Of Red Wings-related note this morning, on a source-by-source basis:
A. Fox Sports Detroit:
1. FSD posted a clip of Joe Veleno speaking with Trevor Thompson, and this clip aired on today’s Tigers game:
1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji penned an article about Filip Zadina, the media darling of the day, and Zadina’s belief that he can make an immediate jump from the QMJHL to the NHL:
“He wants to make an impression,” [Wings director of player development Shawn] Horcoff said. “Obviously, he’s disappointed with where he got drafted, which is impressive for us. He’s come out, he’s confident he can score, we’re hoping he does, because that’s what we’re going to need.”
Zadina was projected in many mock drafts to go as high as third overall to Montreal but the Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes opted for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brady Tkachuk and Barrett Hayton, respectively.
But Zadina, Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin and Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov are considered to be the most NHL-ready of the just-drafted players.
Plus, the Wings could definitely use what Zadina brings to the table – elite scoring ability.
So the youngster will be given every opportunity to make the team out of camp this coming fall.
“That’s good to hear,” Zadina said. “I got to do all my best stuff on the ice, I need to prove to them that I’m a good player and that I deserve it, to get a spot on the team. I got chance but I need to take it and I need to play my best hockey.”
2. And she spoke with Dennis Cholowski regarding his goal to make the Wings’ roster as well:
“My season was good in the WHL,” Cholowski said. “I thought I put up some good numbers, went to Grand Rapids and got to play a game, which was fun, got a little bit of experience there. It was a playoff game, so that helped a lot. Carry that over into next season.”
When he got to the Winterhawks, they often played the Tri-City Americans, the team captained by Michael Rasmussen, the Wings’ 2017 first-round pick, ninth overall.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Rasmussen said of Cholowski. “I didn’t see him too much in PG but then he moved to Portland, I saw him all the time. Cholo’s really solid D-man, good skater, moves the puck well. Definitely have a player there, too.”
3. And she Tweeted the following:
#RedWings director of player development Shawn Horcoff said they never had any of the things like this when he was 18. Usually didn’t skate until August. Now they all have trainers, nutritionists, skating coaches, etc.
— Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) June 26, 2018
C. MLive:
1. MLive’s Ansar Khan noted Zadina’s remarks…
It is rare for a player to jump from major junior hockey to the NHL, but the Red Wings believe the offensively gifted Zadina has a good chance to make the roster in the fall.
“That’s good to hear,” Zadina said. “I need to prove to them that I’m a good player and that I deserve it. I got a chance, but I need to take it and I need to play my best hockey.”
He added: “It’s going to be very hard for me, but if I play my hockey and I’ll be patient, work hard, it’s going to be good.”
Zadina is skating against fellow prospects this week in a camp that concludes with a scrimmage on Saturday. But he has faced older competition.
“Two seasons ago, I played against men (for Pardubice HC in the Czech League), so I know what I have to expect from the men’s hockey,” Zadina said. “Last season I went to national camp (the Czech Republic). I’ll be prepared and hopefully I’ll be battling for my spot.”
2. And Khan spoke with Shawn Horcoff as well:
On what prospects will learn this week: “There’s a lot of things that go onto being a good pro. We’re going to expose them to a lot of information over the next five days, all aspects from on-ice intensity, on-ice habits, to what it takes off the ice to not just take it to the NHL, but to play a long time.”
What prospects went through on Monday: “Just a meeting yesterday. They’re going to be here all week long, so they got a lay of the land. Dinner and a meeting with them last night, just a little bit of a talk of what to expect this week. Ken (general manager Holland) has a great speech where he outlines what it takes to be a pro, not just a pro, but what it takes to be a Detroit Red Wing. Talked a little bit about the history, a little bit about the facility and how things are changing down here.”
On what the first day entailed: “First group was here 7 a.m. and they’re done at 4, so today is a long day with testing and physicals and all that. On top of that, one group of defensemen and forwards will go for (power play), more skill work, while the other ones, we brought in a video skill work guy to do some work with the guys on showing video on how offense is created at the NHL level. I think it takes some of these guys a long time. We want to expedite that curve. We want to show them early and get them thinking about what they’re going to need to do at the NHL level in order to produce offense and on top of that we got some dryland stick-handling, sort of stuff they can do to improve their skill level away from the rink.”
D. Detroit Free Press:
1. Helene St. James posted an article about Joe Veleno:
Days after winger Filip Zadina had the best quote of the 2018 NHL draft when he said he was going to make the teams that passed over him pay by filling their nets with pucks, center Joe Veleno lobbed his own discontent. Projected to go mid-first round, he didn’t hear his name called until the Wings drafted him with one spot to go in the first round.
“I don’t think I was a 30th pick,” Veleno said Tuesday, on what was the first day of the Wings’ development camp. It’s a five-day orientation that touches on practices, the gym, video, nutrition and cooking.
“I think I could have gone a lot earlier, in my opinion, but I was lucky enough to fall to a historic, great organization in Detroit,” Veleno said. “But for sure it motivates me even more to be better than all those players that went ahead of me and turn out to be the best player in that draft.”
E. Detroit News:
1. Gregg Krupa filed a composite notebook about Cholowski, Veleno and Michael Rasmussen…
A surer bet to make the Red Wings out of training camp than Cholowski is Michael Rasmussen, the 6-6, 220-pound center from Surrey, B.C.
After the Red Wings gave him a long look in an effective preseason last year, Rasmussen went on to score 31 goals and assist on 28, for 59 points in 47 games for Tri-City of the WHL.
Along the way, Rasmussen had wrist surgery, so he could be ready for this NHL season.
“Overall, it was a positive year,” he said. “I was definitely in a lot of pain, there, for a bit. But I’m glad I got it done, and now it’s fixed. So, I’m just looking ahead, and that is good.”
Moving from center to wing, Rasmussen said it took only a few games to make the adjustment. He said he is aware that Dylan Larkin moved to the wing for many of his early games, easing his way into the NHL. He feels he improved, last season.
“I think just consistency and playing with pace, carrying it through the neutral zone,” Rasmussen said. “I played with speed, and my game just went up. I’m just trying to do my best, to be ready for my opportunity.”
2. Krupa also penned an article about Filip Zadina…
When Zadina got to town Sunday, his first time in Detroit, the Wings equipment manager Paul Boyer gave him the grand tour of the franchise’s palatial digs.
“He showed me all the things here,” Zadina said, of the sprawling, well-appointed complex, which is Little Caesars Arena and the Belfor Training Center, the Red Wings practice rink. “And I don’t know if I’m in another rink, right now, because it looks like some hotel, or something. It’s just unbelievable here.”
Amid the tour, the coach’s son, Zadina, asked to skate.
He wanted to get his legs moving.
“He’s just an extremely hard worker,” said Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development. “I mean, the kid wanted to come skate and work out yesterday. I don’t think he realized what the week is going to bring. He might have felt differently if he knew how practices were going to go, today. But yeah, he did. He wanted to get on the ice.”
A day later, Zadina sounded like he was still making his case for the leg workout.
“I was on the ice, anyhow,” he said. “I just wanted to be prepared for the whole camp here.”
3. And the Detroit News’s David Guralnick posted a 48-image photo gallery.
F. Oakland Press:
- Paula Pasche authored a profile of Alec Regula:
“When they called my name I went over to (dad) and he said, ‘Can it get any better than this?’ Then when I saw him after my media stuff, he was like, ‘Man, this is something crazy, I can’t even believe it.’ I said, “I can’t believe it either, it’s something you never could guess,’’ said Regula who is 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds.
Chet Regula served as the team dentist for 29 years before moving over to work on the teeth of the Detroit Lions.
While he honed his craft on the Wings’ bicuspids through the years, he often brought Alec along to Joe Louis Arena.
“I don’t want to brag or anything, but I have every signed players’ everything. I had signatures from all the teams since like 2008-09. I’d wear a jersey and they’d all sign it,’’ Alec Regula said after the first day of development camp at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.
While the Red Wings were his favorite, he wasn’t shy.
“I also have a lot of other teams. When Pittsburgh came to town I hung around for (Sidney) Crosby,’’ Regula said.
2. I will quote the Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo’s headline: “Cholowski development would make Zadina pick even better for Red Wings“:
There was a downside to the Red Wings’ unexpectedly landing a potential elite goal scorer with the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Filip Zadina. It was they bypassed on a potential, much-needed puck-moving defenseman, whether it be Quinn Hughes from the University of Michigan, Swede Adam Boqvist or Canadian junior products Evan Bouchard and Noah Dobson.
It turned the focus on Cholowski.
Potentially, he is the best puck-moving defensemen in the Red Wings’ organization. He won’t be 21 until February. After a season of hard knocks playing college hockey at St. Cloud State, a much-improved year after moving to the Canadian major junior ranks and one playoff game for Grand Rapids, Cholowski is making significant progress.
Cholowski fully understands the Zadina selection puts much more attention and higher expectations on him. He welcomes it.
“I’m embracing it, for sure. When I saw that (the Red Wings not taking a defenseman in the first round), it was like I have to get on my horse and get going,” Cholowski said.
G. Hockeybuzz:
- Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff penned an article about development camp:
“(Wings general manager) Ken (Holland) has a great speech where he outlines what it takes to be a pro – not just a pro, but what it takes to be a Detroit Red Wing,” Horcoff said. “He talked a little bit about the history, a little bit about the facility and how things are changing down here.”
It’s a long day’s work for these kids, but that’s another lesson to be learned, especially for the 2018 draftees. Their rights belong to an NHL team. Hockey is now their job, and it’s up to them if they will make it their livelihood.
“The first group was here at 7 a.m. and they’re done at 4 (p.m.), so today is a long day with testing and physicals and all that,” Horcoff said. “On top of that, one group of defensemen and forwards will go for PP, more skill work, while the other ones, we brought in a video skill work guy to do some work with the guys on showing video on how offense is created at the NHL level.
“I think it takes some of these guys a long time. We want to expedite that curve. We want to show them early and get them thinking about what they’re going to need to do at the NHL level in order to produce offense, and on top of that we’ve got some dryland stickhandling, the sort of stuff they can do to improve their skill level away from the rink.”
H. NHL.com:
1. Finally, NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika wrote a superb article about Zadina:
He had to wait until Tuesday. When he finally walked out to the bench at the BELFOR Training Center, the practice rink inside Little Caesars Arena, he took a long look around. At center ice were the “HOCKEYTOWN” and Winged Wheel logos. Across the far wall were the 11 Stanley Cup banners from Joe Louis Arena, the Red Wings’ former home. At one end was a huge picture of the Cup below the words, “Where Champions Are Made.”
“When I was on the ice, it was awesome feeling,” Zadina said. “The rink is beautiful. It’s probably the best place to play in the NHL.”
These were Zadina’s first steps in the NHL, nothing more, no reason to get carried away. But you could see immediately why the Red Wings ranked him No. 3 on their draft board and were thrilled when he was available at No. 6, and why general manager Ken Holland has said he will have a chance to make the NHL roster at age 18.
In a white No. 11 practice jersey, the right wing showed off his shot, whipping pucks past goaltenders, ringing them off posts. He showed off his puck skills, dancing through the Power Edge Pro system of obstacles. He looked comfortable, even though he said he felt weird because he didn’t have his usual gear.
“Obviously he’s got a fantastic shot, really, good quick release, and he’s very agile,” said Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff, who played 1,008 NHL games as a forward from 2000-16. “So I think for the first day with all brand-new equipment — he only brought his skates — it was pretty impressive.”
