Month: May 2018

HSJ: Wings won’t sign Jordan Sambrook

Per the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

Sambrook will re-enter the draft, and there’s probably a team that will take a chance on him.

Tweets of note: Wings, Griffins have season tix plans available; Centre Ice Arena renovations underway

If you are interested, both the Detroit Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins have season ticket plans available as of today:

Also of Red Wings-related note:

 

Roughly translated: former Wings prospect Machovsky laments his time with the Wings’ organization

According to TN.cz, former Wings prospect Matej Machovsky has issued something of a warning to new Wings signing Patrick Rybar. Machovsky said the following while holding a press conference regarding his signing with HC Sparta Prague (roughly translated):

“I’ll take it as a lost year,” said Machovsky, sadly. “Perhaps I would have stayed for another year, but in another organization. I really didn’t want to be in Detroit when you know that you can play the way you want, but you still won’t get a chance…Every goalie needs to feel confident, and if you don’t, it’s hard to work on it,” he said during Tuesday’s press conference with his new employer, HC Sparta Prague.

“It seemed to me that the door to Detroit had closed even before I got there, but I didn’t know and signed the contract. But before the season I found out that the only person who wanted me there was the farm team’s goaltending coach. It was difficult to get through it,” added Machovsky.

Machovsky played almost exclusively for the Toledo Walleye last season, but he probably would have played for the Grand Rapids Griffins this upcoming year. Machovsky’s patience wore thin, and the Czech Extraliga veteran chose to go home.

 

Prospect playoff round-up: Fulcher’s Bulldogs earn 2-and-1 record in Memorial Cup round robin play

At the Mastercard Memorial Cup, Kaden Fulcher stopped 33 of 35 shots as his Hamilton Bulldogs won a 3-2 decision over the Laval Titan.

According to the Memorial Cup website’s recap, Hamilton and Laval are both own 2-and-1 records during the tournament’s round robin play, which means that the teams’ fates–heading right to the tournament championship game or playing in Friday’s tiebreaker–depend on the outcome of Wednesday’s game:

A Swift Current win on Wednesday would push the Bulldogs into the Championship Final. If Regina comes out on top, Acadie-Bathurst will gain entry.

…

“We’ll have to see what happens tomorrow night,” said Hamilton goaltender Kaden Fulcher who made 33 saves in the win. “Getting a couple days off is going to be massive for the boys to regroup and re-energize and in that sense it was a big win for us.”

The Memorial Cup’s website also posted a highlight clip, a post-game clip in which Fulcher appears, coach John Gruden’s post-game comments, Sportsnet’s RJ Broadhead and Sam Cosentino’s takes on the game and Sportsnet’s panel’s commentary as well.

Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin discusses David Pope’s progress

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines prospect forward David Pope’s 2017-18 campaign this morning, and Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin’s comments about Pope are telling:

Quotable: “Dramatic improvement. This was the best year he had by a long shot in his college career. Probably a testament to the time that he put in in the offseason more so than in years past. Also the coaching change at Nebraska-Omaha, I think benefited him and his development. But he made a commitment on his own dime and decided to live down here for the better part of the summer last year and trained with a group of pros and trained differently. I think the dividends paid off on the ice. He worked on his foot speed, his skating got better and I think the combination of his strength training and the work on his skating showed up on the ice and he had obviously a very, very successful senior year of college. He’ll come to the development camp and certainly play for us in the prospects tournament, then from there work right into main camp. Our expectation would be that he would be competing for a job in Detroit in main camp and then if he didn’t make Detroit, he’d be in Grand Rapids next year.” — Ryan Martin, Detroit Red Wings assistant general manager

Wakiji continues…

Custance: Griffins coach Todd Nelson considering NHL assistant coaching jobs

According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson is “listening” to potential offers regarding assistant coaching jobs in the NHL:

The Grand Rapids coach won a Calder Cup last year with the Griffins. His team made the playoffs again this season and now, according to NHL sources, multiple NHL teams have reached out to him about the possibility of taking an assistant coaching job with their clubs. It’s believed the Dallas Stars and at least one other Western Conference team have expressed interest. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill has also talked to Nelson about the assistant coach opening in Detroit, following the departure of John Torchetti.

“Right now, I’m in a good spot,” Nelson told The Athletic when reached on Tuesday. “I’m just looking for a move that might help me in the future. That’s why I’m entertaining some possible opportunities. Nothing is concrete at all. Right now, it’s one of those things where there are conversations and I’ve got to see if something comes out of it.”

Nelson, who became Griffins head coach in June 2015, has term left on his contract but confirmed the Red Wings gave him the green light to talk to other teams. Nelson has NHL bench experience with the Atlanta Thrashers and Edmonton Oilers and is weighing whether another assistant job is the best option for him moving forward.

“By no means am I unhappy in Grand Rapids,” Nelson said. “I just want to see what the next step might present.”

Custance continues, speaking with Joe Hicketts regarding Nelson’s innovative coaching methods…

Abdelkader, DeKeyser, Helm talk about their off-seasons, hopes for 18-19 during bike giveaway

The Red Wings gave away nearly 500 bikes to Detroit Public Schools kids today, and Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser and Darren Helm were on hand to help with the massive giveaway with co-sponsor Chevrolet.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 6-minute clip of the trio speaking about both the giveaway, their offseasons thus far, and their hopes for the next season…

St. James filed an article regarding the players’ hockey-related comments…

On the subject of exercise, all three said they’ve begun their off-season training. They’ve been doing so earlier this year and last, as the Wings have missed the playoffs two springs in a row. Can they get back in the mix as soon as next season? Of course all three said yes, as they should, but they explained why they see it as a possibility even though there’s unlikely to be much turnover personnel wise.

“I think in today’s NHL the league is so close that anybody can get into the playoffs,” DeKeyser said. “It’s just about us going out there and doing it. If we flip-flop some of those one-goal games, we could be right in there.”

The Wings did play better to start the 2017-18 season than the year before, but it did not result in victories. That can get demoralizing.

“Confidence is a big part of the game,” Helm said. “If we win some games early, get some confidence, get on a roll, that could be big for our team.”

St. James continues, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan picks it up from there:

Continue reading Abdelkader, DeKeyser, Helm talk about their off-seasons, hopes for 18-19 during bike giveaway

Red Wings, Chevrolet team up for massive bicycle giveaway to Detroit Public Schools

This is impressive, from the Detroit Red Wings:

Nearly 500 new bicycles provided to students from Detroit Public Schools

Nearly 500 second-grade students from 10 Detroit schools surprised with bikes and equipment to celebrate culmination of Road & Bicycle Safety Program in partnership with Chevrolet. Students practiced riding and learned road & bicycle safety through physical education curriculum prior to event on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings and Landmark-partner Chevrolet today surprised nearly 500 second grade students from 10 schools within the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) with brandnew bicycles, helmets, locks and bells, in conjunction with the Detroit Public Schools Foundation. The new bikes, unveiled at Little Caesars Arena, celebrate students’ completion of the Road & Bicycle Safety Program.

Continue reading Red Wings, Chevrolet team up for massive bicycle giveaway to Detroit Public Schools

Two Things: Khan’s answers reader questions; a note about Lidstrom’s longevity

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a mailbag article this morning, and he states the following regarding the “state of the rebuild“:

Q: How on earth does this team get any better outside of winning the draft lottery (make that next year’s draft lottery) with all the horrific contracts they currently have? (Justin) Abdelkader, (Darren) Helm, (Frans) Nielsen, (Jonathan) Ericsson: these are all bad contracts. Realistically, the Wings are going to have to ride these contracts out, as it seems unlikely they will be able to trade or will chose to buy out (a bad idea) any of these players. Is there any realistic possibility of improvement with these anchor albatross contracts on the books? – Saskatoon Wingnut

A: They could improve. A better power play and stronger goaltending would help. Continued growth from younger players like Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Tyler Bertuzzi, coupled with contributions from potential incoming prospects Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Hronek would be a boost.

But unless they make the playoffs, they’re better off not improving, record-wise, to enhance their draft lottery odds in the next couple of seasons as they rebuild. Coaches and players don’t want to hear that because they’re not focused on the future like the front office is, they’re trying to win each game.

I doubt any of the players you mentioned can be traded now, not without the Red Wings retaining a large portion of their contracts or taking a bad contract in return, and I doubt anybody on the roster will be bought out.

Continued, and I get the “tanking is good” philosophy, but I can’t see the Red Wings’ players or management changing their plan to attempt to “squeak into the playoffs” this upcoming season.

Players and coaches are paid to try to win games, and as we witnessed this past season, the Wings’ pride factor remains evident and apparent.

That doesn’t mean that the Wings are going to do anything more than struggle this upcoming season–I can’t say that I’m expecting the team to do much better than they did this past season if the blueline doesn’t improve–but the players, coach, and the GM don’t believe in tanking for tanking’s sake.

2. The Red Wings’ website (via NHL.com’s John Kreiser) posted a reminder of a significant milestone that Nicklas Lidstrom hit during the 2009 Western Conference Final vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, a.k.a. the year that some Wings fans swear that Lidstrom lost a testicle:

Continue reading Two Things: Khan’s answers reader questions; a note about Lidstrom’s longevity

Prospect playoff round-up: Fulcher stops 21 as Hamilton evens up Memorial Cup record

At the Mastercard Memorial Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan:

Kaden Fulcher stopped 21 of 22 shots as his Hamilton Bulldogs won 2-1 over the Swift Current Broncos, evening up their Memorial Cup record at 1-and-1.

Hamilton will play the Laval Titan tomorrow night.

I’ll post the links to highlights/recaps as they become available.

Update: Highlights are available on the Mastercard Memorial Cup website.

Update #2: The Mastercard Memorial Cup website posted clips of coach John Gruden’s post-game presser, post-game comments from three Hamilton players and Sportsnet’s RJ Broadhead and Sam Cosentino’s post-game take.