Of Red Wings-related note this morning:
1. This is more of an essay than an article, but I dig it, so: the Free Press’s Phoebe Wall Howard penned a case for Detroit sports fans to root for coach Gerard Gallant’s Vegas Golden Knights:
Continue reading Two Things: Praise for Gerard Gallant and a bit about Dan Renouf
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner’s latest “Red and White Authority” podcast consists of a 42-minute interview with Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, in which the coach discusses his experiences coaching Team USA to a bronze medal at the World Championship and more:
Coach Blashill joins us on Ep. 63 of #TheRWA to discuss #IIHFWorlds, the #NHLDraft, improving the power play and which prospects he believes could make the #RedWings.
Listen –> https://t.co/FjRBduMWdT pic.twitter.com/nwdsIghr7S
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 5, 2018
ESPN 96.1’s Big Drew and Jim spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon on Tuesday afternoon, conducting an 11-minute interview with the Griffins’ new bench boss:
Listen to “Ben Simon – New Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach (6/5/18)” on Spreaker.
This serves as a fine complement to the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner’s interview with Simon:
Detroit Red Wings executives never interviewed anyone other than Ben Simon to be the next coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins.
A combination of what the Griffins assistant coach had done previously, what he presented in an interview nearly two weeks ago and a growing concern they could lose him elsewhere were enough to convince general manager Ken Holland and Ryan Martin, the assistant GM who oversees the Griffins, to name him the 11th coach of the AHL affiliate.
All that was fine by Simon.
“Ultimately, this is where I really wanted to be,” he said Tuesday after being named the 11th coach of the Griffins and successor to Todd Nelson.
Update: The Holland Sentinel’s Chris Zadorozny spoke with Simon and Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin as well:
“To Ben’s credit, three teams called to interview him,” Red Wings Assistant General Manager Ryan Martin said. “He interviewed with two of those three and one of those two he had gone down for a second or third interview and they were getting down to decision time and often time in sports, we wanted to make sure we didn’t lose a great internal candidate to somebody else.”
With Nelson being looked at by two NHL teams prior to him taking the job with the Stars, Martin and Red Wings GM Ken Holland knew they had an internal candidate ready to take Nelson’s job, if he were to leave.
“We realized Ben is probably going to have an opportunity or an offer to go somewhere else, there’s only so many head coach candidates out there,” Martin said. “Between Ken and myself, meeting internally as well as us discussing with Nelly, that, ‘We’d like to sit down with Ben and although it’s kind of backwards, we’d like to interview him for your job if you are to leave.’”
I didn’t think that the issue of comments section remarks would cause me to lose sleep or feel depressed/anxious, but it’s done both, and now it’s time to act.
The Malik Report community has the potential to thrive, and, for the most part, its members are respectful and engaging, but we have some problems that need to be addressed. These issues have been discussed by the community at some length, both privately and publicly; I am both enacting the recommendations of the community and making the final decisions myself.
On a member-by-member basis:
Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff spoke with Red Wings senior VP Jimmy Devellano regarding Gerard Gallant, a.k.a. “Spuddy”:
The Vegas Golden Knights are up against it, down 3-1 to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup final and left with no more losses to give. That, according to Jimmy Devellano, is when Gerard Gallant does his best work. The Golden Knights coach spent the first nine of his 11-season NHL playing career as a left winger with the Detroit Red Wings, most of it when Devellano was the club’s general manager. Gallant was a four-time 30-goal scorer, including during the 1988-89 season when he put up career-best 39-54-93 totals and teamed with Steve Yzerman and Paul MacLean to form the highest-scoring forward unit in franchise history.
That trio combined for 319 points, but what Devellano remembers most about Gallant was his compete level, the red-hot fire that burned in the belly of the undersized 5-10, 190 pound forward, and the ability to keep his head when all others around them were losing theirs.
“A character guy, a man’s man, but very simple,” Devellano explained. “I don’t mean that in a derogatory way, but I mean very basic, not complicated, easy to talk to and likewise he had no problem talking to you in a down to earth fashion. He became a favorite of mine because he was with us 8-9 years and we did have some success. He played well with Yzerman, the two of them fit like hand and glove. We went to the final four back to back years (1986-87, 1987-88) and he was a big part of all that.”
The Athletic’s Craig Custance listed two Red Wings players among his top 20 players most likely to be traded this summer. One, you’d expect…
16. Andreas Athanasiou, Detroit Red Wings – Athanasiou’s name in trade rumors is nothing new, and the Red Wings aren’t necessarily highly motivated to make a move here. But both sides – the Athanasiou camp and the Red Wings management – aren’t against a deal. There also still seems to be some strain between Athanasiou and the coaching staff.
Athanasiou is arbitration eligible this summer so he’s going to get a raise from the nearly $1.4 million he held out for last offseason. With young forwards Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha also in line for significant salary increases, Detroit may prefer to let another team do Athanasiou’s next deal. And he has a weapon that opposing teams find attractive.
“Love the speed,” said one GM. “Worry a bit about the production.”
And the other is a surprise:
19. Nick Jensen, Red Wings – The Red Wings are actively shopping defenseman Xavier Ouellet, who has one year remaining on a contract worth $1.25 million. “He wants a fresh start,” Red Wings GM Ken Holland said last week at the draft combine. That’s not necessarily an easy assignment since Ouellet had trouble cracking the lineup on a Detroit team that wasn’t particularly good.
Trading Jensen would be much easier and there’s definitely interest. He’s a 27-year-old right-shot defenseman who slots into any team’s bottom pair for under $1 million. That’s attractive to both a budget team and teams up against the cap.
The problem is, one source outside Detroit suggested that the Red Wings weren’t too eager to make the move yet. There’s uncertainty as to whether Mike Green is coming back and who the Red Wings will get at the top of the draft. The preference for Detroit would be to wait until training camp to see how things all shake out, but by then, interested teams might have moved on.
Custance continues (paywall), and you’ll want to read about Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Rasmus Ristolainen…
The Detroit Red Wings announced the details of their annual Street Hockey Summer Tour today:
Red Wings announce 3rd Annual Street Hockey Summer Tour
Tour returns to make eight stops throughout the state of Michigan this summer for free street hockey clinics offered to children ages 7-12, presented by Meijer
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced the details for the 3rd Annual Street Hockey Summer Tour, presented by Meijer. The Red Wings will once again travel throughout the state of Michigan starting in July to take over the parking lots of eight different Meijer locations to host free street hockey clinics for children ages 7-12.
The tour is open to children of all skill levels and hockey experience. The first hour of each session will feature a one-hour clinic, followed by a 30-minute pick-up street hockey game. The clinics will be instructed by Red Wings representatives and local hockey players and coaches.
Continue reading Red Wings announce details of annual “Street Hockey Summer Tour”
Updated 7x at 3:17 PM: The Grand Rapids Griffins have named Ben Simon their head coach, per WOOD TV’s Larry Figurski.
The Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner confirms:
The Grand Rapids Griffins hired from within Tuesday, selecting Ben Simon to take over from Todd Nelson as the 11th coach of the AHL franchise.
Simon has been the Griffins’ assistant the past three seasons and was also a member of the team in 2006-07.
The 39-year-old was introduced as a press conference at Van Andel following a quick search by the organization. Nelson officially left the team Thursday to become an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars.
The Griffins also confirm:
Ben Simon has been named the 11th head coach in #Griffins franchise history. Congrats, Coach Simon! #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/Fz9iIP8PF8
— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) June 5, 2018
Here’s the Griffins’ press release:
Continue reading Grand Rapids Griffins name Ben Simon head coach
From “Den of Geek’s” Joseph Baxter, regarding Cameron Frye’s choice to wear a Red Wings jersey in the Chicago-based Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:
In an interview with WeAreMEL, actor Alan Ruck, who played Cameron in Ferris Bueller, told a rather fascinating story, revealing the actual reason behind Cameron’s memorable choice in jerseys. While that jersey might be considered an antagonistic move in the sports-obsessed Second City, it seems that it represented something deeper to Cameron.
According to Ruck, the Red Wings jersey was initially part of a character-building narrative for Cameron that writer/director John Hughes ultimately had to cut from the film. As Ruck explains:
“John [Hughes] had spent some of his boyhood in Detroit. [Hughes] had decided that Cameron had a horrible relationship with his father, but a great relationship with his grandfather, who lived in Detroit and would take Cameron to Red Wings games. That’s all it was, and it was never explained in the movie.”
DetroitRedWings.com employed the services of prolific hockey writer Julie Robenhymer during the World Championship in Denmark, and today, Robenhymer and the Red Wings’ website look back at the comments made by Wings ambassador Chris Chelios during his induction into the IIHF’s Hall of Fame:
In 26 years as an NHL player, including 10 with the Detroit Red Wings, Chris Chelios won three Stanley Cups, earned three Norris Trophies as the league’s best defenseman as well as the Mark Messier Leadership Award.
He also represented Team USA at the World Junior Championship, three Canada Cups, four Olympics – earning a silver medal in 1998 – as well as the World Cup of Hockey in 1996, where the United States defeated Canada in Canada to win the championship, and the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
Upon retirement, Chelios was immediately inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011, was a first-ballot selection for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and completed the trifecta last month as he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame during the 2018 IIHF World Championship held in Denmark.
“I never envisioned myself making it to the NHL,” Chelios said during his acceptance speech. “My goal was going to college and making the Olympic team. I thought, what a great honor that would be to represent your country and what a dream to be able to be one of those 22 or 24 players and I’m very fortunate to say that my dream came true.”
Robenhymer continues, and she spoke with Nicklas Lidstrom regarding the challenges involved in playing against Chelios.
