Month: December 2021

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article discussing Robby Fabbri’s contract extension and Tyler Bertuzzi’s return from COVID protocols on Monday, but he also noted an important storyline regarding one Vladislav Namestnikov:

Blashill switched forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Filip Zadina, putting Namestnikov with Pius Suter and Robby Fabbri, while Zadina skated with Michael Rasmussen and Adam Erne.

For Namestnikov, it’s essentially a promotion to more of an offensive line, given Namestnikov’s performance lately.

“A well earned promotion,” said Blashill, noting Namestnkov also was placed on the power play last week. “I would say he’s played as good as any forward in our group the last little bit. He’s skating well, he’s producing enough offense and he’s played real good hockey. So to me, it’s a well earned promotion.”

Zadina could get more time playing with the puck, while playing with two big, grinding forwards.

“I don’t know that either one of those lines is going to get a whole bunch different ice time,” Blashill said. “I don’t necessarily see it as a demotion for Z. Z has worked hard, and potentially playing with Ras and Erne, it gets him even more puck touches because they’re hard on the puck, hard forecheckers and if he gets more puck touches, does he then produce more offense? Z is working hard and as he works hard, he’ll work through and grow and that’s all we ask of him.”

Continued

It’s the pre-Christmas crunch for the Red Wings, with 5 games to be played over the course of 10 nights, and Monday was a busy day from a news cycle point of view, with Robby Fabbri’s surprise contract extension being announced at 9 PM…

But I had to step away from the computer and pull the covers over my head instead. I’ve been dealing with both a bad cold/flu bug for a couple of weeks, and my anxiety and depression have been flaring up.

Monday was a particularly bad day from the depression standpoint, and I’m still in a lot of discomfort this evening. There’s not too much that my medications can do to help and even the aunt couldn’t seem to break down the walls that I’ve put up, so…

I’ll see what the evening holds, and hopefully be good to go for the morning skate on Tuesday.

This sucks, and I hate talking about it more than I hate having to deal with it, but people tell me that it helps them to be reminded that people with mental illnesses are human beings that have public lives, so…I’m letting you know how things are. They ain’t great.

The Red Wings announced a contract extension with Robby Fabbri tonight:

RED WINGS SIGN ROBBY FABBRI TO THREE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION  

… Forward is Third in Red Wings Scoring Since Joining Organization …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed center Robby Fabbri to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4 million.

Fabbri, 25, is in his third season with the Red Wings and ranks among team leaders with eight goals (5th), six assists (T10th), 14 points (T7th), three power-play goals (T1st), 66 shots (2nd) and 16:59 average time on ice (4th among forwards). Fabbri joined the Red Wings on Nov. 6, 2019 when he was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues in exchange for center Jacob de la Rose. The seventh-year pro has totaled 63 points (32-31-63) and 46 penalty minutes in 110 games for Detroit, ranking third on the team in scoring since he was acquired behind only Dylan Larkin (86 points) and Filip Hronek (64 points), while tying for the team lead with nine power-play goals and racking up a team-best eight game-winning goals.  

Since making his NHL debut in 2015-16, Fabbri has skated in 274 NHL games between Detroit and St. Louis, logging 136 points (62-72-136) and 106 penalty minutes. He won a 2019 Stanley Cup championship with the Blues, working his way back from a pair of injuries that sidelined him for over a year, including the entire 2017-18 season, picking up six points (2-4-6) in 32 regular-season games and adding one goal in 10 postseason contests. Originally drafted by the Blues in the first round (21st overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Fabbri initially broke into the league as a 19-year-old with a career-best 37 points (18-19-37) in 72 games before racking up 15 points (4-11-15) in 20 playoff games for St. Louis.  

A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Fabbri played three seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm from 2012-15, where he was teammates at various points with fellow Red Wings forwards Tyler Bertuzzi, Givani Smith and Pius Suter, prior to turning professional. Fabbri racked up 171 points (80-91-171) in 147 games with the Storm, while adding 33 points (14-19-33) over 30 career OHL postseason games. His most productive OHL campaign came when he registered 87 points (45-42-87) in 58 games with Guelph in 2013-14. Fabbri captured the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the most-valuable player in the 2014 OHL playoffs after totaling 28 points (13-15-28) in 16 games to help Guelph capture an OHL championship. Fabbri also owns two gold medals representing Team Canada by way of the 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Now I’m more than a little biased in believing that the NHL media has wanted to name Trevor Zegras or Cole Caufield this season’s Calder Trophy winner as the rookie of the year long before the 2021-2022 season began, and The Score’s Todd Cordell’s balanced commentary accompanying Calder Trophy odds for this week does little to change my opinion regarding the situation:

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Lucas Raymond was one of my dark horses prior to the season. He has lived up to the hype and then some, piling up 10 goals and 14 assists through 28 games while skating on the top line for the surprisingly competent Detroit Red Wings. One of the most impressive things about Raymond has been his efficiency at five-on-five. He’s averaging more points per minute in that game state than the likes of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andrei Svechnikov, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, among many others.

It hasn’t taken long for Trevor Zegras to develop into a human highlight reel at the NHL level. The flashy Anaheim Ducks pivot has picked up 22 points over 28 games and has served as the primary play-driver and facilitator on one of the league’s more underrated lines with Rickard Rakell and Sonny Milano. He’ll be in the mix until the end.

Moritz Seider is going to be a franchise defenseman. You can argue he already is for the Red Wings. He’s on pace for 55 points this season and yet his play without the puck might be more impressive than his offensive ability. He has logged more than 22 minutes per night – often against top competition – and has shown the ability to slow down elite players with his fantastic positioning, stickwork, and anticipation. Seider is certainly carrying the heaviest workload in this rookie class, and it sure looks like he can handle it.

Continued; I just have this gut feeling that the NHL media types would rather see Zegras or Caufield, who played so very well in limited regular season and then playoff action to kick-start their hype trains, win the trophy.

Okay, the Associated Press posted Red Wings-Islanders preview ahead of tomorrow’s game between the 13-12-and-3 Red Wings and the 7-11-and-5 New York Islanders (7:30 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/MSG+/97.1 FM), and Field Level Media posted another Wings-Islanders preview this afternoon:

The New York Islanders are showing signs of life after an 11-game winless streak. They have won two of their last three heading into their road game against Detroit on Tuesday.

The Islanders ended the long drought with a 5-3 triumph in Ottawa on Tuesday. Following a one-goal loss to Nashville on Thursday, they defeated New Jersey 4-2 on Saturday. The most recent victory had historical significance — it was their first at new UBS Arena.

“I’ll give the fans the credit for the win,” head coach Barry Trotz said. “They stuck with us through the whole game. They stuck with us through the last six or seven games. I was sitting in the office here and you could hear the thunder of the fans in the locker room, in the coaches’ room, that’s fantastic. … We’re going to dig ourselves out of this and try to make some noise.”

Mathew Barzal contributed a pair of assists against the Devils, extending his personal point streak to six games. He has a goal and eight assists in that span. Barzal sees signs that the team is starting to believe in itself again.

“When you lose a couple late like we have recently at home, that confidence, that championship mentality that we had the last couple of years, it seemed like it wasn’t there for a little bit,” he said. “I really thought (Saturday) we got it back.”

Oliver Wahlstrom also had two assists, giving him six points over his last three games.

“He’s playing a straight-line game and he’s using people,” Trotz said of Wahlstrom. “He’s got his head up, his awareness is getting better. Right now, we’ve got some people who are good players, who aren’t playing. This is the back pressure that you have when you have an almost healthy or healthy lineup. Wahlstrom will have to continue producing and playing well, as will some other guys.”

Continued; the Wings beat the Islanders 3-2 in an overtime decision late last month.

I’m back at the fundraising business again, and I’m sorry, because I really hate doing this…

But I can’t work for free, and on a website with no commercial ads and no paywalls, the only way to ensure that I can raise funds is to ask for help.

This blog is definitely a non-profit–all the funds are going to pay off Aunt Annie’s property taxes and save for a cell phone before T-Mobile shuts off my ancient S7 in January–and yes, I know it’s asking for a lot to ask for help with non-hockey-related matters…

But I’m not looking to buy a Maserati here. I just need to pay the bills, and maybe have enough left over to pay for Christmas dinner as AA and I are too worried about the Delta surge (given her immune system or the lack thereof) to allow me to head out to the family Christmas party this Saturday. That will be two years sans a family celebration for me because Aunt Annie and I have to live like people with shitty immune systems (we are still masking)…

Anyway, things are gloomy around here, and I’m still battling my way through this stupid cold on top of everything, but yeah, I need to ask for help here. We’ll be doing a hockey trip or three as soon as I start feeling remotely human again.

So, I’ve tried to give you a two-week break, but it’s time again for the NPR of blogs.

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.

Thanks for your readership and your time.

The Detroit Red Wings practiced with Tyler Bertuzzi and Gustav Lindstrom in the fold on Monday at Little Caesars Arena, but Marc Staal remained sidelined due to COVID protocols.

The Wings open up a stretch of 4 games to be played over the course of 7 nights tomorrow vs. the New York Islanders, and 3 of those 4 games will be played at LCA.

After practice, Tyler Bertuzzi spoke with the media…

Red Wings F Tyler Bertuzzi says he is not changing his mind about getting vaccinated after bout with COVID-19.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) December 13, 2021

I’m tired of this storyline. We know he’s not going to get vaccinated. We know where he stands. This is not shocking news, even after contracting COVID. For whatever reason, he’s arrogant enough to stand behind his “life decision” despite the science showing that COVID vaccination reduces the risks of infection, hospitalization and death by 10-to-15-fold.

So f***ing what. Ask him something else. Yeah, this pisses me off, but the Wings and the NHL can’t make him get the vaccine, so that’s just the way it is. His choice, his potential and very real consequences, for both himself and his teammates.

Anyway, that was the only post-practice Tweet. Here are videos of Bertuzzi and coach Jeff Blashill speaking with the media:

Two good Red Wings-related articles are lurking behind paywalls on GP.se:

First, in the good news category, Niklas Kronwall apparently praises “113-kilogram Elmer Soderblom” for having “taken his chance” to establish himself as a regular player on Frolunda HC’s power play;

And in the “bummer news” category, GP.se is reporting why Liam Dower Nilsson and his brother, Noah, haven’t been playing J20 hockey of late: their mom, Bodil, recently died during her seventh bout with cancer. Here’s hoping that both young men receive the support they need…losing a mom to a catastrophic illness is a rough one.

The Red Wings took to the ice at 11 AM today at Little Caesars Arena, preparing for tomorrow night’s game against the resurgent New York Islanders:

#RedWings practice before facing Islanders tomorrow at ⁦@LCArena_Detroit⁩ Bertuzzi is out of COVID protocol and skating, Staal is not. Lindstrom (lower body injury) is practicing. pic.twitter.com/4QyoDOaRCV— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 13, 2021

Tyler Bertuzzi back at practice! pic.twitter.com/SKI6BSx2Z7— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 13, 2021

Gustav Lindstrom is also back at practice. pic.twitter.com/Hwiht9NVV1— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 13, 2021

#RedWings lines in practice:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Namestnikov-Suter-Fabbri
Erne-Rasmussen-Zadina
Smith/Veleno/Rowney-Gagner
DeKeyser-Seider
Leddy-Hronek
Oesterle-Lindstrom
Renouf pic.twitter.com/0oURS0tVWU— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 13, 2021

I might suggest that the Wings are missing Lindstrom and Staal pretty badly on the back end.

#RedWings power play units:
1. Bertuzzi (net front), Fabbri (bumper), Larkin-Raymond (flanks), Seider (point).
2. Suter (net front), Namestnikov (bumper), Hronek-Zadina (flanks), Leddy (point). pic.twitter.com/bYBoW4yvPn— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 13, 2021

CSKA Moscow posted a couple of “Happy Birthday” Tweets for their head coach, one Sergei Fedorov, who turns 52 today…

Сегодня, 13 декабря, день рождения главного тренера ЦСКА Сергея Викторовича Фёдорова.

Желаем крепкого здоровья, счастья, успеха, благополучия и новых больших побед с армейским клубом! pic.twitter.com/eXpVk7wKoD— ХК ЦСКА Москва (@hccska) December 13, 2021

Генеральный менеджер и легенда @DetroitRedWings Стив Айзерман поздравляет Сергея Фёдорова с Днём рождения. pic.twitter.com/eH2JuLaKti— ХК ЦСКА Москва (@hccska) December 13, 2021

As did the Red Wings:

HBD, Sergei! ? pic.twitter.com/Pjf0rucAZC— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 13, 2021

Fedorov was my first “favorite Wing,” really the player who got me into hockey, and my mom and dad happened to be married on the same day in 1969 that Sergei was born. Both my parents have passed away, but today is still a special day.