Month: July 2018

Among the questions and answers in the Free Press’s Helene St. James latest’ mailbag feature:

HSJ: Once restricted free agents Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are re-signed, that will put the Wings at 12 NHL forwards towards next season. From what I hear within the organization, Michael Rasmussen would have to play himself out of a spot in training camp – that’s how high the confidence is the 6-foot-6 forward is ready to grab a spot. Hard to think he wouldn’t be a help on the power play. There’s hope Filip Zadina can, too, but it’s a big advantage for the Wings that the NHL has sided with them and determined Zadina was on loan to Halifax, making him a European-status player and AHL eligible. If Zadina looks like he can make the Wings better out of camp, the onus will be on them to find a spot, but if he doesn’t, it’s easy to start him in Grand Rapids. (Rasmussen, on the other hand, will either play in Detroit, or have to go back to juniors).

St. James continues, addressing Luke Glendening’s future, Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski and Henrik Zetterberg’s questionable status…

WXYZ’s Brad Galli attended the Larkin Hockey School in Waterford, MI, and he spoke with both Dylan Larkin and some of the campers regarding Larkin’s leadership abilities:

 

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Athletic’s Craig Custance penned a “Red Wings 2018-19 Depth Chart 1.0,” concluding that the Wings will have to make a trade to alleviate roster jams. Regarding the forwards, Custance offers the following:

 

OK, there’s a lot going on here. Let’s start with the captain. Because of his degenerative back condition, Henrik Zetterberg isn’t a lock to return next season and that would shuffle up these lines considerably. If he retires early, that moves Larkin and Frans Nielsen up a slot at center and likely means Darren Helm and Luke Glendening centering the bottom two lines. Andreas Athanasiou can also play center in that scenario. Part of the motivation of signing Thomas Vanek was to play him with younger players, to help build their confidence offensively. GM Ken Holland mentioned his success in the past with Athanasiou, so that’s a pairing we may see up front. It would also be interesting to see his passing ability paired with Filip Zadina’s shot.

There are a lot of interchangeable parts here at forward. Michael Rasmussen is likely to make the team and break in at left wing, similar to the way the team eased Larkin into the league. Trading Athanasiou, which is very much a possibility, would open more time on the wing for Rasmussen.

The odd-man out, among the kids, appears to be Evgeny Svechnikov, who had a down season last year in the AHL but showed glimpses of being able to use his big body effectively at the NHL level. A few things could help Svechnikov get regular playing time: 1) Zadina isn’t NHL ready. 2) Zetterberg retires. 3) Athanasiou is traded. There’s a good chance at least one of those scenarios emerges by the start of the season.

Custance continues (paywall)…

2. In the land of controversy, NBC Sports’ James O’Brien suggests that allowing Henrik Zetterberg to retire would serve as a catalyst to jump-start the Wings’ youth movement:

If the Red Wings are realistic about their near future, they should err on the side of encouraging Zetterberg to way his health more than trying to gut out the 2018-19 season.

Again, what’s the best-case scenario if Zetterberg plays? He’d take a roster spot from a player who might be part of a longer-term solution in Detroit, on a team few expect to contend. There’s also the unsettling possibility that his own play would plummet. Zetterberg would have robust company if he joined the ranks of sports stars who’ve suffered depressing final seasons, but wouldn’t be more pleasant to see him instead end his Red Wings days with his head held high?

Conversely, the Red Wings could instead improve their odds of landing a lottery pick like Jack Hughes in 2019, something that – deep down – they should realize they really need. Along with the torch being passed to the next generation of Red Wings, there might be a better chance of fringe prospects receiving crucial make-or-break opportunities.

Also, a beloved star wouldn’t needlessly suffer.

O’Brien continues, and put bluntly, Zetterberg wants to play hockey, which is something O’Brien doesn’t consider in his article…

3. In the land of lists, part 1: ESPN’s Emily Kaplan penned a list of the best contracts for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams…

Detroit Red Wings

Jonathan Bernier, 29, G
$3 million cap hit through 2020-21 season

It’s hard to find gem contracts on this roster, which was saddled by too many bloated deals that it is now trying to unload for future success. That said, Ken Holland has done a good job of correcting past mistakes. We like the contract of Jonathan Bernier a lot, especially if he proves to be a worthy successor to Jimmy Howard.

4. Finally, also in the land of lists, from Sportsnet’s “Down Goes Brown” comes a list of the best defensive pairs of the last 30 years:

Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Chelios, Detroit Red Wings

Here’s a combo Yzerman probably has a little bit fonder memories of.

During his time in Detroit, Lidstrom was one of those stars that you could send out with just about anyone and know you had a dominant pairing; towards the end of his career, he clicked especially well with Brian Rafalski. But back in 1999, before Lidstrom had won a Norris, the Wings decided to bring in another big name to share the blue line minutes when they pried a 37-year-old Chelios out of a messy situation in Chicago.

At the time, it felt like a move that could be a short-term rental. Instead, Chelios played another decade in Detroit, giving the Red Wings two all-time greats. Their most impressive accomplishment came in 2002, when Lidstrom and Chelios finished 1-2 in a close Norris vote, an almost unprecedented case of players from the same team dominating the ballots.

Not surprisingly, the Red Wings won the Cup that year.

They’d win it again in 2008, although by that point Chelios was well past his prime, and they had their share of dominant regular seasons, too. And they weren’t shy about doing it with veteran blueliners – when the Red Wings finished with 124 points in 2005–06, Lidstrom and Chelios were two of a ridiculous five defencemen on the roster who were 35 or older. (By comparison, here’s the total list of blueliners that old who saw the ice in 2017–18 for any team.)

DGB (a.k.a. Sean McIndoe) continues…

Of disparate Red Wings-related note tonight:

1. In the, “Funny Ha” department, University of Maine teammates Chase Pearson and Patrick Holway took the “Best Friends Challenge” at the Red Wings’ summer development camp…

2. And in the “family connections” department, Dylan Larkin’s cousin Adam, who graduated from Yale University in 2017, will be playing for the ECHL’s Reading Royals this upcoming season. Adam, a defenseman, played for the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder last season, and he took part in the Wings’ summer development camp two seasons ago.

Adam is taking part in Dylan’s Larkin Hockey School in Waterford, MI this week:

The 2018 @LarkinHockey School is underway.

? of Day 1| https://t.co/84h2pvJuyI pic.twitter.com/8uViAwxiEJ

— MiHockey (@MiHockeyNow) July 9, 2018

 

Of rink-related note this evening:

1. According to UpNorthLive’s Harrison Beeby, Centre ICE Arena is still attempting to crowdfund the renovations made to its facility to continue holding the prospect tournament and Wings’ training camp in Traverse City:

The new NHL required safety upgrades have now been installed at Centre Ice Arena but help is still needed from the public to ensure these new features can help keep the Detroit Red Wings and NHL prospects coming back to northern Michigan for years to come.

The original cost of the project was about $220,000 for new glass around the boards, advanced padding along the glass and extra safety netting for players and fans. Traverse City Tourism helped cover an initial part of the cost but Centre Ice is pushing a public crowdfunding option to help raise the rest of the money. Their goal is to raise $70,000 by the end of the NHL Prospects Tournament and Red Wings Training Camp in September.

If you would like to learn more about the upgrades or give a donation you can visit the Centre Ice Arena website.

2. The Grand Rapids Griffins’ parent company has added a third rink to their portfolio, as noted by Fox 17’s Bob Brenzig:

The Georgetown Township Ice Arena will be getting a new owner and new name.

The operators of the rink’s Facebook page posted Tuesday that the township board approved the sale of the arena Monday night to DP Fox Holdings, LLC, of Grand Rapids. DP Fox also owns the Grand Rapids Griffins and Griffs Ice House and Griffs Ice House West in Holland. The Georgetown Ice Arena will become Griffs Georgetown in coming weeks.

The township posted that the board has been working on privatizing the arena for several months.

The AHL just announced its 2018-19 season home openers, and the Grand Rapids Griffins will open their 18-19 campaign vs. the Hershey Bears on Friday, October 12th.

Very, very briefly:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James noted that Daniel Cleary, Henrik Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula are golfing with Erik Karlsson in Scotland, and you’ll find a picture of Niklas Kronwall in Karlsson’s Instagram feed as well:

Another beautiful day. #trumpinternational

A post shared by Erik Karlsson (@erikkarlsson65) on Jul 10, 2018 at 4:09am PDT

2. The Red Wings are promoting their fantasy camp…

For the first time, #RedWings Fantasy Camp is coming to @LCArena_Detroit! Don’t miss your chance to skate with Hockeytown Legends! #LGRW

Participants must be 21 years of age or older to register. Presented by @budweiserusa.

Visit: https://t.co/vjO44v380x pic.twitter.com/agnAXSrmER

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 10, 2018

3. And this is a little late, but I could use a hand with a Filip Hronek interview given to Mountfield HK Hradek Kralove about a week ago. Hronek speaks at length about his pro career, but the Google translation thereof comes out as garble. Please let me know if you can lend a hand in translating the interview.

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a profile of Red Wings prospect David Pope this morning, discussing the 24-year-old’s developmental curve:

“(College) was definitely the right route for me,” Pope said. “I needed a little bit more time to kind of figure out my game and grow into my body and get a lot stronger. Now I have my degree (in Kinesiology) and it’s all about hockey.

“I think the time in the NCAA kind of helps you hone-in your skills and develop your game, not only on the ice but how to be a professional as well.”

The Red Wings selected Pope (6-3, 198) in the fourth round in 2013 (109^th overall). He blossomed the past two years in college. As a senior, he picked up 20 goals and 41 points in 35 games.

Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, the club’s past two No. 1 picks, appear to have the edge over other forward prospects in the competition for roster spots.

Pope said he needs to improve his skating, not technique, but stamina. He will continue working with skating coach Stacy Barber this summer.

“I’m one of those kids who just developed a little bit later,” Pope said. “I think a lot of it was just growing into my body. When you start to get a little bit of that man strength, everything kind of comes together from there.”

Khan continues, and he posted a short video of Pope speaking with the media during development camp:

 

 

The Hockey News’s Ken Campbell penned an article about The Russian Five documentary, and Campbell reports that the film went over particularly well with its target audience:

Moments after The Russian Five documentary film debuted at a film festival in Detroit in April, director Joshua Riehl was backstage preparing to appear on a Q&A panel when he was approached by former Detroit Red Wing Darren McCarty, who had tears rolling down his face. “The first thing he said to me was, ‘Brother, you captured it,’ ” Riehl said. “ ‘You captured what it felt like to be in that locker room.’ For someone who was in that locker room to give his stamp of approval meant a lot. The emotion was real. It wasn’t fake. Nothing is fake about Darren McCarty.”

That was Riehl’s second favorite moment from the night the movie debuted at the Freep Film Festival three months ago. The first was when Riehl realized that Vladimir Konstantinov was in the audience. That’s because Konstantinov was the main inspiration behind The Russian Five, which chronicles the Detroit Red Wings dynasty through the eyes of Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Slava Fetisov and Vyacheslav Kozlov from the moment Konstantinov and Fedorov were part of the best single-team draft in NHL history in 1989 to the back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1997 and ’98 and the limousine accident that robbed Konstantinov of his career and left him permanently disabled.

Continued, and FYI:

Riehl said the film has been seen now by about 4,500 people, with the next showing at a film festival in Traverse City in August. (Unfortunately, the Toronto International Film Festival passed on it, largely because it now shows only world premiers.) But Riehl has been encouraged by the feedback he has received on it to this point. And he said if he makes another hockey film, he would like to document McCarty’s life journey.

“The pain that he suffered during his hockey career drove him to alcohol abuse and drug addiction,” Riehl said. “But he found something that works for him and he’s been sober for two years. I feel like that guy has an awesome redemption story in there somewhere.”

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned an article profiling Gustav Lindstrom, a strong-skating offensive defenseman who’s going to try to break into the SHL this season with the Frolunda Indians:

“Frolunda is a fantastic program, and it lost a lot of its defensemen,” said Shawn Horcoff, the Wings’ director of player development. “He’ll get a good chance, a lot of opportunities that we will monitor closely, and spend a lot of time on.”

Lindstrom was a somewhat of a surprise selection by the Wings, as many scouts considered he’d be picked a round or two lower.

But the Wings saw a 6-foot-2, 190-pound right-shot defenseman who, if not thoroughly outstanding in one area, was more than adequate while checking off a lot of other boxes.

With Almtuna IS in the Swedish junior league, Lindstrom had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 39 games last season, with a plus-2 rating.

“He’s a guy that really came on the second half last season,” Horcoff said. “He’s physical, he skates well and has a good first pass.”

Kulfan continues…