Month: January 2021

Red Wings-Panthers Game 1 quick take: Wings blow it in OT thanks to self-inflicted mistakes, rematch vs. Florida on Sunday

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to snap an 0-4-and-1 streak opposite a difficult opponent on Saturday night, hosting the Florida Panthers for 2 weekend games.

Florida possessed a 6-game winning streak in Detroit heading into Saturday night’s affair…

And they extended it to 7 games, with Aleksi Heponiemi breaking a 2-2 tie in overtime to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 OT win that was frustrating, deflating, exhausting and cost the Wings Tyler Bertuzzi in the 3rd period due to an upper-body injury.

Now Detroit is 0-4-and-2 over its past six games, its power play is inept, its penalty-kill was 1-for-3 on Saturday, and the opportunistic Panthers appeared to earn every damn break in the book, both rule-wise (see: Glendening smeared by Weegar) and puck-wise (see: Brome’s “Forsberg” move toed away by Bobrovsky).

Thankfully, the teams get to rematch tomorrow at 5 PM EST, and perhaps (perhaps!) the Wings will have learned from some of their self-inflicted mistakes–those were the ones that cost Detroit the game–enough to win the second of 6 games to take place between these teams over the next three weeks.

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers Game 1 quick take: Wings blow it in OT thanks to self-inflicted mistakes, rematch vs. Florida on Sunday

Kulfan: Stecher, Wings want to stop losing streak

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a pre-game notebook in which defenseman Troy Stecher weighs in on the Wings’ struggles as an 0-3-and-1 team of late:

The Wings entered Saturday’s game against Florida winless in four games — all on this recent four-game road trip. They face a good Panthers team twice, then go on a lengthy six-game road trip through Stanley Cup champion Tampa, Florida, and another good Nashville team. So, you see why a win, or wins, at home are important this weekend.

“We have an opportunity, we’re at home now. We’ve got to take pride in playing at home,” defenseman Troy Stecher said. “This is a good opportunity to change the page.”

Especially in a short season like this one, a long losing streak early is likely to knock a team out of contention (the top four teams in the eight-team division qualify for the playoffs) quickly.

Getting a victory would build some confidence, said Stecher, who added the Wings’ locker room wasn’t pleased with the recent road trip.

“Anytime you’re on a losing streak, guys are upset,” Stecher said. “We didn’t get the results we wanted but it was definitely a good learning curve for our group, understanding we’ve got to play a certain way if we want to have success. When you get away from that, you’re going to get exposed, and especially at this level.”

Continued

Prospect Round-up: Raymond, Veleno add helpers in SHL

Of prospect-related note from Europe:

In Belarus, Kirill Tyutyayev finished even with 1 shot in Yunost Minsk’s 1-0 win over Dynamo Molodenko;

In the SHL, Jonatan Berggren finished even with 1 shot in 14:15 played as Skelleftea AIK won 2-0 over the Moritz Seider-less Rogle BK;

Albin Grewe finished even in only 1:21 played as Djurgardens IF lost 3-2 in a shootout to Leksands IF;

Lucas Raymond had an assist, finishing even with 3 shots in 14:46 played, and Elmer Soderblom scored a goal on 2 shots, finishing at +1 in 7:44 played as the Frolunda Indians won 7-3 over Brynas:

Joe Veleno had an assist on former Griffins teammate Matt Puempel’s goal, finishing even in 15:49 as the Malmo Redhawks lost 6-3 to Linkopings HC:

Albert Johansson finished even with 4 shots in 20:50 played as Farjestad BK won 4-3 over Orebro in a shootout.

Inside AHL Hockey: players, owners moving toward resolution regarding CBA modification

Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis has an update regarding the AHL’s proposal to the Professional Hockey Players’ Association regarding modifying the CBA for the shortened 2020-2021 AHL season:

The Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA) approved the American Hockey League’s (AHL) latest proposal Friday, moving things one step further toward a resolution.

The approved changes to the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by the PHPA also needs approval from the league’s Board of Governors, which is set to meet on Monday.

A source with direct knowledge of these changes provided InsideAHLHockey.com with plenty of insight on what was reportedly a three-page document sent from AHL President/CEO Scott Howson to PHPA Executive Director Larry Landon last Saturday with terms of a decision requested by Thursday at 11 a.m.

This document stated that, if accepted, it would supersede and replace the agreement made between the PHPA and AHL on June 2nd, which InsideAHLHockey first reported on earlier this week.

The document from Howson to Landon also said that in the event the proposal wasn’t approved that the AHL would operate under the terms of the June 2nd legally enforceable agremeent or not operate during the 2020-21 season as well as reseving all other rights available at law.

Continued

Capfriendly reports that Florida’s made some roster moves ahead of Game 1 of the Wings-Panthers series

FYI:

Florida #Panthers placed Gustav Forsling on Injured Reserve, assigned Ryan Lomberg to the Taxi Squad, and recalled forwards Aleksi Heponiemi and Owen Tippett.https://t.co/qcJlYptEpZ https://t.co/htkcKvZ3Nf— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) January 30, 2021

A tale of Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s ties to a ‘Bad News Bears’ team

The Detroit News’s Mark Falkner tells a semi-Wings-related story regarding Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s ties to an underachieving Lansing-based hockey team that he coached all the way to a high school championship:

They were as different as two teams could be, separated by 20 years.

In 2000, the “Bad News Bears” of hockey, a patchwork group of high school hockey players in East Lansing won a regional tile coached by future Stanley Cup champion Jon Cooper, who went on to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to the NHL title in 2020.

However, Cooper’s two teams 20 years apart had more in common than meets the eye and taught valuable lessons on how to build championship-caliber teams, according to retired Michigan District Court judge Thomas Brennan Jr.

Brennan needed someone to coach his son’s team at Lansing Catholic Central and Cooper, a Michigan lawyer who had never coached before and was handling Brennan’s court-appointed work for $1,000/month to represent clients who couldn’t afford legal fees, agreed to take over the team which won only 7 of 24 games the year before.

Cooper led the freshman-dominated Cougars to its first regional hockey title in 25 years, highlighted by Jeff Swan’s winning goal with 36 seconds left in the first overtime period to beat Mattawan 3-2 in the Division III final at Southside Arena in Grand Rapids.

Continued

Wings-Panthers talk from DetroitRedWings.com

DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy filed a morning skate report based upon the remarks of Troy Stecher and coach Jeff Blashill ahead of tonight and tomorrow’s games opposite the Florida Panthers:

“Obviously, anytime you’re on a losing streak, guys are upset and pissed off,” Stecher said. “We have an opportunity. We’re at home now, we’ve got to take pride in playing at home. This is a good opportunity to change the page.”

“We didn’t get the results we wanted (on the road trip), but I think it was definitely a good learning curve for our group early in the season,” said Stecher. “Understanding that we’ve got to play a certain way if we want to have success. When you get away from that, obviously you’re going to get exposed, especially at this level.”

Florida is off to a 3-0-1 start after having the beginning of its season delayed due to the Dallas Stars’ COVID-19 outbreak. The Panthers have scored four or more goals in three games, and saw both of its contests at Columbus extended to a shootout.

Five Panthers have tallied at least four points in the early going, led by centerman Carter Verhaeghe’s six points on four goals and a pair of assists. Forward Patric Hornqvist has chipped in with four goals, while winger Anthony Duclair has collected five assists. Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger have split time in net, with Driedger boasting a 1.92 goals-against-average that currently ranks ninth among NHL goalies.

“They’re a team that forechecks well, they get locks of pucks to the slot area,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Verhaeghe’s had a good start there, playing with (Aleksander) Barkov. They’ve been in some close games, found ways to get points or win them. I think that’s what the league is. Every night you have opportunities – even if the score doesn’t end up close – to make a play to either win or lose. They’ve found a way to be on the right side.”

Continued; as McWethy notes, Florida has won 6 straight games vs. Detroit…

Sportsnet’s Fox: Gretzky could’ve been a Red Wing

Everything Sportsnet’s Luke Fox relates is true here:

Happy 60th to my boyhood hero, Wayne Gretzky.

In recognition of the birthday, Mark Greczmiel, director of 2016’s excellent California Golden Seals Story documentary, dropped his full interview with Gretzky (watch below).

Gretzky takes us back to 1988, when the Edmonton Oilers told him to pick his trade destination. Red Wings fans: Blame Walter…

“I sort of narrowed it down to the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and L.A. Kings. People always thought that I came to L.A. because my wife Janet said, ‘OK, you should play in L.A.’ The reality was, my wife and I were really set and sort of had our mind that we were going to go to Detroit, because I grew up a huge Gordie Howe fan, it was close to my hometown, and it’s a great sports city,” Gretzky says in the previously unreleased interview.

The Red Wings reportedly tabled a trade package of Adam Oates, Petr Klima and Joe Murphy, plus picks and cash. Think of the alternate hockey universe that would’ve created — or how slow the growth of sunbelt hockey would’ve been had Gretzky not gone to the beach.

“It was my dad who actually said, ‘You should do something really unique. You should go to L.A.’ And I remember thinking, Wow, OK. So, I chose L.A. We were 20th out of 21 teams the year before; they were second-to-last in the league. It wasn’t a very good team,” Gretzky recalls.

Continued