Among DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji’s summer development camp Red and White game notes is this general summary from director of player development Shawn Horcoff, which includes some praise for Otto Kivenmaki:
It was a fitting finish to a competitive development camp for Detroit Red Wings prospects at Little Caesars Arena Saturday afternoon.
It started out as a blowout for Team Howe, who took a 3-0 lead, turned into a 4-4 tie at the end of regulation and was decided in a shootout.
“I liked the pace of the scrimmage,” said Shawn Horcoff, Detroit’s director of player development. “A lot stood out this week. They practice all week, they don’t get in that many game situations and we ask them to go out there and play a game, which they haven’t done in a while, it makes it tough on the kids. It’s a nice ending to the week. The guys we drafted this week, those are the guys I don’t really know that well, so it was nice seeing them play in a game situation. I saw a lot of talent, a lot of skill out there, and we’re excited.”
Otto Kivenmaki (7th round, 191st overall, 2018) scored the only goal of the shootout, lifting Team Lindsay to a 5-4 victory.
Kivenmaki, 5-foot-8, 154 pounds, also scored for Team Lindsay during their second-period comeback.
“You can tell his hockey sense and his talent level is high,” Horcoff said. “He’s continued to get stronger. He’s put on 12-13 pounds since last year and just has to continue to do that. He really finished strong the second half of the season in Finland, 11 points in 11 games or something close to that, but he played a lot, first-line power play, top-six minutes, that’s the biggest thing. He believes and he knows the way last season finished how he can play and how he can produce. I think he’s looking forward to this year and having a really big year.”
Wakiji continues at length.
