Month: August 2019

Regarding Mike Green’s 2018-2019 ‘numbers’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Mike Green’s 2018-2019 season today, discussing both Green’s significant statistics and the illness that cut his season short:

39 — It was not Green’s healthiest season of his career. He missed a team-high 39 games, including the first nine games of the season and the last 17 games of the season because of a virus.

5 — The veteran defenseman scored five goals, tied with rookie Filip Hronek and Danny DeKeyser for second among team blueliners. Rookie Dennis Cholowski was first with seven. Dylan Larkin was first on the team in goals with 32.

21 — In just 43 games, Green recorded 21 assists, second among Wings defensemen. Niklas Kronwall was first with 24 assists. Larkin was the overall assist leader with 41.

Continued

Khan profiles Anthony Mantha

MLive’s Ansar Khan examines Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha’s 2019-2020 season outlook this morning:

2019-20 outlook: The Red Wings are excited about the way Mantha finished the season and his continued strong play at the World Championship. He surely would have reached 30 goals and possibly 60 points if he hadn’t essentially missed a quarter of the season between his injury and the time needed to get back into the flow.

Mantha has found a comfort level and new level of consistency playing on a line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi, a unit that surely will stay intact to start the season.

The club is encouraging Mantha to use his ‘elite’ wrist shot more often and he was rewarded for developing a quicker release. Used in a net-front capacity in the past (even strength and power play), Mantha is more effective away from the net, where he can utilize his shot more, especially near the half-wall on the power play.

Continued

Roughly translated: Part of a Steve Yzerman interview with iSport.cz

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman was in the Czech Republic recently to take in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, and he spoke with iSport.cz’s Jiri Vitek for an exclusive interview…That happens to be blocked behind a paywall.

If anybody has a subscription, I’d be much obliged to pay your month’s subscription for a gander at the full translation of the interview…

But in the interim, here’s a rough translation of what’s not stuck behind the paywall:

Yzerman Exclusive: I liked Hronek at the World Championship, and we have talent in Detroit

As a forward, Steve Yzerman won three Stanley Cups with Detroit, collecting a number of individual trophies. Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman, after eight seasons as the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, returned home to rebuild Hockeytown into a similar position. “We must be patient,” says Detroit’s neew boss to iSport Premium during an interview at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.

In Detroit, two Czech youngsters, Filip Hronek and Filip Zadina, are also fighting for jobs. “I saw Hronek at the World Championship, and I liked him very much,” said the former forward who played in 1,514 NHL games and posted 1,755 points (692 + 1063). He spoke to iSport Premum during the prestigious youth tournament.

Did you focus on specific players, or did you watch the game and wait to see which youngsters would interest you?

“It was the first event for us to see the 2002-born players waiting to be drafted next year. For us it’s an opportunity to see them playing in games and responding to each situation.

When drafting, then, do you personally participate in the selection of players?

“It’s more listening to the chief of scouting and scouts.”

After nine years, you’re back in Detroit. How has the team changed?

“There are, of course, many new players. I left in 2010, and they’d gone to the Stanley Cup Final twice in the previous three seasons. Now the team is undergoing rebuilding, and this is different. We’re also playing in a new arena, and other people are taking care of us than those who did previously.”

You’re composing a new team, just as you did in 1983 when you came to Detroit as an 18-year-old.

“It’s true. But at the same time, the team was mostly old and experienced players then, and we have a lot of talented players at our disposal.”

The interview continues, but that’s as far as I can go for now…

Larry Murphy appears on the latest ‘Red and White Authority’ podcast

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner speaks with Red Wings broadcaster and Hockey Hall of Famer Larry Murphy on the latest episode of the “Red and White Authority” podcast:

Here’s Filip Larsson’s 2019-2020 mask

From Head Strong Grafx’s Jason Livery:

Ken and Mickey will appear on Sports Final Edition tonight

Via the Red Wings on Twitter:

Duff speaks with Team Finland’s WJSS coach regarding Otto Kivenmaki

Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff files an “emptying out the notebook” column today, discussing mini-mite (5’8″) Otto Kivenmaki’s development with Team Finland’s World Junior Summer Showcase coach, Raimo Helminen:

“He has to skate but he can play hockey you know,” said Helminen, who himself was the first player to participate in four Olympic hockey tournaments. “He’s a great player.”

Unable to outmuscle opponents, to succeed on the ice, Kivenmaki must use his head and out-think those trying to stop him, in the process staying one step ahead of the defender, both in speed and in mind.

“That’s right,” Helminen said. “He has to use his head a lot more.”

This season should prove a true test of Kivenmaki’s ability to use his head to get ahead. The plan is for him to play the full season with Asat Pori’s senior team in Finland’s SM-Liiga.

“He will be playing against the men in Finland and I think he’ll develop a lot in this season,” Helminen said. He’s counting on Kivenmaki to also make his mark with Finland at this winter’s world junior tournament.

“He’s coming on,” Helminen said. “You never know but we have really good hope.”

Duff continues

Pro Hockey Talk’s ‘Red Wings day’ coverage continues

Earlier today, Pro Hockey Talk’s Scott Billeck examined the questions facing the Red Wings coming out of the 2018-2019 season to kick off “Red Wings day” on PHT, and three articles followed:

  1. In the first article, Billeck pondered where Wings coach Jeff Blashill fit into GM Steve Yzerman’s plans…

Yzerman now has his eyes squarely on the man leading the troops from ice-level. And contracts for coachings mean very little. Blashill’s leash will be as long as Yzerman permits it to be.

Yzerman knows how to build a winner. He did so as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2010-2018. And he knows what a good head coach looks like, whether it’s Jon Cooper in Tampa or Scotty Bowman, the GOAT and the man who Yzerman won his three Stanley Cups under as a player.

Blashill faces the pressures of any coach in a rebuild. There has to be tangible progress seen on the ice. The young core needs to get better and move into leading roles.

But Blashill also faces the pressure of not being Yzerman’s hand-picked bench boss. He could very well earn that title, of course. But he could also fall victim to the realities of a new GM coming in and wanting his fingerprints everywhere.

2. Billeck then examined the “Yzerplan“…

Continue reading Pro Hockey Talk’s ‘Red Wings day’ coverage continues

It’s Red Wings day on Pro Hockey Talk

NBC Sports’ Pro Hockey Talk blog will be examining the Red Wings via a series of articles posted over the course of this afternoon and evening.

Scott Billeck kicks off “Red Wings day at PHT” with an examination of where the Wings stand after the 2018-19 season:

Rebuilds aren’t about the win-loss record or the position in the standings. Instead, they focus on the bigger picture — long-term success with bouts of short-term growth to get them there.

And if we use that metric, and strip away the record and the fact that they’ve missed the playoffs now three years on the trot after making it 25 straight times before that, we can certainly find some positives.

Most importantly, the young core that will one day lead this team took another in terms of production.

Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi all took steps in terms of production, with all four setting career highs in goals and at least tying career highs in points. All four of those guys are also 25 or under, so there’s plenty more of where that came from to come and where the optimism in Detroit lies.

Billeck continues…