Month: December 2020

A bit about Wings prospect Jan Bednar’s playing situation

According to Hokej.cz’s Josef Prasek, Red Wings prospect goaltender Jan Bednar’s playing situation remains somewhat fluid this morning.

Bednar is currently playing for HC Energie Karlovy Vary in the Czech Extraliga, where he won a 2-1 decision over HC Olomouc yesterday via a 26-save performance, but Bednar is also supposed to be playing for the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan, and Bednar tells Prasek that he’s not sure when he’ll be leaving for Canada.

The QMJHL has had to pause divisionally at times due to coronavirus issues and restrictions in the province of Quebec, so it remains to be seen whether or if Bednar will be able to head over to Quebec at all.

Update: According to Czech Prospects on Twitter, Bednar will be heading to Edmonton first, to play in the World Junior Championship for the Czech Republic:

Finnish Liiga to pause from December 3rd to 19th due to coronavirus restrictions

Via a report from Hockeysverige.se’s Alexander Ellhar, I headed over to the Finnish Liiga’s website, and the entire league is pausing from December 3rd to December 19th to address stricter regulations being imposed by the Finnish government due to coronavirus issues.

The league will postpone games scheduled for the December 3rd-to-19th time frame and play them at a later date; this isn’t good news for Otto Kivenmaki, Kasper Kotkansalo (both play for Assat Pori) or Victor Brattstrom (who plays for KooKoo)…

But as Kivenmaki is a 20-year-old, he may still be eligible for the Finnish World Junior team, which should be named any day now.

In any case, today’s game between Assat and KooKoo will be played to squeeze in one last game before the league pause.

The Athletic’s Portzline discusses the ‘Marsblade’ skate, which has some Red Wings connections

The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline wrote an article regarding Per Mars’ “Marsblade” ice and inline skates, and Portzline notes that former Red Wings player and now assistant to the GM Niklas Kronwall was and is a big proponent of Mars’ rocker-bladed ice skates:

Kronwall, 37, was looking for any advantage he could find in 2018-19, his 15th and final season in the NHL. He was never regarded as a good skater anyway, and the league was getting younger and faster.

“As an older player, you’re just trying to stay in the game, and that means finding every benefit you can find,” Kronwall said. “At the time, they were a little bit heavier than the blades I’d used, but they gave me such an upside in other aspects.

“I loved going backward on them because it just felt so effortless. Coming out of turns I had way more speed. I’m not a speedster, but it gave me a benefit compared to the regular skates. I skated on them for two games, then I went back to my old skates to see if I could tell a difference. It was 15-20 minutes before I was like, ‘It’s not even close.’”

Kronwall soon became an investor, along with former Wings teammate Henrik Zetterberg. In fact, Zetterberg and Kronwall met with Mårs in Östersund last month to try out the new blade holder, which will be out at some point in 2021.

Continued (paywall); if you’ve got a subscription to The Athletic, this one is worth your time…

AWood40 posts highlights from the Red Wings’ 1995 ‘Massacre in Montreal’ game

I was on a bus traveling from Houghton, Michigan down to Kalkaska, Cadillac, Big Rapids, Kalamazoo and finally Ann Arbor, a 17-hour ride, when the Detroit Red Wings massacred the Montreal Canadiens 11-2 on December 2nd, 1995. The victory spelled the end of Patrick Roy’s time with the Montreal Canadiens, and may very well have cost the Wings a Cup or two as Roy was then traded to the Colorado Avalanche.

Alex Wood, a.k.a. AWood40 on YouTube, has posted almost fourteen minutes’ worth of highlights from the game–one that I heard on the radio–and I hope you enjoy the highlights:

For what it’s worth, I was on a trip to see Michigan Tech University, and the combined 34 hours’ worth of bus travel made me decide against going to what is a fine school; I ended up doing all right for myself by attending the University of Michigan, and the trip was fun–it introduced me to an album called “What’s the Story [Morning Glory]?” from Oasis, as well as a film called Up in Smoke. I don’t imbibe, but Cheech and Chong are geniuses.

Kulfan answers 20 Red Wings-related questions

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan asks and answers “20 Questions” regarding the Detroit Red Wings and their 2020-2021 campaign via a feature article available to Detroit News subscribers:

When will the Red Wings begin the season? Let’s get some of this particular housekeeping out of the way first.

The way negotiations are proceeding between the NHL and its players association, having a Jan. 1 start (as was planned), looks unlikely.

Expect a Jan. 15 start, or somewhere around there, with training camp starting a couple of weeks before then.

Will they get extra training camp time? The Wings, and six other teams that didn’t qualify for the NHL’s “return to play,” haven’t been on the ice together since March.

They’ve requested some more time before training camp, and likely will get an extra week or so to get reacclimated.

Continued (paywall)

DetroitRedWings.com on Moritz Seider’s Swedish adjustments

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter filed an article discussing Moritz Seider’s adjustments to playing in the SHL for Rogle BK:

With the upcoming AHL and NHL season schedules still yet to be unveiled, the 19-year-old finds himself in Angelholm, Sweden, playing for Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League on loan from the Red Wings.

Seider said it’s been tough adapting his game to the varying styles of play in Germany, North America and Sweden in less than two calendar years, but the defenseman said he’s just happy to be playing competitive hockey.

“It was a big adjustment, but it’s just great to have an opportunity to play hockey now, and finally getting some games under your belt,” Seider said to Red Wings TV host Carley Johnston in an Instagram Live interview last week. “It’s a league where everyone can skate. It’s a lot about skating here. You can’t just run people over. You have to really be careful of using your stick and how you approach guys, so that was a really good thing to learn the first couple weeks.”

Continued

Prospect Round-up: Veleno scores 2, Grewe scores 1, Seider posts assist and Bednar wins on a very busy day in Europe

Of prospect-related note this afternoon:

In the SHL, the Jonatan Berggren-less Skelelftea AIK lost 4-0 to Lulea Hockey;

Moritz Seider had an assist and 2 shots on goal, finishing even in 18:29 played as Rogle BK won 4-0 over HV71:

Albin Grewe scored a goal and finished at +1 with 1 shot and 1 minor penalty taken as Djurgardens IF won 3-0 over Leksand:

Joe Veleno had 2 goals on 2 shots, finishing at +2 and winning 100% of his faceoffs in 19:59 played as the Malmo Redhawks lost 4-3 in overtime to Linkopings HC:

Lucas Raymond finished at -3 with 1 shot in 13:30 played in the Frolunda Indians’ 8-0 loss to the Vaxjo Lakers. Linemate Theodor Niederbach finished at -4 with 2 shots in 12:25 played;

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up in the Red Bulls Salzburg’s 4-3 overtime win over AV19 Fehervahr;

In the Czech Extraliga, Jan Bednar stopped 25 of 26 shots as HC Energie Karlovy Vary won 3-1 over HC Olomouc;

Filip Hronek finished at -1 with 1 shot in 20:21 played as Mountfield HK won 6-2 over HC Kometa Brno;

Filip Zadina finished at +1 with 3 shots in 14:44 played as HC Ocelari Trinec won 4-2 over Sparta Praha;

And in the Belarusian League, Kirill Tyutyayev didn’t take part in Yunost Minsk’s 9-1 win over Vitebsk-2.

‘Super tiny business Tuesday?’

It’s that time again…It’s the first of the month, and with my share of December’s household and blog-related bills staring me in the face, I’ve got to ask for a charitable hand if that’s at all possible on a “Giving Tuesday” that has most folks tapped out.

If you can lend TMR a “break-even” hand, any aid denomination would be welcome. You can donate via Paypal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, via Giftly.com using my email address, rtxg@yahoo.com, and on Venmo at https://venmo.com/George-Malik-2.

As always, thank you for your readership and your time!

[edit: I know the timing is bad, but I really need assistance right now /end edit]

Ken Kal, HSJ to appear on today’s ‘The Word on Woodward’

According to DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce, Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal and Detroit Free Press beat writer Helene St. James will appear on today’s The Word on Woodward show:

Happy Tuesday!?The #WordOnWoodward is live today at 12pm and we’ll be joined by @mattboyd48, @KenKalDRW, @HeleneStJames, @evanwoodbery, and @ShepMatt !! Tune in on @tigers or @DetroitRedWings Facebook pages, YouTube Channels, and websites. #LGRW #DetroitRoots— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) December 1, 2020

I’ll post the video embed code as soon as it’s up.