Month: July 2018

Was Chris Chelios’s return to the Blackhawks a case of bad timing?

The Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez wrote a column suggesting that Chris Chelios’s decision to return to the employ of the Chicago Blackhawks feels a little “too soon”:

Just four days after announcing he was leaving the Wings and planned on visiting Detroit whenever he could, Chelios took a job Monday as a Blackhawks ambassador.

Really, Cheli? Four days? Couldn’t wait just a little longer for the tears in Detroit to dry? I assumed he would take a job with the Blackhawks eventually. But four days?

This feels like it was orchestrated from the start. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the timing was just an incredible coincidence.

But if Chelios’ job with the Hawks was already in the works last week, he should have waited to announce his move and his new job at the same time. I could understand a beloved player saying he’s leaving Detroit to be closer to family and also taking a job with his hometown team, even if it is a hated rival. It would make sense. The dude’s moving and he needs a job.

Instead, the delayed announcement feels like a calculated manipulation. And Chelios never acted that way when I covered him over the years. He was always a go-to guy and a straight shooter in the Wings’ dressing room. He was honest – probably too honest if you ask NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – and he didn’t pander.

Monarrez continues…

Roughly translated: Henrik Zetterberg’s agent tells Hockeybladet that his client hasn’t decided whether to continue playing

Via Expressen and the Swedish news agency TT, Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svensson, spoke with Hockeybladet.nu regarding his client’s health. What follows is roughly translated:

AGENT: “Zetterberg has not decided”

Henrik Zetterberg has a contract until the 2020-21 season with the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit has not heard anything about the Swede’s future with the team, however. Zetterberg has simply not decided whether or not he will continue to play.

“He has not decided whether he will continue or not,” says Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svensson, to Hockeybladet.

Henrik Zetterberg has played 15 seasons in the NHL, and for the last six, he’s been the captain of his team. There is uncertainty regarding Zetterberg’s future with the team. Detroit has not heard anything from him, but it believes that he will continue to play. Hockeybladet reached out to Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svenson, who is careful when discussing the future of the Swede.

“I just don’t think he’s decided yet. There have been some injury problems for his back. It’s impossible to answer how he’ll get along, one can’t know as it is presently. He simply hasn’t decided.”
Closes door to the SHL
A couple of years ago, speculation began that Zetterberg was on his way back to the SHL. Zetterberg and his wife bought a house in Angelholm. A comeback in the SHL won’t happen if Zetterberg chooses to continue his career.
“If Henrik Zetterberg chooses to continue playing in Detroit, there’s nothing else going on,” says Svensson to Hockeybladet.

Three things: on Michael Rasmussen, Mattias Elfstrom and ‘rookie season’ highlights of Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Dub Network’s Brandon Rivers examined the cases of several WHL players who may play NHL hockey this fall, including Wings prospect Michael Rasmussen:

One big reason we could see Ramsussen get a shot in the regular season is his ability to produce on the power play. This skill is something that should transfer over to the next level and will help him earn at the very least a taste of the NHL.

If he does not produce, we could see him get sent back for one more junior season and a likely roster spot with Canada’s U20 World Juniors team.

Detroit’s training camp goes September 14th-18th and their first preseason game is September 19th. They have seven preseason games that go through September 29th.

Due to the later start of Detroit’s camp, Rasmussen could end up participating in the Tri-City preseason tournament which runs the 6th through the 8th, though he will not play in the game on Saturday the 15th against the Chiefs in Kennewick.

If Rasmussen get a nine-game stint, he will be out through October 22nd. That would mean him missing 10 or possibly 11 Americans regular season games.

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examined forward Mattias Elfstrom’s 2017-18 campaign. Elfstrom had a difficult season playing for Vasterviks IK:

Quotable: “Mattias didn’t have his best season last year but, to his credit, realized that and has refocused this summer. He’s been putting in the work to make sure that’s not the case this year. I’m looking forward to seeing his development next season.” – Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development

Elfstrom signed with IK Oskarshamn recently, and the new start may mean a better season for the 6’3″ forward.

3. AWood40, a.k.a. Alex Wood, has been very busy on YouTube, posting highlights of the Red Wings’ playoff series (plural) vs. Toronto in the late 80’s, and over the past two days, he posted highlight clips spotlighting the rookie seasons of Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom:

St. James talks player development in her latest mailbag

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed a mailbag article this morning. St. James answered a question about the pesky issue of player development (among others):

HSJ: When he was asked about the state of the team as he announced general manager Ken Holland’s two-year extension in April, team owner Chris Ilitch said “we are all going to need patience. …. We are going to be as aggressive as possible in building a team that can qualify for the playoffs and ultimately compete for a Stanley Cup championship.”

In March, I interviewed Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman and Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill about forging their respective teams into Stanley Cup contenders. This was Yzerman’s perspective: “To build a team, it takes years. Our approach has been that we try to hang on to our draft picks and develop players. It’s my eighth year and I was fortunate to come in when we had our first-overall and second-overall picks in Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, so I got a running start. Eight years later we have a contender, but we haven’t won a Cup.”

Nill said, “It’s not going to happen overnight. And you have to get a little bit lucky. … People want overnight change and it doesn’t happen that way.”

The Wings have held onto their first-round draft picks since 2013, which has netted Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, plus Joe Veleno (via Vegas). All those are key pieces as the Wings rebuild. None are considered generational players, like Edmonton landed in 2015 in Connor McDavid, Toronto landed in 2016 in Auston Matthews, and Buffalo landed in 2018 in Rasmus Dahlin.

The Oilers, in fact, also drafted first overall in 2010, 2011 and 2012, drafted seventh overall in 2013, and third overall in 2014. They’ve missed the playoffs  11 times the past 12 seasons. The Maple Leafs have missed the playoffs 10 of the past 13 seasons, and haven’t won a playoff series since 2004. In addition to Dahlin at first overall, the Sabres have, over the past six years, drafted second overall twice, and eighth overall three times. They haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2011.

Then there’s the Coyotes franchise: They have drafted inside the top 10 six times since 2004-05, and have missed the playoffs 10 times, including the past six years.

I know it’s frustrating watching the Wings try to regain competitiveness, but as is shown around the league, it takes time.

St. James continues…

 

Joe Louis Arena’s redeveloper gets extension regarding plan to develop JLA site

Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho reports that the organization responsible for Joe Louis Arena’s redevelopment has received an extension as to when it must submit a plan for redeveloping the Joe Louis Arena site:

The Detroit City Council has agreed to give a holdout creditor from the city’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy another 18 months to submit a redevelopment plan for the vacated Joe Louis Arena property.

Gotham Motown Recovery LLC, a subsidiary of New York City-based Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp., now has until January 2020 for the plan; under terms of the settlement forged in bankruptcy court in 2014, it had until Nov. 21, 2017, to submit it.

Gotham Motown sued the city in February for more time. The entity said it had requested a 24-month extension on July 20, 2017, but the city agreed to just a 180-day extension, even though the settlement approved in bankruptcy court allows for a two-year extension.

In April, Gotham Motown asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas Tucker to appoint a mediator to resolve the dispute. Law Offices of Barry L. Howard PC in Bloomfield Hills was appointed as mediator the following month, and after two mediation sessions on June 8 and July 16, a settlement was reached, according to court documents.

Mayor Mike Duggan has to sign off on the settlement, which does not include any monetary damages. Representatives from Gotham Motown declined comment; a message was left with Duggan’s office seeking comment.

The complex nature of the 9-acre site and the city’s changing real estate market have made it difficult to submit a redevelopment proposal, Gotham argues. One city official has called what surrounds the arena “an absolutely wicked entanglement of infrastructure” that makes redevelopment difficult.

Continued

More about Brandon Naurato’s hiring from Wakiji

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji spoke with Brandon Naurato regarding his addition to the Red Wings’ player development staff:

One player who is already good but wants to be even better is Dylan Larkin, who worked with Naurato earlier this summer.

“Working on goal scoring, getting stronger,” Larkin said during the lunch break at the Larkin Hockey School on July 12. “I think my biggest thing is conditioning. I always try and run a lot and make sure I’m in great shape coming into camp. But I’ve been working with Brandon Naurato with a couple other pro guys about goal scoring and on my one-timer as well.”

Naurato said he’s also been working with Larkin on some different power-play options, depending on Larkin’s power-play role this coming season.

“With Dylan, he’s obviously an elite player and has great, I always call it tools in the toolbox,” Naurato said. “So with guys like that, it’s almost just giving them the visual of here’s some things that you do well. NHL players really don’t have glaring weaknesses or things that they’re doing poorly. But there’s some minor adjustments that they can make and you show those trends through the video to where it may make their lives easier or just make them more efficient.

“A random example that has nothing to do with Dylan would be if I show all the guy’s shot attempts in a 10-game segment, he’s going to see exactly where he’s getting his shots from, which shots are getting blocked, which shots are hitting the net and how he’s scoring his goals. If you find a trend that he’s getting shots blocked in a specific area, well then you just dive deeper and say why and is there some type of skill that I can help him acquire to start being more efficient and getting those shots through.”

Wakiji continues…

District Detroit, American Red Cross to hold blood drive at LCA on August 9th

From the Detroit Red Wings:

THE DISTRICT DETROIT AND AMERICAN RED CROSS TO HOST BLOOD DRIVE AT
LITTLE CAESARS ARENA AUGUST 9

Little Caesars Arena Via Concourse to be the setting for one of southeastern Michigan’s largest blood drives

Community encouraged to register at Redcrossblood.org to prevent blood supply shortage

DETROIT –  An emergency blood shortage is prompting the American Red Cross, The District Detroit and Meijer Inc.  to hold one of the largest blood drives in Michigan at the state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena on Thursday, August 9. The Red Cross has issued an urgent call for eligible donors of all blood types – especially type O – to give now and help save lives. Blood donations are now being distributed to hospitals faster than they are coming in.

The event will take place in the arena’s 60,000 square foot street-level Via concourse amid the heritage of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons.  All presenting donors will receive tickets to sporting events, concerts and other giveaways. They will also receive discounts to the arena’s Team Store as well as Mike’s Pizza Bar; Sports & Social Detroit; Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit and the District Market and be entered to win additional prizes such as team autographed items.

“Donating blood is always important. Participating in this setting will also have a fun feel for our volunteers and our donors,” said Beth Frahm, Donor Resource Development Representative, American Red Cross of Southeastern Michigan. “We’d like to thank the entire Ilitch organization and Meijer for supporting our work to help save lives right here in southeastern Michigan.”

The blood drive is one of many community initiatives supported by Ilitch Charities and the Detroit Red Wings Foundation.

“The unique design of Little Caesars Arena makes it a valuable community asset for a wide variety of events in addition to the larger sporting events and concerts,” said Chris Granger, Group President, Sports & Entertainment, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. “We’d like to thank the American Red Cross of Southeastern Michigan for this opportunity to support those in need in our community.”

The District Detroit Blood Drive at Little Caesars Arena Presented by Meijer

What: One of southeastern Michigan’s largest blood drives

Who: American Red Cross, The District Detroit and Meijer, Inc.

Where: Little Caesars Arena

When: 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., August 9, 2018

Parking: Parking is available for donors free of charge at the Henry West Garage located at 128 W. Fisher Service Drive

Additional Information: Registration is required at Redcrossblood.org with the sponsor code LCA313.

How to donate blood
Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), sponsor code: LCA313 to make an appointment or for more information. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age in most states (16 with parental consent where allowed by state law), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood and platelet donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass® to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, from a computer or mobile device. To get started, follow the instructions at RedCrossBlood.org/RapidPass or use the Blood Donor App.

About the American Red Cross
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit http://RedCross.org or http://CruzRojaAmericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCross.

Centre Ice selling prospect tournament, training camp tickets presently

Traverse City’s Centre ICE Arena is selling tickets for the Red Wings’ prospect tournament and main training camp today at http://www.centreice.org/drwtickets

 

Michigan Hockey: Red Wings hire Brandon Naurato as player development consultant

According to Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples, the Red Wings have hired Total Package Hockey founder Brandon Naurato as a member of their player development department:

Brandon Naurato has been building his hockey training resume in impressive fashion the last few years.

Turns out, his hometown team took notice.

The Detroit Red Wings have hired Naurato, a Livonia native, as a player development consultant.

Naurato, a Detroit Catholic Central and University of Michigan alum, will be working for director of player development Shawn Horcoff and player development assistant Dan Cleary in his new capacity with the Winged Wheel franchise.

“Like most kids in Michigan, I grew up a Red Wings fan, and my main goal now is, I’ve been given an opportunity within the organization in a player development role, and I want to help in any way I can,” Naurato told MiHockey. “I’m excited to learn from guys like Jeff Blashill and Dan Byslma and then Shawn Horcoff and Dan Cleary.”

The road to Hockeytown began with a meeting between Naurato and Kris Draper. Naurato, the director of player development for Total Package Hockey, showed Draper how he was constructing the training curriculum for TPH based around his own analysis from hockey’s highest level.

Continued

Afternoon news: On the Wings alums’ golf tournament, training camp tix on sale Tuesday, Dylan Larkin, the Eastside Elite Hockey League and a bad day in history

Of disparate Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. The Red Wings Alumni Association announced the date and time of their annual golf outing via a Tweet today…

2. And along the “see-you-in-September” line, Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City reminded us that training camp/prospect tournament tickets go on sale tomorrow, July 24th:

New This Year – Alumni/Celebrity Game Features DRW Alumni vs Guns N Hoses, Red & White Game at Noon on Sunday

Get tickets for NHL Prospect Tournament and DRW Training Camp starting TOMORROW (July 24) at 10 am. Online sales only; no in-person sales. Click link for tickets and event details.

New This Year – Public May Purchase Tickets to DRW Golf Classic VIP Reception

Golf and Dine with the Red Wings during the DRW Golf Classic. Don’t golf? Attend the VIP Reception that evening. Click link for complete details, golf registration and VIP Reception Tickets.

3. In foreign-language news, Hockeysverige.se’s Uffe Bodin reports that Wings prospect Mattias Elfstrom has been signed by IK Oskarshamn of the Swedish Allsvenskan;

4. Closer to home, the Hockey News’s Jared Clinton weighed in on the Dylan Larkin contract talks:

DYLAN LARKIN, DETROIT RED WINGS

If we were to rate these on a scale of least-to-most likely to go the duration of the summer, with one being the least, Larkin would be about a two at worst. It’s been made clear by Larkin that he could see his time without a deal for the 2018-19 campaign coming to an end shortly, although that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen this week. It could still take several before the entire thing is ironed out.

There’s no reason for these negotiations to become all that contentious, however. It’s clear Larkin and the Red Wings are a fit — some consider him a shoo-in as Detroit’s next captain — and the 21-year-old has proven he’s ready to carry the offensive load. His sophomore season notwithstanding, Larkin has been excellent for the Red Wings and led the team with 63 points last season, though his 16 goals were the fewest of his young career. If his shooting percentage normalizes a bit, however, Larkin looks like a promising 20-goal, 60-point player for the foreseeable future. As for terms on a new deal, you can probably safely bet on Larkin landing something in the $6 million-range annually, and Detroit might be best served to buy up a free agent year with a six-year term.

5. The Athletic’s Jordin Horrobin spoke with Steven Oleksy regarding the Eastside Elite Hockey League, whose All-Star Game is taking place this Thursday in Mt. Clemens:

Oleksy, 32, is still working to get back to the NHL. He’s entering the second half of a two-year deal with Anaheim, though he spent all of last season with the AHL affiliate in San Diego. Being the player-commissioner of the EEHL feels like a full-time job, but he says it doesn’t hinder his training regimen. Instead, it means using less of his offseason to enjoy Michigan summers and sharpen his short game.

“I don’t get to go out on boats all the time like some guys do,” he says. “Or go golfing whenever I want.”

For Oleksy, it’s a worthwhile trade to give local players the opportunity to play through the summer in relaxed versions of game-like situations. From the middle of June to the first week of August, players skate twice-weekly in 5-on-5 games with no checking.

“For a summer league, it’s very organized,” Larkin told The Athletic’s Craig Custance. “It’s not goon hockey.”

Thursday’s all-star game is a 3-on-3 format, with four teams captained by Larionov, Sergei Samsonov, Todd Bertuzzi and Chris Chelios (or David Legwand if Chelios cannot be present). Proceeds from the $10 tickets are going to a quartet of charitable causes: ALS awareness, autism awareness, StopConcussions and the Special Olympics. Fire capacity at the arena is about 500 people and both previous all-star games sold out.

6. And Paul Kukla retweeted this note about a rough day in Detroit sports history:

The Wings tore apart the heart of their team because Jack Adams wanted to banish Ted Lindsay to the Siberia of the NHL for starting a players’ association.

Update: