Month: January 2021

HockeySverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist posted a massive, several-chapters-long interview with former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg this morning.

Normally, I’d try to translate it, even though it’s a good 10 pages long, but I’m a French fried potato this morning, trying to cover the Wings and Griffins this morning, and I’m facing walls of fatigue and anxiety this morning (I may very well take Monday off as the Wings aren’t going to practice tomorrow), so:

For the moment, I’m going to encourage you to head over to Google Translate and read the interview or chunks thereof at your leisure. The truth of the matter is that this is several interviews stitched into one “Old School Hockey” article, and there’s some new stuff, some old stuff, and a mix of the two in the interview, and not all of it might be very interesting to you as a Red Wings fan because Ronnqvist asks Zetterberg to share stories about people involved in his development as a hockey player.

I’ll try to tackle chunks of the article over the next couple of days, but I’m not in any shape to translate ten pages of Swedish right now, and there’s nothing earth-shattering about the interview or its content, so I’m going to leave reading it up to you for now. Sometimes you have to know when your body and brain are about to break down, and that’s where I’m at this morning.

We can only eat the elephant one bite at a time.

FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive posted an excellent preview of today’s rematch between the Detroit Red Wings and the Florida Panthers (5 PM EST on FSD/FS Florida/97.1 FM):

With no [Panthers] skate this morning, it’s unlikely we will know tonight’s starter until we get closer to puck drop. If Bobrovsky doesn’t get the nod again, look for backup Chris Driedger to man the crease. Starting two games this season, the 26-year-old has gone 1-0-1 behind a .934 save percentage.

“He makes tough saves look really easy,” Yandle said of Bobrovsky. “He’s been great, Driegs [Driedger] has been great. It’s kind of one of those things where you need that. Goaltending is obviously the biggest thing in this league, and we’ve got two great ones.”

As for the Red Wings, they’re looking to snap out of a five-game losing streak. In that stretch, they’ve been outscored 22-9 to fall to last place in the Central Division. Recently, the Panthers had no shortage of success against Detroit, going a stellar 7-0-0 over their last seven meetings.

Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings in goals (5) and is tied with Dylan Larkin for the most points (7). After scoring in Saturday’s loss, Bertuzzi but left the game after two periods with an upper-body injury. As of right now, he’s considered questionable to compete against Florida tonight.

After stopping 23 of 26 shots on Saturday, Thomas Greiss could be back between the pipes for Detroit tonight if Jonathan Bernier is still unable to play. Owning a 2-1-0 record with a .881 save percentage this season, Bernier left Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Stars with an upper-body injury.

Over their last seven matchups, the Panthers have outscored the Red Wings 27-12.

Continued

Via Abel to Yzerman: the Red Wings have a stream scheduled for 10:30 AM ahead of today’s 5 PM-starting game against the Florida Panthers. I’m not sure if the Wings are actually holding a morning skate due to the early start, but we’ll find out more at 10:30:

For your information, as the Grand Rapids Griffins begin training camp at 10:30 AM this morning @ Van Andel Arena in anticipation of a February 5th regular-season start:

Hitting the ice today for the start of Training Camp!

Learn more about each player ➡️ https://t.co/yqNZmTxQe1 pic.twitter.com/VkAH70N4GU— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 31, 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James spends a significant amount of time and space discussing the reasons why Steve Yzerman is unlikely to fire coach Jeff Blashill this season, and while I agree with St. James’ sentiment–I happen to believe that Blashill will ride out the rest of his contract this season before Yzerman reevaluates whether it’s time to make a change–this part of St. James’ argument is…off…

Another factor to consider is the fiscal side of things. The Wings are losing money because of the pandemic, playing before only a few hundred people (many of whom are family or friends of team personnel, and not ticket buyers) at Little Caesars Arena. Blashill makes $1.6 million, on the lower end for NHL coaches. If Yzerman were to release Blashill and, for example, turn the bench over to assistant coach Dan Bylsma for the rest of the season, Bylsma would require a raise. Even if it it’s $250,000, that’s not an insignificant sum when revenue has taken such a hit. If Yzerman chooses, for example, to bring in his longtime friend Gerard Gallant, he’s a former NHL head coach who would command considerably north of Blashill’s salary. And that’s presuming Gallant, or any higher-profile candidate, wants to coach the Wings. They are in a rebuild, and they’re not coming out of it in the near future.

Continued; I agree with St. James’ suggestions that Yzerman’s patience with the roster, probable contentment with the development of the team’s young players and understanding that the shortened season has been marred by COVID-related absences, yielding diminished team performance, are indeed all factors as to why Blashill is still coaching.

But the concept that the Detroit Red Wings are too financially strapped to invest in a new coach? I’m not feelin’ it, even during a pandemic-shortened, revenue-depleted season. The Ilitches are worth over $1-and-a-half billion dollars. If they want a new coach, they’re not going to sweat signing the checks.

Otherwise, yes, yes, yes, but this part confuses me a bit.

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a post-game notebook article in which he noted that, after the Red Wings dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Florida Panthers, both captain Dylan Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill were asked questions about Anthony Mantha’s early-season struggles to find the back of the net. Here’s what Larkin and Blashill had to say about #39:

“I think he’s working hard, he’s trying to get his game going,” Blashill said. “I think he’s played better the last couple of games.

“Anthony cares, he wants to be a good player. He’s just got to keep grinding. The biggest thing with any of our guys is to make sure you’re proactive with your work ethic ahead of time so then you’re in good positions to check, get pucks and attack better the other way, and Anthony has done a better job at that.”

Mantha has two goals and three assists in nine games, along with a minus-9 rating that is among the worst in the league.

“With Mo, he knows he has to take a step,” Larkin said. “He’s working, he’s trying to find his game.

“I thought (Saturday) was one of his best games. He was moving his feet. He’s got such long range and a great shot that if he moves his feet, he’s such a dangerous player, breaks up plays and ends up going the other way on offense. He wants to do better, and we got to do a good job getting him going and pumping him up and making sure he’s playing his game.”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Florida Panthers in the first of 2 games in 2 days (the teams play again Sunday at 5 PM EST), kicking off a schedule in which the Wings and Panthers will play 6 total times over the next 3 weeks.

In other words, the Wings play 12 games between now and February 20, and half of those games will be opposite the Panthers, who have won 7 straight games (5 in regulation and 2 in OT) over Detroit, and 6 straight games in Detroit.

That’s not good news for the 0-4-and-2-of-late Red Wings, who haven’t won since January 19th.

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers Game 1 wrap-up: overtime blues and a whole lot of Wings-Panthers action to come

Of prospect-related note on Saturday, from North America:

In the USHL, Kienan Draper finished even with 1 shot and 1 penalty taken in the Omaha Lancers’ 3-1 loss to the Tri-City Storm, who were without Kyle Aucoin;

Cross Hanas missed the Lincoln Stars’ 4-0 win over Fargo;

Chase Bradley finished even with 3 shots in the Sioux City Musketeers’ 1-0 loss to Sioux Falls;

In NCAA Hockey, Patrick Holway finished even with 2 shots in the Merrimack College Warriors’ 6-2 loss to Connecticut;

Seth Barton finished even with 3 shots in the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks’ 2-1 loss to Massachusetts;

Sam Stange missed the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 4-1 win over Michigan State;

And Cooper Moore finished at +1 with a penalty taken in the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 5-4 loss to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

After the Red Wings’ 3-2 OT loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, Dylan Larkin spoke with the media, and Fox Sports Detroit posted a short clip from his Zoom call due to running into a broadcast from the Pistons at 10 PM EST…

They also posted a short clip of Mickey Redmond’s post-game takes…

Sportsnet shared Sergei Bobrovsky’s staggering save on Mathias Brome….

And Sportsnet posted a highlight clip as well:

Update: Here’s more of Larkin and Blashill from the Red Wings:

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers Game 1 post-game videos: Larkin, Redmond, and highlights

The Red Wings lost a 3-2 OT decision to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and they also lost Tyler Bertuzzi to an upper-body injury. The news regarding Bertuzzi was murky post-game:

Jeff Blashill doesn’t have much update on Red Wings’ Tyler Bertuzzi (upper body) yet, but said he’s questionable for Sunday.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 31, 2021