Month: October 2020

From the Toledo Walleye:

The ECHL, in conjunction with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association, announced today that the 2020-21 season will commence on December 11, 2020 under a split-season format.

Under the split-season guidelines, the following teams will begin a 72-game season on December 11:

• Allen 
• Florida
• Greenville
• Indy
• Jacksonville
• Kansas City
• Orlando
• Rapid City
• South Carolina
• Tulsa
• Utah
• Wheeling
• Wichita

Additionally, remaining ECHL teams will begin their season on January 15, 2021, competing in a 62-game season upon jurisdictional approval.

The Atlanta Gladiators have elected to take a voluntary suspension for the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19 restrictions, returning to play in the 2021-22 season. All Atlanta Gladiators players are immediately free agents for the 2020-21 season.

In light of today’s announcement, the Toledo Walleye have rescheduled Winterfest from December 2020 to December 2021.

Winterfest 2020 was originally scheduled to run from December 17, 2020 through January 3, 2021 and feature two outdoor Walleye games at Fifth Third Field.

Nearly 60,000 people attended events at Fifth Third Field during the ten days of Winterfest in 2015 and the economic impact to county businesses was estimated at $9-$11 million.

The specific dates for Winterfest 2021 will be announced at a later time. The ECHL regular season will conclude on June 6, 2021. A schedule for games from December 11, 2020 through January 14, 2021 will be announced in the near future.

Under this split-season scenario, league standings will be based on winning percentage during the regular season. The postseason format will be based on the eligible competing teams in the regular season and will be announced at a later date.

Red Wings 2020 draft pick Cross Hanas’s father, a former AHL player, spoke to the Peoria Journal-Star’s David Eminian regarding the fact that his son comes from a “hockey family”:

he 2020 NHL Entry Draft had Peoria ties this week as the son of a former Peoria Rivermen player was picked.

Cross Hanas went in the second round (55th overall) to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.

His father, Trevor Hanas, was a standout right wing for the Rivermen’s inaugural team in the class-AA ECHL in the 1996-97 season. He played two seasons here and notched 32 goals in 123 games.

Trevor Hanas’ wife, the former Kim Duke, is a Peorian who graduated from Peoria High School. Her grandfather, in fact, is a retired Peoria firefighter.

“I’m pretty proud of my boy, he came up in our program,” said Hanas, 45, a coach in the highly regarded junior hockey program, Dallas Stars Elite Hockey. “I had the opportunity to coach my son when he was a little kid. Saw him go up through the system and make it to Portland of the Western Hockey League, the same major junior league I played in.

“Cross grew up idolizing Malkin and tries to mimic his game. He’s more of a Tomas Hertl (NHL San Jose assistant captain) kind of player, though. He’s physical and competitive, and I told him at 16 how to prepare for what it would be like playing against 19-year-old men in the WHL.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James surveys the free agent class of 2020 this morning, noting that the Red Wings plan on spending to some extent starting at noon EDT today:

Yzerman needs defensemen, forwards and, most glaringly, a goaltender to replace Jimmy Howard. Free agency is one way to do so, but a more fruitful method is one Yzerman already has used this offseason: Taking advantage of a team in financial distress because of the flat salary cap to acquire a player and a draft pick. Two weeks ago, Yzerman gained a second-round pick in 2021 for taking veteran defenseman Marc Staal and his $5.7 million contact from the New York Rangers. 

Numerous teams are in salary cap trouble, including Yzerman’s former employer, the Tampa Bay Lightning; there’s also the Edmonton Oilers (helmed by ex-Wings GM Ken Holland), the St. Louis Blues and a handful of others.

In addition to not re-signing Howard, Yzerman has parted ways with free-agent defensemen Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson and Madison Bowey, and forwards Justin Abdelkader, Brendan Perlini and Christoffer Ehn.

Yzerman touched on his approach to free agency after Wednesday’s marathon Day 2 of the draft.

“I think overall the cap being flat causes a problem for some of the cap teams,” he said. “Really good teams that have a lot of good players, they all make a lot of money, so I think it limits what they can do. And then the other teams, just the economic climate, I think will be less inclined to be really aggressive. But ultimately we’re all trying to improve our teams and we’re all at different stages. Everybody is generally motivated to do things. We’ll see.”

Continued

Per the Red Wings on Twitter…

?♥️ pic.twitter.com/B85W239Iek

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2020

From trusted sources…

Assuming Torey Krug is still on track to hit the UFA market tomorrow at noon ET, I’m anticipating the Red Wings making a strong case to sign him once the doors open. But they’ll have plenty of company.— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) October 8, 2020

Sounds like the #NHLBruins have held firm on their 6 x $6.5 million offer to pending UFA D Torey Krug. He’s expected to hit the market tomorrow, but the Bruins have left the door open for them to reconnect once Krug sees what’s out there.— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 9, 2020

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article tonight in which Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper discusses each and every one of the Red Wings’ 12 2020 draft picks. First, Khan notes that Draper’s first draft as the director of amateur scouting was a “learning experience”:

“I’ve been a part of a lot of drafts. Things happen. When you make a pick and wait for the next one, players come off the board and you have to adjust on the fly, but I thought our staff did a nice job and in the end when we look back at this, we’re proud of our work. The passion we have for the Detroit Red Wings means a lot to all of us.”

The Red Wings made their highest pick in 30 years Tuesday with Swedish winger Lucas Raymond (fourth overall) and added a mix of forwards and defensemen, and one goaltender, on Wednesday in their largest draft class since 1993.

It was Steve Yzerman’s second draft as Red Wings general manager. It will take a few years to evaluate how successful it is, like with all draft classes.

“You watch prospects and get attached to certain prospects,” Draper said. “You know what you like, you know what you want a Red Wing to be. You’re passionate about that. You want to bring that type of player into our organization. Sometimes you don’t have the opportunity to get them. That’s probably the one thing I found was the toughest.

“As you’re sitting there getting ready to make your picks there’s no guarantee that the next name on the board is going to be there. You just have to relax, you have to trust the process, you have to trust your list, you have to trust the work you put in and the scouting staff put in and I do. These guys did a fantastic job. We travel all over the world to get ready for these two days.”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings were busy adding to their prospect pool over the past two days, so I’ve been a little busy.

Between the Czech league stopping for a couple of weeks, Jared McIsaac (HPK of the Finnish Liiga) and Malte Setkov (Malmo Redhawks of the SHL) suffering injuries, and a busy Swedish hockey schedule, the last two days of prospect activity have a Nordic feel to them.

So:

On Wednesday, per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter:

Continue reading European prospect round-up: Raymond scores on a busy day in Sweden (and he chats with GT.se as well)

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan doesn’t believe that we’ll see the same kinds of free agent fireworks that the NHL usually provides due to pandemic-shaken finances, a flat salary cap for the next two years, and, in Detroit, a skeptical GM:

“I would say we’ll be relatively conservative,” Yzerman said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty as to what the economic landscape in the NHL looks like in the next couple of years.

“I wouldn’t rule out anything. Again, it’s got to make sense, the contract has to make sense, what you have to pay the player, and the term depending on their age. We’re not opposed to anything. But it’s got to make sense.”

The Wings have ample space under the salary cap, but need to work out deals with restricted free agent forwards Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi.

They acquired defenseman Marc Staal from the New York Rangers (along with a 2021 second-round draft pick), absorbing a contract the Rangers couldn’t keep.

There are several teams similar to the Wings, with ample cap space. But most other teams are watching their pennies, what with the flat salary cap and clouds on the economic horizon.

“There’s just a lot of uncertainty around the league,” Yzerman said. “Nobody really knows what’s going to happen on Oct. 9 with free agency What’s going to happen in the market.”

I’m not so sure, but that’s my take…and I do agree with Kulfan regarding watching the name of Vladislav Namestnikov. Slava Kozlov’s godson was raised around here.

On a busy day, I found out that my therapist is retiring, I had to move my car so the shared condo lot could be paved, I listened to the governor’s speech, and talked to the aunt…Long story short, I’ve been gone for a couple of hours, so:

1. The Grand Rapids Griffins are holding a virtual 5 K, and Marcus Kinney wants you to run in it:

Here’s a personal invitation from Marcus Kinney to join the Griffins 5K! Register today and complete your 3.1 miles by October 24. ?

Register >> https://t.co/jVAFKjZcvS pic.twitter.com/ChhRwiniXB— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) October 8, 2020

2. Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating posted the following:

Arriving for work.
Great to be back in the Red Wings dressing room for a post- draft show shoot. Fingers crossed… hockey season starts January 1st. pic.twitter.com/2myvhu5gf8— John Keating (@JohnKeatingFSD) October 8, 2020

3. And the Red Wings posted this clip of Lucas Raymond scoring a goal in today’s Frolunda Indians game vs. Brynas, via C More Sport:

PANG! ??? Lucas Raymond visar varför @DetroitRedWings draftade honom som fjärde spelare totalt – vilken fullträff! #twittpuck #SHL @frolunda_hc pic.twitter.com/k5m4UYuub1— C More Sport (@cmoresport) October 8, 2020

Speaking of which:

Leave a note below to help us welcome our 2020 #DRWDraft Class to Hockeytown‼️ pic.twitter.com/Ynia3pwPQi— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2020

Fun facts with some of our newest Draft picks ?⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3L1o4TeJ3k— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 8, 2020

The Free Press’s Helene St. James will be releasing a book called, “The Big 50: Detroit Red Wings” on October 13th, and she spoke with WDET’s Pat Batcheller about her history of the Wings’ franchise:

Red Wings fans know Gordie Howe was “Mr. Hockey.” Steve Yzerman was “The Captain.” Mike Ilitch was just “Mr. I.”

But who was “Old Boot Nose?”

One might be surprised to learn that was the nickname of Howe’s high-scoring teammate, Sid Abel. One would not be surprised by how he earned it — during a fight on the ice with an opposing player.

That’s one of the stories featured in a new book, “The Big 50 Detroit Red Wings,” published by Triumph Books. It’s due for release on Oct. 13, 2020.

The book is about the men and the moments that define the franchise. The author, Helene St. James, has covered the team for the Detroit Free Press since the late 1990s. She spent about a year collecting stories from her career and researching the team’s past.

Continued with an embedded interview…