Month: October 2021

After a full three weeks without attempting to raise a dime for this website, it’s time to get back to fundraising, for three reasons:

1. I need to pay my bills, which all human beings have to do when they are adults (ex. my right front headlight is out, and I need to replace it);
2. Sprint has informed me that if I do not purchase a new cell phone by the end of the year, my old Galaxy S7 will no longer be supported, so I need to raise about $600 to purchase that new phone/case/charger;
3. And I’m trying to help my aunt pay her taxes on the condominium. My aunt is being stubborn and trying to deal with her summer property tax bill on her own, but I can’t stand here and watch us end up with a lien on our home, so I’m gonna try to raise about $300 a month to get that bill paid off by February.

In the words of Sifl n Olly, there are “Rock n Roll friends” to lean upon when times get tough, and I’m gonna try and be a good friend to my aunt by giving her my support. I can’t do that without your support for this blog.

So 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 you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

Any support is appreciated, because I can’t blog without the blog cave.

The Detroit Red Wings appeared to dress a healthy lineup at today’s practice, again, ahead of a stretch of 3 games to be played over the course of 4 nights this week and weekend.

The Red Wings will face the 0-1-and-1 Flames tomorrow; on Sunday, they face the 0-and-4 Canadiens, who host Carolina tomorrow night; and, on Sunday, Detroit flies from Montreal to Chicago, where they’ll face a Blackhawks team that hasn’t played since their Thursday-night match-up against Vancouver.

Long story long, Detroit will be facing three incredibly desperate teams, and rested teams at that (Calgary hasn’t played since Monday, either), so, while the Wings are healthy and happy at 2-0-and-1, their schedule gets exponentially harder this weekend, and they won’t have Tyler Bertuzzi in the lineup on Saturday due to his vaccination status.

Anyway, after today’s practice, the Red Wings’ players and coach spoke with the media. Ironically so…

Tyler Bertuzzi said he’s really happy with his start to the season after missing almost a full year. Said it’s a great feeling. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 20, 2021

Bertuzzi confirms he can’t go to Montreal but will be in Chicago. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 20, 2021

Tyler Bertuzzi says he’ll be watching Red Wings Saturday when they’re in Montreal. Can’t travel because not vaccinated. Leads Wings with 5 goals in 3 games.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 20, 2021

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also a big shoulder shrug to the beat writers not Tweeting out coach Jeff Blashill’s press conference.

That being said, the Wings posted videos of Bertuzzi and Blashill’s remarks:

This made me smile:

#CBJ Jack Roslovic on #LGRW fans: “Those people in Detroit, man. They didn’t like me last night.”

Reporter: Maybe it had something to do with the hit on Lucas Raymond.

Roslovic: “Even before that.”— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) October 20, 2021

The Red Wings only have one prospect on the Toledo Walleye at present–goaltender Kaden Fulcher–and the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe reports that the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate has a fine tandem of goaltenders to lean upon this season in Fulcher and one Billy Christopoulos:

Christopoulos had earned a spot on the All-ECHL rookie team in 2019-20 and looked to be a solid bet to lead the Walleye to a deep playoff run. Christopoulos had put together some stellar numbers (23-3-3 record with a 2.29 goals-against average) when the season came to a sudden end just as the Walleye secured the best winning percentage in the league.

“I know everybody feels like we have a little bit of unfinished business when we got shut down,” Christopoulos said. “We’re all excited to get back to the Huntington Center and listen to [fans] rock that place.”

Fulcher began his career in Toledo in 2018-19 with high expectations after signing with the Detroit Red Wings as a 20-year-old who was coming off a championship season in junior hockey.

However, Fulcher has been plagued by injury and stuck in a goalie logjam in the Red Wings’ system. He has played in only 38 games, including just two games for Toledo in 2019-20, since turning pro. He has appeared in seven games for the Walleye’s American Hockey League affiliate, Grand Rapids, and in 30 games for the Walleye. Fulcher also made his NHL debut for the Red Wings against the Buffalo Sabres on April 6, 2019.

“The first thing on my goal list is chasing that Kelly Cup,” Fulcher said. “I’m down here, and I want to win with this group. I want to help this team win hockey games.”

Continued

The Red Wings posted a quick recap of some of the festivities from Tuesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, including Lucas Raymond’s first NHL goal, Tyler Bertuzzi’s 5th goal of the season, and a nasty little hit from Moritz Seider:

What a night.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/R12wRdbx39— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 20, 2021

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a clip of both their tribute to captain Brian Lashoff, who played in his 500th AHL game last season, as well as the on-ice ceremony in which he was given a framed piece of artwork, a Shinola watch, and an all-expenses paid trip to the Bahamas:

The Detroit Red Wings got back to work after last night’s big win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at LCA this afternoon.

The Red Wings are preparing for a nasty stretch of 3 games to be played over the course of 4 nights against struggling teams–versus Calgary (0-1-and-1) on Thursday, at Montreal (0-and-4) on Saturday night, and at Chicago (0-3-and-1) on Sunday.

MLive’s Ansar Khan was the first to weigh in with lines from Wednesday’s practice:

#RedWings lines and D pairs in practice before facing Calgary tomorrow at ⁦@LCArena_Detroit⁩
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Zadina
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Smith-Stephens-Gagner
Rowney
DeKeyser-Hronek
Leddy-Seider
Staal-Lindstrom
Oesterle-Stecher pic.twitter.com/qGoRZ1RMQl— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 20, 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James said, “Hello”…

Red Wings practice, host Calgary Thursday. Looks like lineup stays same. Wings 2-0-1. pic.twitter.com/d2PnGFC5aq— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 20, 2021

Lars Thorsell on Twitter brought this to my attention: Red Wings player development specialist Niklas Kronwall spoke with Rakapuckar’s Henrik Lehman this morning, addressing all things Frolunda Trio-related.

According to Lehman, Kronwall drove to Gothenburg on Wednesday to visit with Frolunda’s three Red Wings players–Simon Edvinsson, Theodor Niederbach, and Elmer Soderblom, and here’s what he had to say, roughly translated from Swedish:

Continue reading Roughly translated: Rakapuckar’s Henrik Lehman speaks with Niklas Kronwall about the Frolunda Trio

Red Wings legend Nicklas Lidstrom appeared on Bally Sports Detroit’s broadcast last night…

Detroit Red Wings icon, @NicklasLidstrom joins us LIVE during the second. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/XsnJrA78w3

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 20, 2021

And 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield took note of Lidstrom’s remarks:

Lidstrom had the pleasure of watching Seider frequently last year in the Swedish Hockey League. The Hall of Famer was once in the same position as the up-and-comer, a 19-year-old defenseman playing against grown men in the top league in Sweden. Except Lidstrom didn’t dominate the league like Seider did. Lidstrom wasn’t named Defenseman of the Year. And Lidstrom didn’t graduate to Detroit the following season — and notch three points in his first three NHL games.

“I don’t think I was ready to play at his level when I was 20,” Lidstrom said. “I did play in the SHL, the highest league in Sweden, but I wasn’t as good as he was then.”

So if Lidstrom won seven Norris Trophies, you can mark down Seider for eight. If Lidstrom won four Stanley Cups, you can bet Seider will win five. If Lidstrom was the greatest defenseman of his generation, you can bet Seider will be the greatest defenseman … ever. In all seriousness, Seider clearly belongs in the NHL. He doesn’t turn 21 until April and he’s already logging north of 21 minutes per night. And this isn’t the product of playing on a bad team. (In fact, the Red Wings might be good!) This is Jeff Blashill’s best blueline in seven seasons behind Detroit’s bench, and its best player might be Seider.

“He’s really poised with the puck,” said Lidstrom, maybe the most poised puck-handler of all time. “He was a junior player last year and he played against men, but he was holding his own. He actually was initiating a lot of toughness, playing hard to beat, hard in front of the net. And he would join the rush when there was an opportunity, he would be an offensive player when there was a chance to do that.”

Continued

Updated at 10:00 AM: This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on on Lucas Raymond’s first NHL goal, scored in last night’s 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets:

“I had some really nice looks today and especially this time of the game you want to score to help the team,” Raymond said. “Of course, you want to get that first goal. It’s something real special and it’s awesome, a special night.”

Raymond opened the scoring at 6:17 of the third period, taking a pass from Dylan Larkin and wiring a wrist shot over goaltender Joonas Korpisalo’s glove on the short side.

Shortly after that, Raymond side-stepped a check in the neutral zone and made a nice touch pass to Larkin, who set up Tyler Bertuzzi’s goal at 8:53, his fifth of the season, which proved to be the winner.

“Those are a couple of dynamic offensive plays,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “The one thing (Raymond) does pretty consistently is play a complete game. That earns trust and you get minutes. Are there parts of his game that have to get better? A hundred percent. And he knows it, especially moving his feet. He’s a real cerebral player, sometimes he can get caught just thinking his way through the game instead of thinking and moving his feet.

“Him and (fellow rookie Moritz) Seider both have a real good combination of confidence but yet real calm people and real respectful, real good inner drive. They’re not entitled people. I think (Raymond) has got a maturity beyond his years. That’s certainly going to help him as he goes through any upcoming trials and tribulations he’ll face.”

Continued; may it be the first of many goals for Raymond.

Update: There’s more from the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Continue reading Khan, HSJ, Bultman in the morning: On Lucas Raymond’s first NHL goal