Month: October 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article this morning which discusses how competitive she believes the Red Wings will be this upcoming season:

Even without [Jakub] Vrana, the Wings project to be competitive among the top six forwards: His absence creates an opportunity for veteran Bobby Ryan — and 2020 first-round pick Lucas Raymond — to battle Filip Zadina for spots on a line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi, or Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri.

The defense looks like it will be the Wings’ best since 2018-19, when Niklas Kronwall was still in the lineup, Mike Green was still effective, and Filip Hronek was just beginning to make an impression. Moritz Seider, a 2019 first-round pick, is a mobile puck-carrier who can run one of the power plays; newcomer Nick Leddy is fluid skater who will stabilize a top-four corps that included Hronek and either Danny DeKeyser or Marc Staal. Troy Stecher, Jordan Oesterle and Gustav Lindstrom also will compete for ice time. They’re all NHL-caliber defensemen, and that’s a degree of depth that’s been sorely missing.

In the crease, Alex Nedeljkovic comes in with the bragging rights of being a Calder Trophy finalist, but the guy he’s replacing, Jonathan Bernier, was the Wings’ most consistent player the past two seasons. Nedejlkovic will share duties with Thomas Greiss, who righted himself after a dismal start last season.

All in all, it should add up to more consistently competitive performances.

Continued (paywall)

Of Red Wings-related note this morning: DetroitRedWings.com will stream today’s game…

Right back at it! #LGRW

?: 12:00pm
?: https://t.co/a1ZFiGyALB pic.twitter.com/rNcN22OFI3

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 3, 2021

And here is today’s presumptive lineup:

? Pittsburgh, PA.#LGRW pic.twitter.com/CUuLZiQySB

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 3, 2021

Update: Here’s the Penguins’ lineup:

All lined up and ready for some preseason hockey! pic.twitter.com/rkDfcfXo0m— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 3, 2021

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted an article discussing Dylan Larkin’s return to the Red Wings’ lineup in last night’s 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets:

“It was hard, it was challenging,” Larkin said. “I have to again, give a thank you to our training staff and our doctors and my teammates that helped me and the trainers with me every day, all summer working. They were with me every step of the way and every doctor’s appointment and every day at the hospital. I can’t thank them enough, how they helped me get back to this. But definitely a perspective of I’m going to just play hockey and enjoy every day.”

Larkin played on a line with Filip Zadina and Lucas Raymond, the 2020 fourth overall pick who registered a pair of assists with slick passes, giving him four points (goal, three assists) in two games.

Larkin described the first period as tough.

“It was like Ricky Bobby’s first race back after his car crash,” he said, referencing the movie Talladega Nights. “I just felt like everything was going fast. As the second and third started to happen, I felt a little more comfortable and it was nice to be on the good side of some good plays.”

Continued

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Saturday night:

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski finished at -1 with 1 shot in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 5-2 win over Saint John;

Jan Bednar served as the back-up in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 5-2 win over Moncton;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas scored his team’s only goal, finishing at -1 with 6 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 3-1 loss to Seattle:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Hanas scores in WHL; Gylander back-stops Colgate to opening-night win

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Saturday evening, thanks to excellent performances by Dylan Larkin (2 goals and an assist), Nick Leddy (3 assists), Lucas Raymond (2 assists) and Joe Veleno (1G, 1A), and they head to Pittsburgh to battle the Penguins on Sunday at 12 PM EDT (no TV/97.1 FM/possibly streamed on DetroitRedWings.com?).

In terms of the media’s takes on the game, NHL.com posted a short recap:

Dylan Larkin scored twice in his return for the Detroit Red Wings, a 5-1 preseason win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday.

The forward scored a power-play goal at 14:33 of the second period to give Detroit a 3-0 lead, and an empty-net goal for the 5-1 final. Larkin, the Red Wings captain, missed 12 games last season and did not play after April 20 because of a neck injury.

Taro Hirose, Chase Pearson and Joe Veleno scored, and Thomas Greiss and Calvin Pickard combined to 19 saves for the Red Wings, who are 3-0-0.

Carson Meyer scored a third-period goal, and Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for Columbus.

MLive’s Ansar Khan also posted a recap…

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets wrap-up: Larkin finds his form as Detroit earns 3rd exhibition win

Of post-game video-related note from the Red Wings’ 5-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Highlights: Sportsnet posted an 8:33 highlight clip:

Post-game: Joe Veleno held an interview with Bally Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson…

And the Free Press posted videos of Dylan Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill speaking with the media:

The Detroit Red Wings x’ed the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Saturday night, beginning a stretch of 3 games played over the course of 3 days with their 3rd preseason win in 3 tries.

Nick Leddy had 3 assists, Dylan Larkin had 2 goals and an assist, Joe Veleno had a goal and an assist, Lucas Raymond had 2 assists, Moritz Seider finished at +2 in 19:06 played, Thomas Greiss stopped 8 shots and Calvin Pickard stopped 11 of 12 for Detroit.

Detroit continues its odyssey tomorrow vs. Pittsburgh at 12 PM EDT (TV/radio uncertain), and the Wings will then host the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night (7:30 PM EDT ON Bally Sports Detroit).

Anyway, on Saturday night, only 1:16 into the 1st period, a Nick Leddy keep-in was passed along to Riley Barber, who ripped a top-shelf marker off goal-scoring-tipper Taro Hirose and into the top shelf behind Elvis Merzlikins at 1:16 of the 1st:

Continue reading Preseason recap: Red Wings beat Columbus 5-1: Leddy posts 3A, Larkin 2G 1A in return to action

This is damn hard to watch, all 5:40 of it:

Manny Legace shares the story of his emotional journey through COVID-19 and the death of goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks, who was like a son to Legace. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/E3qbZyfWSU— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) October 3, 2021

Enjoy an 11-minute preview of tonight’s Red Wings-Blue Jackets game (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/ESPN+/97.1 the Ticket):

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff penned an article discussing Dylan Larkin’s return to the Red Wings’ lineup tonight vs. Columbus (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/97.1 FM):

This appears to be a positive development in the Red Wings’ preseason planning. Originally, the process was suggesting that Larkin wouldn’t be seeing action until later into the NHL exhibition slate. Instead, he’s getting back into action for the third game of preseason play.

“Our medical group did a really good job of putting a plan in place to get hm ready,” Blashill said. “You obviously go through a period of time with no contact and then we had him initiate contact and then contact was initiated on him. But that was when he knew it was coming, so you kind of work your way into it. So you’ve got to go from there into full (contact) and part of full is those battles.”

Aside from the serious injury, people many be forgetting how forgettable Larkin’s 2021 campaign was already proving to be. All of his offensive productivity numbers – goals (nine), assists (14) and points (23) – were career lows.

“Dylan and I talked and one of his good attributes is he’s really strong,” Blashilll said. “He’s got to use his body to win pucks, and if he doesn’t use his body to win pucks he won’t have the puck as much.

“He’s got to get back to playing normal in those circumstances. The reason I want to play him in preseason games is to prepare him, so when we play Tampa (in the regular-season opener) he’s not feeling his way into the game, he’s going all-out. The quicker he can get there the better.”

Continued