Month: August 2022

Tomorrow is September 1st, and, for Marco Kasper, Theodor Niederbach and William Wallinder‘s Rogle BK, as well as Liam Dower Nilsson‘s Frolunda HC, the 2022-2023 season will begin via games played in the Champions Hockey League.

The CHL is something of a promotional circuit, but the games count for bragging rights and bucks, and, as IIHF.com’s Derek O’Brien notes, the two teams which represent the “Red Wings East” will be playing tomorrow:

The first game to face off will be at 18:05 CET when Rogle Angelholm from Sweden visits Polish champion GKS Katowice to begin its title defence. Another notable opening-night fixture is four-time champion Frolunda Gothenburg from Sweden hosting Czech club Mountfield Hradec Kralove in a rematch of the 2019/20 final.

The 32 teams that have qualified for the competition this season come from 13 leagues and a record 14 countries. Leading the way are Sweden and Switzerland with five teams each, followed by Finland and Germany with four each, Czechia with three, Austria and Poland with two, and one each from Denmark, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Norway, Slovakia and Slovenia.

This is the first time that two teams will represent Poland, with Cracovia Krakow qualifying by winning the 2022 IIHF Continental Cup. Also for the first time, Hungary and Slovenia will be represented by Fehervar AV19 and Olimpija Ljubljana, who both play in the Austrian-based ICEHL.

O’Brien also summarizes the tournament’s format:

Continue reading Prospect season already? Rogle BK (Kasper, Niederbach, Wallinder), Frolunda HC (Dower Nilsson) to begin Champions Hockey League play on Thursday, September 1st

This summer marks 50 years since the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union, a series which changed the course of hockey.

This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings play-by-play announcer and former Team Canada member Mickey Redmond regarding his experiences in the Summit Series, all ahead of a new set of documentaries set to air on the CBC starting on September 14th:

The Soviets led 5-3 in Game 8 before Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer scored in the third period to tie it. Then, with 34 seconds remaining, Paul Henderson fired in his own rebound past Vladislav Tretiak. Canada prevailed 6-5 to win the series 4-3-1.

“It was pure jubilation,” Redmond said. “For them it had to be devastating that we were able to come back like that. Tretiak was supposed to be, at least by international standards, the best goaltender in the world, but I think we proved that to be different. That’s where our advantage came — screened shots and confusion in front of the net. European players never played like that, so (their goalies) could see everything. Part of our strategy was getting in front of this guy as much as you can because he’s not used to it and he’s going to have trouble. Obviously, his goals-against wasn’t very good in the series (3.88).”

Players sang ‘O Canada!’ on the flight home and returned to massive parades and a hero’s welcome.

“There was a lot of nationalism, patriotism,” Redmond said. “Going back, right or wrong, we were considered the supreme hockey players in the world, and basically, we were defending that mindset going against the Russians. If we had tied that series at eight points apiece it would have been considered a loss for us and a win for them. We had to win to continue that supremacy thought.”

Continued; it’s a hell of an interview, so give Khan’s article a thorough read.

I’m a little lost as to how this would work, but the Hockey News’s Mike Stephens has offered 4 potential trade destinations for one Patrick Kane, a 33-year-old winger with a $10.5 million cap hit, and he includes Kane’s hometown Buffalo Sabres, the already cap-strapped Toronto Maple Leafs, the Nazem Kadri-less Colorado Avalanche, and the…Red Wings?

Detroit Red Wings 
2022-23 Cap Space: $8,171,111

These Red Wings are no longer rebuilding. They’re going for it — ready to win with a vastly improved roster of promising young talents and established, productive veterans. 

Oh, and they also have the most valuable asset any team can have these days: Cap space.  Of all the clubs focused primarily on winning games next season, the Red Wings arguably have the most financial wiggle room, sitting with over $8 million in cap space to spend on any further upgrades of their choice. Kane would certainly fit that bill, requiring roughly $3 million to be moved out to make the money work. 

It’s right about now that Steve Yzerman might realize giving Ben Chiarot nearly $5 million per year probably wasn’t the best idea. But I digress! 

The Red Wings wouldn’t need to tire themselves out too much to fit Kane’s contract onto their books, perhaps by adding a sweetener to Adam Erne’s $2.1 million cap hit along with another guy making near league minimum — maybe, Jake Walman? —  in exchange for a late-round pick. 

The thought of Kane alongside Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond is a tantalizing vision for anyone — Red Wings management included. With a little elbow grease, they could turn it into reality.  

Continued; the thought of Patrick Kane playing in Detroit on the top line is indeed tantalizing.

But I think it’s pretty unrealistic, too. I’m just struggling to see how the Wings could manage to not have to surrender Simon Edvinsson or a first-round pick as a “sweetener” on the Red Wings’ side.

It’s a nice “thought experiment,” but I don’t see some sort of desperate need for the Red Wings to go out and grab Kane.

FYI, from the Toledo Walleye:

Hockey is coming.

🚨 Single game tickets (including Opening Night) go on sale this Friday, September 2 at 11 a.m. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/mcXkqvyxQl— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) August 30, 2022

Okay, it’s August 30th, and in two weeks, I’ll be packing up the Pacifica to head to Traverse City on September 14th. I’ve raised about $700 thus far, but that puts me about $3,000 short of a realistic goal in this economic climate.

Long story long, it’s fundraising season, and the stakes are high just over two weeks out. I don’t believe that I’ll be able to raise the full amount in two weeks–these days, it’s more likely that I’ll be able to raise what I need by the time the second half of the hotel bill comes due, but not earlier…

But I need to raise as much as possible to pay the first half of that $2K hotel bill and enough to fix the Pacifica’s headlight/tail light, go grocery shopping, do my dry cleaning, et. al.

So it’s time to ask for help. If you’re a TMR reader and find value in what you read, and you’re able to aid the cause, no matter how small your donation, it’s greatly appreciated. I understand that it’s particularly hard to send bucks someone else’s way right now, but this is a non-profit enterprise.

If you’re are willing to help, 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.

Daily Faceoff’s Mike McKenna posted a list of potential training camp battles between goaltenders playing in the Eastern Conference, and he includes the Red Wings’ Ville Husso and Alex Nedeljkovic in his mix:

DETROIT RED WINGS: Alex Nedeljkovic & Ville Husso: Two young NHL goaltenders gunning for the crease on an up-and-coming team like the Red Wings? Keep your eyes on Detroit because I think this will be a fun battle to keep track of.

Nedeljkovic is the incumbent and has one year remaining on his contract at $3 million. Husso is starting a three-year pact worth $4.75 million a year. So let’s not pretend that Husso isn’t going to get every chance to play the bulk of games.

I really like both netminders for different reasons. Nedeljkovic is an outstanding puckhandler while Husso plays with a ton of detail. Both have had successful runs in an NHL crease.

If everything goes as planned in training camp, Husso seems like the safe bet to grab the No. 1 role in Detroit. He won 25 games in 40 appearances for the St. Louis Blues last season.

But I expect the Red Wings to be better as a team than they were last year, and that should benefit Nedeljkovic. The 26 year old from Ohio is just one year removed from posting a .932 save percentage over 23 games for the Carolina Hurricanes.

I think Husso has the inside edge going into training camp. But the leash will be short. And Nedeljkovic will be hungry.

Continued; I really don’t know how things are going to play out, honestly…

The Champions Hockey League kicks off its proceedings on Thursday, September 1st, and Rogle BK (Marco Kasper, Theodor Niederbach, William Wallinder) and Frolunda HC (Liam Dower Nilsson) will play on the first day of competition, while TPS Turku (Antti Tuomisto) will play on Friday.

Rogle, last year’s champions, are hyped up in a video this morning…

As is TPS Turku, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season…

And you’re not going to get much out of it unless you speak Swedish, but there’s a new episode of “Green and White” out from Rogle BK, and Theodor Niederbach has a chat with the host, Joel Nordstrom, about getting ready for his Rogle debut when the team plays GKS Katowice on Thursday:

I was keeping this one to myself, but Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff is talking about it, so enjoy:

When Herman Liv walks the streets of his hometown of Jönköping, Sweden, he gets the same question.

Is he the son of Stefan Liv?

Like father. Like son.

It’s the same when he dons his goalie gear. Herman Liv is definitely the son of Stefan.

Once a top goaltending prospect in the Detroit Red Wings system. Stefan Liv was one of the players tragically killed when the plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL club crashed on September 7, 2011.

Herman was five at the time of his father’s death.

“I am happy when people say that we are the same,” Herman Liv, 15, told Magnus Nystrom of Swedish website Expressen.se. “And I’ve heard that many times.”

Continued; Nystrom’s article on Liv is really fun to read, if you’re willing to plug it into Google Translate and read the lengthy missive.

Herman’s just an upbeat young man who’s playing in Orebro’s system right now, and he was on the Swedish Under-18 team recently, so he seems to have a real future.

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye have made a late-summer signing to bolster their blueline:

The Toledo Walleye have signed defenseman Kurt Gosselin for the upcoming season. Gosselin, a native of Brighton, Mich., has played in 54 games in the ECHL over two seasons. He has produced 25 points with 11 goals and 14 assists.

The 27-year-old last played for the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2019-20. He finished with 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) in 47 games that season.

Gosselin made his pro debut at the end of the 2018-19 season when he had three assists in eight games for the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He also skated in seven games for the Cyclones and had seven points (5 G, 2 A).

“A couple of years away from the game, Kurt will look to get back into the form he was in previous to his break from hockey,” Walleye coach Dan Watson said. “He is reliable, has a good shot, and can think the game well.”

The 6-foot-1 and 201-pound defenseman played four years at the University of Alabama.

Continued; expect more signings as Monroe reports that the Walleye only have 11 players signed right now.

Well, we’ve got our first prospect tournament try-out named via the Cape Breton Post’s Jeremy Fraser, listing the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ notable training camp roster additions and omissions:

Czech Republic product Ivan Ivan remains on the roster as an overage player for the time being and will attend the Detroit Red Wings training camp next month. Zachary Gravel, Samuel Johnston and Romain Rodzinski are the other overage players.

So now we know that the Red Wings have invited 2022 Czech World Junior Championship participant in Ivan Ivan Ivan (his real name), a 20-year-old who’s 5’11” and 172 pounds, per EliteProspects.

Ivan only posted 1 point in 7 games for the Czechs at the World Juniors, but he’s coming off a 65-points-in-65-games season (31 goals and 34 assists) for Cape Breton this past year (with an ugly -52 on a struggling team). His father Marek was a long-time European pro at various levels of competition.

Anyway, Ivan has been passed over in the draft twice, but his name caught on among fans during the summertime World Juniors: you can read more about him at the Sporting News or USA Today’s For the Win blog, as well as this Tweet from TSN’s BarDown blog:

Do you remember Ivan Ivan?

Ivan is representing Czechia 🇨🇿 at the 2022 World Juniors and explains the reason behind his unique name!@narodnitym | @CBEHockey | #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/1bHf0TBIAQ

— Elite Prospects (@eliteprospects) August 9, 2022

I don’t mean to sound flippant, but this is the same case as last year’s most name-worthy try-out, T-Bone Codd, who’s still playing for the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL: his name is great and all, but it’s his play that will determine whether the Wings are intrigued by Ivan, who’s still eligible for the 2023 NHL draft.