Month: July 2019

Two things: a Toledo Walleye signing and a ‘Strange’ goal for a good cause

More general hockey-related stuff for your Wednesday afternoon:

  1. The Toledo Walleye helped address the loss of defenseman Matt Register by signing a European Pro player with Michigan ties today:

Toledo, OH – Defenseman Mark Auk has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2019-20 season.

Auk, the native of Grosse Point Park, Michigan, has a year professional under his belt after spending this past season with Lukko Rauma in Finland. The 24-year-old appeared in 47 games with one goal and nine assists with 12 penalty minutes. Prior to turning professional, Auk spent four years at Michigan Tech, skating in 150 games with 21 goals, 63 assists, 49 penalty minutes while playing as a plus 54.

“Mark brings one year of experience with him from the top Finnish League,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “He had a great college career and we look forward to helping his development in Toledo.”

As a senior in the 2017-18 season, Auk set career bests with nine goals and 22 assists. The 6’0”, 194-pound defenseman was a plus player in all four years for the Huskies and was part of the 2015-16 WCHA regular season championship team.

2. And, from Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples:

Didn’t take long for the video to blow up, that’s for sure.

MiHockey had a GoPro on the helmet of Dan Oleksy, one of the referees filming the Eastside Elite All-Star Challenge last night at the Mt. Clemens Ice Arena. That’s where Oleksy, brother of Eastside Elite Hockey League founder and commissioner Steven Oleksy, captured a remarkable shootout goal by Plymouth native Antonio Stranges.

Before we could get the GoPro footage shared, another video went viral of the moment. What that video isn’t sharing, however, is what the event is, and why it takes place.

The Eastside Elite Hockey League brings together some of the top players in the state of Michigan and beyond for a summer hockey league. There, Oleksy and his wide-ranging group of friends keep in shape, meet other hockey players and help lead the younger generations of elite hockey players in the area.

The All-Star Challenge is there to both celebrate the league and support charitable causes in the area. This year, they were raising funds for the Cassie Hines Shoes Cancer Foundation, which has a mission “to guide young adults with cancer, to social support programs and services that can help them manage their mental healing as well as their physical battle.”

Continued, and here’s the “Strange” goal:

Three Things: an ‘upstart’ minor pro league, on MacKenzie MacEachern’s visit to C.S. Mott and a Mantha summer league goal

Of general hockey-related note this afternoon:

  1. The Detroit News’s Matt Schoch penned an article about a player-owned hockey league called the Interstate Hockey League, which is starting up in Michigan:

Drake MacKenzie thinks hockey culture stinks throughout Michigan. So the brash 24-year-old Hadley native is trying build it from the ground up.

“We have to build that foundation,” MacKenzie said. “Minnesota didn’t wake up one day and have 1,000 hockey rinks, people filling the barn every day. It started from somewhere and we have to figure out where that somewhere is and we have to start that here.”

If MacKenzie has his way, it starts with his 12-team, single-A, semi-pro Interstate Hockey League starting this fall throughout Michigan. It’s an owner-free league with players earning a revenue share.

The word is getting out to minor league hockey players across the region, a group used to driving long miles across several states, often for disappointment.

“You’ve got a lot of players and you have limited spots,” said Josh Cicurillo, 36, who drove 10 hours from New Jersey for the tryouts. “What’s great about what they’re doing is putting a show together, and leaving the (stuff) to the side. Hopefully these guys will prosper.”

Schoch continues…

2. Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples posted a video and photo gallery from St. Louis Blues forward and Michigan native MacKenzie MacEachern’s day with the Stanley Cup, which included a visit to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor:

3. And the Red Wings posted a Tweet in which Anthony Mantha dekes and dangles while playing “summer hockey.” The commentary is less than scintillating:

Anthony Mantha wires it home! @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/iiHGr750PF— MTL Pro League (@mtlproleague) July 24, 2019

Two things: Walleye release 2019-2020 promotional schedule; Frozen Four tickets on sale

Two notes in the FYI department:

  1. The Toledo Walleye posted their promotional schedule yesterday afternoon, and it’s chock-full of theme nights and giveaways:

2. And the NCAA’s website states that tickets are on sale for the 2020 Frozen Four, which takes place at Little Caesars Arena from April 9th to 11th, 2020.

A bit about David Pope

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner examines forward David Pope’s 2018-2019 campaign “By the Numbers” this morning, discussing Pope’s rookie campaign spent with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye. Pope is an older prospect at 24 years of age, so he’s got to make the most of his chances to shine:

Quotable: “He came out of college (so he’s) an older guy, had a really good senior year. (He’s) a guy that can score that does well on the power play and like everybody else, he came in as a rookie to a deep team and struggled in the AHL right out of the gate. The thing with the AHL and you see it a lot with college players – actually all players in general – they think, ‘Oh man, I’m going to eat these minor leagues up,’ and it just doesn’t work that way. It’s a hard league and in Grand Rapids we always have a good hockey team, there’s always good competition for playing time and roster spots and he found himself behind the eightball early. But I think it was a good thing for him. I know he’s putting the work in and doing things differently this summer. He’s going to come back ready to get a bigger role and play better next year.” – Shawn Horcoff, Detroit’s director of player development

Continued

Fedor Fedorov completes hockey camp in Petoskey

According to the Petoskey News’s Greg Wickliffe, Fedor Fedorov, the younger brother of Sergei Fedorov, held a hockey camp in Petoskey, Michigan recently, and all went well in the second annual installment of Fedorov’s camp:

For the second year in a row, Fedor has put together a hockey camp at the Petoskey Ice Area to teach young aspiring hockey players the basics of the game as well as improve their existing talents.

The success from the first year of the camp created an exponential growth for Year 2 as the camp has grown from 60 participants in 2018 to close to 250 this summer.

“I don’t really see any training camps around, so we have a rink, we have the ice, kids want to do it, so I’m just trying to make them better everyday possible,” Fedorov said. “If they want to work, I’ll be here.

“I want to thank northern Michigan for making hockey great again and participating because when I got here, I felt like there were no kids and now I see kids and that’s all really matters. I’m thankful that they’re coming.”

Continued

Evening tidbits: Talking with Chase Pearson; Cup odds and ’74 days’

Of Red Wings-related note in the “smaller stories” category:

  1. The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a clip of Red Wings prospect and likely Grand Rapids Griffins forward Chase Pearson speed-talking his way through a minute-long interview:

2. According to the Detroit News, the latest set of Stanley Cup odds coming from a sports betting organization suggest that the Red Wings will be hard-pressed to make a playoff run this upcoming season:

SportsBetting.ag released its over/under numbers for NHL point totals next season Tuesday, setting the Red Wings’ points at 75.5. That’s a slim 1.5 points more than last season, when Detroit finished 32-40-10 with the fourth-fewest points in the NHL.

Only two teams — the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators — are projected for fewer points than the Red Wings, according to SportsBetting.ag.

What’s more, the Red Wings’ odds to win the Stanley Cup also have grown longer since the NHL draft and, more importantly, free agency, according to the sportsbook. The Red Wings’ odds have gone from 66/1 on June 13 to 100/1 — longer than any other team except for the Senators.

3. Finally, the Red Wings are counting down the days, hours and minutes until the 2019-2020 season begins:

1,778 more hours. ?? pic.twitter.com/IzvseZfTlg— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 23, 2019

Steve Ott’s bringing the Stanley Cup to Lakeshore, ON this Sunday, July 28th

According to the Blackburn News’s Mark Brown, former Red Wing and St. Louis Blues assistant coach Steve Ott will share his “day with the Stanley Cup” with fans in Lakeshore, Ontario this Sunday:

The Town of Lakeshore announced Tuesday that the Stanley Cup will be displayed at the Atlas Tube Centre for a public event. The Cup will be available courtesy of Steve Ott, a current assistant coach with the recently-crowned champion, St. Louis Blues.

Traditionally, all team personnel are given their own day with the Stanley Cup. Ott, who grew up in Stoney Point, is using his day to set up the viewing.

The Cup will be on display from 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. in the Rock Development Rink of the Atlas Tube Centre. The first 45 minutes will be set aside for the Belle River District Minor Hockey teams and the Lakeshore Lightning teams to have their photos taken with the trophy. The general public will then have their chance to see the Cup from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.

If you would like your photo taken with the Cup, you are asked to bring a canned good to donate. They will be collected and sent on to the Community Support Centre of Essex County’s Community Food Pantry. Only photos will be taken, no autographs will be signed.

Blurb: Burn the year?

In brief Red Wings-related news this morning, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan posted a set of mid-summer power rankings, and she seems to suggest that the Red Wings may simply have to wait out the 2019-2020 season before their team is able to make meaningful changes:

29. Detroit Red Wings

Previous ranking: 27
Stanley Cup odds: 150-1

After months of speculation, the Steve Yzerman era has begun in the Red Wings’ front office. But he’ll need to wait a little longer to truly shape this roster into a contender. The Red Wings are still shedding bad contracts and waiting for their prospect system to develop.

Continued, and I am hoping that the Wings’ prospects are allowed to step forward and step up this season, but I would like to believe that the team won’t be as woefully bad as they’ve been over the past two seasons as well.

The truth of the matter is always the same as far as players are concerned, anyway: the Wings’ players and coaching staff will begin training camp and the exhibition season aiming for nothing less than a playoff spot and a deep playoff run as everyone is hard-wired to believe they can win, no matter how long the odds may be.