DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner speaks with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika today for the latest “Red & White Authority” podcast:
Nick @Cotsonika discusses the possible scenarios for the upcoming NHL season and evaluates the #RedWings offseason on the latest Red & White Authority podcast.
Listen: https://t.co/HTvfTbRVUg
SoundCloud: https://t.co/pNdmdlAw1O pic.twitter.com/y5pBhzG3Em— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) November 14, 2020
This Tweet is the kind of stuff this blog hopes to amplify. Red Wings draft pick and Kitchener Rangers defenseman Donovan Sebrango has partnered with Ontario’s National Service Dogs to raise funds to purchase and train a service dog to be named “Ranger.”
Why’s he doing this? This Tweet explains:
3 years ago my Mom’s life changed forever when she suffered a brain injury. I am proud to announce today that I have become an Ambassador with @natlservicedogs to encourage volunteers, donations and to fundraise to sponsor the development of a puppy. https://t.co/QeFQweCBpW pic.twitter.com/1wGgbokgwQ
— Donovan S (@D_sebrango3) November 14, 2020
Of brief Red Wings-related note this evening:
Former Red Wings GM Ken Holland spoke with The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek regarding the concept of scouts earning Hockey Hall of Fame memberships, and he pointed to a particular case as an example of great drafting and great scouting:
Within the context of a sensational late-round pick that pans out, how do you determine organizationally who gets the credit for making the choice? According to Holland, even that can be tricky because scouting is, above all, a collaborative exercise.
Holland cited the Red Wings as an example of how the process unfolds. Jim Nill was Holland’s assistant GM and he oversaw the draft until leaving to join the Dallas Stars as their GM in 2013 while Hakan Andersson is the team’s long-time European scout, responsible for selecting, among others, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, in the late rounds.
“So Hakan Andersson has a list of names and he’s sitting over Jim Nill’s left shoulder, and he’s saying, ‘I like this Pavel Datsyuk kid. I like him a lot.’ So, Jimmy Nill looks over his list and he doesn’t have anybody else and Hakan is pushing, pushing, pushing and so the Red Wings draft Pavel Datsyuk. And Pavel Datsyuk goes on to be one of the best players in Red Wing history.
“Now is that Jim Nill? Or is that Hakan Andersson? Well, it’s actually both. Jim Nill could have made the decision to draft a kid from Western Canada and not draft Pavel Datsyuk. But to Jim’s credit, as the chief decision-maker, he trusted Hakan Andersson’s judgment and Hakan delivered. Now is Hakan getting credit for that pick? Or Jim Nill? It’s in the eye of the beholder, right?”
Continued; Hakan Andersson should be a Hockey Hall of Famer for certain.
Of prospect-related note from a little earlier this afternoon:
In the Swedish Allsvenskan, William Wallinder took 4 shots and finished even at 20:13 as MODO Hockey lost 6-2 to Sodertalje SK;
Gustav Berglund played 15:48 and finished even in Vasteras IK’s 4-0 win over Vasterviks IK;
In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki finished at +1 in 19:16 played, and Kasper Kotkansalo finished at -1 in 19:27 played as Assat Pori won 3-2 in overtime over HPK;
Victor Brattstrom stopped 13 of 15 shots and had an assist as KooKoo won 5-2 over the Lahti Pelicans;
In the Czech Extraliga, Filip Hronek finished at -1 in 23:53 played as Mountfield HK lost 4-1 to Liberec;
Filip Zadina took 3 shots and finished even in 16:49 played as HC Ocelari Trinec won 5-2 over HC Olomouc;
In the ICE Hockey League, Michael Rasmusen had 2 assists and 4 shots in the Graz99ers’ 5-4 win over the Bratislava Capitals;
And in NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange and the University of Wisconsin will battle Notre Dame this evening.
Update: Sam Stange had 3 shots in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 2-0 win over Notre Dame.
Update #2: Kyle Aucoin took 2 shots, took a penalty and finished at -1 in the Tri-City Storm’s 5-1 loss to Omaha;
And in other USHL action, Chase Bradley had an assist, a penalty and 3 shots as his Sioux City Musketeers lost 4-2 to Waterloo.
Sportsnet pitted Pavel Datsyuk vs. Blake Coleman in their latest “Greatest NHL Goal of the 21st Century” match-up…
And the original Datsyukian Deke won:
WINNER: The Magic Man ? does it again! @Datsyuk13 and his breakaway beauty advance to the next round with 73.8 per cent of the total votes. pic.twitter.com/akbb8TTGBB
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 13, 2020
Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren was not amused to find out at 10:47 AM that his teammates placed his equipment back in #48’s locker 3 minutes ahead of the team bus leaving town:
— Jonatan Berggren (@Jberggren48) November 13, 2020
Yesterday afternoon, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a Q and A session with Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, and this morning, The Athletic’s Max Bultman offers a new Q and A session with the Red Wings’ bench boss. Among the highlights:
Bultman: When you think about planning a camp after an offseason like this, what goes into that? How normal will that be, whenever it does arrive?
Blashill: Yeah, obviously without knowing specifics of what that looks like, we’ve got to plan with a number of different models, depending on what gets thrown at us. Meaning, how many exhibition games, meaning how long is camp, how many players are at camp? Those are all unknowns.
So I think the most important thing for the Detroit Red Wings, with the fact we’ve been off as long as we’ve been off, is getting our hockey team as ready as possible to be ready to play as a unit when the season starts. And so sometimes during a normal training camp, you’re kind of serving two areas. One is getting your team ready, getting your players ready.
And two is looking at some of the really young players that you’ve drafted or that are potentially going to play for you down the road, and I would say — for a multitude of reasons — that won’t be a focus of this camp. Mainly, those guys won’t necessarily be here, and two we have to get as ready as possible, and we’ve never had a layoff this long. So I just think it helps narrow the focus of camp.
Continued (paywall)
Grand Rapids Griffins play-by-play announcer Bob Kaser discusses hockey and the transition to sports business with former Griffins player Ryan Barnes, who’s successfully transitioned from athlete to player agent, in the latest episode of Griffins “Blasts from the Past”:
Red Wings prospect Jack Adams doesn’t know when he’s going to return to playing hockey for Union College, and that’s got the power forward using his latest DetroitRedWings.com blog entry to issue a plea to the NCAA Division I powers that be to allow his team to play hockey again:
Being back at school has been exhilarating, but when I walk into the rink each day, it’s just not the same. Temperature checks, masks, spacing out, you name it. But the joy and excitement my teammates, coaches and I feel every day walking into Messa Rink is the highest it’s ever been.
Our coach has often emphasized throughout the offseason how this year will be the most different and likely most difficult season of our lives. Not only do we not have a schedule yet, we’re not 100 percent sure that we’re playing. All of these factors of uncertainty make it difficult to stay mentally sharp as an athlete.
My teammates and I have taken this challenge head on and I’m confident that we’ll play. I’m confident that we’ll play because we need sports. All of us.
Hockey isn’t just a game. It’s everything. It’s every decision you make. It’s teaching you how to be a good person. I truly believe that student-athletes across the country will really struggle if they aren’t allowed to compete. Human beings love competition in all facets of life and hockey is the epitome of just that.
Selfishly, I want this season so bad. My family, trainers and I have put an insane amount of time into this process, and this is the best I’ve ever felt. I have so much to prove, but more importantly, my team has so much to prove.
