Month: December 2020

From the Toledo Walleye:

Defenseman Blake Hillman has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2020-21 season.

Hillman returns to the Pond after splitting his time between Toledo, Grand Rapids, and Stockton during the 2019-20 season. He played 35 games for the Fish, where he racked up 13 points (1G, 12A) and eight penalty minutes. The 24-year-old added 12 games at the AHL level; five with the Griffins and seven with the Heat. 

Head Coach Dan Watson is excited to have Hillman return for his second season with the Walleye. 

“He has great patience with the puck, plays a smart and detailed game and has tremendous leadership skills. He will be counted on heavily to play against teams’ top lines and anchor our penalty kill unit again.” Dan Watson, Walleye Head Coach

Of prospect-related note this afternoon:

In the ICE Hockey League, Michael Rasmussen scored 2 goals and added 3 assists, finishing at +1 with 5 shots in the Graz99ers’ 6-4 loss to the Innsbruck Haie;

In the Belarusian League, Kirill Tyutyayev didn’t play in Yunost Minsk’s 4-2 loss to Mogolev-2;

And in NCAA Hockey, tonight, Keith Petruzzelli and the Quinnipiac Bobcats will battle Sacred Heart at 7 PM EST.

Update: Keith Petruzzelli stopped 13 of 15 shots as the Quinnipiac Bobcats won 9-2 over Sacred Heart.

Red Wings prospect and Frolunda Indians forward Theodor Niederbach has come a long way over a short period of time, going from dominating in the Swedish Under-20 league to playing regularly for the SHL’s Frolunda Indians. As Niederbach prepares to participate in the World Junior Championship for Sweden, he’s also adjusting to playing as the center on the Alexander Holtz-Lucas Raymond line, and he spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg regarding his rapid ascent (which is roughly translated from Swedish):

From reserve [forward] to top line with Holtz and Raymond: “No problems with responsibility”

From being called up as a reserve forward in November to the role of center on the top line with Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond.

The World Junior Championship in Edmonton will be a big showcase for 18-year-old Theodor Niederbach.

“In that case, we will be a leading line, but I do not feel any pressure. Things have gone well in practice and both are very skilled players,” says Niederbach to HockeyNews.se.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Theodor Niederbach speaks with HockeyNews.se regarding his promotion to first-line WJC center

Several NHL-signed Swedish players have left their SHL or Hockey Allsvenskan teams to prepare for the 2020-2021 NHL season in North America, but Expressen/GT.se’s Adam Johansson reports that several big-name players still aren’t certain when they’re going to leave for the NHL, including Red Wings signee Mathias Brome.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

The big stars are leaving–returning to the NHL

All indications are that the NHL season will start in mid-January.

This means that more and more NHL-loaned players in the SHL and Hockeyallsvenskan are leaving the country.

But for some, there remains a great deal of uncertainty.

“I still know nothing,” says Mathias Brome.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Mathias Brome uncertain as to when he’s leaving Orebro for the NHL

Via Aftonbladet’s Mattias Karlsson, Red Wings prospect Albin Grewe spoke to SVT.se’s Hannes Nyberg and Dusan Umicevic, questioning the validity of the positive coronavirus test that prevented him from playing for Sweden’s 2021 World Junior Championship team. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

The Talent was stopped from playing in the World Junior Championship: “I do not trust the tests”

Djurgarden’s 19-year-old talent Albin Grewe was stopped from attending the World Junior Championship due to a positive coronavirus test. After the positive test, he received many negative test results, and now he directs criticism at the entire system.

“It’s obvious that I don’t have the coronavirus now. I don’t trust those tests,” he says to SVT Sport.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Albin Grewe’s upset with his exclusion from the World Junior Championship due to a positive coronavirus test

The Athletic’s Max Bultman wrote an in-depth profile of Lucas Raymond, and it’s an excellent, in-depth article discussing Raymond’s familial hockey history:

When the Red Wings selected him fourth overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, he became their highest selection in 30 years, a high-pressure distinction as the proud Original Six franchise attempts to return to its former glory. Last year, the Red Wings won just 17 out of 71 games, and the fan base, in turn, placed all its hopes on the draft to make all that losing worth it.

Expectations, in other words, are high. And as Raymond meets them, they may grow higher still. That’s a tall charge for an 18 year old.

By all indications, though, it’s also the kind of situation in which Raymond is built to thrive. For all of his many talents, and the single-minded competitiveness that drove him to where he is, none may be as important as Raymond’s ability to embrace pressure. Not just to withstand it, but, as his brother said, to “get better” under it.

“He wants the pressure,” said Tobias Johansson, Frölunda’s J20 coach.

“He feeds from it.”

Continued (paywall)

Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser appears on Fox Sports Detroit’s web series “The Third Half,” speaking with FSD’s Brooke Fletcher about his status and recovery from back surgery:

Update: Here’s the DeKeyser interview as a stand-alone video:

Of prospect-related note in Europe this afternoon:

In the SHL, Mathias Brome had a goal and an assist, finishing at -1 with 1 shot in 16:59 played as Orebro Hockey won 5-2 over Farjestads BK. Farjestad played without Albert Johansson.

Here are Brome’s assist and goal, respectively:

Linus Öberg gör 2-0 till Örebro. #SHL #OrebroHK #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/3UVVgzrQj1

— Anton (@antonj85) December 13, 2020

Mathias Bromé gör mål för Örebro. #SHL #OrebroHK #LGRW #RedWings pic.twitter.com/8f2uVgoyRM

— Anton (@antonj85) December 13, 2020

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up as his Red Bulls Salzburg lost 4-1 to Calvin Pickard’s Vienna Capitals;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Vasteras IK won 6-2 over Vasby IK without Gustav Berglund;

In the Czech Extraliga, Filip Hronek had 2 assists, finshing at +2 with 4 shots in 24:38 played as Mountfield HK won 5-2 over Madeta Motor Ceske Budejovice;

Filip Zadina finished at -1 with 1 shot and 1 penalty taken in 16:39 played as HC Ocelari Trinec won 3-1 over HC Kometa Brno;

Later today, in the USHL, Chase Bradley’s Sioux City Musketeers will battle Omaha;

In NCAA Hockey, Patrick Holway and Merrimack will tangle with Northeastern;

Cooper Moore and the University of North Dakota will battle St. Cloud State;

And Ryan O’Reilly and Arizona State University will tangle with Penn State.

Update: Chase Bradley’s Sioux City Musketeers had their game vs. Omaha postponed;

In NCAA Hockey, Patrick Holway had 2 assists, finishing at -1 with 2 blocked shots in the Merrimack College Warriors’ 6-3 loss to Northeastern;

Seth Barton had an assist and a penalty, finishing at -1 in the UMass-Lowell River Hawks’ 4-2 loss to Providence College. Jack Adams didn’t play for Providence;

Cooper Moore finished even with 1 blocked shot in the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 6-3 win over Western Michigan;

Ryan O’Reilly finished at +1 with 3 shots in the University of Arizona Sun Devils’ 5-4 overtime loss to Penn State.

Ahead of the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ 2020-2021 season, Q30 TV’s Tom Krosnowski posted a profile of Red Wings prospect and current Quinnipiac starter Keith Petruzzelli:

Last year, with the crease all his, Petruzzelli thrived, finally cashing in on the potential that had surrounded him since his draft year. He was named Quinnipiac’s Most Valuable Player after starting all 34 games, winning ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors three times, establishing career-bests in goals-against average (2.01), save percentage (.920), wins (21), and tying a career-high with three shutouts.

Petruzzelli was an absolute workhorse for QU and was no worse for wear as the season went along. In fact, he got better with more work. He went 7-2-1 over the final 10 games of the season with a 1.40 GAA, .943 save percentage and two shutouts over that span. Going into the playoffs, he was Quinnipiac’s best and most important player.

Petruzzelli wasn’t done many favors by Quinnipiac’s defense at times last year. The inexperienced group turned the puck over plenty, forcing Petruzzelli to bail them out with highlight-reel saves.

While it was good for his confidence, a more steady path to success for Quinnipiac involves less rubber thrown at Petruzzelli’s crease. The new recruits on defense should help with that.

Petruzzelli’s Quinnipiac career was put on pause right at what was sure to be its defining moment – his third-year playoff run. Instead, Petruzzelli will have to pick up where he left off as he tries to go out as a Bobcat on top.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted answers to two reader questions in a mailbag feature, including answering why GM Steve Yzerman has kept Jeff Blashill on as the Red Wings’ coach, as well as discussing Blashill’s future:

As for the second part of the question: Blashill is on the hot seat. He is entering the last year of his contract and will be in charge of an improved roster.

Yzerman has made multiple changes, bringing in forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Bobby Ryan, defensemen Marc Staal, Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher, and goaltender Thomas Greiss. With the caveat that injuries can change things, the perception is the Wings can put together three scoring lines, solid defensive pairs, and have two goaltenders who’ll give them a chance to win.

They don’t look like a playoff team, but they will be expected to be more competitive.

Continued