Month: September 2021

The Hockey News’s Matt Larkin and Ryan Kennedy posted a 7-minute video in which the pair discuss the Detroit Red Wings’ possibilities for the upcoming season:

Red Wings 2021 draft pick and Charlottetown Islanders defenseman Oscar Plandowski’s father is the director of amateur scouting for the Arizona Coyotes, and his mother is a professional skating coach, so he comes from the definition of a “hockey family.” The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a profile of Plandowski this afternoon:

“Hockey is my No. 1 passion,” he said. “It’s been my dream to get drafted. I definitely get to see a different side of it, being able to witness it growing up, my dad preparing for drafts. I definitely wouldn’t be anywhere without both my parents. They’ve been a huge part of my career.”

There were advantages having an NHL scout dad, but also challenges.

“As a little kid it was the coolest being able to go into games for free walking in with my dad, going to see junior games, and traveling with him on the road the occasional time,” Oscar said. “It has its perks.

“But it also has its negatives, when your dad’s not there most of the winter. That can be tough. But the positives outweigh the negatives, especially preparing for the draft it was definitely huge.”

Continued

Per the Toledo Walleye:

(Toledo, OH) – Forward Josh Dickinson has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2021-2022 season.

Dickinson split his 2020-21 season between the Utah Grizzlies and Indy Fuel. Between the two stops the native of Halton Hills, ON, totaled 11 points (2G, 9A) in 22 games. He also appeared in seven games for Colorado in the AHL with a pair of assists and six penalty minutes. The 23-year-old has appeared in 47 games in the AHL since his pro debut with San Antonio in 2018 with 14 points (2G, 12A). He has averaged nearly a point-per-game in his ECHL career with 70 points (26G, 44A) in 82 contests.

Prior to becoming professional, Dickinson spent one season at Clarkson University with 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points over 40 contests for the Golden Knights. He dominated the junior ranks with 142 points (56G, 86A) over 152 games in three seasons for the Georgetown Raiders of the OJHL. As team captain in 2016-17, he helped the Raiders to the OJHL Championship with 66 points (25G, 41A) in the regular season and then another 22 points (8G, 14A) in 22 postseason games.

Red Wings alumnus and broadcaster Larry Murphy appears on the latest episode of “The Red and White Authority” podcast, discussing the Wings’ offseason and his predictions for the upcoming season with Arthur J. Regner:

The Athletic’s Max Bultman engaged in a lengthy conversation with Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff ahead of the Wings’ prospect tournament, main training camp and exhibition season. Of note:

What went into the decision for Moritz to not play in the Traverse City Prospect Tournament this year?

We talked about it with Steve and (Pat Verbeek) and the coaching staff, and I think with Moritz, he’s played two years of pro now – he spent a full year in Grand Rapids, spent a full year over in Europe playing. This year it’s not really even a tournament, it’s kind of more of a showcase. We only play the three games. And frankly, there’s some younger players that we wanted to see on the roster and we just wanted to make sure that Mo was ready to go for main camp.

This will be Joe Veleno’s third prospect tournament, obviously he got a little look at the NHL last spring, what are you hoping to see from him in the showcase?

Well, I think at this point, Joe at his age and his experience level – obviously having a full year as well last year in Europe – I expect Joe to come in and dominate, really. I mean he should lead the way for us up there in Traverse City and being a guy that’s going to play all situations and big minutes and center that top line.

And then how about Jonatan Berggren — I don’t know how much he’s played the small ice outside of development camp — what are you looking to see from him?

First, he’s had three years in the SHL. The one thing I’m excited about Berggy is he’s excited to come over, he himself feels like he’s ready. He’s put an extreme amount of work in the last three years to get his body to the physical shape that it needs to be in and strength that it needs to be in to be able to play the pro game, at least over there, at a high level. So he had a great year last year and I’m looking forward to seeing him.

Continued (paywall)

MLive’s Ansar Khan has issued a list of five prospects who bear watching at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament next week in Traverse City. Among them:

Jonatan Berggren, RW, 5-11, 183: This fast-skating, skilled winger is preparing for the start of his North American career following a breakout season in the Swedish Hockey League with Skelleftea AIK (12 goals, 33 assists in 49 games), leading the team and tying for sixth in league scoring. He became only the 13th player in SHL history to compile 40-plus points in a season at age 20 or younger, and the first since Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson in 2017-18. Berggren was limited to 16 games in 2018-19 due to a back injury and played only 24 games in 2019-20 because of shoulder surgery. He was Detroit’s third pick, 33rd overall in the second round, in 2018, drafted three spots after Joe Veleno.

Sebastian Cossa, G, 6-6, 212: The Red Wings moved up from 23 to 15 to grab their goaltender of the future in this year’s draft. When Cossa is at the top of his crease, there is little room for shooters to get the puck past him. He has a hybrid butterfly style and plays with confidence and a bit of swagger. He dominated in the Western Hockey League, going 17-1-1, with a 1.57 goals-against average and .941 save percentage with the Edmonton Oil Kings last season. Cossa is slated for another season in juniors before likely transitioning to the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Continued

The Finnish Liiga began play today with Eemil Viro playing on TPS Turku’s first defensive pairing over the course of TPS’s 5-3 win over Lukko. Viro played 17:48 and finished even.

This afternoon, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan has written a subscriber-only article which discusses Filip Hronek’s up-and-down 2020-2021 season as it applies to Hronek’s development into what the Wings hope will be a top-pair defenseman:

Hronek, who’ll turn 24 in November, might be just approaching his potential as a top-pairing defenseman who can play in any role, and do it very well.

“He’s been forced to really trial by fire and he’s been thrown into the mix, and it’s hard to do,” coach Jeff Blashill said late last season. “You don’t have a veteran defenseman who can carry you as you make some mistakes, and he’s had to sink or swim on a nightly basis. (But) enough nights, he’s swam.”

Hronek led the Wings with 26 points last season and 24 assists, including 11 points (all assists) on the power play. Interestingly, Hronek’s two goals on the season were both length of the ice empty-net power-play goals.

Hronek and fellow defenseman Marc Staal were the only two Wings to play all 56 games in the compressed and challenging season, Hronek overcoming some late-season aches and pains to play every game.

“A solid season,” said Blashill, when asked to analyze Hronek’s body of work. “I don’t think any of us can claim we’ve had a great year. We’re not good enough in the standings. But he’s done a solid season.”

Continued

In our daily fundraising update, I’ve got some good news and some not-so-good news.

The good news is that we’ve raised $758.48 in Paypal money, and $184.94 on Venmo. That’s absolutely fantastic, especially given that the first $500 raised had to go to pay for the server and Jetpack, the extension that makes WordPress work.

The bad news is that I received the hotel bill today, and it’s going to cost me $2,081 to stay at the Comfort Inn–at a half-the-cost, cut-the-rate-in-half business deal, for 16 days.

That doesn’t include the $100-or-so it costs in gas and food to get up to Traverse City, and the $100 that it costs to get back from TC, nor does it include the groceries and supplies I try to stockpile to reduce costs ($200-300 is a lot cheaper than eating bunches of “out food” and fancy meals, but it’s still a chunk in our lovely inflation-driven grocery market).

So, with approximately six days before I leave for Traverse City, we’re on our way, which is wonderful, but we’ve got a long way to go.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, you can use Paypal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com, and yes, you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

I understand that there’s some donor fatigue and fundraising fatigue going on here. I’m not thrilled having to do this, either, but I’m simply not a person of means, so I have to ask for your help.

If you’re interested, the Hockey News has posted an Atlantic Division Preview on its latest podcast, Red Wings included:

NEW HOCKEY NEWS PODCAST:

Our four-part 2021-22 divisional preview series begins with the Atlantic teams.https://t.co/Tto7swTCTg pic.twitter.com/0Eyczp5k6n— Matt Larkin (@THNMattLarkin) September 9, 2021