Month: January 2021

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Athletic’s Max Bultman wrote an article discussing Michael Rasmussen’s promotion from the “taxi squad” to the Red Wings’ roster, discussing Rasmussen’s literal, figurative and statistical value to the team:

“Him and I talked about grabbing (this opportunity),” [coach Jeff] Blashill said Tuesday morning, after calling Rasmussen’s Monday performance solid. “He can’t play afraid to make a mistake. He’s got to go out there and do what he thinks is right, and we’ll coach him when he gets back to the bench, and coach him after games, and do those type of things. But he’s gotta go out there and play with confidence, and be ready to grab it.”

One thing that shouldn’t be lost here, though: As much as Rasmussen is the one responsible for proving he’s ready to play on a more prolonged basis in Detroit, the Red Wings would benefit just as much as him if he does so.

Their depth at center is still relatively weak behind Larkin, and Rasmussen, while green, still has the potential to give the Red Wings a unique presence in the middle of the ice and down low with his physicality.

“He’s an interesting player,” [Bobby] Ryan said Monday night. “He can kind of command the middle of the ice and then kick it wide. Really, really good in a lot of areas.”

Bultman continues (paywall);

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan offers a 3-topic notebook via a subscriber-only article, noting that the Red Wings’ new additions and new lines have given the team a refreshed outlook:

Continue reading Morning round-up: On Rasmussen, new additions, a new outlook and praise for Bobby Ryan

The Detroit Red Wings did what they could not do in Monday afternoon’s loss to Columbus: the Wings rallied from a 1-0 loss, rallied despite surrendering a 2-1 lead, and fought their way to a hard-earned 3-2 overtime win over the self-same Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

This Red Wings team is 2-and-2 after 2 games, and it will rest on Wednesday ahead of a 4-game road trip (to Chicago and Dallas) starting on Friday, and if the team were to even approach .500 by the end of this 56-game season, many Red Wings fans would be thrilled, or at least satisfied with a team that appears to be learning and growing “on the fly.”

Now all of that is easy to say after 4 games, and, as we’ve seen in previous seasons, the weight of losing streaks tends to wear on this team’s young (and key) players. But we can at least hope that this year’s Red Wings are a different group of individuals, and all of 4 games in, there is room for progress and room for hope here.

On Tuesday night, put bluntly, the Red Wings won because Dylan Larkin’s shot went off Elvis Merzlikins, then Tyler Bertuzzi’s inner thigh, and sometimes you need that grit and jam to make an ugly game pretty.

All of that happened in that one sequence, as well as over the course of the 60:15 played, and that much is worth celebrating for one evening.

Our friends from Columbus were a little baffled as to how the game could have slipped from their grasp, as The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline noted…

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets Game 2 wrap-up: OT win on the learning curve

Of prospect-related note in North America this evening, pursuant to a busy day in Europe:

In the USHL, Kienan Draper finished at -1 in the Omaha Lancers’ 4-3 OT win over the Waterloo Black Hawks;

Chase Bradley scored a goal, but somehow finished at -4 with 2 shots in the Sioux City Musketeers’ 6-3 loss to the Tri-City Storm. Cross Hanas finished at +1 with a penalty taken for Tri-City.

Of video-related note pursuant to the Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night:

1. Here’s a bit of Mickey Redmond discussing the Wings’ win…

2. Here’s Dylan Larkin discussing the win…

Highlights are good:

Continue reading Post-Red Wings-Blue Jackets Game 2 videos from FSD: Redmond, Larkin, Blashill, Bertuzzi

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn some redemption after dropping last night’s 3-2 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets, with the teams squaring off for the second time in 31 hours.

The Red Wings blew a 2-1 lead and looked like they were bound to struggle to a 1-and-3 record after a bad Jeff Blashill challenge in the 3rd, but Anthony Mantha, Bobby Ryan* and Tyler Bertuzzi’s goals and a 22-save effort from Jonathan Bernier yielded a 3-2 OT win (after only 15 seconds of OT) and a 2-and-2 record after 4 games.

Bertuzzi scores with the *ahem* front side pic.twitter.com/tCMZLpCeyG— No Context Blinn (@NHLBlinn) January 20, 2021

In this game, your luck can change just that quickly.

Just 15 seconds into overtime, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi combine for the GAME WINNER. We’re talking all about this one NOW on Red Wings LIVE Postgame. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/7U9yWp9OTq— FOX Sports Detroit (@FOXSportsDet) January 20, 2021

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets Game 2 quick take: Learning is good. OT wins are also good.

Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is a hard man. He was raised the son of a miner in northern Ontario, Manitoba and then Saskatchewan. He lost his mom to cancer when he was still young due to cancer. He was a hard-working hockey player whose leadership skills exceeded his on-ice skills, and he became a hard-nosed, old-school hockey coach.

We all know by now that Mike Babcock treated Johan Franzen terribly during their shared time in Detroit.

I do believe that Babcock’s comments to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun regarding reaching out to Johan are accurate. I do believe that Babcock is genuinely sorry for what he did to cause Johan to have a couple of breakdowns on and off the ice. I do believe that Babcock’s desire to make things right is sincere.

Babcock has evolved and is a genuine advocate for mental health causes these days, and that’s a good thing.

All of that being said, I didn’t think that much about Mike Babcock while reading his words to LeBrun.

I thought about Johan Franzen, who’s still battling post-concussion issues, who’s been posting on Instagram recently about things other than the outgoing U.S. president–which is great–and I thought about whether it’s within Johan to forgive coach Babcock for what he did.

If it isn’t, if Johan can’t forgive Mike Babcock, that’s okay. If it isn’t, if Johan will always hold some anger in his heart toward his former coach, that’s up to Johan.

If it is, and Johan can find some peace with the situation, that’s fantastic, to use a Babcockian term, but if it isn’t, and it probably isn’t, I feel a lot worse for Johan than I do for coach Babcock, and I think that’s where our thoughts should be tonight–with the sympathetic figure here.

Johan Franzen.

Of prospect-related note from Europe:

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom stopped 17 of 18 shots en route to KooKoo’s 4-1 win over HPK;

Otto Kivenmaki had an assist, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in 15:09 played, and Kasper Kotkansalo finished at +1 with 2 shots in 20:16 played as Assat Pori won 4-0 over Sport;

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson was the back-up in the Red Bulls Salzburg’s 3-2 loss to HCB Foxes;

In the SHL, Lucas Raymond finished even in 11:41 played, and Elmer Soderblom finished even with 1 shot in 7:07 played as the Frolunda Indians lost 2-1 to Linkoping;

Jonatan Berggren scored a goal, finishing even with 4 shots in 19:22 played as Skelleftea AIK won 3-2 in a shootout over Lulea Hockey:

Continue reading Prospect Round-up: Brattstrom wins, Berggren scores, Grewe posts assist on busy day in Europe

Per ColumbusBlueJackets.com’s Jeff Svoboda:

#CBJ C Mikko Koivu remains on the NHL's list of COVID Protocol Related Absences, as do Detroit forwards Robby Fabbri and Adam Erne.

— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 19, 2021

Former Red Wings and Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock spoke with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun in what was going to be inevitable–a “tell-all” interview about his perceived misdeeds as the now-NBC Sports analyst rehabilitates his image–and he addressed Johan Franzen’s accusations that Babcock’s rough treatment caused permanent psychological damage:

“(Franzen) had unbelievable years in Detroit,’’ Babcock said. “He was a big man with great hands. When he first came here, we thought he was a checker and he turned himself into an unbelievable player.

“When a player that you’ve coached says that about you, it stings you big time. But not only does it sting for that, if you’ve been involved with mental health like I have …’”

Babcock has been an advocate for mental health awareness, beginning after a young man his family knew in Saskatchewan took his own life. Over the years, Babcock has lent his voice to the cause, participating in the Bell Let’s Talk campaign. So to have Franzen feel that way about him, it hurt deeply.

“Can you imagine having someone say that about you when you have been involved in mental health as much as I have? Now, I’ve reached out to (Franzen). That’s not going to make anything go away.

“It doesn’t matter what I perceive. When you’re talking about this kind of thing, if the person — whether it’s a co-worker, your spouse, your student — if they think that’s the environment, that’s what they’re feeling. Now, I sure wish I would have known about that then. And I could have done something about that. Besides apologize, there’s not much I can do about that now. But does it sting? Does it hurt? Absolutely.’’

Continued (paywall)

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a game-day notebook article in which he discusses Michael Rasmussen’s promotion from the taxi squad to the Red Wings’ roster due to Robby Fabbri and Adam Erne’s absences:

“It was good to get back in the lineup and play a game with the guys,” Rasmussen said a Zoom session Tuesday with media. “It’s been a good experience so far with the taxi squad. It’s good to be around the guys and work on your game and skate and get some work in the gym, too. I’m just trying to stay be ready and be ready to play when you’re called upon.”

The taxi squad consists of four to six players — the Wings are carrying six — and is something new this season, with teams needing the extra bodies while playing amid a pandemic.

The Wings’ taxi squad is skating on its own in the morning, and several or more players will join in, typically, to skate with the Wings’ main team during their practice later in the morning.They’ll end the day with work in the weight room.

But Rasmussen has been waiting for that opportunity to get into the lineup, and it finally came — on quick notice — Monday.

“Not a lot of time to think about it,” Rasmussen said, talking about how the day went. “I got up and I got a text I was in (the lineup).. I just got mentally ready and had some food and headed to the rink. It was good to have an early game (noon start) so I didn’t think about it much and just went about my job.”

Continued