NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger spoke with Scott Niedermayer, Larry Murphy, Kevin Lowe and Doug Wilson, now all Hockey Hall of Fame-inducted defensemen, as well as former Wings GM Ken Holland, all regarding the NHL’s crop of young defenders, and Murphy was asked which defenseman he enjoys to watch the most:
Murphy: “I’m an analyst for Red Wings games with Bally Sports in Detroit, so I’m really impressed with Moritz Seider with the Wings. He went No. 6 overall in the 2019 NHL Draft and when Steve Yzerman picked him, some of the TV networks were saying it was maybe higher than expected. He’s played 16 games and I’ve seen him play every game, and it’s just impressive how he has enough confidence. He’s got the ability, the confidence, enough poise and enough belief in his game that he’s willing to stick his neck out; not recklessly, but he’s got a hunger. He’ll get right in the thick of things and will not think twice about it. Sometimes it goes awry like it’s going to at times, but he’ll be right back there again. It makes it very effective playing the game that way and it’s difficult for the opposition to play against him. He’s always looking to create offense.”
After giving up seven goals in his Detroit debut against Tampa Bay, Nedeljkovic is 4-2-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .930 save pct. in eight appearances. In three of his last four starts, Nedeljkovic posted save percentages of .939 and above. He’s been the goalie general manager Steve Yzerman hoped he would be when he gave up a third-round pick and Jonathan Bernier’s rights to get him.
“Every game you get more and more comfortable” Nedeljkovic said. “The start of the season, whether you were here the year before or not, there’s always a little adjustment period. Obviously, being new to the team, a little bit more than some of the other guys. Just trying to work out the kinks that come with the new year, shaking off the rust from the summertime. Every game I feel more and more comfortable. Game gets a little easier, you get into a bit of a rhythm, you stop thinking about things and just start doing them. For me, the less I think the better I play.”
Nedeljkovic appreciates that this arrival has been a big adjustment for his defensive group.
“Guys always being ready for anything,” Nedeljkovic said. “For me, it’s kind of learning the system and learning guys’ habits and tendencies and how we like to play certain scenarios. Preseason camp was great, really got to hone in on some system stuff, but now finally gotten 14 games under us, some live action stuff, because you can’t replicate that in a practice. That’s been great and I think we’re getting better and better.”
Chris Osgood/Mike Vernon: Following first-round failures in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 playoffs, Detroit coach Scotty Bowman sought to shore up the club’s goaltending. The Red Wings did so by acquiring Stanley Cup champion Mike Vernon from the Calgary Flames.
During the 1994-95 season, Vernon was a stellar 19-6-4 during the 48-game regular season. Then he backstopped the Red Wings all the way to the Stanley Cup final. It was the first appearance for the team in the Cup final since 1965-66.
The following season as the Red Wings won an NHL-record 62 games, it was Chris Osgood who took the netminding reins. He was 39-6-5, earning NHL Second All-Star status and was a Vezina Trophy finalist. The Red Wings also won the Jennings Trophy.
Vernon bounced back strongly in 1996-97. He led the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup title since 1954-55 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the process.
On a Sunday morning in which former Red Wings players Christian Djoos and Mattias Brome have chatted with Hockeynews.se and Aftonbladet, respectively, regarding their decisions to head back to Europe after spending chunks of last season with the Red Wings…
The Detroit Red Wings face a difficult road trip this week, facing the Columbus Blue Jackets (Monday), Dallas Stars (Tuesday), Vegas Golden Knights (Thursday) and Arizona Coyotes (Saturday), all on the road, in a set of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights.
Just seven days before, the Red Wings were riding a four-game winless streak, had difficulty scoring and weren’t sure when Larkin would return after being away for personal reasons.
“We sat in Buffalo, and we talked on the ice in practice,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We talked about the fact that the week prior, we had a ton of confidence. And then all of a sudden, we had not much confidence. I thought that third period in Buffalo was huge, the end of it, how good Tyler (Bertuzzi) played there. We’ve picked up steam from there.”
The Red Wings are 4-1-0 in their past five, improving to 8-6-2 on the season as they head on a four-game trip starting Monday in Columbus. The Canadiens, who has defeated Detroit twice this season — 6-1 and 3-0 in Montreal — dropped to 4-10-2.
“We’ve been a good hockey team at home, we’ve played well on the road at times,” Larkin said. “Through a long season you’re going to go through tough stretches. Our response has been great. It’s something that in the past few years we haven’t had that response, where we weren’t able to dig ourselves out of holes where three games has gone to five or seven games. We came home and turned it around. We didn’t play as good as we wanted to against Washington (2-0 loss Thursday). We responded tonight. We played hard.”
Continued; here are extended highlights of Saturday’s win from AWood40:
But given a choice between drafting the two, I’d take Fedorov. He was an incredible player at both ends of the ice, a superstar forward who impressed equally when asked by Scotty Bowman to play as a defenseman — so much so there was chatter within the organization that Fedorov would have been in the mix for a Norris Trophy had the experiment become permanent.
In 1993-94, with Steve Yzerman injured for a chunk of the first half, Fedorov’s expanded role led to a career year. He paced the Wings with 56 goals and 64 assists, and his 120 points were second in the NHL only to Gretzky’s 130. Fedorov was awarded the Hart Trophy (NHL’s most valuable player) and the Selke Trophy (best defensive forward), along with the Lester B. Pearson (most outstanding player as voted by NHL players).
No other player in NHL history has won the Hart and Selke in the same year.
Fedorov’s skating was on another level. His explosiveness came from the training he went through as a youngster, when he’d lie on the ice, jump up, race to the blue line, kneel, jump up and race to the other blue line then repeat the drill. His leg strength was legendary.
Angelholm, Sweden. Simon Edvinsson has been Sweden’s team captain in Angelholm and the Frolunda defenseman is moving toward a key role on the World Junior Championship team.
But he won’t play against Russia today.
“Three games in three days would be too tough, “says Tomas Monten to HockeyNews.se.
The Junior Crowns defeated the Czech Republic on Friday (5-0) but lost against Finland (3-0) yesterday [at the 4 Nations Cup].
Today, the 4 Nations tournament in Angelholm comes to an end when the Swedes face Russia at the Catena Arena.
Frolunda defenseman Simon Edvinsson looks to be an important piece of the puzzle in the Swedish World Junior Championship team, and during this past weekend, he has gained confidence as one of the team captains in what has been his first experience with the Junior Crowns.
But against the Russians, the team will have to do without him today–Edvinsson has finished playing in Angelholm.
“When Simon was sick last week and couldn’t train or play, the plan was that he would only play in two games. Three games in three days immediately after a week without skating on the ice would be too tough,” says national team coach Tomas Monten to HockeyNews.se.
The 18-year-old has impressed this weekend in front of several representatives of the Detroit Red Wings–who drafted him as the sixth overall pick earlier this year.
During this fall, he’s posted 9 points (1 goal + 8 assists) in 16 games for Frolunda HC.
In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson stopped 21 of 22 shots in HV71 Jonkoping’s 3-1 win over Tingsryds;
At the 4 Nations Cup, Eemil Viro finished at +1 with 1 shot on on goal as Finland won 3-0 over Sweden. Simon Edvinsson finished even with 2 shots for Sweden, with William Wallinder finishing at -1;
In the Four Nations Cup, Eemil Viro finished even with a penalty taken in Finland’s 6-3 loss to Russia;
Simon Edvinsson had 2 assists, finishing at +1 with 2 shots, and William Wallinder finished at +2 as Sweden won 5-0 over the Czech Republic;
In North America, in the AHL, Turner Elson and Riley Barber scofred goals and Calvin Pickard pitched a 34-save shutout in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 2-0 win over the Manitoba Moose. The Griffins’ website posted a recap, photo gallery and highlight clip:
The Grand Rapids Griffins were not able to sweep their weekend series against the Manitoba Moose, following up a 2-0 win on Friday with a 6-2 defeat to the Moose on Saturday evening.
Turner Elson and Kyle Criscuolo’s goals came amidst a flurry of Moose markers, and there is some concern as Victor Brattstrom gave up 4 goals on only 19 shots on Saturday. He was replaced by Calvin Pickard for the 3rd period, and Pickard gave up 2 more goals on 16 more Moose shots, but Brattstrom now stands at 0-3-and-1 with a 5.32 GAA and a .835 save percentage.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins fell to the Manitoba Moose 6-2 on Saturday at Van Andel Arena, which ended their three-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Riley Barber (4-5—9), Jonatan Berggren (3-4—7) and Taro Hirose (2-7—9) all extended their point streak to six games.
The opening period was not in the Griffins favor as they let in four goals, the most given up in a period this season. At the 6:40 mark, Manitoba’s Austin Poganski made a pass to Jimmy Oligny who stood in the slot and sent a one-timer through the legs of netminder Victor Brattstrom and gave the Moose the early score.
With 9:11 remaining in the period, Manitoba attacked again when C.J. Suess danced around the defenders in the Grand Rapids’ zone and fired a wrister into the net, extending its lead to two.
After a pair of unanswered goals, Berggren stood at the left circle and connected with Turner Elson as he skated down the slot by himself to put the Griffins on the board at the 12:40 mark. This tally marked Elson’s second straight game with a goal and third in the last four contests.
Just as Grand Rapids scored its first, Manitoba added another to its lead. With 5:06 remaining, Mikey Eyssimont chased the puck behind the net and wrapped around the goal mouth for the score.
At the 15:14 mark in the opening period, Kristian Reichel fought for the loose puck when teammate Jeff Malott got free and stood in between the circles and smashed the puck into the right corner, extending the Manitoba lead to three.
As the middle frame began, Brattstrom was relieved of his duties by Calvin Pickard. The Griffins then went on to allow just two shots in the second, which was the fewest allowed in a period this campaign.
With 10:27 left in the frame, Barber got tripped by an opposing players stick and slid to make a pass to an open Kyle Criscuolo who stood left of the goal crease and reduced the Grand Rapids deficit to two, marking his second goal of the season.
As the final period started, Manitoba looked to take advantage on the power play. At the 1:25 mark, Malott took a shot but Pickard was able to make the save. However, the rebound fell to Greg Meireles and he finished the opportunity in the left corner to extend the Moose lead, 5-2.
With 16:20 remaining, Reichel skated down the right side on a 2-on-1 break and found Maier who took a shot from the slot to give Manitoba the 6-2 victory.
The third period saw Grand Rapids register only two shots, marking the fewest attempts in a period for the Griffins this year. Grand Rapids garnered just 16 total shots in the contest, which was the fewest attempts in a game since Oct. 22, 2021 when the team totaled 22 chances at Manitoba.
The Griffins also posted a photo gallery, and a highlight clip:
