Month: July 2019

Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho penned an article discussing the news that the Joe Louis Arena site might be sold from a city bankruptcy creditor to an unnamed local developer:

New York City-based Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. has been in discussions in the last month with an unnamed developer about selling its interest in the redevelopment of the 9-acre property that until 2017 housed the Detroit Red Wings, Matt Walters, deputy group executive for jobs & the economy for Mayor Mike Duggan, told the Detroit City Council’s Planning and Economic Development standing committee last week.

The terms of a possible deal are not known and Walters declined further comment when reached Thursday afternoon. A message was left with Derek Donnelly, senior managing director for FGIC.

Walters said last week that he has a “very high level of confidence” that FGIC and the developer will reach a deal based on “the deals they have done in the past in the city of Detroit, their ability to execute.”

As it stands, the developer would then buy the city’s ownership interest in the property, which is being demolished, and own it outright.

Pinho continues, and this note is extremely accurate given the mess of freeways and parking structures around the Joe:

The property’s complex nature and an evolving commercial real estate market has made it difficult to submit a redevelopment proposal, Gotham Motown has argued in the past. One city official has called what surrounds the arena “an absolutely wicked entanglement of infrastructure” that makes redevelopment difficult.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Ashley Gurbal Kritzer reports the following:

Steve Yzerman, who officially parted ways with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the end of the 2018-19 season, and his wife, Lisa, sold their Bayshore Boulevard condo for the list price of $1.695 million on Thursday, according to the Multiple Listing Service.

The condo, which was 3,316 square feet, hit the market in June. Jennifer Zales of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, who also sold Yzerman’s house on Davis Islands, was the listing agent. (For photos of the Davis Islands home, click here.)

A buyer was not disclosed, and a deed for the transaction has not yet been filed.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter profiles Rico Phillips, who won the Willie O’Ree Award for his efforts to promote the game of hockey in Flint, Michigan:

At the NHL Awards ceremony last month, among hockey superstars like Sydney Crosby, Auston Matthews and Carey Price, there was a non-NHLer who stuck out in the crowd.

But that person, Rico Phillips, is used to sticking out in a crowd of hockey players.

When Phillips began playing hockey at Flint Southwestern High School in the 80s, he didn’t see many players that looked like him. So as an adult, he decided to do something about it.

In 2010, Phillips founded the Flint Inner-City Youth Hockey Program in an effort to engage more African-Americans in his favorite sport. The program provides free instruction and hockey equipment to children in the Flint area aged 8-11. Participants are also provided with free transportation to and from sessions.

On June 19, the 50-year-old Phillips was honored for his benevolence as he received the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award at the annual NHL Awards banquet in Las Vegas.

The award recognizes an individual, who like O’Ree, has worked to make a positive impact on his or her community, culture or society to make people better through hockey.

Continued

The Detroit News’s Louis Aguilar reports an unexpected development regarding the future of the Joe Louis Arena site:

Even as the vacant Joe Louis Arena is dismantled, the plan to figure out what happens next at the riverfront site has taken another unexpected turn. 

The bond insurer that gained the property as compensation for losing $1.1 billion in Detroit’s bankruptcy no longer wants the property. Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., or FGIC, is in talks with an unnamed local development group that wants to buy the arena site and an adjacent parking garage and find a new use for the site. 

FGIC “would like to remove themselves from the city of Detroit and sell their interests,” said Matthew Walters, the city’s deputy group executive for jobs and the economy. 

Under the current deal with the city, FGIC needs to find a development partner for the site. The potential new arrangement would mean FGIC exits the deal, said Walters, who briefed an economic committee of city council on the plan for the site last week.

It’s not yet a done deal and the development group was not named. FGIC has been in talks with the development group for several weeks, Walters said. 

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman engages in a thought experiment today, producing a theoretical all Michigan-born NHL team. Bultman’s article is an interesting read:

There’s been an awful lot of stretching borders this week, as The Athletic has rolled out All-State teams as part of our NHL lineup blitz.

We’ve seen Washingtonians playing for Team Minnesota. New York and New Jersey forming a joint team. That doesn’t fly in Michigan, though.

Below, you’ll find the best collection of Pure Michigan hockey talent that can be assembled. It runs from coast to coast, from Holland to Port Huron — but not an inch farther. This team plans to lead the league in Michigan per 60, and to do so, it means every last one of these guys needs to be a full-on Michigander (at least as far as eliteprospects.com is concerned).

Listed below, then, are seven Michigan Wolverines, three Michigan State Spartans and two Western Michigan Broncos. Five of them are actually Detroit Red Wings (or were last season). They add up to the best blue line to take the ice in this state in years, and, while it still probably could have probably used another star young center and another scoring wing … it’s a pretty dang impressive lineup.

Continued (paywall), and here’s what he says about Dylan Larkin:

Center: Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings

Waterford Township, Mich.

2018-19 stats: 32 goals, 73 points in 76 games

Wearing the “C” for this bunch, Larkin’s been in Michigan for the long haul: from growing up in Waterford, to playing for the U.S. NTDP, to Ann Arbor for college and then onto stardom with the Red Wings. He’s also in the prime of his career, a bona fide top-line center who can play the toughest minutes out there. And on this team, he’s gonna have to.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. With the World Junior Summer Showcase beginning tomorrow in Plymouth, MLive’s Ryan Zuke posted an article highlighting the players with local ties who will be participating in the event:

Team Canada

Forward Joe Veleno: The 18th overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2018 finished fourth in scoring in the QMJHL last season with 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists). The 6-foot-1, 191-pound center is expected to compete for a roster spot with the Red Wings this fall.  

Team Sweden

Goalie Jesper Eliasson: Eliasson was a third-round pick of the Red Wings in 2018. The 6-foot-3 19-year-old played in the Swedish Hockey League last season. 

Forward Jonatan Berggren: The 5-foot-11 center was selected by the Red Wings at No. 33 overall in 2018. He played in the Swedish Hockey League last season. 

Team Finland

Forward Otto Kivenmaki: Kivenmaki is undersized at 5-foot-8, 137 pounds, but has a high offensive upside. He was drafted by the Red Wings in the seventh round in 2018.

Last season, Kivenmaki had two goals and 14 assists in 34 games in the Finnish Elite League. 

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan also posted an article regarding the Wings’ Finnish prospects, including Kivenmaki, Antti Tuomosto and Kasper Kotkansalo:

Continue reading Three things: On the WJSS’s local ties, the Wings’ Finnish prospects and players-turned-GM’s

The World Junior Summer Showcase is coming to Plymouth’s USA Hockey Arena from Friday, July 26th to Saturday, August 3rd, with some games airing on the NHL Network.

I’m not going to be able to make the event due to my family vacation, but I strongly suggest that you take the trip to Plymouth to watch some of the best drafted and draft-eligible prospects playing for Canada, Team USA, Sweden and Finland.

The hockey’s great, the tickets are cheap, and the event is teeming with NHL scouts, GM’s and player agents.

The following players will represent the Red Wings at the event:

Continue reading The World Junior Summer Showcase starts Friday at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth

NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika spoke with Dylan Larkin after the Eastside Elite Hockey League All-Star Game on Tuesday. Cotsonika found that Larkin is already focusing on stepping up his game for the 2019-2020 season:

It’s July, but Dylan Larkin is thinking ahead.

“I believe I’m working as hard as I possibly can, and also resting, which is a huge part of the summer, and taking care of my body,” the Detroit Red Wings center said on Tuesday. “It’s just stuff you learn. After four years, your body, you feel things, and you understand if you want to play big minutes in the NHL, the big minutes matter in February, March, April and May. That’s what you have to prepare for.”

The Red Wings haven’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2015-16, Larkin’s rookie season, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the Eastern Conference First Round. They finished 28th in the NHL last season.

But they have a new general manager, Steve Yzerman, the Red Wings icon who was GM of the Lightning from 2010-18. They signed forward Valtteri Filppula and defenseman Patrik Nemeth as unrestricted free agents July 1. And led by Larkin, who turns 23 on Tuesday, they have young talent on the roster and in the system.

“I think it’s all excitement,” Larkin said. “I think a long summer like we’ve had, you can’t forget the young guys that we have.”

Cotsonika continues…

AWood40 on YouTube, a.k.a. Alex Wood, provides his latest installment of Henrik Zetterberg’s career highlights this evening, focusing on 2009 and 2010:

Here are parts one and two:

Continue reading AWood40 posts third installment of Henrik Zetterberg career highlights

Of Twitter-related Red Wings note this afternoon:

The Gordie Howe-Wayne Gretzky exhibit at @HockeyHallFame is as wonderful as you’d imagine it would be. Don’t miss it. Great job by the shrine team as always. pic.twitter.com/icQr5Moc3q— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) July 24, 2019

The city of Detroit was founded 318 years to this day.

The @DetroitRedWings captured the franchise’s fourth #StanleyCup in 1950. Pete Babando’s backhand goal at 8:31 of the second overtime was the first Cup-winner scored in sudden death of Game 7. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/KDmov641JM— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 24, 2019

Frans Nielsen is set to appear in his 14th career season when he suits up with ? in 2019-2020. He is the NHL’s all-time leader in shootout goals (49). #NHLStats: https://t.co/DutrKRiOMF pic.twitter.com/Os0LMZ7eLm— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 24, 2019

Update:

.@Dylanlarkin39, @Tarzy17 & @DeKeyser5 joined in on last night’s @ESEhockey All-Star Game. ? pic.twitter.com/nVVM5slRps— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 24, 2019