Month: December 2021

Griffins re-sign Dickinson, Humitz and Myer to pro try-outs

The Grand Rapids Griffins have re-signed Josh Dickinson, Max Humitz and Gordi Myer to pro try-outs

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Monday signed center Josh Dickinson, left wing Max Humitz and defenseman Gordi Myer to professional tryouts.

Dickinson joins Grand Rapids for the third time this season and has logged one assist, four penalty minutes and a plus-one rating in four games this year in the AHL. The fourth-year pro registered his first point as a Griffin on Dec. 10 against Manitoba. A native of Georgetown, Ontario, the forward skated in his 150th game as a pro on Dec. 22 and has amassed 15 points (2-13—15) and 20 penalty minutes in 51 outings in the AHL. With Toledo in the ECHL, Dickinson has recorded 26 points (9-17—26) in 18 games.

Humitz appeared in two outings with Grand Rapids from Dec. 11-22 and comes to the Griffins for the fifth time this season. Throughout his two-year career, the left winger has appeared in 16 AHL games, compiling six points (3-3—6), two penalty minutes and a plus-five rating. A native of Livonia, Mich., Humitz skated in eight contests with the Griffins a year ago, registering five points (3-2—5) and two penalty minutes. Humitz has recorded 12 points (8-4—12) and a plus-two rating in 13 games with Kalamazoo (ECHL) this campaign.

Myer joined the Griffins for the first time in his career on Dec. 14 but did not see any game action. The Ohio State University product spent his rookie campaign with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits in 2020-21, logging 10 points (4-6—10) and two penalty minutes in 36 contests. Myer, now part of the Toledo Walleye, has recorded 10 points (1-9—10) in 21 games this season in the ECHL.

Morning Duff: Wings have to wait and see on Griffins call-ups

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s remarks regarding the Wings’ need to “wait and see” as to whether they play on Wednesday at all, as well as what the NHL’s return-to-play protocols entail, before calling up players from the Grand Rapids Griffins:

“There’s a roster management or cap management side to this that I don’t necessarily deal with but there is consequences to it, so you can’t just necessarily call up anybody,” Blashill said. “We’ll work with our management group on that. 

“I’m waiting to see where things are going here. That’ll dictate a little bit on a number of my decisions. We’re waiting on some testing. There is opportunities for guys to test out (of COVID-19 protocol). “

Currently, 10 Red Wings players are in COVID-19 protocol. Three more NHL games were postponed on Monday but for now, the Detroit-Isles game remains on the schedule. Detroit’s last game, also against the Islanders, was played with five Griffins players and two GR coaches as part of the Red Wings lineup.

“It’s just a very fluid situation,” Blashill said. “I don’t think we’d bring guys up just to practice per se, because now you’re introducing new players into your locker room again.

“The less players introduced the better in terms of not increasing the exposure. But certainly if those players we anticipate were playing on the 29th, then we would potentially bring them in as quick as we can.”

Continued

Tweet of note: It’s Mickey Redmond’s Birthday

From the Red Wings:

Happy Birthday, to our great colleague, Mickey Redmond. An absolute beauty… pic.twitter.com/46qc3tUa6U— John Keating (@JohnKeatingBSD) December 27, 2021

Praise for Seider as ‘indispensable’

ESPN’s Kristen Shilton offers a list of the most indispensable players for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and her pick for the Red Wings’ most necessary performer is a sound one:

Detroit Red Wings

Most indispensable: Moritz Seider

Detroit has scorers this season (see: Tyler Bertuzzi, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin). The Red Wings’ stable of top-quality defensemen is thinner, and that’s what makes the rookie Seider so invaluable. He’s chewing up over 22 minutes a game, has 21 points on the season and isn’t intimidated by the opposition. That’s a potential star in the making.

Continued

Praise for Edvinsson’s first-day WJC performance

Via Spector’s Hockey on Twitter comes this article from the Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari, who listed his “Three Stars” from Sunday’s games at the World Junior Championship:

First Star – D Simon Edvinsson

The Red Wings prospect was a force in all three zones on this night. In what was set to be the most competitive matchup of the day on paper, Edvinsson led the Swedes to a solid win over an underwhelming Russian squad. His ‘First Star’ status is about everything in his game both on and off the stat sheet. His defensive performance was quite impressive as he read passing lanes and intercepted puck carriers in their path, using both his body and stick work to separate the man from the puck before transitioning the play up ice quickly.

The 2021 sixth overall pick was putting his full arsenal on display in this game. With no power-play time, Edvinsson decided that the penalty kill was the appropriate time to score a goal. Closing in along the boards as two Russian players fumbled over the puck, Edvinsson collected the puck with ease and then took off up ice. With his smooth stride, he took off up ice and tucked the puck between Yaroslav Askarov’s legs. He did an excellent job activating off the blueline, keeping pucks deep and threading passes through levels of the Russian defensive structure.

Continued; here’s Edvinsson’s goal:

HSJ in the morning: Blashill discusses the Wings’ battle with COVID outbreaks

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed an early-morning article discussing the Red Wings’ battle with their COVID outbreak:

[Red Wings coach Jeff] Blashill said he started coughing on the way home from the Dec. 16 at Carolina, and tested positive the next day. That led to Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon serving as acting head coach Dec. 18, when the Wings beat the New Jersey Devils, 5-2. When four players entered protocol Dec. 19, it was no longer feasible to field a lineup for the one game that at that point was still on the schedule, Dec. 23 at Minnesota. 

“It was probably the right move, I guess, given where everybody was at across the league,” Blashill said. “Where we were at, we were going to have a hard time fielding a roster. And at that point, it’s not so much about competitive equity as just filling a roster. We had number of guys in protocol and a new of guys continue to move into protocol. We are in a difficult time with this pandemic and ultimately what anybody wants is to be able to field the requisite number of players and be able to play.”

Raymond entered protocol before Christmas, but Leddy was added Sunday. Tyler Bertuzzi, Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal also have tested positive this season.

Speaking Dec. 18, general manager Steve Yzerman questioned whether it made sense to test vaccinated players (of which Bertuzzi is the only exception) who are asymptomatic. Blashill expressed confidence in how the NHL is handling playing through the pandemic, and dealing with the highly contagious Omicron variant.

“I don’t know if anybody knows the exact best way to handle what we are all going through, and that’s trying to run a professional sports league and play games within this pandemic,” Blashill said. “They are hard decisions that are being made.”

“I’m sure the guys that haven’t yet tested positive are anxious, I’m certain of that. This seems to be highly transmissible. We are all anxious. This is the world in which we are living right and we have to find every way possible to make the most of it.”

Continued (paywall); it’s going to take teamwork for the Red Wings to get through this latest battle with COVID.

Roughly translated: Simon Edvinsson discusses Sweden’s win, his point-to-the-stands goal celebration with Expressen

Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson scored a goal and added two assists during the Swedes’ World Junior Championship-opening win over Russia on Sunday, and he spoke with Expressen’s Adam Johansson after the game. Here’s a rough translation of their conversation:

Continue reading Roughly translated: Simon Edvinsson discusses Sweden’s win, his point-to-the-stands goal celebration with Expressen

Red Wings at the WJC: Sebrango scores, Edvinsson 1G+2A, Niederbach 1G at World Juniors

Of Red Wings prospect-related note at the World Junior Championship:

Eemil Viro had 1 shot, finishing even in 20:13 played as Team Finland won 3-1 over Germany;

Carter Mazur had 5 shots and took a penalty, finishing even in 16:44 played, and Red Savage finished even in 11:03 played as the 4th line center in Team USA’s 3-2 win over Slovakia;

Donovan Sebrango scored a goal, fishing even with 1 shot in 19:50 played as Canada won 6-3 over Czechia. Sebastian Cossa served as the back-up goaltender sat in the press box for this one:

And Simon Edvinsson had a goal and 2 assists, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in 23:43, and Theodor Niederbach scored a goal on 2 shots, finishing at +2 in 17:40 played as Sweden defeated Russia 6-3.

Edvinsson spoke to IIHF.com’s Andrew Podnieks after the game:

Defenceman Simon Edvinsson, who plays for Frolunda in Sweden and was drafted 6th overall by Detroit just a few months ago, was the game’s dominant player. He scored a goal, moved the puck seamlessly out of his zone, and was a boulder behind his own blue line. He logged a team-high 23:43 of ice time.

“I think we played well,” Edvinsson said. “We were pretty sharp and had a good mindset. The game had its ups and downs, but we were strong on defence and in front of their net as well. I think we did a good job.”

…

Russia coach Sergei Zubov elected to make a goalie change during the intermission, sending Yegor Guskov into the crease to start the third. The Russians coudn’t have asked for a better chance to start the final period. Helge Grans lost the puck in front of Wallstedt, but Michkov’s quick shot was stopped by the goalie.

Soon after, the Russians ran into penalty trouble again and paid the price. They gave Sweden 1:44 of power-play time with two men, and this time Alexander Holtz’s quick one-timer beat Guskov to make it 4-1.

“Our power play was really good today,” Edvinsson added. “We have some great players on it and managed to score some important goals.”

On Monday, Finland battles Austria at 2 PM EST, Germany plays the Czechs at 7:30 PM, and Sweden battles Slovakia at 9:30 PM.

Prospect round-up, North America: Walleye lose outside

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America: Technically, no Red Wings prospects played outside of the World Junior Championship in North America on Sunday, but we consider the Toledo Walleye to be part of the Red Wings family as their ECHL affiliate.

Billy Christopoulos stopped 34 of 36 shots but only one of four shootout shooters as the Toledo Walleye lost a 3-2 shootout decision to the Kalamazoo K-Wings outside at Fifth Third Field on Sunday evening. The Walleye got goals from Brady Tomlak and John Albert.

Duff’s notebook: Wings will be playing with patchwork roster until COVID protocols lessen

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media on Sunday, and he wasn’t optimistic about the Red Wings being able to dress a competitive roster until the team’s litany of COVID protocol-related absences lessen, as he told Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

If the NHL requires the Red Wings to play on Wednesday, they will do so with a shorthanded lineup. What about those who are out of COVID-19 protocol and able to participate? How could they possibly be expected to be at 100% of their capabilities?

“We won’t have all of them and I think part of it is there’s one thing to be available to play,” Blashill said. “There’’s another thing to be ready to play. Just because a guy’s out that day, that means he wouldn’t have skated at all for 10 days. Where’s everybody at from that aspect?

“We’ll make those decisions as we move forward. We certainly have plans in place for call ups from the American Hockey League to play if needed and fill those roster spots. We’ll play with a roster, if we do play, that we’re going to go in there and win the hockey game. But we won’t have everybody available to us beyond even the two guys that we placed in today.”

Continued