Month: December 2021

Prospect Round-up: Draper 1+1 in BCHL, Cotton posts 9 shots in WHL

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Wednesday:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Albin Grewe remains sidelined with a concussion, so he missed Mora IK’s 3-2 loss to Almtuna IS;

Filip Larsson was the back-up in HV71’s 2-0 win over Troja-Ljungby;

In the WHL, Alex Cotton finished at -2 with a rather astonishing 9 shots (as a defenseman) in the Vancouver Giants’ 2-0 loss to Victoria;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper scored a goal and added an assist in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 8-3 win over Langley;

And in NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange finished at -1 with 1 shot in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 2-2 tie with Providence.

Kulfan’s notebook: Wings’ roster still in flux as team navigates COVID outbreak

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses the Red Wings’ defensive structure, the new COVID guidelines adopted by the NHL, and the state of the Red Wings’ roster at present:

Gagner and forward Joe Veleno came off the protocol list Wednesday, and several more are likely to become eligible to play Thursday, which means forward Lucas Raymond and defense Nick Leddy would be the two regulars unlikely to be ready to play Friday against Washington.

In all, the Wings appear to be getting healthier and escaping the worst of the situation.

“You cross your fingers knowing just the way this has gone, you think you’re out of the woods and someone tests positive,” Blashill said. “But it seems to have, in the last couple of days, subsided a little bit. You don’t know, it’s almost an hour by hour kind of approach. You have to be ready to adjust as needed and confront the obstacles.”

…

The Wings reversed course from planning a full scale practice Wednesday to an optional skate, what with players still coming off the protocol list and different players at various stages of conditioning.

“We’re in a real weird spot where there are guys who haven’t skated at all, and certain guys who’ve skated (three straight days),” said Blashill, adding there are practices and games scheduled through Monday. “It’s more about looking forward than just today.”

Continued

World Juniors cancelled

Awful news from Sportsnet:

The International Ice Hockey Federation has cancelled the remainder of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship because of rising cases of COVID-19, according to multiple reports.

Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters was first to report the cancellation.

The tournament, being held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., has seen a recent increase in infections that have led to game forfeitures caused by positive test results on the Russia, Czechia and United States teams.

After the Czechia-Finland game was forfeited, the IIHF announced that referees and linesmen would have to wear masks during games until further notice.

The cancellation comes on the heels of the IIHF’s decision late last week to cancel all events that started in January, including the women’s under-18 world championship, a decision that was heavily criticized.

The U18 championship was scheduled to take place Jan. 8-15 in Linkoping and Mjolby, Sweden. It’s the second straight year the tournament has been cancelled after the 2021 event, also scheduled for Linkoping and Mjolby, was scrapped due to the pandemic.

The IIHF said the tournaments were cancelled because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Update: Here it is:

Official Announcement: The 2022 #WorldJuniors have been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Full statement at https://t.co/TNNT2FHecn pic.twitter.com/xnPs9nDWli— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 29, 2021

Press release: NHL, NHLPA modify COVID protocols

Per the NHLPA:

NHL AND NHLPA AGREE TO MODIFY COVID PROTOCOL

NEW YORK/TORONTO (Dec. 29, 2021) – The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) announced today a modification to their COVID-19 Protocol. The modification will reduce the isolation period after a positive test from 10 days to five days for fully vaccinated Players who meet the required conditions. It also applies to fully vaccinated Hockey Operations staff, including coaches. The change was made in response to the new isolation guidelines for COVID-positive individuals issued on Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the changes apply on a League-wide basis, all personnel will still have to comply with the applicable health and safety regulations in their jurisdictions, including the Federal and Provincial COVID health and safety mandates in Canada, which may be more restrictive than the Protocol.

Specifics of the changes to the Protocol after a positive test include:

·        Isolate for five days;

·        If the individual has a fever, continue to isolate until their fever resolves;

·        If the individual has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving after five days, they can leave isolation and return to practices and games, provided the following conditions are met:

o   A lab-based PCR test that is negative, or a lab-based PCR test that has a CT value >30, or two negative molecular point of care tests collected >2 hours apart; and,

o   Medical clearance from the individual’s Club physician; and,

o   Such exit is permitted by their local health authority.

o   The individual shall continue to always wear a mask around others for five additional days, other than for practices and games.

All other aspects of the Protocol remain in place.

The NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts will re-evaluate these measures on or before Jan. 12.

Red Wings reassign Witkowski, Brattstrom to Grand Rapids

Per the Red Wings on Twitter:

Khan’s notebook: Wings attempt to regain ‘game shape’

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a notebook article regarding the comments made by coach Jeff Blashill and forward Sam Gagner after today’s optional practice at Little Caesars Arena, noting that the Wings’ near-two-week layoff will require some readjusting to game situations:

“When you’ve been off an awful long time, your defensive habits aren’t as good,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “It’s just like when you don’t practice much your defensive habits aren’t as good. So now you got a whole league whose defensive habits aren’t quite there. That’s why I believe at the beginning of every year scores are higher than they are at the end of the year.

“When you’re off for a long period of time, things can be chaotic. You just lose your structure, you lose your habits, but your offensive hands can still produce.”

Gagner said attention to detail can be off after a lengthy layoff.

“You’re focused on your conditioning level and getting back and getting your timing and sometimes those little intricacies of the game take a little bit of time to get back,” he said. “We’re going to have an opportunity to practice a couple of times as a (nearly full) team and do some special teams and team play, and hopefully we come out for our first game ready to go.”

Barring any further postponements, the Red Wings’ next three games will be at home, where they are 11-3-2, significantly better than their road record (4-10-1).

Continued

Monroe: Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson will coach in the ECHL All-Star Game

Good news from the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

Toledo Walleye coach Dan Watson has been selected as one of the coaches in the 2022 ECHL All-Star Classic.

This is the third time that Watson will be coaching in an ECHL All-Star game after being behind the bench for the 2017 and 2019 events.

Watson will coach alongside Newfoundland coach Eric Wellwood at the event on Jan. 22 in Jacksonville, Fla.

“I am really looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to coach a tremendous roster of players and to work with another great coach in Eric Wellwood of Newfoundland,” Watson said. “A lot of the credit for this goes to the [Walleye] players and staff for what we have accomplished so far this year.”

Continued