Month: January 2021

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill and forward Anthony Mantha spoke with the media last night regarding the team’s attempts to avoid coronavirus-related issues, and Mantha’s answer in particular was blunt:

Players wear masks except when on the ice, and workouts are limited to small groups. Every attempt has been made to ensure a secure environment (all media interviews, for example, are conducted via Zoom), but players realize how precarious it will be to play even a 56-game schedule.

“It’s going to be hard,” Anthony Mantha said. “You never know where you can catch COVID. But we are a week away from the start of the season, so for me personally, I’m trying to stay away from anyone that could have been in contact, if it’s at their work, or whatever. You’re just trying to make the details not to catch anything. Obviously if it gets in the room, it spreads super quickly. Probably that’s what happened in Dallas.

“It’s the life we live in right now and we’re going to have to live with it for this season. I know it’s going to be hard, but, it’s going to be a lot of sacrifice from players and staff and anyone around the team.”

Coach Blashill agreed:

“These are different times,” Blashill said. “There are multiple things at plays. You have your regular injuries and you have your COVID concerns. We are going to have to roll with the punches. There might be times when the schedule changes. There might be times where guys that are supposed to be in the lineup all of a sudden aren’t in the lineup on the same day that you’re playing a game. We have to be ready to handle whatever comes our way.”

Continued

The Red Wings’ main training camp team has taken to the ice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center:

Gustav Lindstrom, Alex Biega are out there with the Red Wings main group today.— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 9, 2021

Red Wings on at LCA practice facility. No Ryan, Helm, Svechnikov (all designated unfit to practice). pic.twitter.com/x7qo1zWhLd— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) January 9, 2021

#RedWings main group on ice. Don’t see Fabbri and Zadina out there, in addition to Ryan, Svechnikov and Helm, who were previously labeled “unfit to play.” pic.twitter.com/bABByWPF3X— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 9, 2021

The Larkin power play unit repping today looks like:

Bertuzzi
Larkin-Filppula-Mantha
DeKeyser— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) January 9, 2021

Update:

Continue reading Training Camp Day 7, second group: after the second scrimmage, HSJ and Khan report that Ryan, Svechnikov, Helm, Zadina and Fabbri are missing

Per MLive’s Ansar Khan…

#RedWings first practice group today in camp is limited and features mostly players who’ll start with ⁦@griffinshockey⁩ The next group scheduled to take the ice at 11:15. pic.twitter.com/KKL4aHHO8k— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 9, 2021

The Red Wings are live streaming Day 7 of training camp with Daniella Bruce and Art Regner:

The Frolunda Indians are currently playing against Farjestads BK, and IceHockeyGifs noted that Elmer Soderblom scored his first goal via an assist from Lucas Raymond (this clip comes from the Detroit Red Wings’ Twitter account):

Elmer Söderblom scores his first SHL goal after some good work by Lucas Raymond. pic.twitter.com/TA1q0OPBHZ

— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) January 9, 2021

C More Sport posted an alternate view:

Continue reading .Gif of the day: Elmer Soderblom scores his first SHL goal

Per DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce…

ICYMI: @ArthurJRegner sat down with @DetroitRedWings General Manager Steve Yzerman to discuss training camp, the Red Wings Captaincy, and more. Check out the full interview at the link below!!!https://t.co/nRkOlB4S42 pic.twitter.com/zGbYGFr71X— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) January 9, 2021

The interview is 20 minutes and 42 seconds long:

The Detroit Red Wings’ second Red vs. White scrimmage yielded an 8-3 result (including overtime) for the Red team, which happened to be stacked on top with the Wings’ Bertuzzi-Larkin-Mantha line, as well as the Bobby Ryan-less Fabbri-Zadina second line…

But The Athletic’s Max Bultman asked a very valid question in wondering where the Wings will find their so-desperately needed secondary scoring from after a scrimmage in which the Wings’ top line was head-and-shoulders better than the five other forward lines that dressed for both teams:

Halfway through training camp and with two of three scrimmages in the books, it would be hard to say Detroit’s secondary scoring questions have dissipated, even if improved depth is clear thanks to some new free-agent signings and visible progress from Zadina, in particular. In the team’s second scrimmage Friday night, Mantha and Bertuzzi each scored twice in a 7-2 contest, as the Red Wings’ top line looked head and shoulders above the rest.

To be fair, that kind of performance should be expected from a top line in an intrasquad scrimmage, and Zadina and defenseman Filip Hronek added tallies of their own. Both, without question, will be important pieces for the Red Wings this season and into the future.

But right now, the key question still facing the Red Wings is whether they’ll finally be able to get enough scoring behind Larkin, Mantha and Bertuzzi.

“It looks like there’s more scoring, just from practice,” Blashill said Friday night. “Certainly, I thought our top line tonight was dominant, but I thought (Fabbri) played his best practice/game of the camp so far, I thought Zadina did as well, so those are real positives. … I think (Sam) Gagner’s had a good camp. I think (Valtteri) Filppula’s had a good camp. So I think there’s more guys that look like they’re in position to score goals, and that’s going to be important for us.”

Continued (paywall); Vladisdlav Namestnikov’s presence will also aid the Wings’ scoring efforts, and Bultman duly notes that having a revamped blueline (see: Jon Merrill, Marc Staal, Troy Stecher and a healthy Danny DeKeyser) means that Filip Hronek won’t have to do the heavy lifting all by himself in terms of moving the puck out of the Wings’ end.

All of that being said, until Ryan, Fabbri and Zadina establish themselves as reliable secondary scorers, and the Wings find a third line that can toss in the occasional goal, there will be valid questions about the Wings’ ability to win games on a semi-consistent basis.

The Athletic has asked its NHL correspondents to make their fantasy hockey picks for the NHL’s 31 teams, and The Athletic Detroit’s Max Bultman weighed in with his take on the Red Wings’ fantasy leaders.

Here’s a part of his comments about the Wings and their players:

My team’s sleeper for the 2021 season is: Hopefully defenseman Filip Hronek is a known enough quantity now as a defenseman who can be reliably expected to produce about a half-point per game while playing big minutes. The deep sleeper, though, is Bobby Ryan, who is looking at high-level usage on the Red Wings’ second line and, more importantly, first power play unit. He has been stationed throughout camp at the netfront on a unit with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, which gives him the chance to juice his scoring totals.

…
The leader on my team in penalty minutes will be: Hronek. He plays a chippy style, and the sheer volume of minutes he plays will lend naturally to taking more penalties.

BetMGM has Detroit’s projected points as 43.5. They will finish…: Right around that number, but the free agent upgrades (especially in net) would push me ever so slightly to the over. The Red Wings are a clear bottom five team, but winning 20 games and taking four or five more to overtime seems realistic.

Continued (paywall)

Of prospect-related note on Friday, part 2:

In NCAA Hockey, Keith Petruzzelli stopped 22 of 27 shots as the Quinnipiac Bobcats lost 5-4 in overtime to Clarkson;

Jack Adams finished at +1 with 2 shots as his Providence College Friars won 7-3 over the Boston University Terriers. Robert Mastrosimone finished even with no shots and Ethan Phillips finished even with 2 blocked shots for Boston University, which played its first game of the 2020-2021 season on Friday night;

And in the USHL, Chase Bradley scored a goal, finishing at +2 with 2 shots as his Sioux City Musketeers won 4-1 over the Tri-City Storm. Kyle Aucoin finished even with 1 shot for Tri-City.

Tonight’s 2nd Red vs. White scrimmage involved more time for Anthony Mantha on the penalty-kill with Dylan Larkin, and Mantha told the Free Press’s Helene St. James that he’s enjoying his new-found role–as is his coach:

“If you look at Larkin that was doing penalty kill plus five on five and power play last season, he would play around 20-22 minutes a night,” Mantha said. “It’s a big responsibility for me but I think I am willing to do it. Especially when you get two or three penalties in a row, just sitting on the bench, it’s six minutes you’re not moving, you’re not doing anything.

“I’m excited to keep the legs going and hopefully I can get the job done.”

Mantha’s value as a scorer is well established. His line with Larkin and Bertuzzi is fun to watch — Bertuzzi set up Mantha’s first goal, and Larkin set up Mantha for a one-timer to make it 2-0. But for Mantha to also be trusted to kill penalties is something new, and shows his maturation as a player.

“I think Anthony Mantha has grown a lot as a player over his time here and I think he’s continuing to grow,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Anthony ultimately does a pretty good job defensively. Sometimes it’s not in terms of moving his feet the way I want, but ultimately he’s got that big long stick and he’s smart and he just finds ways to not give up a whole lot of chances five-on-five and we thought potentially he could help our kill.”

St. James continues, and MLive’s Ansar Khan also spoke with Mantha and Blashill about Big Tony’s special teams play:

Continue reading HSJ and Khan on Anthony Mantha, penalty-killer