feb. 15 and 17 and was named the AHL’s Player of the Week on Feb. 19. The Griffins finished the month 9-1-0-2 – which ties for the second-most wins in February in franchise history – and have climbed into second place in the Central Division with 19 games remaining.

Coreau began the month with 31 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss at Cleveland on Feb. 1, but rebounded with 25 saves in defeating the Monsters in a rematch on Feb. 4. He stopped 25 shots in a 4-2 win over Manitoba on Feb. 7, and later earned back-to-back shutouts of the Moose in Winnipeg, making 28 saves in a 1-0 victory on Feb. 15 and 38 stops in a 5-0 win on Feb. 17. He has not allowed a goal in his last 126:47 of AHL action.

The 26-year-old Coreau is yet to make his NHL season debut. He ranks among the AHL’s leaders this season with 20 wins (4th), a 2.47 GAA (16th), a 0.916 save percentage (14th) and 2092:11 minutes in (4th) in 36 games.

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound netminder garners his second career monthly accolade (Dec. 2015), and this award marks the fifth time a Griffins goaltender has earned Goalie of the Month honors (Jimmy Howard, Dec. 2007 and March 2006; Simon Lajeunesse, Jan. 2002). Coreau picks up his fourth career award from the AHL overall, having also been named Player of the Week on Feb. 1, 2015.

A fifth-year pro from Perth, Ontario, Coreau started all 19 games of last spring’s Calder Cup championship run, showing a 15-4 record, a 2.84 GAA and a 0.909 save percentage. In 146 career AHL games with Grand Rapids, Coreau has an 84-48-10 record to go along with a 2.42 GAA and a 0.919 save percentage. He became the 158th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted with the Red Wings on Dec. 3, 2016 at Pittsburgh. In his first taste of NHL action last season, Coreau posted a 5-4-3 mark, a 3.46 GAA, a 0.887 save percentage and two shutouts in 14 appearances.

In recognition of being named the CCM/AHL Goaltender of the Month, Coreau will be presented with an etched crystal award.

The Griffins are 21-4-0-3 in their last 28 games and will conclude a six-game homestand this weekend by facing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday and the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday. Both contests will begin at 7 p.m.

I apologize for the radio silence over the past day-and-a-half. I experienced a significant personal setback on Wednesday, and it literally and figuratively knocked me over.

This is the shitty part of having a single-operator blog-when really bad things happen, there’s only one point of failure, and I’m sorry that I had to take a step back.

I will attempt to restore blog operations to normal by Friday morning.