Month: September 2021

Tweet of note: Jakub Vrana is stuck in the Czech Republic due to visa issues

I was warned of this last week:

Jakub Vrana is not in Traverse City yet due to visa issues per Steve Yzerman. Hopeful that he’s on a plane tomorrow. @DetroitRedWings #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) September 22, 2021

HSJ: Tyler Bertuzzi is your unvaccinated Red Wing

From the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

Tyler Bertuzzi, a key part of the Detroit Red Wings, has declined to get the vaccine for COVID-19, the only Wings player to do so, general manager Steve Yzerman said Wednesday. 

Bertuzzi will still be at training camp, which runs for six days beginning Thursday in Traverse City. Yzerman said Bertuzzi will not be able to travel to Canada under current restrictions, which require a 14-day quarantine for unvaccinated players traveling into Canada. 

Bertuzzi, 26, signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal in July. He’s a top-line player and power play guy, and one of the grittiest players on the team. 

The NHL and NHL Players Association do not have a vaccine mandate for players, but unvaccinated players face restrictions that the vaccinated do not. The unvaccinated will not be exempt from a 14-day quarantine when crossing from the US. to Canada, and teams can suspend players without pay who are unable to participate in team activities.

Would miss nine games in Canada. https://t.co/xCQ27jTOtZ— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) September 22, 2021

Just as a follow-up to the few players who chose not to get vaccinated…under the agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA…If a player cannot cross the border to play games, that player is subject to suspension without pay.— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) September 22, 2021

Update: From Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

He is the only Red Wings’ player who isn’t vaccinated. Following the NHL protocol,  Bertuzzi will be able to attend training camp. About 98 percent of NHL players are vaccinated.

“As it stands now, under the Canadian laws, he would not be able to cross the border,” general manager Steve Yzerman said.

The Red Wings play in Montreal Oct. 23. Canada’s current quarantine/Covid border rules currently say  no entry for non-vaccinated

Bertuzzi signed a two-contract this summer for $4.75 million per season.  “It’s his decision,” Yzerman said,  “and it’s the world we live in today. I’m not in a position to force anyone.”

He will be required to distance himself from players under certain circumstances, like in a gym, for example.

I miscounted the men. Tyler Bertuzzi will forfeit at LEAST over $450,000 in salary from Detroit Red Wings’ nine games in Canada this season if he continues to decline vaccination.— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) September 22, 2021

In which I appear on the ‘Locked on Wings’ podcast

FYI:

The Athletic’s Dayal suggests that Jakub Vrana (and Filip Zadina) could be a breakout canddiate

The Athletic’s Harman Dayal listed a set of 10 potential breakout candidates for the upcoming season, and Jakub Vrana cracked his list…

Jakub Vrana, LW, Detroit Red Wings

There are pros and cons to playing on a bad team from an individual production standpoint. Sure, there will be little help around you and the power-play unit you’re on probably won’t have enough weapons to score often but opportunities will at least be abundant.

That last part will be welcome news for Jakub Vrana. Since the 2018-19 season, only 12 NHL forwards have scored five-on-five points at a more efficient rate than the former Washington Capital.

It hasn’t always led to impressive counting stats in large part because he was stuck behind some elite forwards in Washington. Vrana never averaged more than 15 minutes per game in a single season in D.C. but climbed to over 17 per game when he suited up for Detroit. Those extra minutes paid immediate dividends as Vrana notched eight goals and 11 points in 11 games as a Red Wing.

Vrana obviously can’t be expected to score at that torrid of a pace — he shot 25 percent in those 11 games — but he should thrive nonetheless with the opportunity to spread his wings (no pun intended).

And Filip Zadina earned an honorable mention:

Filip Zadina, RW, Detroit Red Wings: Improving slow and steady, Zadina should get a bigger top-six opportunity this year. Breaking out may depend on Dylan Larkin’s health and how he fares upon return.

Continued (paywall)

Press release: Red Wings release training camp roster and schedule

From the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS RELEASE 2021 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER AND DAILY SCHEDULE  

… Sixty-Two Players Hit the Ice from Sept. 23-28 in Traverse City …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their training camp roster and schedule, comprised of 62 players who will hit the ice on Thursday, Sept. 23 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich., for six days of camp before beginning their eight-game preseason schedule with a road game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, Sept. 29.

The Red Wings will bring 35 forwards, 20 defensemen and seven goaltenders to Traverse City to participate in daily on-ice practices. Following the team’s annual Red & White Game on Sunday, Sept. 26, the Red Wings will remain in Traverse City for two more days of practice before breaking camp to return to Detroit ahead of the exhibition slate, which is highlighted by home games against the Buffalo Sabres (Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.), Columbus Blue Jackets (Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7:00 p.m.), Chicago Blackhawks (Monday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.) and Pittsburgh Penguins (Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m.).

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings release training camp roster and schedule

The Athletic’s Bultman tells the inside story of Moritz Seider’s time with Rogle BK

The Athletic’s Max Bultman published a lengthy article today, discussing Moritz Seider’s time spent with Rogle BK of the SHL this past season:

Cam Abbott was squeezing in a workout one day last October when a young man arrived from the airport to meet him in the Rögle BK gym.

Abbott, the team’s head coach in the Swedish Hockey League, had a bit of background on this newly arrived player thanks to a connection on the team’s coaching staff: Rögle’s assistant coach at the time, Cory Murphy, had worked with Moritz Seider on the German national team in 2019, so Abbott knew he could expect a respectful kid and “one heck of a hockey player” who had been well-liked at his past stops.

But as Abbott and the 19-year-old defenseman talked, Seider started asking about something he had noticed in the gym: a leaderboard for one of the team’s internal challenges on the assault bike — a stationary air bike that adds resistance the harder the user pedals.

Seider’s interest was piqued.

“He jumped on the assault bike,” Abbott said, “and put himself in first place there on the board.”

Continued (paywall)

Free Press posts excerpt from book commemorating 25 years since the 1997 Stanley Cup win

The Detroit Free Press is publishing a book called, Stanleytown: The Inside Story of How the Stanley Cup Returned to the Motor City After 41 Frustrating Seasons, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Red Wings’ 1997 Stanley Cup win. The Free Press posted an excerpt from writer Shawn Windsor this morning:

The elation lasted for days, weeks, heck, throughout that summer of 1997. You could hear it on the streets, where cars blared their horns. You could see it there, too, as drivers festooned their windows with flags of the Winged Wheel, flapping in the breeze, a red-and-white rainbow that stretched from the

Ambassador Bridge to the Mackinac Bridge and back.

Hockey might not have the broad appeal of football or even baseball, and we can debate where basketball falls into the mix. But on the June night the Wings clinched the Cup, after all the pain and disappointment and the finals sweep at the hands of the New Jersey Devils two seasons before, after all that, the Wings grabbed the hearts of everyone.

And made them whole again.

Continued

Two things: on Red Wings rookies and coach Blashill’s rank (amidst misery and decency)

In news of good cheer (or the lack thereof), Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen has posted a list of questions for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams as training camps approach, and his take on the Red Wings’ biggest question is preceded by the now-familiar, “But the Red Wings are going to suck anyway”…

Detroit Red Wings: Which kids stand out?

With another year of misery expected, Wings fans can only hope for progress. Moritz Seider, the sixth overall pick in 2019, arrives and seems to have the inside track on a roster spot he still needs to earn. Is he a top-four guy right away? Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren, selected three picks apart from each other in 2018, are competing for a spot, but is there a chance both could make the team? And how sharp does Lucas Raymond look right away, even though we’re not expecting him to crack the NHL roster out of camp?

Continued; and Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offers this assessment of Jeff Blashill as he stacks up among the Atlantic Division’s best and worst coaches, ranking Blashill a solid 6th out of 8:

Jeff Blashill, Detroit Red Wings: My read on Blashill is that Yzerman thinks he has done a credible job with a rebuilding team. Not an exceptional job, not a poor job. A decent job.  But it feels like Yzerman expects to see more growth from this team under Blashill this season.

Misery and decency. I’ll take decency over out-and-out misery, please.