From their first camp in Traverse City in 1997, the Red Wings were hooked. This year’s camp is the 20th hosted by Centre ICE (it didn’t host during lockouts in 2004-05 and 2012-13). The facility became home to the eight-team NHL Prospects Tournament in 1998.
“It’s a great part of the world,” Holland said. “Great facilities. The rink has good energy. No reason to move after 20 years. Everyone in our organization looks forward to 10 days there.”
[Pete] Correia, the Peninsula Township supervisor who was instrumental in getting Centre ICE built, lost his battle with cancer in 2016.
Terry Marchand, executive director of Centre ICE, said Traverse City, which branded itself “Hockeytown North” many years ago, enjoys hosting the Red Wings as much as the organization loves training there.
“Ever since the first one, when Pete Correia built the rink here — he’s the one who convinced Ken to bring the team up here — it’s been kind of a match made in heaven,” Marchand said. “The team and players and coaches are all met with open arms by the city and residents of Traverse City, the visitors. Traverse City has a lot to offer and the Red Wings bring people here.
“Ken has always said that he doesn’t want to take it anywhere else,” Marchand said. “As long as he’s the GM, he said it’ll always be here.”
Q: You’ve lived quite a life and were once in a rock band. Any topics from your troubled past that you can laugh about now and use in your shows?
A: Yeah, survival. We’re all the … stars of our own movie. I’m 46 now; we’ve all been to what you may call a war of ourselves. And now being through it, my whole purpose is about now. It’s all the other stuff (in the past,) the hockey stuff, the (incidents with the) cops that all led to reasons why someone like yourself would call me and put it out there for people. I’m just a messenger of truth. Now that I’ve found truth and honesty, and all that …, I can talk about all the money I’ve either lost or blown, or the divorces. My opening line is ‘I want to make sure you’re in the right place.’ I’m not No. 19 (Steve) Yzerman or No. 5 (Nicklas Lidstrom) — the perfect human. I’m the imperfect human.’ You need a lawyer? A bankruptcy attorney? An AA sponsor? Need to know where the best bud is to smoke? I’m your guy. You’re in the right place.’ I’m in such a phenomenal place in my mind.
1. In the multimedia department, part 1: Niklas Kronwall spoke with Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson regarding the Wings’ tradition of leadership as it’s been handed down through the Swedish players…
2. In the multimedia department, part 2: WDFN’s Matt Sheppard broadcasted live from training camp on Friday, and the latest episode of, “Shep, Shower and Shave” included interviews with Danny DeKeyser and Jeff Blashill:
In its first year of operation, the new Little Caesars Arena in Downtown Detroit has quickly become one of the busiest places in all of North America.
Last week President and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Chris Ilitch, said the arena has welcomed nearly three million guests since it opened, including Detroit Pistons and Red Wings games, concerts, various sporting events, and a number of other entertainment events.
“We’re so proud to share that Little Caesars Arena now ranks as the third busiest venue in North America, only behind Madison Square Garden in New York and Barclays Center, in New York as well,” Ilitch said.
According to a report from Crain’s Detroit, the arena has a chance to be the most visited arena in the entire world in 2018 in terms of concerts after the 1.5 million in attendance for Wings and Pistons games is subtracted.
LCA was named earlier this year as the recipient of the Sports Business Journal 2018 Sports Facility of the Year Award, beating out the likes of Notre Dame Stadium, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and Minneapolis’s Target Center and US Bank Stadium.
“We have to be harder to play against on a nightly basis,” Blashill said. “We have to make sure we’re not a tweener team – kind of skilled but not winning the skill game and kind of hard but not really hard enough. We have to be miserable to play against every night.
“I want teams walking into LCA saying, ‘Boy, I don’t want to play this game tonight.’ The T-shirts are just a reminder on a daily basis of making sure we stay really miserable to play against every night.”
Blashill borrowed the slogan from former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson, whose teams played a relentless full-court pressure style in the 1990s. Richardson called it “40 Minutes of Hell” due to the two 20-minute halves in college basketball.
Red Wings players have reacted positively. More than a few have said this camp has been the most difficult they can remember.
“It’s been hard, harder than any camp I’ve been part of,” said Frans Nielsen, who is entering his 13th season. “It’s new times and it’s a good thing. The amount of pace and attitude, it hasn’t been easy by any means. But it’s the way camp should be you. You should come in prepared and get ready from day one. It’s been good.”
“I think I’m feeling for sure more home here, starting to feel more like it was when I was in New York,” Nielsen said. “You know all the guys now and you’re not afraid to talk in the room and that kind of stuff. By missing Henrik, I’m for sure one of those guys that has to step up sometimes and talk.”
Nielsen also wants to step up and take on some of Zetterberg’s minutes.
“You want to be in those situations that he was in,” Nielsen said. “You want to be on the ice when you’re down one goal, you want to be on the ice when you’re up one goal. It’s an opportunity and I want to prove to the coaching staff that I should be there.”
…
Nyquist is a new look on the line. He is one of the guys who will feel Zetterberg’s absence the most, as the two were regular linemates, but Nielsen is a good passer who will find his wingers if they are open.
“I like playing with Frans in the middle,” Nyquist said. “He’s a really smart player, two-way guy. You know we are going to be good in the d-zone when he is out there. He can score goals and make plays in the o-zone.”
St. James also continues, and she posted short videos of Nielsen and Blashill speaking with the media:
“I’m just living in the present. I haven’t really given much thought of the future,” Howard said. “Right now, it’s just about getting off on the right foot.”
He doesn’t view it as a distraction.
“I’ve been through it before,” Howard said. “Whatever happens, happens. I try not to think about it. Sometimes it can wear on you. It’s just going out there and playing hard and working hard.”
Howard, 34, aims to improve his numbers from a year ago (2.85 goals-against average, .910 save percentage). He’ll be pushed by veteran Jonathan Bernier, who signed a three-year, $9 million deal on July 1.
“Try to be as great as I was two years ago,” Howard said. “I don’t think last year was a down year by any means. I feel like if I can get back to the .917, .920 area, this team will be a lot better.”
When he first joined the Wings full time in the 2009-10 season, Howard shared the net with Chris Osgood and a tight bond developed between them. They remain close and Osgood is still a sounding board for Howard when he needs to work through the ups and downs of the game.
This year he has a new goaltending partner in Jonathan Bernier, who has said he’s here to push Howard and he expects Howard to push him in a healthy competitive way.
“We need to have that working relationship, we have to push each other, but at the same time we’re teammates, we’ve got to support each other,” Howard said when told about Bernier comments. “We’ve got to be there for each other to bounce things off, because at the end of the day, we’re the ones sitting back there and sometimes it can feel like you’re on an island. So, it’s important to have a partner you can bounce stuff off of.”
Last season Howard was a workhorse for the Wings, appearing in 60 games. It was the most games he’s played since he backstopped Detroit in 63 games in back-to-back seasons, 2009-10 through 2010-11.
As much as Howard likes to play, Wings coach Jeff Blashill would like to see him play less games this upcoming season, especially with Bernier on the team.
“Jimmy has been a really good goalie for us for two years without question, but I had to over-work him last year. I’d like to stay away from any one goalie playing 60 games,” Blashill said. “I’d like it to be closer to that 50-30 split because the games are so close. They got to be in on their game so much, there’s zero room for error at the goaltending position on our hockey team that if you get to a 50-30 split, it makes more sense. But I’m also going to watch. Ultimately, guys decide who plays more based on their play over a long period of time. But certainly, I think Jimmy has been great for us for two years.”
Now in his third season with the Wings, Nielsen is more comfortable leading this younger group.
“I’m feeling more at home here, for sure,” Nielsen said. “I’m starting to feel more like it was when I was in New York. You know all the guys now and you’re not afraid to talk in the room, that kind of stuff. Missing Henrik, I’m for sure one of those guys that has to step up sometimes and talk.”
Nielsen likes the idea of playing with Helm and Nyquist, and the different attributes they all bring to a line.
“I like playing with Helmer, you can trust Helmer every night,” Nielsen said. “You’re going to get an honest effort from him. He rarely has a bad game with his compete level and how hard he plays every night. From playing against him, I know how tough he is to play against with his skating and never-give-up mentality on pucks.
“It’s been an issue for us the last couple of years scoring goals, so with Nyquist, we are trying to spread the goal scoring a little bit all over the lineup. With Helmer, the way he works, and having that on one side and then having Gus’ skill set on the other side, hopefully it can be a good combination.”
The Detroit Red Wings wrapped up their final full day of 3-team practicing at Centre ICE Arena with a battle-filled day.
The players were challenged by the coaching staff’s emphasis on one-on-one and two-on-two battling during drills, as well as the grueling skating test, where players had to skate 3 laps up and down the ice 4 times, with 3, 2, 1 and then 1 more minute’s worth of rest between reps.
The “teams” were set up differently, with the “Red” team and then the “White” team from Sunday’s scrimmage (with Justin Abdelkader joining “team White), and a slimmed-down team of AHL and ECHL-bound players taking part in a smaller third practice, without the presence of 10 players who’ve been sent back to Major Junior hockey.
“You have three real good players,” Blashill said. “Bert is an F-1 (leader) on the forecheck, he’s a net-front guy. That allows the other two – not that they’re not hard on the forecheck – to use their skill. … I think putting them together can make a real good line.”
Larkin led the Red Wings with 63 points and assumes top-line duty now that Henrik Zetterberg is done playing. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Mantha led the team with 24 goals. Bertuzzi picked up seven goals and 24 points in 48 games as a rookie.
“If you’re going to play with Larks, you don’t want to be behind him all night, so you got to play at a high pace,” Blashill said. “I also hope the three of them can become a real good O-zone line. They’ve been a good rush group, but they need to be a good O-zone group, so we can spend less time defending and more time in the opposite end. I think they have it in them, it’s just learning how to protect the puck, use cutbacks, use each other and spread the zone, so hopefully they can have good chemistry.”
Mantha didn’t take off-season boxing lessons like he had planned, after a setback in training (he tweaked his knee, an MRI showed it’s fine). He instead focused on skating – including power skating – and stick-handling drills.
“(Larkin) brings a lot of speed, and sometimes it opens up scoring opportunities,” Mantha said. “I think it brings me to push myself and try to follow him as fast as I can.”
Mantha added, “I had a goal last year to score 30, obviously I didn’t reach it, so I think it’s the same goal this year. I want to be a big body in front of that net and get those extra goals that last year didn’t come.”
“Not playing playoff hockey sucks. That’s why we play hockey, you want to be there in the playoffs. Not being there the last two years has been hard, especially on the guys that are used to going to the playoffs. We don’t want it to become a new normal here. The normal here is making the playoffs, so it’s been hard,” Zetterberg told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket.
Zetterberg, who turns 38 next month, did everything he could over the last few years to stem the tide. He gutted through 82 games for three straight seasons despite chronic back pain, and most nights was the team’s best player.
Why did he continue to suit up, even when it was hard at times to get out of bed in the morning?
“Well,” he said, “that’s what we hockey players do, I guess. You want to be out there for the guys. We went through some tough stretches the last few years, and I didn’t want to be on the outside not helping them.”
Of note from this morning and early afternoon’s media availabilities at Red Wings training camp:
Gustav Nyquist spoke with the media for an extended period of time, discussing his take on Henrik Zetterberg’s departure, his hopes of stepping up in Z’s absence and the particularly competitive nature of this training camp:
Frans Nielsen spoke about the possibility that he may step up in terms of both leadership and point production given that Nielsen is finally feeling “at home” on a Red Wings team that will play absent his friend…
Jimmy Howard mentioned wearing a smaller chest protector per NHL rules as he addressed the tenor of camp and his desire to create a positive atmosphere with Jonathan Bernier as the goaltenders support one another throughout the season, and he reflected on Zetterberg’s absence, the potential displayed by Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, and more:
Justin Abdelkader discussed being a new father as much as anything, and he spoke about training camp and the exhibition season to come as someone who was just getting into the swing of things–necessarily so, said Abdelkader, who felt that it was going to be important to get his legs under him, vicious skating test included:
Finally, coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media for 9 minutes, addressing his “60 Minutes of Hell” slogan for the team, the emphasis on competition for jobs and playing hard all the time as the practice teams have been whittled down to “red,” “white” and “non-game-day” players; the coach was asked about the elements that Nyquist, Nielsen, Abdelkader and Howard bring to the team, sharing his belief that he hopes to split the goaltender’s duties 50-30 game-wise:
Update: Among the Wings’ videos and Twitter clips come this YouTube video of Frans Nielsen…
