Month: December 2021

Prospect Round-up Europe: Larsson wins, Grewe returns in Allsvenskan

Of Red Wings prospect-related note this afternoon:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson stopped 17 of 20 shots in HV71 Jonkoping’s 4-3 overtime win over MoDo;

And Albin Grewe returned to Mora IK’s lineup after battling a concussion for a couple of weeks, finishing even with 2 shots and a penalty taken during Mora’s 3-0 win over Tingsryds IF.

Avs’ pregame videos include Darren Helm discussing reunion with Wings

The Detroit Red Wings will see a familiar face in the opposition lineup in one Darren Helm as his Colorado Avalanche host Detroit this evening (9 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/Altitude/97.1 FM), and the Avs’ website posted a set of video clips this afternoon, of which the following might be the most interesting:

If you want to watch JT Compher or coach Jared Bednar speak with the media, enjoy:

Continue reading Avs’ pregame videos include Darren Helm discussing reunion with Wings

Press release: Red Wings reassign Witkowski to Grand Rapids

From the Red Wings:

DETROIT ASSIGNS WITKOWSKI TO GRAND RAPIDS  

… Michigan Native Previously Logged 65 Games with Detroit from 2017-19 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today assigned defenseman Luke Witkowski to the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Witkowski, 31, has skated in 17 games with the Griffins this season, picking up one point and 43 penalty minutes. The Holland, Mich., native is in his second stint with the Red Wings after previously spending two seasons with the Red Wings from 2017-19 and picking up six points (1-5-6) and 86 penalty minutes in 65 games. Witkowski rejoined the organization in the offseason after serving as captain of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch in 2020-21, posting two points (0-2-2), a plus-eight rating and 32 penalty minutes in 14 games before his season was cut short due to injury. In 2019-20, Witkowski appeared in 12 games with the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Tampa Bay Lightning, logging three points (1-2-3) and 13 penalty minutes while adding six points (2-4-6), a plus-12 rating and 63 penalty minutes in 29 games with the Crunch. Over nine professional seasons, Witkowski has notched 13 points (2-11-13) and 162 penalty minutes in 131 NHL games between Detroit and Tampa Bay and 48 points (9-39-48), a plus-31 rating and 662 penalty minutes in 278 AHL games with Syracuse and Grand Rapids

Originally drafted by the Lightning in the sixth round (160th overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Witkowski spent four seasons at Western Michigan University, where he won a CCHA championship in 2012 with Jeff Blashill as his head coach and was teammates with Red Wings defensemen Danny DeKeyser (2010-13) and Jordan Oesterle (2011-13). Witkowski was also a CCHA Second-Team All-Star as a senior in 2013 prior to signing his first professional contract and ended his collegiate career with 38 points (7-31-38), a plus-seven rating and 235 penalty minutes in 152 games from 2009-13. Witkowski also spent two seasons in the USHL from 2007-09, combining for 35 points (9-26-35), a plus-20 rating and 257 penalty minutes in 113 games between the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets and the Fargo Force, where he served as captain in 2008-09 and was a USHL All-Star.

Griffins sign three to professional try-outs ahead of back-to-back games vs. Manitoba

The Grand Rapids Griffins are spending this weekend in sunny Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the Griffins will play a back-to-back slate of games against the Manitoba Moose.

As forward Kyle Criscuolo and defensemen Luke Witkowski and Brian Lashoff have been recalled by Detroit, the Griffins signed winger Max Humitz to a pro try-out on Wednesday, and today, they signed center Josh Dickinson and defenseman Randy Gazzola from Toledo of the ECHL.

Meanwhile in Toledo, the Walleye signed scoring forward Mitchell Heard, who’s 29 and has posted point-per-game totals at the ECHL level, after things didn’t work out for Heard in the German League.

Red Wings-Avs morning skate Tweets: Wings face uphill battle vs. Avs, who will be without Kadri and Byram tonight

The Detroit Red Wings face a difficult opponent tonight in the Colorado Avalanche (9 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/Altitude/97.1 FM), and the Avs’ morning skate happens to be in flux this early afternoon, Detroit time…

As the Avs are without two key contributors…

So…

You can take from this what you will:

Wouldn’t it stink to play spoiler?

Anyway, after the Avs’ morning skate, coach Jared Bednar confirmed the lineup tweaks:

F Nazem Kadri is day-to-day and won’t play tonight.— Kate Shefte (@KateShefte) December 10, 2021

J.T. Compher’s missed 11 games. He’s officially good to go. pic.twitter.com/GnCRPNoR2L— Kate Shefte (@KateShefte) December 10, 2021

Kurtis “Big Mac” MacDermid in as a forward tonight, Jacob “Littler Mac” MacDonald in on D— Adrian Dater (@adater) December 10, 2021

Darcy Kuemper starts tonight— Adrian Dater (@adater) December 10, 2021

Update:

#Avs forward Darren Helm on what the city of Detroit means to him: “It’s home.”

He’ll play against the Red Wings for the first tonight.— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) December 10, 2021

NHL.com’s “On tap” feature focuses on tonight’s Wings-Avs game…

Continue reading Red Wings-Avs morning skate Tweets: Wings face uphill battle vs. Avs, who will be without Kadri and Byram tonight

The Athletic’s power rankings remind us that Raymond probably isn’t going to the Olympics

Bally Sports Detroit’s Ken Daniels informed us that the Red Wings have the hardest “strength of schedule” in terms of their opponents among NHL teams, and this morning, The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille are here to remind us that the Swedish Ice Hockey Association did not include Lucas Raymond on their 55-man master roster for the 2022 Olympics:

20. Detroit Red Wings

Record: 13-11-3
Last Week: 19
Dom rank: 20
Sean rank: 19

Dom: Lucas Raymond had two assists in a 6-2 loss against the Blues, a nice reminder of how great he’s been in his rookie season and a sad reminder that he will not be an Olympian for Sweden. The long lists? I don’t like them!

Sean: Oh readers, I wish you could’ve seen Dom’s face when I told him that all signs point to Raymond staying home during the tournament. In the Red Wings’ next seven games, they play the Avs twice, the Rangers, the Hurricanes and the Wild. We’ll know everything we need to know about them after that.

Continued; we’ll see what happens.

Tweet of note: Das stimmt

If you’re interested on a Friday morning Tweet from NHL.com/de, in which Roman Josi praises Moritz Seider:

“He’s very big, a good skater and he plays hard. He gives good passes and is strong on the power play. An unbelievable player for his age”–Roman Josi on Moritz Seider. https://t.co/xRBx9XGmu9— George Malik (@georgemalik) December 10, 2021

Red Wings-Avs mini preview: a stiff task ahead tonight in Denver

The Detroit Red Wings have a very stiff task ahead of them in facing the Colorado Avalanche tonight in Denver (9 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit Plus/Altitude/97.1 FM), playing their 3rd game in 4 nights tonight.

The 13-11-and-3 Red Wings are coming off a 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Detroit is 4-8-and-1 away from Little Caesars Arena thus far this season; our friends from Colorado sit at 14-7-and-2 over the course of only 23 games played to Detroit’s 27 games played, and the Avs are on a two-game winning streak, having most recently taken a 7-3 decision from the New York Rangers on Wednesday evening.

Field Level Media posted a game preview which has quite a bit of bluster about the old days of the Wings-Avs rivalry before getting down to brass tacks regarding both teams’ present-day rosters:

Continue reading Red Wings-Avs mini preview: a stiff task ahead tonight in Denver