Month: September 2019

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects captured their second Matthew Wuest Memorial Trophy on Tuesday, rallying from a 4-2 deficit to defeat the Dallas Stars in a wild 6-5 finish.

#⃣1⃣ pic.twitter.com/ZY4aCWgs7Z— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 10, 2019

Joe Veleno finished with 2 goals and an assist, Givani Smith had 2 goals, Ryan Kuffner had a goal and 2 assists for 3 points, Griffins signing Gregor MacLeod had a goal and an assist and Sean Romeo stopped 23 shots to win the wild and woolly game.

?????? pic.twitter.com/mhPDrkzBKI— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 11, 2019

Detroit finishes 3-0-and-1 at the prospect tournament 2019, with Joe Veleno leading the team in scoring with 7 goals and an assist in 4 games played; Kuffner had 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points; Chase Pearson (4 G+2 A) and Givani Smith (3 G+3 A) tied for third in points, and Sean Romeo’s 4.00 GAA and .840 save percentage were still good enough to win a championship.

The Red Wings archived the game on their YouTube channel…

MLive’s Ansar Khan penned a game recap…

Continue reading Impressions from the Red Wings’ championship win over the Dallas Stars at the prospect tournament ’19

Red Wings forward Filip Zadina spoke with the Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy for a YouTube video in which Zadina briefly talks about his goals for the upcoming season and his connection with Red Wings draft pick Ethan Phillips:

The Detroit Red Wings archived their prospect tournament championship-winning 6-5 win over Dallas on the team’s YouTube channel. Enjoy the broadcast!

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects won the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup in a wild, 6-5 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night in Traverse City. The Red Wings rallied from a 2-goal deficit on goals by Ryan Kuffner, Joe Veleno (2) and Givani Smith, and the Wings simply won out because they made one fewer mistake than Dallas and made one more good play at the end.

?????? pic.twitter.com/mhPDrkzBKI— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 11, 2019

#⃣1⃣ pic.twitter.com/ZY4aCWgs7Z— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 10, 2019

After the game, Joe Veleno spoke to a crowded media throng regarding his and his team’s performance…

Givani Smith was all smiles in front of the cameras, suggesting that the Wings’ prospects will enjoy this win for a day or two…

I more or less eavesdropped on Sean Romeo’s chat with Dana Wakiji…

And coach Ben Simon took a measured approach when reflecting upon the players’ prospect tournament performances, noting that their well-deserved tournament win is now part of the training camp process:

The Grand Rapids Griffins have released their 2019-2020 season promotional schedule:

Mark your ?! The 2019-20 Promo Schedule is here and features fan favorites along with new and exciting theme nights. Tickets go on sale this Friday!

Full promo list >> https://t.co/lpp9YWTG5y pic.twitter.com/oHaEaawPKj— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) September 10, 2019

The Griffins also posted a video highlighting their promotions:

Also of note from the press release:

The Grand Rapids Griffins on Tuesday announced their 2019-20 promotional schedule, which features a number of giveaways and the return of many popular season-long promotions. Single-game tickets for each of the team’s 38 regular season home games at Van Andel Arena will go on sale to the general public this Friday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m.

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects will battle the Dallas Stars for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup today at the prospect tournament ’19 (5 PM EDT on Fox Sports GO and Red Wings YouTube); DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji filed a pre-game notebook…

“It means a lot,” Joe Veleno said after Monday’s 7-4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. “I think that’s what our main goal here was, to play in the championship game. I think we deserved it. I don’t think we had the best start (Monday) but we found a way to get it done and I think that’s what’s important.”

Veleno was a big factor in the Wings reaching the game last year and that continued this year with a lot more experience under his belt.

Veleno had two power-play goals in each of the first two games and then added an empty-net goal against Toronto. He leads the tournament with five goals.

Coming on strong is Chase Pearson, the Wings’ fifth-round pick, 140th overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Pearson had a hat trick plus an assist in the Toronto game and leads the tournament in points with six. He is tied for second in goals with four.

“Any offensive game is a big confidence boost but I think there’s still stuff to work on,” Pearson said after the game. “Anytime I can contribute offensively, it’s a good night for me.”

Wakiji continues, and she posted the Wings’ lineup…

LINEUP: Here is the Wings lineup for Tuesday’s championship game:

Hirose-Veleno-Lukosevicius

Smith-Pearson-Zadina

Troy Loggins-Gregor MacLeod-Ryan Kuffner

Thomas Casey-Elmer Söderblom-Owen Robinson

Berglund-Seider

Lalonde-Lindstrom

D’Astous-McCrea

Romeo

Kaden Fulcher

While The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro posted the Stars’ lineup:

Stars lineup for championship game vs Detroit pic.twitter.com/u0aLBw00Wq

— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) September 10, 2019

NHL.com’s Pete Jensen lists a set of fantasy hockey “sleeper picks” this afternoon, and one of his picks is Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi…

Tyler Bertuzzi, LW/RW, DET
NHL.com rank: 196; ADP: 169.1

The Detroit Red Wings power forward had an NHL career-high 47 points (21 goals, 26 assists) thanks to a strong finish to the regular season. He had 13 points (five goals, eight assists), a plus-6 and 22 SOG over the final seven games, including four straight three-point games, on a line with mostly center Dylan Larkin and wing Anthony Mantha. Bertuzzi was plus-11 on the season, averaged better than a hit per game (76 in 73 games) and plays for a potentially overlooked team with sneaky offensive appeal.

Continued; and in the “deep sleeper” category, Reese suggests that poolies should take a late-round flyer on Filip Hronek:

Filip Hronek, D, DET
NHL.com rank: 190

The Detroit Red Wings defenseman led the position with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 10 games with Czech Republic at the World Championship and could be a fixture on Detroit’s top power play next season. Hronek was a part of the Red Wings’ strong finish to the season, scoring seven points (two goals, five assists), two on the power play, over the final six games. With Mantha, Hronek, Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou, Mike Green and Jimmy Howard all ranked in NHL.com’s top 250, the Red Wings are a potentially overlooked team that can pay fantasy dividends.

Sportsnet’s Rogers Hometown Hockey revealed its schedule for the 2019-2020 NHL season this morning, and the program will visit the Windsor suburb of LaSalle on February 23rd. CTV News Windsor’s Melanie Borrelli reports in regarding the local stop:

“We are proud to be shining the spotlight on LaSalle, highlighting our community and our local hockey organizations, and sharing unique stories about our hometown. We look forward to putting LaSalle on display for the rest of Canada to enjoy,” said LaSalle mayor Marc Bondy.

The event will feature two days of live entertainment, NHL alumni, local celebrities and hockey-themed activities for all ages.

Running from Saturday through to Sunday evening, the festival will end with an outdoor viewing party at the Vollmer Culture and Recreation Complex.

Live on location at the Vollmer Complex, Ron MacLean and Tara Slone will host a pre-game, intermission and post-game show from the Sportsnet Mobile Studio during the nationally televised Detroit Red Wings vs. Calgary Flames NHL game.

WJR’s Frank Beckmann attended yesterday’s Ted Lindsay Foundation golf outing, and he spoke with Joe Kocur, Mickey Redmond and Dylan Larkin at the event. I can’t embed the WJR versions of the interviews, so I’ve uploaded them to my SoundCloud player:

The Athletic’s Max Bultman penned an article discussing Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider’s level of play as evidenced by his 3 prospect tournament games. According to Bultman, the Red Wings’ player development staff is satisfied with what they’ve seen thus far:

“I think the one thing with Mo — the first thing that strikes you — is his personality,” said Shawn Horcoff, the Red Wings’ director of player development, on Monday morning. “He’s a very outgoing guy, wants to learn. He’s confident in his abilities.

“And jeez, he’s looked really, really good this week. It’s not easy for a defenseman — it’s not easy for anyone young, but it’s not easy for a defenseman — to come out and play like he is right now. It’s only two games in, but (he’s) been good so far.”

Horcoff was not alone in that feeling Monday morning, as those seeing Seider at the NHL Prospect Tournament began to digest his play. That specific comment came prior to Detroit’s third game of the tournament — a pseudo-semifinal victory against Toronto in which the big defenseman maybe wasn’t quite as eye-catching as he had been in the two games before. Yet at the end of the night, the scoresheet showed Seider had finished with a pair of assists. He’s one of just three defensemen, through three games at the tournament, with four or more points — and the other two, Adam Fox and Teemu Kivihalme, are 21 and 24, respectively. Seider turned 18 in April.

“He’s really confident with the puck,” center Joe Veleno said after playing his first game with Seider Friday night. “He’s a big defenseman who’s got some good skill, who sees the ice really well, skates well, and you can already tell that he’s going to be a really good defenseman coming up.”

Continued (paywall)