Month: December 2020

From the NHL:

National Hockey League, National Hockey League Players’ Association Announce Plans for 2020-21 Regular Season and Playoffs

NEW YORK / TORONTO (Dec. 20, 2020) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL) announced today an agreement to play a 2020-21 regular-season schedule of 56 games beginning Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, and concluding on May 8. As part of the agreement, the Stanley Cup Playoffs would feature 16 teams in the traditional best-of-seven, four-round format and conclude around mid-July with the plan of returning to a “normal” hockey calendar for the 2021-22 season (regular season beginning in October). The NHL and NHLPA will release the Health and Safety Protocols, transition rules and critical dates calendar as well as the 2020-21 schedule in the coming days.

Given the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHLPA and the NHL intend to be flexible and adaptable in their approach during the coming weeks to ensure compliance with directives from both local and national governmental and health authorities focusing on the health and safety of the players, other game-related personnel and the communities in which we play. The priority will continue to be focused on the health and safety of our fans and Players and Club, League, NHLPA and arena personnel.

“The National Hockey League looks forward to the opening of our 2020-21 season, especially since the Return to Play in 2019-20 was so successful in crowning a Stanley Cup champion,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “While we are well aware of the challenges ahead, as was the case last spring and summer, we are continuing to prioritize the health and safety of our participants and the communities in which we live and play. And, as was the case last spring and summer, I thank the NHLPA, particularly Executive Director Don Fehr, for working cooperatively with us to get our League back on the ice.”

“The Players are pleased to have finalized agreements for the upcoming season, which will be unique but also very exciting for the fans and Players alike,” said Don Fehr, NHLPA Executive Director. “During these troubled times, we hope that NHL games will provide fans with some much needed entertainment as the players return to the ice.”

In reaching agreement on the format for the 2020-21 season, the NHL and NHLPA determined that the ongoing closure of the U.S.-Canada border required realignment and the League and the Players also sought to minimize team travel as much as possible by shifting to exclusively intradivisional play. It is the current plan to play games in the home arenas of participating teams while understanding that most arenas will not, at least in the initial part of the season, be able to host fans. However, depending on prevailing conditions both in local markets and across North America, the League will be prepared to play games in one or more “neutral site” venues per division should it become necessary.

For the 2020-21 season, teams will be re-aligned as follows:

Each team in the East, Central and West divisions will play every other team in its division eight times while each team in the North Division will play every other team in its division nine or 10 times.

The top four teams in each division will qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with intradivisional play in the first two rounds (#1 vs. #4; #2 vs. #3). The four teams that advance to the Semifinal Round would be seeded by their regular season points total, with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 4 seed in one series and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds meeting in the other.

Formal training camps will begin on Jan. 3. There will be no pre-season games. The seven teams that did not participate in the 2019-20 Return to Play will be permitted to open their training camps as early as Dec. 31.

Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren spoke with Hockeysverige.se after scoring a goal in this morning’s 4-1 Team Sweden loss to the Czech Republic in the Channel One Cup. Berggren was one of the few highlights for Sweden, and he also spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg this afternoon.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

The 20-year-old about his hunt for the World Championship team: “I should have a good chance”

Jonatan Berggren became a goal-scorer for the first time with the Tre Kronor.

Skelleftea’s 20-year-old does not deny that he wants to fight for a spot on the World Championship team.

“I probably have the chance now that I’ve been involved and shown that what I do at home in Skelleftea also works here,” says Berggren after the end of the Channel One Cup.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: More from Jonatan Berggren via HockeyNews.se

Red Wings free agent signing Mathias Brome spoke with HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Persson regarding his imminent journey over to North America to attempt to earn an NHL spot with the Red Wings. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Mathias Brome ready for NHL hunt: “Will really put down everything I can”

Throughout the autumn, Mathias Brome has been waiting to receive the message.

On Saturday night, the news came–and already on Monday morning, the forward goes over to Detroit in order to break into the NHL.

“I will really give everything I can to experience my dream,” he says to HockeyNews.se.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Mathias Brome’s ready to battle for a spot with the Red Wings

From the Graz99ers of the ICE HL:

Thanks to Michael Rasmussen who leaves us today as he returns to @DetroitRedWings to report for @NHL training camp. He was a great team mate and even better person, we wish him every success back in North America #BigRas— Graz99ers (@graz99ers) December 20, 2020

The Swedish World Junior Championship team has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and two positive tests by members of their front office mean that the Swedish team, in quarantine in Edmonton, presently, won’t be able to get in an exhibition game until December 24th.

As the Swedes await the “OK” from the IIHF health authorities, Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond spoke with Aftonbladet’s Emilie Fredriksson regarding his situation. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

“I would be lying if I said it doesn’t affect us”

The Swedish World Junior Championship star longs for [an end to] his isolation

The star Lucas Raymond was the highest-drafted Swede at the NHL draft, and he will take a leading role at the WJC.

How has a week locked up in a hotel room in Edmonton affected him?

“The craving is huge. I haven’t been away from hockey for so long,” says the 18-year-old.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond chats with Aftonbladet from quarantine in Edmonton

The Toronto Star’s Dave Feschuk wondered aloud what kind of pressure one LeBron James, Jr. would face if he were to make the NBA and play alongside his father, so he asked the son of the world’s most famous hockey player about the pros and cons of playing alongside one’s father:

“I tell people, the couple of negatives of being Gordie Howe’s son, they were harsh, they were hard,” Mark said. “But they’re mostly internal things.”

Speaking of internal things, Mark Howe said being the offspring of one of the great players in the game’s history — a mythical figure who owned a good portion of the NHL record book before an admirer named Wayne Gretzky arrived to rewrite things — could occasionally make you question your worthiness. There was only one Gordie Howe, sure, but both of his professional-playing sons had to wear a sweater bearing his surname.

“You’re always being compared,” Mark said. “I remember my mom sat me down and said, ‘The only person you need to measure yourself by is yourself. You set your own expectations.’ And that was my mindset for many years. I was bound and determined to make it to pro hockey whether my name was Smith, Jones, Howe, James, whatever the heck it was.”

There were undeniable upsides: “A billion of ’em,” Mark estimates. On weekends when the Red Wings were on the road, the staff at Detroit’s Olympia arena would allow Mark to skate on the Red Wings’ home ice by himself for most of the day; he’d take a break for a lunch of hot dogs and popcorn served by a concession-stand attendee named Jesse. At age 14, Mark was invited to participate in Red Wings training camp for a few days. As an unusually large kid, about five-foot-11 and 180 pounds at the time, the story goes that he held his own.

“Who else had those opportunities?” he said.

Continued

This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article discussing two former first-round draft picks whose NHL futures are far from certain in Evgeny Svechnikov and Dennis Cholowski. Svechnikov, 24, is no longer waiver-exempt, and Cholowski, 22, has a year of waiver exemption left before the Red Wings have to make a firm decision as to whether to fish or cut bait.

Here’s her take on Cholowski’s status:

Cholowski, 22, seemed on a fast track when he made the Wings out of camp in 2018, emerging as a viable choice amid a slew of injuries.

The issue has been Cholowski’s assertiveness and decision-making with the puck. He was assigned to the Griffins in mid-February 2019 after racking up a team-worst minus-20 rating. He made the Wings again out of camp last season, but was sent to the minors in mid-December after posting just two assists and a minus-12 over the previous 12 games. Cholowski had eight points and a minus-26 rating in 36 games with the Wings last season, and 13 points in 30 games, with a minus-15 rating, with the Griffins.

In 88 career NHL games, Cholowski has nine goals, 15 assists, and a minus-46 rating.

Cholowski faces heavy competition for a job after Yzerman brought in defenseman Marc Staal, Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher, but the Wings need more offense from their back end. That’s where Cholowski can help — provided he has improved at making decisions with the puck.

“I’d love it if Dennis came to camp and had a great camp and made our team better,” Blashill said. “I know he’s worked hard at his game and put himself in a good position. He has to be dynamic offensive and be accountable defensively.

“I talk about this all the time — we don’t want players that are going to make our team, we want players that are going to make our team better. If Dennis can make our team better, then we’re a better hockey team and our organization is in a better place.”

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned a subscriber-only article this morning analyzing the Red Wings’ likely 2020-2021 season divisional opponents. Kulfan believes that a Detroit team bolstered by free agent additions, playing in a revised “Central Division” for the shortened 56-game regular season, should play better hockey than their 2019-2020 forbears:

General manager Steve Yzerman added defensemen Marc Staal, Troy Stetcher and Jon Merrill, forwards Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov and goaltender Thomas Greiss in the offseason, greatly strengthening the Wings’ roster.

After having the NHL’s worst record (by far) last season at 17-49-5, the Wings couldn’t be worse. And they will not be, when you combine the roster overhaul along with the prospective new division.

The Wings, for one year, get away from the powerhouses such as Boston, Toronto, an improved Montreal team, and Pittsburgh, which was rumored to join the Wings in many divisional models. Instead, the Wings are reportedly going to be in the same division with Tampa Bay, Florida, Columbus, Carolina, Chicago, Nashville and Dallas.

Any way you analyze it, the Wings should be more competitive while playing a 56 game schedule against these teams.

Continued

According to Hockeysverige.se’s Mans Karlsson, Uppsala Nya Tidning is reporting that Gustav Lindstrom and Filip Larsson have been recalled to North America by the Red Wings, ending their time with Almtuna IS of the Swedish Allsvenskan.

Team Sweden dropped their final game of the Channel One Cup today, losing 4-1 to the Czech Republic, but Hockeysverige.se’s Robin Olausson reports that Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren made a good impression upon Team Sweden coach Johan Garpenlov in an otherwise lackluster game. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

“They let me out of the fitness tests, so that was a bonus”

Jonatan Berggren was selected by the Tre Kronor because Skelleftea wasn’t going to play any SHL games this past week.

It ended with him scoring his first goal at the national team level.

“It is of course a milestone,” says Berggren after today’s game against the Czech Republic.

Sweden had a weak effort in the final game of the Channel One Cup and lost the Czech Republic 4-1.

Johan Garpenlov was dissatisfied with the team’s effort after the game, and forward Jonatan Berggren also believes that there’s a feeling of disappointment within the team after the loss.

“We had good control of the game but weren’t set in our positions. They got shots from their defensemen that bounced a little and got in some easy goals. It’s sour,” says the 20-year-old.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Jonatan Berggren earns praise despite Swedes’ Channel One Cup loss