Month: July 2019

Via Winging It in Motown’s Jeff Hancock, Elite Prospects’ Christoffer Hedlund penned a profile of Red Wings draft pick Albert Johansson.

Johansson, a defenseman, was the 60th overall pick in the 2019 draft. He’s still a raw prospect, but he was dominant among his own age group while playing for Farjestads BK:

Albert Johansson, the son of former Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks-player and Olympic gold medalist Roger Johansson, was one of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft’s biggest risers in the second half of the 2018-19 season.

Johansson spent most of the season with Färjestad’s J20 SuperElit team but also played a big part when Färjestad’s J18 roster made it all the way to the final in the J18 SM-playoffs. At the conclusion of his club season, Johansson earned a spot on Team Sweden’s roster to the U18 World Championship, where Sweden beat Russia in the finals to win its first ever gold medal in the prestigious tournament — on home soil, no less.

Whereas Johansson dominated on his club roster, the depth of Sweden’s U18 group relegated him to a depth role where chances to shine were few and far between. The silver lining is that Johansson had the opportunity to prove to potential draft suitors that he could flourish in a defensive role.

Hedlund continues at significant length, diagramming Johansson’s strengths via video clips.

As the St. Louis Blues don’t have many Michigan ties, the Stanley Cup hasn’t visited Michigan this summer. According to the Blackburn News’s Bob Montgomery, the Cup will make a relatively close visit across from the Blue Water Bridge in Seaforth and Goderich later this month:

Seaforth and Goderich will be honouring local hockey hero Ryan O’Reilly later this month.

O’Reilly and the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup this year and O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

The Seaforth parade will start at 9:30 in the morning on Thursday, July 25th –  come down the main street to the arena, where O’Reilly will be available for pictures for up to an hour and a half.

The parade in Goderich will start shortly after 1:00 that same afternoon – leaving the town hall, going around the Square and back to the town hall and then out to the YMCA for pictures.

O’Reilly only has a limited time with the Stanley Cup but there will be opportunities for people to talk with him and take pictures.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner posted a “By the Numbers” look at Jimmy Howard’s 2018-2019 season, and among Howard’s statistics are the following:

55 – Total number of games Howard appeared in last season. It was the seventh time in his NHL career, which spans over 13 seasons (10 full seasons) that he has played in more than 50 games.

23 – For the second time in his career, Howard notched 23 wins. Back in 2014-15, he also recorded 23 wins in 53 games played.

22 – His total number of losses, which was the second-most losses he suffered in a season as a Red Wing. The most losses he registered in a single season is 27 in 60 games during the 2017-18 campaign.

Regner continues.

Returning Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula spoke with the Finnish news agency STT regarding his decision to sign with the Red Wings. What follows is a rough translation (emphasis on rough–it’s Finnish, after all) of Filppula’s conversation:

Valtteri Filppula is happy to return to Detroit, and is planning his summer training closely

Valtteri Filppula signed a two-year contract with Detroit.

He’s played 14 successful NHL seasons already, and the solid forward will return to the Detroit Red Wings in the autumn. Ice hockey player Valtteri Filppula, 35, shines with a smile on his face.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Valtteri Filppula chats with the Finnish news agency STT

One of my best friends is in the military, and he finds that it is wiser to not speak of politics. I am in the hockey blogging business, and specifically, the Red Wings blogging business, so I find that it is better to keep my opinions of the Ilitches’ real estate dealings as they pertain to Little Caesars Arena to myself.

That being said, going down to the rink for the summer development camp, it was a bummer to still see the parcel of land adjacent to the southeast corner of the rink sit empty and surrounded by construction fencing. The parcel adjacent to Woodward and I-75 is probably one of the most developable (pretend that it’s a word with me) spots in the city, but it just sits and waits for a clearer surrounding-the-rink real estate plan to emerge. One that doesn’t involve just putting up parking lots and charging $20-40 to park for a couple of hours.

Olympia Development just missed a deadline to submit a redevelopment plan for the parcel, and the Detroit News’s Editorial board produced an editorial slamming what is–regardless of your opinion of the Ilitches–clearly a broken promise regarding the organization’s downtown development plans, or the lack thereof:

Continue reading Detroit News editorial takes Olympia Development to task

The Red Wings posted Fox Sports Detroit’s Draft Review Special on the Wings’ YouTube page. Ken Daniels, John Keating, Art Regner and Ken Kal discuss the Wings’ top pick for the most part and speak at length with Steve Yzerman regarding both the draft and his handling of the team thus far:

Via the Red Wings’ Twitter account: Fox Sports Detroit posted three videos-via-Twitter which aired on tonight’s Tigers broadcast, in which Ken Daniels discusses the Wings’ draft and the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s roast of Mickey Redmond…

Tonight on Tigers Live, Ken Daniels dropped by to break down the @DetroitRedWings 2019 NHL Draft class and share how YOU can become involved with the @JDanielsFund! Check it out here ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5sfJ8O6xwB— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) July 5, 2019

Ken Daniels discusses the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s role with the Tigers’ broadcasters as well…

Ken Daniels joined us in the booth during tonight’s game to share how the @JDanielsFund is working to shatter the stigma surrounding drug addiction. For more information on how you can help, visit https://t.co/F1M9suPXYH. @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/a7yY6F9CKA— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) July 6, 2019

Update: Fox Sports Detroit’s YouTube page posted the first video in, well, video form:

From Michigan Sports Now’s Joe Buczek:

Detroit Red Wing legend and Fox Sports Detroit color analyst Mickey Redmond is in Traverse City this weekend for the National Cherry Festival.

The former NHL All-Star and nine-year pro will serve as the grand marshal for Saturday’s Cherry Royale Parade.

Although Redmond is no stranger to Traverse City, having visited several times over the years for the Red Wings training camp, this is Redmond’s first time at the National Cherry Festival.

“I haven’t had much time to really get out and about,” Redmond said. “We’re going to go for a little walk about tonight. Maybe listen to a little country music. Looking forward to that. Josh Turner and the gang. It’s just fun to be amongst so many people with a good spirit going on. Everybody’s in a good mood. The attitudes are great.”

Saturday’s Cherry Royale Parade starts at 11:15 a.m.

Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren isn’t big at a listed 5’11” and 183 pounds, but the waterbug forward is recovering from a back injury, and he hopes to crack Skelleftea AIK’s men’s team’s lineup on a permanent basis this season. MLive’s Ansar Khan profiled Berggren today:

Berggren hasn’t had many opportunities to display his talent since being drafted. He suffered a season-ended stress fracture in his back (no surgery required) after 16 games with Skelleftea, in his first season in Sweden’s top league.

After sitting out the first day of Red Wings development camp as a precaution, he took part in drills and scrimmages the final four days and impressed with his skills.

He had skated lightly a few times before the camp. This was the first true test since his injury.

“Before my injury, the season was good, but I only play 16 games,” Berggren said. “It was tough, but I got time to spend in the gym and get stronger.

“I have some time to build up myself and I’ve never been so strong, so I think I will be ready for the next season.”

Continued

The Hockey News’s Jared Clinton wondered aloud which players might fill the vacant captancies around the NHL, and there is only one correct answer as far as the Red Wings are concerned:

It’s Dylan Larkin. It has to be. As it stands, he is the future of the franchise, and it only helps matters that he’s a local boy who grew up idolizing the Red Wings. It’s a perfect fit. And, frankly, the timing is right to name him the captain this summer.

Though he has been mentioned in connection with the captaincy in the past, even as early as his sophomore season, Larkin has proven over the past two seasons that he can be a game-changer for Detroit and shoulder the load that comes along with being the No. 1 guy for the franchise. He had some lamp-lighting difficulties in his third season in the NHL, but responded with a stellar 32-goal, 73-point season in 2018-19, a campaign that also saw him draw some consideration for the Selke Trophy. He’s the total package, and that package seems likely to be sealed with a ‘C’ at some point soon.

Continued