FYI:
Month: September 2019
Via KK: Women officials to work prospect tournaments
Via Kuklas’s Korner, this story from NHL.com is impressive:
Four women officials will experience NHL action for the first time this weekend.
Referees Katie Guay and Kelly Cooke and linesmen Kirsten Welsh and Kendall Hanley, four of the 96 officials who participated in the 2019 NHL Exposure Combine, have been selected to officiate rookie tournaments in Irvine, California; Buffalo; Nashville and Traverse City, Michigan. A total of 30 officials from the combine were selected to work the rookie tournaments.
Update: From the Associated Press:
Hanley, who has spent 11 seasons officiating at the NCAA Division III level, will work the Detroit Red Wings‘ tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. Walsh just completed her collegiate playing career at Robert Morris, and will work at the Sabres’ tournament in Buffalo.
Bultman ponders the ‘state of the (Wings) franchise’
The Athletic’s Max Bultman penned a thorough article discussing the state of the Red Wings as questions abound regarding the team’s 2019-2020 season team:
Biggest on-ice question: How much can the Red Wings’ young core improve in one year’s time?
Aside from a couple of free agents brought in to to fill glaring vacancies, the Red Wings didn’t do a whole lot to alter their immediate outlook this offseason. That means, a year after they finished fourth from the bottom of the standings, their fate rests largely in the hands of their rising core to find another level. A line of Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha up top gives the team something to build around, with Andreas Athanasiou and Filip Hronek their other most intriguing up-and-coming weapons.
But Detroit is past the point where it can wait for its core four forwards to improve at their own pace. To a large degree, as they go, so goes the season.
Continued (paywall); worth your time and then some.
Hirose hopes to earn his shot with the Wings
Red Wings prospect Taro Hirose spoke with NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at the end of August. Hirose told Gulitti that he knows he’s got to earn a spot on the Wings’ roster, despite having displayed fine form during a 10-game stint with the Wings last season:
“You definitely have to earn it, so I’m not going in with any sort of expectation I’ll be on the team,” Hirose said. “I just have to play my game and show them that I should be there and give them reasons to not send me down.”
To prepare for camp, Hirose spent the summer in Detroit training with a group of Red Wings veterans that included forwards Dylan Larkin, Luke Glendening and Darren Helm, and fellow young players such as defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forwards Givani Smith, Joseph Veleno and Filip Zadina.
The Red Wings had suggested that Hirose come to Detroit to train prior to their development camp in June, but the Calgary, Alberta, native decided to stick around for the rest of the summer.
“I felt comfortable with the workout and the skates we were doing, so I wanted to stay,” Hirose said. “It’s been really good just being able to work out and get to know some of the other guys and skate with them. I feel like I’ve had a really productive summer.”
Joe Veleno shares some pre-tournament thoughts in the ‘Taking Flight’ blog
Just in time for the opening day of the Red Wings’ 2019 prospect tournament, Joe Veleno has penned an entry in his blog, “Taking Flight–From the Q to the D”:
Hi everybody, it’s hard to imagine the summer has flown by, but for me it was a good summer. I spent most of it in Detroit, just working out, skating and training, but I was also able to spend time with my friends and family, enjoying my time to relax and at the same time, I really enjoyed my summer training.
Staying in Detroit, I am starting to get a feel for the city. I’ve kind of explored a little bit throughout the summer and I’m getting to know more of the areas around here. Detroit seems like a really nice place and very welcoming. It’s all been good. I went to go see a lot of sporting events. I’ve been pretty impressed with that, with all the sports they have in the city, how many fans they get, whether it’s baseball or football or whatever the event is, they’ve got a pretty good fan base here. My family came down and they seemed to like it as well. It’s a nice place to walk around. You get to see a lot of cool things you don’t really see in Canada. I guess the culture is a little different.
Briefly assessing the Red Wings’ 2019 prospect tournament team (a.k.a. who are these guys?)
The Red Wings didn’t reveal their 2019 prospect tournament team roster until today. I posted a few quick thoughts regarding the roster as a whole.
Ahead of tomorrow night’s opener vs. Chicago (7 PM EDT on Fox Sports GO), MLive’s Ansar Khan offered a set of 10 prospects to watch from a field of 27 players.
Prospect Tournament: ?#DRWPT | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/E2Y5mzTsdw— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 5, 2019
Taking a look back at the summer development camp and looking forward to tomorrow, let’s see what the Wings’ team looks like–or at least what I think it looks like–based upon the 15 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goalies the team revealed today.
It should be noted that 7 forwards, 4 defensemen and 2 goalies–that’s 13 of the 27 players–are Red Wings property, with 5 Grand Rapids Griffins signings and 9 free agent invites along for the ride.
Kulfan: Redmond ready for rip-roarin’ roost
Red Wings color commentator Mickey Redmond will be “roasted” for the sake of the Jamie Daniels Foundation this Saturday at the MotorCity Casino, and Mickey spoke with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan regarding the event:
“All I know is when you’re in a position to make a difference, you need to pull the trigger and make a difference and not sit in the background,” Redmond said. “That’s all I’m trying to do. They can have all the fun they want at my expense.
“It’ll be a blast. It’ll be able to see a lot of people I normally don’t get to hang out with in that way. It’s usually serious business when we do what we do.”
Former Red Wings coaches Scotty Bowman and Mike Babcock, broadcaster and roast host Mike Emrick, front office executive John Davidson, Redmond’s first roommate Marcel Dionne, and comedian Ian Bagg are just a few of the scheduled roasters.
“When Ken asked me about the roast, I said, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m OK with it,’ if it can do what you expect it can do in raising money for this type of thing,” Redmond said. “One thing about what we do is you can never be afraid to laugh at yourself and have fun with yourself, and you want that to come across to people because we’re no different than anybody else.
“We have a great passion for the game. That goes without saying, doing what we do.”
Continued; a few tickets remain at $150 per person.
Update: The Detroit News also posted a video of Redmond speaking with Kulfan:
Red Wings TV takes us behind-the-scenes of the ‘first day’
The Red Wings prospects’ first day at Centre ICE Arena is always closed to the public and the media, and it’s a sort of “getting to know you” skate in which coach Ben Simon sets the tone for the four-day tournament. Red Wings TV produced a 2-minute, behind-the-scenes video of today’s events:
Just getting started.#DRWPT | #LGRW pic.twitter.com/m4BB1q4ojs— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 5, 2019
A few ‘NHL Player Media Tour’ quips from Dylan Larkin via Custance
So Dylan Larkin was in Chicago today…
?: @Dylanlarkin39.
❓: @NHL Player Media Tour.
?: Chicago, IL.
?: SOON. pic.twitter.com/ja8TMR3p5x— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 5, 2019
And he spoke to The Athletic’s Craig Custance regarding several topics:
Dylan Larkin on Niklas Kronwall: “He’s one of the greatest people I’ve ever met in my life… would do anything for his teammates, do anything for staff members, do anything for a kid or someone who was a fan of hockey. We’re going to miss him. I’m going to miss him big time.”— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) September 5, 2019
Dylan Larkin on the young core taking on more leadership: “It’s kind of our turn to take it. You get that window in your career – I’m 23. Andreas and Anthony (Mantha) are 24, 25. It’s our time. We can’t wait two years.”— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) September 5, 2019
Dylan Larkin says he hasn’t talked to Yzerman about the captaincy. Says there’s a lot of deserving options: “I look up to those guys, we have guys in our room that battle every night. We have a great leadership core…I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s three A’s again.”— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) September 5, 2019
Update: Larkin also spoke with USA Today’s Kevin Allen quite briefly regarding the CBA negotiations:
“Not a whole lot of concern here,” he said. “It’s under control. People are looking into it. It will be all right.”
McCarty discusses Steve Yzerman’s return and his favorite prospect with the Huron Daily Tribune
The Huron Daily Tribune’s Eric Rutter spoke with former Red Wing Darren McCarty recently, discussing both the return of Steve Yzerman to the managerial fold and McCarty’s favorite prospect:
“Steve Yzerman comes back and we’re talking about the man,” Darren McCarty told the Tribune. “He has the ability to lead men and to lead people, which what I mean by that is you want to be better because you don’t want to let the guy down. And it’s not because he’s nice, it’s because he’s honest and he will give everything he has, and it’s lead by example.”
For a team without the presence of 15-year Red Wing Kronwall, this leadership will be pivotal as Detroit continues to rebuild. However, McCarty has spent a wealth of time around the team recently, and the four-time Stanley Cup winner sees several shades of himself in current Red Wings prospect and Grand Rapids Griffins winger Givani Smith.
“There’s a lot of young talent,” McCarty said. “Some are going to take time to develop. There’s a guy in Grand Rapids right now named Givani Smith, … he is the type of guy where he has the ability to play the physical game. He has to be a presence while learning the game, how to skate, how to be that physical presence.”
As a member of the infamous “Grind Line,” McCarty understands the value of harnessing grit in one’s playing style. This area is where he believes Smith can make an impact on the Red Wings in due time.
“He’s the one I really have an eye on because he’s the one in the organization that I can relate to,” McCarty said. “He’s smart and it’s work. He works his butt off. He’s going to be good, and I told him, ‘You have this value that there’s a piece that you can add to this team.'”