Month: May 2018

It has become evident that my constructive criticism of the comments section went in one ear and out the other, and as such, I am incredibly disappointed in the community’s behavior of late.

I have been approached by several people who have asked me to make changes because they don’t feel comfortable joining the community as it is currently constructed.

The people who have asked me to make changes are long-time members of the community and are long-time contributors to the blog. I value their input, and they have been adamant that both my community and my business are suffering because the zoo has gotten out of hand.

A current member of the community has reached out to me as well, and I will take their comments into account as I move forward.

If you feel that you’re being targeted or have concerns about the community as currently constructed–including your participation in said community–I need you to contact me via email, Twitter or Facebook over the next 24 hours, because I am going to “prune the tree,” and I’m not going to be subtle about it.

I still believe that this community can work, but I don’t believe that it is working right now, and as reluctant as I have been to make changes, you’ve left me with little choice but to be heavy-handed.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Red Wings prospect and Peterborough Petes forward Zach Gallant had an injury-truncated 2017-18 season, and his injuries yielded some statistical hiccups over the course of 54 games played (he posted 16 goals, 15 assists and 31 points over the course of those 54 games). DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji penned an article regarding Gallant’s campaign:

Quotable: “He had a breakout season the year before. We expected a natural progression but he was in and out of the lineup with injuries and finished the year on an injury. It was frustrating for him, for sure. He was still one of the best face-off guys in the league even though he didn’t play as much as he would like. He’s a big, two-way centerman, that would be his projection as a pro. He’ll be a point-a-game centerman for us (next year), playing against the other team’s top line, a net-front guy on the first power play. He’ll be the captain or assistant captain. He was drafted to be that guy as a 19-year-old. We finished early and he’s already in great shape, he got right in the gym. We expect a big year for him.” — Andrew Verner, Peterborough Petes assistant coach (interim head coach last year from January-April)

Wakiji continues…

2. In the multimedia department, AWood40 posted a clip of Jimmy Howard’s better moments from the 2017-18 season:

Continue reading Morning news: A bit about Zach Gallant; Howard highlights, Tweets of note and more Nosek talk

Expressen’s Gunnar Nordstrom spoke with Johan Franzen’s former and current teammates regarding Mrs. Franzen’s blog post about her husband’s continued battle with post-concussion syndrome.

Nicklas Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall told Nordstrom that Franzen has suffered in silence for a long time now (and what follows is roughly translated from Swedish):

Continue reading “Roughly Translated”: Expressen’s Nordstrom speaks with Niklas Kronwall, Nicklas Lidstrom regarding Johan Franzen

The NHL has teamed up with Hulu to produce visual content for the Stanley Cup Final.

As part of their “content strategy,” the NHL has teamed up with the NHLPA and The Players’ Tribune to produce round-table discussions in which Kevin Weekes speaks with Corey Perry, Mark Giordano, Drew Doughty, James van Riemsdyk and Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley regarding “what it takes to survive in the postseason.”

Here are the first two episodes of “What It Takes”:

 

Via the Red Wings…

Detroit’s director of player development, Shawn Horcoff gives an overview of his job & assesses the #RedWings prospects on the latest Red & White Authority. ⬇ Listen/Rate/Subscribe ⬇

Part 1: https://t.co/tViIkurglo
Part 2: https://t.co/JcjWGgtYs4 pic.twitter.com/fK6mPrNfdB

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) May 29, 2018

Per WXYZ:

 

Joe Louis Arena has been closed for over a year now and ahead of the demolition, many parts of the arena are up for auction.

That includes the outdoor sign that says “Joe Louis Arena” above both of the entrances.

Pre-bidding started on Tuesday morning and the auction date is on June 5. The lettering is about 5-feet tall, according to the auction website, and buyers will have to pay a 19 percent premium on top of a 6 percent sales tax.

It’s part of phase one of the Joe Louis Arena sellable assets auction which also begins on June 5. Pre-bidding is now open for those lots as well.

Other items up for bid include signs, railings, ramps, scaffolding and more.

To view all of the items up for bid, click here.

To see the specific Joe Louis Arena sign bid, click here.

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy lists Kaden Fulcher among his “Prospect Need to Know” listed players in terms of  Memorial Cup participants:

Kaden Fulcher, G, Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL): It’s not Fulcher’s fault the Bulldogs failed to advance to the Memorial Cup final; he had the best goalie stats of the tournament. The Detroit Red Wings prospect put up a .918 save percentage and 2.27 goals-against average in four games, using his size to his advantage. NHL arrival: 2021-22

2. In the alumni department, “Pucks and Recreation’s” John Morton reports that Corey Elkins will not return to the Grand Rapids Griffins this upcoming season:

While Elkins got to play in the Red Wings organization this past year, he has since made plans to play for the Grizzlys Wolfsburg in Germany next year. Perhaps another trip to the Alps is in store for him and his family.

Update: number 3: AWood40 posted a clip of Jimmy Howard’s 2017-18 season highlights:

Having watched Tomas Nosek lead the Grand Rapids Griffins in goals and points during last year’s Calder Cup Championship run, I could only smile and wonder what could have been as Nosek scored 2 goals in the Vegas Golden Knights’ 6-4 win over Washington last night.

Nosek was all but guaranteed to be the player plucked off the Wings’ roster during the expansion draft due to his age and contract (in hindsight, Petr Mrazek being exposed meant very little other than a symbolic wake-up call, and Riley Sheahan’s ups and downs were evident).

It was a little disappointing to see the Wings expose Nosek, not because he’s magically going to be a 1st line center at the NHL level, but because he could’ve stabilized the third and fourth lines as a support player who is willing to play a supporting role–and teams need those kinds of players to succeed.

As the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner noted, Nosek pulled off a bit of a statistical feat during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final:

Last year, on June 2, Nosek was playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins and delivered the game-winning goal with 13.9 seconds remaining in the third period of Game 1 of the Calder Cup Championship. The Griffins defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 and went on to win the series in six games.

The 25-year-old Nosek, playing on the fourth line, actually scored two goals for the Knights in third period. His game-winner came at the 9:44 mark off a feed in front from defenseman Shea Theodore. He also landed an empty-netter with three seconds remaining.

“This is another level, so it feels great,” Nosek said via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We tried to keep the things simple and go hard to the net. I think that’s what made us good in the third period. We have to keep doing that. Just keep things simple and be hard on the forecheck and create some chaos in there.”

Wallner continues; again, I’m not suggesting that Nosek is a star in the making, but the Golden Knights’ version of a “Grind Line” (with Ryan Reaves of all people and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) is proving again that a strong checking line is an essential part of a winning machine.

I’m glad that Nosek is succeeding on the 4th line in Vegas, and it was neat to see him score two key goals last night.

 

The Red Wings’ amateur scouts and key members of the front office are spending this week in Buffalo, New York to interview and watch players taking part in the NHL’s draft combine. MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin regarding the team’s strategy for the week:

The Red Wings are scheduled to meet individually with about 70 players in 25-minute sessions that began Monday and run through Friday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The event concludes on the weekend with strength and fitness testing.

General manager Ken Holland, assistant GM Ryan Martin, assistant Kris Draper, director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright, chief amateur scout Jeff Finley and area scouts are meeting with prospects.

“It’s a chance for us to see what makes them tick, sort of a job interview process,” Martin said. “It might cause us to shift the list a little bit in terms of what we’ve seen on the ice. By this point, we’ve been watching these players, in some cases 2-3 years, and over the course of that time you’re meeting with coaches, trainers, teammates, billet families, strength coaches, people that have had contact with these players throughout their lives, parents perhaps. You’re painting a picture. This is not something that is put together over one season, it’s typically multiple seasons. At this point of the year, most of these players, if not all, we will have already interviewed once or more throughout the year.”

Khan and Martin continue at length, and this is an intriguing read…

The Athletic’s Craig Custance engaged in a Q and A with The Russian Five’s director, Joshua Riehl:

Craig Custance: I saw the documentary at the world premiere and it was great. I’m not sure I’ve ever been part of a movie experience where the crowd kept breaking into loud cheers throughout the middle of the movie. What was it like to see that from your perspective?

Joshua Riehl: It was surreal. On the one hand, it kind of washed over me. Because I was like, ‘Is the aspect ratio good? How’s the sound here?’ Towards the second half of the film, and I was like, ‘This is playing well,’ I made it a point where I wanted to watch the brawl (vs. Avalanche) from the front of the theater, just so I could feel the crowd. It was really incredible. That is a rare experience for any filmmaker. My producers, who have done a lot of documentaries and a lot of films, are teasing me: ‘It’s your first feature doc, first premiere and it’ll never get any better the rest of your career. You started at the top of the mountain. Prepare for disappointment the rest of your life.’

Hopefully they’re wrong. The coolest thing is when Vladdy (Konstantinov) was acknowledged and the crowd gave him a cheer — ‘Vladdy! Vladdy!’ That’s kind of why I made the movie. That’s why I kept persevering over every obstacle, and there were so many of them. I had a vision of Vladdy at the premiere, the crowd chanting his name and him basking in the hometown love one more time. To realize that, it was the most amazing thing of the whole night.

Continued (paywall)…