Month: December 2021

The Athletic’s Detroit sportswriters–Chris Burke, Cody Stavenhagen, Max Bultman and James L. Edwards III–engaged in a round-table discussion regarding Detroit’s “four major sports teams'” rebuilding efforts, and here’s what they said about the “Face of Detroit Sports”:

Who is the face of Detroit sports right now?

Stavenhagen: As an Oklahoma State grad, my knocks on Cade Cunningham last year were, like, 50 percent just a bit. He’s proving he can be a franchise-type player. So if it’s not Cade yet, I think it will be soon. 

Burke: I think I argued for Dylan Larkin, like, three years ago, when we first did this. I’m definitely going to bang the table for him now as the Red Wings start to turn a corner. There’s a case for Cade, Casey Mize, T.J. Hockenson and — still — Miggy. But Larkin’s a hometown, homegrown talent on a rising club that the fans are starting to find again.

Bultman: It’s fair to debate Cade versus Mize or Torkelson, who have the No. 1 pick factor, and I think Chris’ point about Larkin as the homegrown captain is good (though with all the face time Raymond and Seider are getting, they may soon challenge him for face of the Red Wings). 

But come on: Whoever emerges as the Lions’ QB of the Future is going to quickly become the face of the city’s sports. If that means the city’s sports face is a vague silhouette right now … well, I’d make that case!

Edwards: If the Pistons were better, I think it would be Cade without a doubt. I think he eventually settles into that, though. For now, Larkin makes the most sense for all the reasons you guys mentioned. I could see Torkelson making a run, too, when he gets situated at the top level. And, of course, whoever the Lions QB is will be worshipped. That person just isn’t in place yet.

So, just to rank, I’ll go: 1. Larkin, 2. Cunningham, 3. Miggy

Continued (paywall); I hate to agree with Bultman here, but the Lions tend to rule the town. In no small part thanks to 97.1 the Ticket’s propaganda machine.

The Associated Press posted a bullet-pointed Red Wings-Devils preview ahead of Saturday’s game between the two teams:

New Jersey Devils (10-13-5, sixth in the Metropolitan) vs. Detroit Red Wings (14-13-3, second in the Atlantic)

…

BOTTOM LINE: New Jersey heads into the matchup with Detroit as losers of four straight games.

The Red Wings are 8-7-2 in conference play. Detroit ranks 10th in the Eastern Conference with 29.2 shots per game and is averaging 2.7 goals.

The Devils are 4-3-2 against opponents from the Metropolitan. New Jersey is 10th in the Eastern Conference averaging 4.6 assists per game, led by Jesper Bratt with 0.6.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting this season for the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Lucas Raymond has 27 total points for the Red Wings, 10 goals and 17 assists. Dylan Larkin has 9 points over the last 10 games for Detroit.

Bratt leads the Devils with 16 total assists and has 24 points. Tomas Tatar has three goals and two assists over the last 10 games for New Jersey.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 6-4-0, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.8 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game with a .904 save percentage.

Devils: 2-7-1, averaging 2.6 goals, 4.3 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while allowing 3.8 goals per game with an .872 save percentage.

The Red Wings posted a bemusing Tweet in which they asked Lucas Raymond about his “favorites” in a “Breakfast Break”:

Tea time with Lucas. ? pic.twitter.com/u5lVfVfHDj

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 17, 2021

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a morning column today discussing the Red Wings’ need to focus on better defensive hockey after last night’s 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes:

The Wings have an evening game Saturday against the New Jersey Devils as Little Caesars Arena, which opened in October 2017, hosts its first Wings/Pistons same-day doubleheader. The Wings are 14-13-3 overall and 10-3-2 at home, leaving a 4-10-1 road record to show how they have struggled on the road. 

“We have to figure it out,” captain Dylan Larkin said after Thursday’s 5-3 loss at Carolina. “We’re looking for answers. We need a spark. We need to get in a groove. But it’s just been really difficult.”

…

The Wings have taken comfort in home games, where they feed off the fans’ energy. But there’s another road game before Christmas, and two on the other side of the holiday, and the Wings are tired of being cast as grinches when they aren’t at LCA.

“We haven’t won enough on the road,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We have to find ways to make sure you’re not giving up four on the road. You can’t give up that many goals and expect to win, because it’s really, really hard. We lost the special teams battle. Ultimately we just have to keep grinding and finding ways to dig in and make sure that the game is there to be had either way. We have to step up.”

One of the focal points has been figuring out a way to squeeze more momentum from goals. Larkin, Sam Gagner and Tyler Bertuzzi scored in Carolina, and Bertuzzi’s goal that made it 3-3 was part of a strong second period overall. Blashill said the Wings “need to score on some of the chances we had, making sure that next shift is really good.

“It’s just kind of that combination, though — what takes away momentum more than anything else is goals against. So you just can’t give up that many goals and expect to win consistently on the road. We have to do a better job of that, because they’re not all going to go in, and ultimately when you score three, three should be enough to win.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille have posted a set of power rankings in which each team asks Santa Claus for a present, and here’s their take on the Red Wings’ situation:

23. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 14-13-3
Last Week: 20
Dom rank: 23
Sean rank: 23

Dear Santa,

I know I’m a goalie. I like being a goalie very much and I’m happy when my teammates score. But I want to score, too. Please give me an NHL goal.

Thank you, Alex

We’ve watched Marc-Andre Fleury try, openly and desperately, to score on an empty net for nearly two decades. The try-hard crown now belongs to Alex Nedeljkovic, who got a taste of it in the ECHL and AHL and has been chasing it ever since. He talked about going for it this week against the Islanders, and it’s far from the first time it’s come up. So, let’s get him one. Things are going pretty well otherwise in Detroit; the Calder candidates look great, and they’re no longer in immediate danger to screw up their draft spot with a playoff run.

Continued; and that’s pretty lame of them to jab at the Wings’ unrealistic playoff chances, but there we are.

The Detroit Red Wings lost a 5-3 decision to the undermanned Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, and the Red Wings lost in tremendously frustrating fashion, due to a combination of self-inflicted wounds in the form of defensive mistakes and some shaky goaltending by Alex Nedeljkovic with his former team, which played with only 16 skaters due to COVID and cap concerns.

This was frustrating for several reasons:

For the second time in a row (the loss in St. Louis on December 9th was the first), the Red Wings surrendered a sloppy two points to a team that was short skaters, and surrendered a “first goal to a young kid” (this time, Jack Drury; last time, Nathan Walker x3) on top of it;

For the fricking 11th time out of 15 road games (Detroit has already played 30 times this season, 15 at Little Caesars Arena, and 15 away from LCA), the Red Wings’ play dropped considerably on individual and collective bases in terms of consistency, attention to detail, general confidence and especially fit and finish, dropping Detroit to 4-10-and-1 away from the Pizzarena (where Detroit has 10 of its 14 wins);

And for the fourth time this month (the Wings are 0-and-3 on the road, and gave up a stinker to Nashville back on the 7th at LCA), the officiating was spurious, affording the opponent chances that the Red Wings did not have. The gullibility of the linesmen on faceoffs and icings alone (Detroit won 40% of the sixty faceoffs dropped on Thursday) was infuriating; the lack of “fit and finish” on the officials’ part when it came to cross-checks, hooks, holds, hacks and whacks…

It was sure a “road game” in that sense of the term, too.

But the Red Wings can only blame themselves for the 5-3 loss, and attempt to move forward as they play three more times (1 of which is on the road) before Christmas, and 6 more times (3 on the road, in total) before the end of 2021.

The relentless condensed Olympic Year schedule isn’t going to let up, regardless of whether players actually go to the Olympics, and the Wings need to take as many lessons as they can out of their games, focus on reassessing and implementing their lessons during the learning sessions that are practices, and then they’ve gotta “move on to the next one.”

For the Hurricanes, who did indeed skate with 16 skaters due to salary-cap related reasons, and without six of their regular players, including Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, due to COVID protocols, Thursday’s game will be one to remember, as they told NHL.com’s Kurt Dusterberg:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes wrap-up: Wings drop a frustrating game to the shorthanded Canes

Of prospect-related note in North America on Thursday night:

In the QMJHL, the Jan Bednar-less Acadie-Bathurst Titan lost 3-2 to Halifax. Bednar is with the Czech World Junior team;

And in the OHL, Pasquale Zito did not play in the Windsor Spitfires’ 4-3 overtime victory over the Soo Greyhounds. I don’t know why Zito was absent for Windsor.

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap Fredrik Andersen’s 10-0-and-1 streak against them as they faced the shorthanded Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday evening.

Stupid Carolina won 5-3 thanks to a combination of grit and determination by a 16-skater-strong Canes lineup, a pair of goals by Nino Niederreiter, a tremendous defensive effort in holding Detroit to 4 third period shots on Fredrik Andersen, who was superb…

And the Red Wings made a flurry of defensive mistakes, Nedeljkovic gave up a couple of stinkers, the Wings could not win any faceoffs, and Detroit just didn’t have the energy or grit with which to keep up with the Carolina Hurricanes’ home-ice advantage, literally and in terms of officiating, which was spurious.

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes quick take: Sloppy Wings struggle vs. undermanned Canes

Okay, at least one more time:

I know that it’s a rough time of year to be fundraising. Christmas pressures, familial obligations, inflation, it all sucks right now.

But I’m trying with some honest desperation to help AA pay off the property taxes and to replace my broken, 6-year-old cell phone with something more useful (and not breaking into two pieces with the screen peeling off the phone).

I’m also trying really hard to keep my shit together as we round the corner toward a holiday season where I’m not going to be able to see my family again because Delta is surging so dramatically in Michigan, and I care for an immune-compromised aunt.

That’s where we’re at. So here are the “deets”:

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.

The Carolina Hurricanes took to the ice in Raleigh around 10:30 this morning, and while they’re decimated by COVID protocols and will dress 10 forwards and 6 defensemen, they’re starting Fredrik Andersen, who is 10-0-and-1 vs. Detroit, opposite the Red Wings this evening (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports South/97.1 FM).

We didn’t receive much in the way of roster news from the Wings’ morning skate (not even a mention as to where/whether Kyle Criscuolo, Taro Hirose or Joe Veleno will play tonight with Michael Rasmussen and Robby Fabbri in COVID protocols)…

So Blashill’s pre-game presser would reveal a little more about the Wings’ situation.

In the interim, the Canes posted their projected lineup…

Gonna need everybody #LetsGoCanes

Projected Lines » https://t.co/mEaik8EtNA pic.twitter.com/o1n9WQ6sT8— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) December 16, 2021

And the Wings just posted Blashill via video:

Blashill says he will determine who’s in the lineup after the Wings’ determine who’s cleared to go testing-wise.