The Toledo Walleye are in trouble. Absent star defenseman Simon Denis, the Walleye’s offense got stuck in neutral: only Dylan Sadowy scored as the Walleye lost 4-1 to the Fort Wayne Komets on Saturday night, and Toledo trails its second-round series 3 games to 2.
Game 6 will take place Tuesday in Fort Wayne, and as for Saturday night’s action, the Walleye’s website posted a recap and highlight clip:
Continue reading Walleye lose to Fort Wayne, face 3-2 deficit in second-round series
Of playoff-related prospect note:
In the OHL championship series, Jordan Sambrook finished at +2 as his Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds won 4-2 over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Saturday, tying the OHL championship at 1 game apiece.
Kaden Fulcher stopped 30 of 33 shots for Hamilton.
Of Red Wings-related note at the World Championship in Denmark:
Team USA beat Denmark 4-0.
Frans Nielsen finished at -2 with 3 shots in 19:52 played for Denmark;
Nick Jensen had a goal and an assist, finishing at +3 with 1 shot in 17:41 played for Team USA;
And Dylan Larkin finished at +2 with 3 shots in 17:44 played for Team USA.
Team USA’s website posted a quick recap:
Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wis.) Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) and Nick Jensen (St. Paul, Minn.) all scored as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 4-0 victory over Denmark here tonight in its second preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.
Keith Kinkaid (Farmingville, N.Y.) made 20 saves in the shutout.
The U.S. will return to action Monday (May 7) against Germany at 4:15 p.m. local time/10:15 a.m. ET. That game, along with all U.S. Men’s World Championship games, will be broadcast live on NHL Network.
The IIHF’s YouTube channel also posted a highlight clip:
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia 3-2 in overtime.
Libor Sulak finished even with 3 shots in 18:47 played;
Filip Hronek finished even in 6:55 played;
And as some of you already reported, Martin Frk did not play for the Czech Republic as he didn’t make the final cut.
Here are highlights from the game:
The Detroit Red Wings’ amateur and pro scouts are meeting in Detroit this weekend and upcoming week to map out a master plan for the draft and free agency (in terms of both which players the team will re-sign and which players the team will target come July 1st).
As you might expect, the Red Wings are placing a special emphasis on the 2018 draft in Dallas, as the Free Press’s Helene St. James reports:
General manger Ken Holland and director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright are among the dozen hockey operations personnel immersed in five days of meetings that began Saturday as the Wings prepare for the 2018 NHL entry draft.
“We’ll talk about all the leagues, all the players, come up with some lists and rankings and then go into the combine,” Holland said. “Then we’ll have all our area scouts continue to gather information and interview people about the players who are in their areas. Then the combine is an opportunity to choose who to interview among around 100 players. It all leads to Dallas.”
The Wings hold 11 picks at the June 22-23 event at American Airlines Center. Their first is at sixth overall, and there’ll be three more within the top 36 selections: Las Vegas’ first-round pick from the Tomas Tatar trade, Ottawa’s second round pick (32nd overall) from the Brendan Smith trade (via the New York Rangers) and the Wings’ own second-round pick.
The Wings need a high-end defense prospect, but the first pick won’t come down to position.
“At sixth, we’ll look for the best available player, the one we believe will make the biggest impact on our team,” Holland said. “But certainly, we’re trying to build a defense over time through the draft.”
According to the Free Press’s Helene St. James, the Red Wings are going to sign David Pope soon. Pope has been finishing up his degree at the University of Nebraska-Omaha after a superb senior NCAA season:
The Detroit Red Wings are closing in on a deal with prospect David Pope.
Pope, 23, was drafted by the Wings at 109th overall in 2013. He just finished his senior year at University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he had career highs with 20 goals, 21 assists and 41 points in 39 games.
Pope, 23, is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds. He has good offensive instincts and soft hands, and knows how to get open away from play.
He could sign a two-year entry level contract within the next few days. Negotiations were on hold while Pope finished his classes.
From the Waterloo Record’s Josh Brown:
Hockey fans saw Givani Smith flash his middle finger at the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds bench.
What they didn’t see were the racial slurs, threats and abuse that the Kitchener Rangers winger, who is Black, endured before and after the incident.
Video of Smith’s outburst went viral in hockey circles.
The footage showed him flipping the bird to Soo players just after the Rangers extended their playoff lives with an emotional 4-3 overtime victory against the Greyhounds in Game 6 of their Ontario Hockey League western conference final this past Sunday.
The 20-year-old was suspended for two games by the OHL for making “an inappropriate gesture” and had to watch the Rangers’ season end in double overtime from the press box Monday in the Soo.
The incident sparked a series of racially charged comments on social media. Some called the Toronto native a “coward” and a “douche bag” while others stooped lower.
Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff has more:
According to a report by TheRecord.com, Smith, 20, who is black, was the victim of racial slurs from Greyhounds fans, and there were allegations that Sault Ste. Marie players were involved as well.
“Before we went up to the Soo there were racial things in his inbox on social media,” Rangers general manager Mike McKenzie told Josh Brown of TheRecord.com. “It was pretty disgusting to see some of the stuff that he had to deal with.”
A photo of Smith with the words “Hockey N—–” written under it, was sent to Smith’s Facebook page.
There was also an episode earlier in the season in Sarnia where Smith was accosted with racial epithets.
“We had an incident during the regular season where a fan somehow got access to our tunnel,” McKenzie said. “It was a game where he (Smith) had been sent to the room early because he had a misconduct. The fan poked his head in and yelled a racial slur down the hall. I’m not going to repeat it but it wasn’t good.”
Greyhounds GM Kyle Raftis insisted he was unaware of any racial slurs committed by his players, and Raftis worked with the OHL to set up additional security for Smith and the Rangers, which included a police escort for the team bus to Game 7 in the Soo.
“Nobody from any walk of life should have to go through that,” Raftis said of the racial slurs.
Update: Here’s even more from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:
The Rangers needed a police escort from the Soo airport to their Sault Ste. Marie hotel, and from the hotel to the arena for Game 7.
Smith watched Game 7 from the press box with a security guard at the door.
“We took the step to provide security over and above what we would normally do for a game,” David Branch, OHL commissioner, told The Record. “We wanted to make sure Givani was comfortable and certainly hopefully free from any challenge or issue.”
The Toledo Walleye hoped to place a stranglehold upon their second-round series with the Fort Wayne Komets, and instead, they laid an egg on Friday, losing 3-1 in Fort Wayne.
Mike Embach scored for Toledo, and Pat Nagle stopped 22 of 25 shots, but the Walleye are now tied 2-2 with Fort Wayne heading into what will likely be a 6 or 7-game series.
The Walleye’s website posted a recap:
Continue reading Walleye lose to Fort Wayne in Game 4 of 2nd round series, tied 2-2
At the World Championship:
Gustav Nyquist scored a goal, finishing at +1 on 2 shots, in 12:13 played, as Sweden’s 5-0 victory over Belarus. IIHF.com’s Andy Potts penned a recap:
Despite the sea of yellow all around, Belarus made a bright start and Hellberg did well to stop an early breakaway effort from Geoff Platt. But that was as good as it got for Dave Lewis and his team as Sweden took complete control midway through the opening period.
The opening goal went to Andersson, but it was Adrian Kempe’s delicious little backhand pass that wrongfooted the entire Belarusian defence. After that, Andersson drove to the net and beat Ivan Kulbakov up close. Within half a minute, Sweden had doubled its advantage. John Klingberg’s dot-to-dot pass found Nyquist and his one-timer flew into the top corner.
“You know what? We played all right,” Nyquist said. “We took a couple too many penalties out there, but the PK did a good job, and our goalie was great in net. So nice to get five [goals], for sure, and a good start to the tournament. It was a lot of fun to see all the Swedish fans here. That gave us a lot of energy.”
Here’s a highlight clip from the game:
Nielsen had a goal (shootout) and an assist for 2 points, finishing at -1 on 4 shots and 20:23 played.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner filed a “By the Numbers” report on Red Wings goaltending prospect Filip Larsson, who was named the USHL’s Goaltender of the Year for his 2017-18 season performance with the Tri-City Storm.
Larsson is headed to the University of Denver for the 2018-19 season, and while his numbers are superb, Regner’s conversation with Wings goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson is more noteworthy:
Quotable: “As far as our organization, where he stands is he is right at the top of the pecking order of prospects that are not signed right now. He adds minor league depth with NHL potential. You don’t want to rush these guys just because they had a big year. We’ll see what happens over the next one to two years of evaluation from our standpoint. Filip is a very good blocking goalie; from the face-off dots on to the goal line he covers space effectively into his posts and he’s very calm. He plays a pretty conservative game and we’d like to see him get a little more depth in that situation. Like (the New York Rangers’) Henrik Lundqvist, he commands his net very well. Ultimately what you’ll see is his patience in the net itself, absorbing rebounds, which is a huge thing. He’s going to be a very good pro because he studies the game so well. We’ll see what the future holds for Filip Larsson, but from what we see he’s in good hands and in a good mindset going to Denver and what I see is someone who has that potential to possibly crack an NHL lineup for Detroit someday.” – Brian Mahoney-Wilson, Red Wings goaltending development coach
The Grand Rapids Griffins’ playoff run ended earlier this week, and they’ve posted a video thanking Griffins fans for their support:
