Month: January 2021

A bit more from Griffins president Tim Gortsema regarding the AHL’s 2020-2021 season

Grand Rapids Griffins president Tim Gortsema adds a few more nuggets of wisdom regarding the AHL’s 2020-2021 season as the Griffins will experience it in a conversation with the Grand Rapids Press’s Steve Kaminski:

The Griffins, who are the Detroit Red Wings affiliate, will compete in the Central Division with Chicago, Cleveland, Iowa, Rockford and Texas. Gortsema said the season schedule is expected to be hammered out in the days to come, with the regular season concluding May 16.

“Today was about approving who’s in and who’s out for the hockey season,” Gortsema said. “Starting as early as tomorrow, the league will begin the process of distributing a schedule grid, which is for each team and who you play and how many games. I think what you will see a lot of this year is that the play will be largely divisional with the goal of keeping teams close geographically in terms of opponents and who they play. We don’t know how many games we will play until we get the grid tomorrow, but we are thinking it will be between 30 to 34 games total.”

It remains to be seen how many fans will be permitted in attendance. Gortsema reported that the current Michigan Department of Health and Human Services allow for 20 percent of an arena’s fixed seating capacity up to 250 spectators.

“In our case, that is almost nothing in an 11,000-seat facility,” Gortsema said. “It’s to be determined whether that gets relaxed or not. Hockey is such a terrific sport and a better sport in person. You can see the speed and the size and the skill level so much better in person than a TV or any kind of broadcast. We are optimistic of getting fans back into the arena, and the sooner we can do so, the better.”

Continued

A different kind of sprint

DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter filed a training camp notebook in which he discusses the fact that the 2020-2021 season will be unlike any that the Wings have encountered before…at the NHL level, anyway:

[Coach Jeff] Blashill said he’ll have to adjust his coaching style this season to prepare for back-to-back games against each opponent, as matchups become more of a chess game, similar to what he experienced as a college coach at Western Michigan University in 2010-11.

“It becomes a little less about pure pre-scouts and more about adjustments. That will be similar to the playoffs, it’s similar to the American League and honestly, really similar to college,” Blashill said. “It’s been awhile since I coached college, but that’s exactly what it is, you go at each other lots back to back, you’re trying to make adjustments for that second game. It’ll definitely be different, maybe a little bit more of a chess game.”

New Red Wings defenseman Troy Stecher also has college hockey experience, having played at the University of North Dakota for three seasons, and Stecher agreed that the new schedule format will be similar to the collegiate level.

“Every weekend in college, you played a team on Friday and Saturday at your home venue or their home venue,” Stecher said. “I think we can kind of bring that style into our locker room, where if you lose one game, it’s not the end of the world. You just got to find a way to rebound the next game. You never want to get swept in a series.

“It’s going to be a sprint. We’ve got to come out of the gate strong. It’s going to be exciting. I think it’s going to be good for the game of hockey in general.”

Continued

Kulfan’s camp notebook: Fabbri, front and center

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a training camp notebook this evening which focuses on Robby Fabbri’s move to center ice:

“I really enjoy it,” Fabbri said of playing center. “It was nice to get some games in last year before the pause. That’s my natural position, I’ve played it my whole life and I feel comfortable there and effective.”

Moving Fabbri to center, said Blashill, was an organizational decision, Blashill having talked it over with general manager Steve Yzerman.

“We were going to play Robby there through the year but he only got those two or three games, but he looked good in those games,” Blashill said. “He gives a chance to have a No. 2 center, a guy who can who can play in the top-6 in that position, and he’s excited about it.”

Fabbri showed glimpses of being an offensive instigator last season, after arriving from St. Louis. Playing with Zadina and Ryan, two wingers with elite shots, gives Fabbri an opportunity to create offense, and provide the scoring the Red Wings badly need down the lineup.

“It’s tough to rely on the big three (first line) all the time,” Fabbri said. “When you’re getting production from all four lines, that’s when you get rolling from game to game.”

Continued

Grand Rapids Griffins will play in 2020-2021 AHL season

The AHL released a press release heralded by superb AHL scribe Patrick Williams, stating that 28 AHL teams will take part in the 2020-2021 AHL season, which begins on February 5th (hopefully). The Grand Rapids Griffins are one of those teams, and they’ll play in a revised Central Division (one without the Milwaukee Admirals, who are opting out of this season):

Here are the divisional realignments:

Atlantic — BRI, HAR, PRO
Canadian — BEL, LAV, MAN, TOR
North — BIN, HER, LV, ROC, SYR, UTI, WBS
Central — CHI, CLE, GR, IOW, RCK, TEX
Pacific — BAK, COL, HEN, ON, SD, SJ, STO, TUC#AHL— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsNHL) January 4, 2021

AHL announces it will play with 28 teams. Charlotte, Springfield, Milwaukee are opting out.— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) January 4, 2021

Griffins president Tim Gortsema says the AHL will start distributing schedules around the league tomorrow. Gortsema expects the AHL to play a division-heavy schedule.— Jamal Spencer (@JamalSpencerTV) January 4, 2021

HSJ on Stecher’s dog-gone journey to Detroit

The Free Press’s Helene St. James focuses on two Red Wings players who are new to the team in Troy Stecher and Vladislav Namestnikov, noting that there are certain companions who have helped both players adjust to their new NHL homes:

[Vladislav] Namestnikov has the advantage of having lived in the metro area since he was a kid. On the other hand, defenseman Troy Stecher drove in mid-December from Vancouver to Detroit – with his Bernese Mountain dog, Phoebe.

“We’re living out in Birmingham,” Stecher said. “We’ve found a couple parks here and there’s a good trail I’ve been walking around. People are very friendly in the neighborhood saying good morning every day, saying hi. I’m sure they have no idea who I am. It’s a beautiful town. I’m very happy I’m living out there.”

Stecher noted that while he knew Dylan Larkin also had a similar dog, “he’s got a Bernedoodle, it’s got a little poodle it in so it’s a little smarter than my dog.”

Stecher broke up [35-hour] the trip. The first night he stayed in Billings, Montana, where he said he felt comfortable because “it’s pretty outdoors-y, so I figured they’d allow my dog in the hotel.

“The second night I drove to Minnesota. I actually stayed with Brock Boeser, who I played with in Vancouver and I actually played with him at North Dakota, so we’ve become really, really good friends. And then I went to Madison, Wisconsin, where my girlfriend lives. I spent two nights there to break up the trip. And then  on Friday I came in here and started my quarantine.”

Continued; St. James also adds this from Bobby Ryan:

“My wife and I have been able to get out and have some dinners in the outdoor bubbles,” Ryan said. “See the area. My wife is excited – there’s no Trader Joe’s in Canada, or Nino Salvaggio, so those stores are costing me a bundle right now.”

Update: In video form…

Prospect round-up: Veleno scores in Sweden; Viro’s Finns to battle USA tonight at WJC

Of Red Wings prospect-related note this afternoon:

In the SHL, Joe Veleno scored a goal on 3 shots, finishing at +2 in 16:41 played on the wing as the Malmo Redhawks earned a much-needed 3-1 win over Linkoping:

Albin Grewe finished even with 1 shot in 11:25 played as Djurgardens IF lost 2-1 to Vaxjo;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov scored a goal on 2 shots, playing 22:32 in AIK Stockholm’s 6-3 win over Kristianstads:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Veleno scores in Sweden; Viro’s Finns to battle USA tonight at WJC

Vladislav Namestnikov’s ‘living the dream’

WXYZ’s Mike Foss took note of Red Wings forward and free agent signing Vladislav Namestnikov’s feelings regarding playing for his “childhood team“:

Detroit Red Wings forward Vladislav Namestnikov called it a “dream come true” to play for the same team that his uncle, Slava Kozlov, helped win two Stanley Cup championships.

“I grew up watching the Red Wings’ games, so it’s extremely special for me,” Namestnikov told reporters Monday during the team’s training camp at Little Caesars Arena. “Every time I show up to the rink, it’s like ‘oh my God, dream come true.'”

Beyond the legend of the “Russian Five,” who helped Detroit capture the 1997 and 1998 Stanley Cup titles, Namestnikov has an everyday reminder of his uncle: Kozlov’s photo on the wall of the Red Wings dressing room.

“I sit directly across from it, so when I look up, I see him,” said Namestnikov. “So it’s very exciting for me, for my family that I’m playing for the Red Wings.”

Kulfan: Wings will play first of three scrimmages on Tuesday

The Detroit Red Wings will hold three intrasquad scrimmages today, with Tuesday’s scrimmage scheduled to start at 10:20 AM (streamed on DetroitRedWings.com), and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with several members of the team and its coach regarding the intensity and pace that one might expect to see starting tomorrow:

“The intensity will be high,” Blashill said in a Zoom call Monday with reporters. “Guys understand we have to use these scrimmages as springboards to get ready for the season and get ready for games and to figure out who will be in what spots. We don’t have exhibition games. The intensity will be higher than one of the red and white scrimmages in Traverse City where you have eight more exhibition games three more weeks (before the regular season begins). We’ll treat it as much more serious and get a lot out of it. We’ll use the scrimmage as a good evaluation.”

As NHL camps opened Monday for the 24 teams that took part in the summer’s Return To Play, the Wings — and the six other teams that didn’t qualify — already were on their fourth consecutive day of on-ice practice. The seven teams that didn’t qualify were allowed three extra on-ice days.

The pace and intensity has pleased Blashill, who even feels the Wings are a little further ahead than normal in terms of establishing how they want to play.

With no exhibition games, no traveling around, and the coaching staff setting a schedule of scrimmages and practices, the first week has been effective.

“One thing for sure, generally you get into exhibition season and the exhibition games are god but you don’t get enough practice time as a group,” Blashill said. “From a preparation standpoint, if we could normally have this, when you’re not traveling and keeping the group together, it’s easier to implement your systems quicker. I do think we’re further ahead. We get to choose when to play the exhibitions (scrimmages) and what makes the most sense, and allows us to implement all of our systems on ice or video, prior to playing the scrimmage.”

Continued

Update: Here’s more on the scrimmages from MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Continue reading Kulfan: Wings will play first of three scrimmages on Tuesday