Month: December 2021

The Detroit Red Wings dressed a game-ready lineup, absent one Nick Leddy, as Adam Erne, Jordan Oesterle and Lucas Raymond cleared COVID protocols and joined the team for Thursday’s practice at Little Caesars Arena’s Belfor Training Center.

The Red Wings will host the 19-6-and-7 Washington Capitals on Friday, barring unforeseen circumstances, and Washington beat Nashville 5-3 on Wednesday night, which was their first game after the NHL’s pause. The Caps are holding an optional practice in Washington today.

The Red Wings haven’t played since December 18th, when they beat the New Jersey Devils. Since then, four games have been postponed, and they’ll have to be made up during the Olympic Break or at the end of the 21-22 regular season.

Friday’s game will usher in a busy schedule: Detroit plays every other day from Friday until January 8th, with a matinee home game vs. the Bruins on Sunday and a home game vs. Nashville on Tuesday preceding a 3-game West Coast swing and a 5-games-in-8-nights stretch in the middle of the month. Overall, Detroit will play 16 times over the next 32 days.

After Thursday’s practice, the Red Wings met with the media corps via Zoom, and here are some Tweets from said media availabilities:

#RedWings Blashill said Leddy (COVID protocol) only player not available for tomorrow’s game against Washington.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 30, 2021

That’s all we got.

Update: Also:

Moritz Seider said he went to Dylan Larkin’s house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 30, 2021

Bummer for the kids who will have to spend 10 days in the hotels in Edmonton and Red Deer, mostly in a different country, to isolate. Get well, guys:

Another 5 positive test results from yesterdays testing at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Had the decision not been made to cancel the tournament, there would have been more forfeited games today and moving forward.— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 30, 2021

Update:

A footnote to this, in addition to five positive player tests involving five teams (CAN, SWE, SVK, SWE, GER) one staff member and one on-ice official also tested positive overnight from yesterday morning’s tests. https://t.co/6scQRpRN2E— Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 30, 2021

The final tally is that the IIHF conducted more than 8,500 tests with 34 positives, a positivity rate of .004. Which, I think, is 25 to 30 times lower than the general public. But when 1 positive on a game day can shut down a whole team/cancel a game, well, any is too many. ?‍♂️— Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) December 30, 2021

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The American Hockey League on Thursday announced that the Grand Rapids Griffins’ away game scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 2 against the Chicago Wolves has been postponed due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the Wolves. A make-up date has not yet been determined.

Grand Rapids will return to action tomorrow, Dec. 31 for its 24th Annual New Year’s Eve Celebration at 6 p.m. against the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena. Come and enjoy West Michigan’s Largest Indoor Fireworks Show immediately following the contest.

The Red Wings are currently practicing at Little Caesars Arena ahead of tomorrow’s game vs. the Washington Capitals:

🙂 https://t.co/eGsBbZq4kF pic.twitter.com/uyOFd7wQyC— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 30, 2021

#RedWings practice before tomorrow’s game vs. Capitals at ⁦@LCArena_Detroit⁩, which would be their first in 13 days.
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Namestnikov
Erne-Rasmussen-Zadina
Smith/Rowney/Veleno-Gagner
DeKeyser-Seider
Oesterle-Hronek
Staal-Lindstrom
Renouf pic.twitter.com/IvEwn1Sg8z— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 30, 2021

As the Free Press’s Helene St. James and The Athletic’s Max Bultman have noted, Nick Leddy remains in COVID protocols.

Update:

Barber also practicing, rotating in on Suter’s line. Leddy expected to return from COVID protocol soon.— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 30, 2021

Red Wings lines today with rotations in parentheses:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Namestnikov
Erne-Rasmussen-Zadina (Barber)
Smith-Rowney-Gagner (Veleno)
DeKeyser-Seider
Oesterle-Hronek (Renouf)
Staal-Lindstrom— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 30, 2021

Update #2:

#RedWings power play units in practice:
1. Bertuzzi (net front), Fabbri (bumper), Larkin-Raymond (flanks), Seider (point).
2. Gagner (net front), Suter (bumper), Namestnikov-Zadina (flanks), Hronek (point). pic.twitter.com/KRRrRebv3g— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 30, 2021

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills examines the Red Wings’ events of importance over the course of the 2021 calendar year this morning:

January 13 – Dylan Larkin named 37th captain in franchise history

One day before the 2020-21 season kicked off, Red Wings center Dylan Larkin was named team captain, becoming the first Michigander and native metro Detroiter to wear the ‘C’ for the club. A native of Waterford, Mich., Larkin had served as an alternate captain for the Red Wings since 2018-19. He became the franchise’s first captain since Henrik Zetterberg, who retired on Sept. 14, 2018.

…

October 24 – Lucas Raymond’s first career hat trick leads Detroit past Chicago

Detroit recorded its first road win of the 2021-22 season and Raymond celebrated his first career hat trick as the Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3, at the United Center. Raymond became the first Detroit skater age 19 or younger to score a hat trick since Yzerman did it on April 30, 1985.

Continued

FYI:

UPDATE: Lucas Raymond, Adam Erne and Jordan Oesterle have been removed from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 30, 2021

Believe this leaves only Nick Leddy in protocol https://t.co/gF2txW3lVf— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 30, 2021

FYI:

JUST ADDED: Former @DetroitRedWings defenseman Jiří Fischer will play in the #Winterfest2021 Alumni Game TONIGHT. ?

?️: https://t.co/AOu31vz1gL pic.twitter.com/7H1SIxdx4b— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) December 30, 2021

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted a “dump all the notes out of the notebook” article this morning–my favorite kind of article–and in said article, he offers this note regarding Red Wings prospect and TPS Turku defenseman Eemil Viro:

D Eemil Viro (Detroit Red Wings): I asked TPS head coach Jussi Ahokas about Viro on a recent phone call, and his answer was great. Apparently, the Red Wings check in often with Ahokas’ defence coach Sami Salo for updates on Viro (like more than is typical from an NHL club). Here’s Ahokas:

“Woah. Well first of all as a person, he’s a great guy. He’s a positive, talkative kid who is all-around a great person who works hard. As a person, I’ve got nothing bad to say about him. And then on top of that as a hockey player, he’s a really good skater, he’s good defensively, he can hit well, he gets pucks back and gets free, and he’s just an excellent all-around D. His skating has been the biggest thing, though. That’s what has allowed him to progress up levels early. He can play gaps well. He’s a smart 19-year-old kid, that’s for sure. I think the biggest thing he still has to improve is how he can carry the puck. That’s the big thing he has to work on.”

Also of note from WHeeler:

D Donovan Sebrango (Detroit Red Wings): Played physical, step-up style from his first shift of the tournament against Czechia. Nice to see him involving himself off the line and in transition offensively, too, because he’s a better player on that side of the puck than his production in the AHL has indicated to date. Struggled when under pressure with the puck in the defensive zone, forcing some plays. A couple of excellent stretch passes.

…

D Simon Edvinsson (Detroit Red Wings): Looked the part of one of the top prospects in the tournament and nice to see the points continuing to fall. Quickly becoming more than just a transition guy and that much-needed finishing element inside the offensive zone (as a shooter and play-ending passer) is finally beginning to blossom.

Continued with many, many more notes (paywall)…

Friday’s game between the Red Wings and Washington Capitals (7:30 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/NBCS Washington/97.1 FM) is over 24 hours away, but the Associated Press has already posted a bare-bones game preview of tomorrow night’s affair:

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals visit Detroit after Dylan Larkin scored three goals in the Red Wings’ 5-2 win against the Devils.

The Red Wings are 9-7-2 in conference matchups. Detroit ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference recording 7.7 points per game, averaging 2.8 goals and 4.9 assists.

The Capitals are 12-4-3 in Eastern Conference play. Washington leads the Eastern Conference with five shorthanded goals, led by Evgeny Kuznetsov with two.

In their last meeting on Nov. 11, Washington won 2-0.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings with a plus-12 in 23 games this season. Moritz Seider has seven assists over the last 10 games for Detroit.

Nick Jensen leads the Capitals with a plus-20 in 31 games this season. Alex Ovechkin has three goals and eight assists over the last 10 games for Washington.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 6-4-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.8 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game with a .903 save percentage.

Capitals: 5-3-2, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game with a .903 save percentage.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James had some very good conversations with coach Jeff Blashill and forward Sam Gagner regarding the ways in which the Red Wings can improve their defensive games during yesterday’s media availabilities.

Today, the result of said conversations comes in the form of a subscriber-only article in which St. James discusses the comments that Blashill and Gagner made regarding eliminating “hope” plays and establishing a work ethic where it’s okay when nothing happens on a shift–to the good!

“One of the things we talk about is eliminating hope plays,” Blashill said. “If you are in pressure, you either eat it, you lay it up the wall, but you don’t ‘hope’ it to spots.”

It’s what former captain Henrik Zetterberg used to preach: Sometimes nothing may happen for 59 minutes, but to try to force a play won’t help. 

“It’s a maturity process for sure,” Blashill said. “When you have players that can make plays you want to make a difference in the game and so you’re trying to make plays, and you just have to know when to make a play and when to live another day. What factors into that? How much time you have, how much pressure you’re under. Where you are on the ice — there are certain areas that turnovers crush you. What’s the score in the game? What line are you playing against?

“This is the thing that most players need to learn as they come into the NHL: How to produce offense efficiently. It doesn’t probably get talked about enough, but it’s critical. That’s why great young forwards, it takes time for them to learn to lead a team to winning a Stanley Cup. If you look across the league, almost every team that wins has seasoned players because of that, because it a takes a process to learn how to create offense efficiently, meaning you create a bunch of chances for without giving up a whole bunch.”

Continued (paywall)