As the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects prepare for tonight’s championship game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Red Wings posted a morning skate report on Twitter…
Getting you set for tonight’s final game of the 2018 NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City! ? | #DRWPT #LGRW pic.twitter.com/uHDelFjVLG
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 11, 2018
And DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji set up tonight’s game:
“It’s good, it means progress,” said Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development. “We felt coming in here we were going to have a good team on paper. I think guys, they’ve put a lot of hard work in over the summer and I think you’re starting to see that. (Dennis) Cholowski and Ras (Michael Rasmussen) and Gio (Givani Smith). I think a big difference for us is our 18-year-olds. Our young guys have come in and in a very hard tournament, done very well. You see (Joe) Veleno, (Jared) McIsaac, (Alec) Regula, and obviously (Filip) Zadina, speaks for himself.
“I’m happy. It’s a good step forward for us. But I’ll be even happier if we can win tonight.”
Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon, in his first year as the head coach of the team, knows that a victory would be significant.
“It’s great to be in the championship game to have a chance to win something,” Simon said. “No matter what it is, if you’re on the golf course and you’re playing a buddy, you want to beat him. You want to win. If you’re playing in your backyard, you want to win. If you’re playing pickup basketball, you want to beat the other guy you’re playing against. I don’t think the philosophy or the mentality changes. If we win this tournament, I think it’s great for the organization. All these young prospects that everyone’s excited to see have success and hopefully feed off that going into camp, I think is a great thing.”
