Month: July 2023

Monroe: Pat Mikesch to be named Toledo Walleye’s head coach on Thursday

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

The Toledo Walleye have selected Pat Mikesch to be the organization’s next coach, The Blade has learned.

Mikesch (pronounced mick-ish) was head coach of the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League for eight seasons.

Mikesch, 50, had been with the Gamblers organization since 2011-12. Mikesch was an assistant coach under former Walleye coach Derek Lalonde in Green Bay for three seasons. Lalonde was hired to coach the Walleye in 2014 and is currently the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.

A source confirmed the hiring earlier this week. Wednesday, an announcement was prematurely posted to the Walleye website before being taken down. Some did see it and posted the news online.

A native of Hancock, Mich., Mikesch, is expected to be introduced as the fourth coach in franchise history at a news conference Friday morning.

Two other coaching candidates made the Walleye’s final round of interviews: Jared Nightingale (former Walleye captain and lead assistant for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs) and former ECHL and AHL coach Chuck Weber, according to a source with knowledge of the process.

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Oskar Sundqvist returns to St. Louis

Via TSN:

The St. Louis Blues signed unrestricted free agent forward Oskar Sundqvist to a one-year, $775,000 deal, the team announced on Wednesday.

Sundqvist, 29, finished last season with the Minnesota Wild after he was traded by the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a draft pick at the trade deadline.

The 6-foot-3 centre recorded 10 goals and 28 points in 67 games split between the Red Wings and Wild last season. He added a goal in his only playoff appearance with the Wild before they were eliminated in six games by the Dallas Stars.

Sundqvist will be making his second stint with the Blues after spending parts of five seasons with the club between 2018-22, recording 35 goals and 83 points in 242 games.

Drafted 81st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2012 draft, Sundqvist has 50 goals and 123 points in 355 career games split between the Penguins, Blues, Red Wings, and Wild.

Thomas Greiss retires

Per NHL.com:

Thomas Greiss announced his retirement from the NHL on Wednesday after 14 seasons.

The 37-year-old goalie, who was an unrestricted free agent, told NHL.com/de senior independent correspondent Stefan Herget that his playing career is over.

Greiss was 7-10-0 with a 3.64 goals-against average, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 21 games (16 starts) for the St. Louis Blues last season.

“There have been some considerations (about playing), but the bottom line is, I looked at a few offers that didn’t really appeal to me,” Greiss said. “As a result, I was ready to make the move and am looking forward to doing some new things in my life. Our job comes with a lot of freedom, but now I can tackle some new challenges.”

Selected by the San Jose Sharks in the third round (No. 94) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Greiss was 162-130-37 with a 2.77 GAA, .911 save percentage and 16 shutouts in 368 regular-season games (323 starts) for the Blues, Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Phoenix Coyotes and Sharks, and 7-8 with a 2.43 GAA, .922 save percentage and one shutout in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games (14 starts).

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Tweet of note: Kasper, Lombardi, Danielson and Draper battle the N64

Kids.

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins release 2023-2024 regular season schedule

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Wednesday announced their schedule for the 2023-24 American Hockey League season. It will mark the franchise’s 28th campaign overall, its 23rd as a member of the AHL, and the 22nd as the primary affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the Griffins will begin a 72-game schedule when they host the Colorado Eagles at Van Andel Arena on Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. for Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank. This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Griffins and the Eagles. For the second straight season, all AHL teams will play the same number of games, with standings order determined by total points.

Continue reading Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins release 2023-2024 regular season schedule

Quick quip from DHN’s Allen: ‘Relatively healthy’

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered the following comment from Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman in the DHN “Daily“:

Given the excitement level over the Alex DeBrincat acquisition, it’s important to remember that center JT Compher’s success level will be just as important as DeBrincat’s. For the Red Wings to compete for the playoffs, Compher needs have a strong season.

“He’s a very good athlete,” General manager Steve Yzerman. “He’s 28 years old, has remained relatively healthy. Been in the league a long time. After 5-6 years in the league nobody is perfectly healthy. At five-year term, I’m comfortable with that. He’s a good skater, he’s remained relatively healthy.”

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Tweet of note: Ken Kal, Daniella Bruce to host ‘Inside Hockeytown’ tonight on 97.1 the Ticket

FYI:

ESPN gives the Red Wings’ offseason an ‘A-‘ grade

ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton posted a set of offseason grades for the NHL’s 32 teams over the course of a lengthy an ESPN+ article, and here’s what they have to say about the Red Wings’ offseason moves:

Detroit Red Wings

Key players added: F Alex DeBrincat, F J.T. Compher, F Klim Kostin, D Shayne Gostisbehere, D Justin Holl, G James Reimer
Key players lost: F Alex Chiasson, D Robert Hagg, G Alex Nedeljkovic
Remaining cap space: $8,162,777

Coach status: Derek Lalonde didn’t burst onto the scene in Detroit last season with the same vigor (or success) that, say, Jim Montgomery did in Boston. Lalonde is a first-time NHL head coach who went through growing pains of his own, along with a Red Wings team that struggled to find an identity and stick with it. Many of the problems Detroit exhibited under former coach Jeff Blashill came back to bite Lalonde’s group down the stretch of the 2022-23 season. But Lalonde was GM Steve Yzerman’s pick to take over, and he’ll have a chance to prove why with an improved Detroit team this season.

Overall grade: A-. Detroit added to every position in free agency. And its pièce de résistance was trading for — and ultimately extending — DeBrincat. Detroit made its move nine days into July and signed DeBrincat to a four-year, $31.5 million deal that truly cements how much better and deeper Detroit is now (on paper, at least) than it was in April. That’s not all DeBrincat, either. Compher brings a Stanley Cup-winning background and some sandpaper to a possible top-six-forward role. Gostisbehere and Holl give Lalonde more potential looks and ability to juggle on the blue line. And Reimer is a veteran backup who can support Ville Husso.

That’s all good. Where Detroit has so often fallen short in recent years is its lack of top-end scorers and a full-team buy-in on the defensive side of the puck. Yzerman reeled in a big catch with DeBrincat, who is poised to bounce back into the type of awe-inspiring player he was with Chicago. Now Yzerman just has to hope that defensive commitment from the group at large will materialize too.

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DHN’s Robinson profiles Trey Augustine

Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson profiles Red Wings 2023 draft pick Trey Augustine this morning. The South Lyon, MI goaltender was picked 41st overall in this year’s NHL Draft, and he was impressed by LCA when he attended the Red Wings’ annual Summer Development Camp:

“The facilities are great. I’ve never had this in-depth of a look before,” he said. “It’s like a whole dream to just play in the NHL and obviously play for your hometown team. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

The Red Wings were happy to have the opportunity to draft him with their first pick of the second round of last month’s 2023 NHL Draft.

“Phil Osaer, who runs our goaltending department, we had a lot of conversation about the goalies in this year’s draft,” Red Wings assistant general manager Kris Draper said. “Phil kept coming back to Trey and we were able to see him. We saw the last game that he played, he won it and it was for the gold medal (at the world U18s).”

Augustine impressed the Red Wings with his ability and poise in the gold-medal game’s final seconds.

“We loved the poise, we loved the control,” Draper said. “He’s got a great path going to Michigan State. It’s a pick that we were excited to get.”

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