Month: September 2019

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects took a very optional morning skate ahead of today’s game against the St. Louis Blues (3:30 PM on Fox Sports GO), who lost 7-2 to Toronto last night.

Thomas Casey, Chad Yetman and Troy Loggins represented the forwards, Alec McCrea, Gustav Berglund and Jared McIsaac (limited action) represented the Wings’ defense, and probable starter Kaden Fulcher, try-out Anthony Popovich and the injured Filip Larsson (groin) represented the goaltenders.

The players were still put through their paces by no less than 6 Red Wings skill development coaches, and the pace and skill levels evident in the drills was impressive by regular practice standards, never mind an “optional.”

The good news injury-wise is that Filip Larsson is only shut down for precautionary reasons after experiencing tightness in his groin. Larsson spoke with the media after working on his butterfly, his skating and his puckhandling under the guidance of coach Jeff Salajko;

While he was slightly winded, Larsson told us that he came to Detroit early to work with Jimmy Howard for a month, and he’s learning to alter his style slightly in terms of his stance, glove, blocker and stick, understanding that he can’t reach for pucks at the pro level:

Gustav Berglund gave a superb interview, discussing his experiences at the prospect tournament thus far, his adjustment to North American ice and North American pace of play, and he spoke about his status as a “talker” out on the ice:

Finally, Jared McIsaac gave us an update as to how his shoulder is progressing. He can shoot and stickhandle after having reconstructive surgery this past summer for a nagging right shoulder injury, but he’s limited to practicing right now, and he hopes to get back to work in time for the World Junior Championship in December:

Update: The Wings posted partial video interviews with Berglund…

2019 sixth round pick @gustavberglund5 on his first Prospect Tournament with the #RedWings. pic.twitter.com/07Xrph9lP3— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019

Larsson…

.@FilipLarsson30 updates us on his health and summer work outs. #DRWPT pic.twitter.com/MPF3gtPwYU— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019

And McIsaac:

“I’m really happy with how I’m moving along.”

More from @McisaacJared on his shoulder rehab. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/W9F2YySPai— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospects on Friday night, but the Wings weren’t quite able to close the deal, and they lost 5-4 to Chicago in overtime.

If you’ve got two-and-a-half hours, you can watch the game yourself as the Wings made it available on YouTube:

Otherwise, without a statistical site to track player stats any more (I’m not sure what happened in terms of the coverage of the tournament by PointStreak) [edit: there IS a box score up on Pointstreak /end edit], you’ll have to settle for the summaries of the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s James Cook…

Continue reading Impressions of the Red Wings prospects’ OT loss to Chicago at the prospect tournament ’19

The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Jake Atnip spoke with Moritz Seider after the Red Wings prospects‘ morning skate today, and both Atnip and I found that the Red Wings’ 6th overall draft pick this past June is, to say the least, an outgoing, free-spirited fellow:

“I just want to show my skills and my personality,” Seider said. “On one side is being a great guy on the ice but on the other side you have to have great character. I hope I can combine both and accept my role and maybe even lead the way while I am here.

“You want to be one of the best and that is why I am here, I want to perform.”

His performance in Germany was good enough to earn that ROY honor despite appearing in only 29 games due to a shoulder injury. Although this is his first time playing with these teammates and on the smaller NHL rink, Seider isn’t focused on the changes or the pressure.

“First of all you have to be clam and relaxed, there is no pressure,” he said. “I just want to enjoy the time with the boys, I think it is a great group with great chemistry here. I am just here to get better everyday and we just want to win games. I think there is no pressure at all.

“But in the end it’s hockey, you have your abilities to make plays and nothing changes. I should be fine and it will be fun.”

Continued

The Red Wings have made the entirety of their broadcast of tonight’s 5-4 OT loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at the prospect tournament 2019 available via YouTube:

The Red Wings’ prospects rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie the Chicago Blackhawks 4-4 during Friday’s prospect tournament game, forcing overtime, where they ultimately lost via a 5-4 decision.

The Wings’ comeback was stirring, with Joe Veleno scoring two gorgeous goals, and Moritz Seider played as advertised (damn well).

After the game, the media spoke with Joe Veleno, who discussed a host of topics regarding his performance, his linemates, Dylan Larkin’s status as a mentor and perhaps a future in politics…

Moritz Seider gave an animated post-game interview, assessing his performance, that of his team, his take on skating among his peers after playing last season in the DEL, and even his dislike for Kirby Dach (kudos to Art Regner for bringing that up)…

And coach Ben Simon assessed the team’s highs and lows, looked toward a quick turnaround as the Wings practice at 9:30 and play St. Louis at 3:30 PM, and the coach pointed out that there may be lineup changes as well:

Via DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji on Twitter, Elite Prospects’ “EP Rinkside” website posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom, and the usually paywall-locked article by Christoffer Hedlund is available for your perusal:

Elmer Söderblom, of the 6-foot-7, 220-pound frame, was among the largest players to hear their name called at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft when the Detroit Red Wings drafted him 159th overall, in the sixth-round.

What Söderblom wasn’t is one of the draft’s most talked-about players, in spite of lurking in the Swedish junior circuits for the last handful of seasons. At the beginning of this year, that meant a plunge from the U18 to U20 SuperElit league in Frölunda’s system.

The Frölunda J20 SuperElit team didn’t offer Söderblom an offensive role, but the towering winger still contributed 17 points (nine goals and eight assists) in 44 regular-season games. In the playoffs, Söderblom kicked it up a notch, scoring four times in six contests.

Söderblom was one of several players on the J20-team that also played for Frölunda’s J18 team during the playoffs — that group had a substantial impact and helped Frölunda’s J18 team capture gold. After the club season, Söderblom joined the Swedish national team for the U18 World Championship, as they won the country’s first gold medal in tournament history, on home turf.

Continued

Here is the Red Wings’ “Rink Report” ahead of tonight’s game vs. Chicago (7 PM, streamed here on Fox Sports GO; Fox Sports Detroit posted its master list of links, too)…

And, from DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji’s notebook:

When the Wings take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the tournament, the top line of Taro Hirose-Joe Veleno-Filip Zadina will already have some familiarity with each other.

“They’re unbelievable players, so I’m really excited to get out there,” Hirose said after Friday’s morning skate at Centre Ice Arena. “We’re been skating together all summer and we’ve talked about playing together and what it would be like so it will be fun tonight to see what it’ll be like.”

The three are also together on one of the power-play units.

“I think it’s good for us because we’ve been practicing together since June or something,” Zadina said. “We know each other really well. It can help us during the game, even during the PP when we actually feel pretty good on the ice right now. It’s very good.”

Wakiji continues, and here are both teams’ lineups, per Wakiji…

Continue reading Red Wings pregame video, Wakiji’s notes, and tonight’s Wings-Hawks lineups

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects engaged in a spirited and sometimes chaotic morning skate ahead of tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospects (7 PM EDT on Fox Sports GO).

As stated in the morning skate interview post, the biggest news items of the day involve Kaden Fulcher starting tonight and the Wings icing a line of Taro Hirose, Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina up front.

It also appears that Moritz Seider will skate on the left side of Alec Regula; at the other end of the spectrum, it was good to see Jared McIsaac getting some work in after the Wings had practiced as McIsaac is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Continue reading Impressions from Friday’s morning skate at the prospect tournament ’19

As you probably know by now, Red Wings color commentator Mickey Redmond will be roasted to benefit the Jamie Daniels Foundation tomorrow night at the MotorCity Casino. Mickey spoke with MLive’s Ansar Khan about the event:

“Ken asked me if I would agree to be roasted, for the need that’s out there, for money to be raised for the education of the opioid problem,” Redmond said. “This is educational for a lot of us. We never realized how serious a problem it really is. A few days ago, I heard an astounding number, that 100 people a day are dying from overdoses of opioids. It’s just crazy. We need to get after teaching people how to use them, how not to use them, how to get off them. It’s all about education.”

In collaboration with The Children’s Foundation, the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s long-term goal is to build a long-term recovery center in Metro Detroit as part of a collaboration with the State of Michigan. A long-term facility like this will improve access to trustworthy addiction treatment and recovery services in Metro Detroit.

“If you are in a position to make a difference, and we are, then you need to make a difference,” Redmond said. “You need to step out, make the effort, put in the energy to make a difference, to help people that are less fortunate than we are. I think we’re fortunate and blessed to be in the position we’re in in this hockey world.”

Continued

Of brief note from the Red Wings’ morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. Chicago (7 PM on Fox Sports GO):

1. Taro Hirose, Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina will be the top line for coach Ben Simon’s team. Not a bad group to start with.
2. Kaden Fulcher will start tonight as Filip Larsson is nursing a minor injury. Larsson took part in practice sans going into the butterfly; Fulcher got the reps in the starter’s net.
3. Moritz Seider actually feels that he’s in a little-to-no pressure situation as he prepares for his first competitive games on North American ice. He’s challenging himself to be the best person and player he can be.
4. Today’s practice consisted of morning skate-style drills–puck retrieval, breakouts and PP-PK drills. Coach Simon said that the players focused more on systems during Thursday’s practice, in which they also did fitness testing.

Here are the interviews that the morning skate afforded me:

Continue reading Notes and interviews from Friday’s morning skate at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament ’19: Zadina, Lindstrom, Seider and coach Simon