Month: December 2021

The Associated Press has already posted a bare-bones preview of tomorrow night’s Red Wings-Predators game, which takes place at 7 PM EST Tuesday, and airs on ESPN+/Hulu/97.1 FM exclusively:

Nashville Predators (13-10-1, third in the Central) vs. Detroit Red Wings (13-9-3, fourth in the Atlantic)

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BOTTOM LINE: Nashville visits the Detroit Red Wings after the Predators knocked off Montreal 4-3 in overtime [Saturday night].

The Red Wings are 9-2-2 on their home ice. Detroit averages 8.2 penalty minutes per game, the 10th-most in the Eastern Conference. Filip Hronek leads the team serving 24 total minutes.

The Predators are 5-5-1 on the road. Nashville is 10th in the Western Conference averaging 4.9 assists per game, led by Mikael Granlund with 0.9.

The match-up Tuesday is the first meeting this season for the two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Moritz Seider leads the Red Wings with 14 assists and has 17 points this season. Dylan Larkin has six goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Detroit.

Granlund leads the Predators with 26 points, scoring five goals and adding 21 assists. Filip Forsberg has seven goals and two assists over the last 10 games for Nashville.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 6-3-1, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.6 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .912 save percentage.

Predators: 5-5-0, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.7 assists, 4.9 penalties and 13.8 penalty minutes while allowing 2.7 goals per game with a .908 save percentage.

As much as the rookie show in Detroit belongs to Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale offers a good reminder that, when it comes to the 2019 draft class, Seider is among a very deep class of rookie and sophomore performers, including Trevor Zegras, Bo Byram, Spencer Knight and Vasily Podkolzin.

Morreale’s “Rookie Watch” for the 2019 draft class also offers coach Jeff Blashill’s take on Seider’s room for improvement:

Moritz Seider, F, Detroit Red Wings: The No. 6 pick leads rookie defensemen with 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 25 games, six power-play points (all assists) and average ice time (22:32). The 20-year-old leads rookies from his draft class in hits (35) and blocked shots (43) and is first among rookie defensemen with eight takeaways. 

Seider scored his second overtime goal of the season in a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday, becoming the fifth rookie defenseman in NHL history to score multiple overtime goals in one season (Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers, four, 2015-16; Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks, two, 2005-06; P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens, two, 2010-11; Cam Fowler, Anaheim Ducks, two, 2010-11).

“He’s got tons of physical abilities, he’s a big guy, he can skate, he’s athletic, he’s got (a) good skill set from a hockey standpoint,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “Now our job is to help him continue to (grow) from a really good talent to a great player ultimately. That’s what we’d love him to be here.

“I think without improving, Moritz could be a good player in this league. But that’s not what anybody wants, him or us. So we just want to make sure that we’re continuing to push him, even as he has early success.”

Continued; Raymond and Seider may be dominant, but sometimes we forget that they’re not alone among the elites of the NHL’s youngest would-be stars.

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in North America on Sunday:

In the ECHL, Seth Barton finished at -1 with 1 shot and Kaden Fulcher was the back-up in the Toledo Walleye’s 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Cyclones;

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar stopped 26 of 28 shots in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 11-2 win over Cape Breton;

Cross Hanas had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 7-1 win over Everett;

And in the BCHL, Kienan Draper scored the shootout-winning goal, earning second-star honors in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 3-2 shootout win over Cowichan.

From SKA St. Petersburg’s Gillian Kemmerer comes a well-wish for Alex Delvecchio, who turned 90 yesterday, as shown on the jumbotron at Little Caesars Arena last night. This one comes from none other than former Red Wing and current CSKA Moscow coach Sergei Fedorov:

Happy birthday #LGRW Alex Delvecchio — from Russia, with love.

(? @hccska)pic.twitter.com/nsZ7kdtO91— Gillian Kemmerer (@gilliankemmerer) December 5, 2021

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

G Kaden Fulcher has been assigned from Grand Rapids back to the @ToledoWalleye G Victor Brattstrom, who made 18 saves to win last night, was recalled to Grand Rapids.
Walleye rallied for 4-3 overtime win over Wheeling:https://t.co/subx94KKn6 via @toledosports— Mark Monroe (@MonroeBlade) December 5, 2021

The Red Wings posted a 45-second preview of tomorrow’s episode of “The Winged Wheel,” which will focus on the Red Wings’ rookies…

And episode 5 will air here at 10 AM EST on Monday morning:

The Red Wings re-posted an updated version of an NHL.com article by Nicholas J. Cotsonika which discusses the Red Wings’ trio of strong rookie performers in Alex Nedeljkovic, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider:

The Detroit Red Wings have the best rookie forward in the NHL right now. And the best rookie defenseman. And the best rookie goalie.

For a team that has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs the past five seasons, nothing brings more excitement in the short term and hope for the long term than the play of Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Alex Nedeljkovic.

The three have helped the Red Wings (13-9-3) win five straight after a 4-3 overtime victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday. 

“Obviously,” coach Jeff Blashill said, “there’s been a real infusion of talent with those three players.”

Raymond, the No. 4 pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, leads NHL rookies and the Red Wings with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 25 games. The 19-year-old forward was NHL Rookie of the Month for November, when he led rookies with 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 14 games.

Seider, the No. 6 pick of the 2019 NHL Draft, leads NHL rookie defenseman with 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) in 25 games after scoring in overtime agaimnst the Islanders. The 20-year-old was NHL Rookie of the Month for October, when he led rookies with eight assists and an average ice time of 22:28 in nine games.

The Red Wings are the first team to have different players named Rookie of the Month in consecutive months since center Auston Matthews (December 2016) and forward Mitchell Marner (January 2017) did so with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Continued

The word of the day in off-day notebook land is “swagger.” MLive’s Ansar Khan wrote about it, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff talked about the Wings’ belief in each other, which generates “swagger,” and this afternoon, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted an article which discusses the Red Wings’ self-confidence as embodied by one Moritz Seider:

“He’s a realty talented player,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Poise, swagger, those things are important on any kind of player that aspires to be an elite player. You have to have swagger and he’s got it. I also think part of the reason he has a belief in himself is he’s got a really good skill-set. He’s been a big piece of the infusion of the talent here and that’s been a big reason we’ve been able to find ways to win games.”

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“It’s easy to gain confidence if you know your teammates got your back,” Seider said. “Not just one game, every single game. That gives you a little bit more edge against the opponent to try a move or go the extra mile.”

And that word “swagger.” It doesn’t just fit Seider. It’s beginning to describe this entire Wings’ roster, as the points pile up in the standings.

“We have that swagger now and that confidence in our abilities to stick together and win those (close) games somehow,” Seider said.

Some numbers are beginning to stand out. The Wings are 13-9-3. As of Sunday they sat in the No. 1 wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 9-2-2 at Little Caesars Arena, a rink that is becoming a formidable home ice advantage. The Wings are 9-0-2 when leading after two periods, and 6-3 in overtime.

“Our guys understand that we have to keep getting better and they’re not satisfied that our game isn’t nearly perfect,” Blashill said. “We need to keep striving for that perfection. But with that said, I do think you can work and can compete yourself past mistakes. We have done that. That’s part of grinding out wins. Part of it is staying with it, part of it is guys stepping up to big moments and we’ve had all those things.”

Continued; if you missed it, the Wings Tweeted out the record that Seider set:

Fun fact of the day! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/IqP8sZXCcP

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 5, 2021

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses the level of belief in the Red Wings’ locker room this season:

“For the first time in a while here we’ve really bought into playing for each other and doing everything to close games out,” [Dylan] Larkin said.

There are numbers that back up Larkin’s thesis. The Red Wings are 7-1-3 in one-goal games. They’re 6-3 in overtime and 1-0 in the shootout. Detroit is 9-0-2 when leading after two periods and 8-2-2 when scoring first.

“I think we have that swagger now and that confidence in our abilities to stick together and win those games somehow,” rookie defenseman Moritz Seider said.

To a man, the Red Wings insist that so-called swagger is originating from inside a dressing room when players are truly caring for and about each other. There is a strong sense within the group that they are all in this together. That’s always a difficult quality to develop inside a room that’s been immersed in a losing culture for many seasons.

“It’s easy to gain confidence if you know your teammates got your back,” Seider said. “Not just one game. Every single game. That gives you a little bit more edge against the opponent to try a move or go the extra mile.”

Continued

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed an early-morning article regarding the Red Wings’ 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders last night, with Khan splitting his time between discussing Moritz Seider’s fine play over the Wings’ first 25 games, and Givani Smith’s blossoming of late into a more complete player:

“First of all, I think nobody wants to go to overtime,” Seider said. “We always want to win after 60 minutes, but it’s obviously nice having a little bit more time and a little bit more space. You’re playing against the opponent’s best players. It’s always a treat being out there.”

The rookie defenseman has three goals and 17 points. He also scored in OT in a 4-3 win at Buffalo on Nov. 6.

“He’s a realty talented player, so his skill-set it suited for it,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Poise, swagger, those things are important on any kind of player that aspires to be an elite player. You got to have swagger and he’s got it. I also think part of the reason he has a belief in himself is he’s got a really good skill-set. He’s been a big piece of the infusion of the talent here and that’s been a big reason we’ve been able to find ways to win games.”

Seider blasted in a one-timer on a pass from Pius Suter.

“I think with Moritz, one of the things we would have said he needed to get better at the past couple of years would be his one-timer,” Blashill said. “He shoots a pretty good wrist shot, but we felt the one-timer is something that definitely needs to get better. And he’s worked at it. That’s what the really good players do, they work and get rewarded. He’s got a good swagger to him, too, a way of rising to the moment. He certainly rose to the moment.”

Khan continues; here are extended game highlights from AWood40: