Month: August 2023

Press release: Red Wings announce 2023-2024 promotional schedule

Per the Red Wings comes a bit of free advertising:

RED WINGS ANNOUNCE PROMOTIONAL CALENDAR AND FAN GIVEAWAYS FOR 2023-24 SEASON

  • Fan-favorite Theme Nights return, including Opening Night, Thanksgiving Eve and New Year’s Eve home games, Star Wars Night, Kids Day, Tigers Night and much more
  • ·Sweden Night and Mike Vernon Hockey Hall of Fame Night to be celebrated at Little Caesars Arena
  • ·Bobblehead Nights feature Alex DeBrincat, Tomas Holmstrom, Brendan Shanahan and Jake Walman
  • New this season, Hockeytown Heritage Nights will celebrate historic eras of Red Wings hockey, with special Stick Case giveaways featuring legendary players    

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced the promotional calendar and exciting fan giveaway items for the highly-anticipated 2023-24 season. With single-game tickets and 10-game plans currently available, Red Wings fans are encouraged to visit DetroitRedWings.com/tickets to secure their seats now.

The Red Wings will host 18 weekend home games. Marquee matchups include Opening Night (Oct. 14 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning), the debut of Sweden Night (Nov. 9 vs. Montreal Canadiens), Thanksgiving Eve (Nov. 22 vs. New Jersey Devils), Kids Day (Nov. 26 vs. Minnesota Wild), New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31 vs. Boston Bruins), Fan Appreciation Night (April 15 vs. Montreal Canadiens) and much more.

Continue reading Press release: Red Wings announce 2023-2024 promotional schedule

HSJ in the morning: On Jeff Petry’s homecoming

The Free Press’s Helene St. James adds her voice to the chorus of media members who have covered Jeff Petry’s introductory press conference, offering an early morning-published article which discusses Petry’s wish come true in being traded to his hometown team:

“To hear that news that you’re coming home and coming to play for the team you watched growing up, to be able to put on this jersey, that means a lot,” Petry said. “Detroit was the No. 1 spot on my list. I want to play here, and I’ve wanted to my whole life. I like what I see when I look at that roster and the steps that this team has made over the last couple years. It’s a very special moment.”

Dan Petry was busy in his role as studio analyst for the Tigers when the news broke, so the first father-son conversation was fairly short.

“I wanted him to be one of the first to know,” Petry said. “I haven’t spoken to him too much. We’ll find time to catch up now that things have settled in.”

It’s funny how things work out: Both of Petry’s parents are Californians who became Michigan transplants thanks to Dan’s baseball career; he played 11 seasons for the Tigers, wrapping up his career in 1991. The Petrys moved from Grosse Pointe to Farmington Hills when Jeff was around five.

“My dad retired here and it was, ‘What can be put our two boys in that is going to keep them busy year-round?’ ” Petry said. “It was baseball always in the summer. My dad knew nothing about hockey, but he knew it was big in Michigan, and that was his reason behind putting us in hockey.”

The 35-year-old Petry was 9 when the Wings won the Cup in 1997. He described his childhood bedroom as “Red Wings everything.”

“Hockey was always something I enjoyed more than baseball,” Petry continued. “It took me a while to finally tell my dad that. But I knew in high school that hockey was going to be the sport that I wanted to pursue. My dad was thrilled that I had chosen what I wanted to do and wanted to make my own path.”

St. James continues…

Summarizing the press corps’ takes on Jeff Petry’s introductory press conference today at LCA

Okay, Red Wings defenseman Jeff Petry introduced himself to the media today…

And the media did come to Little Caesars Arena in abundance today, with various scribes and TV folks weighing in. Here is a summary thereof, in no particular order:

A. DetroitRedWings.com: Here’s Jonathan Mills’ take on Petry’s “homecoming“:

Continue reading Summarizing the press corps’ takes on Jeff Petry’s introductory press conference today at LCA

Tweets of note: The Lalondes visit Lions training camp

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde and his sons visited Detroit Lions training camp today:

Tweet of note: Gustav Lindstrom says farewell

Per, erm, “X”:

Getting to know the person

Sean Shapiro offered a very different take on Jeff Petry’s introductory press conference on his Substack today–a human interest one:

Wednesday was the first chance for me to get to know Petry as a dad, and being the dad of a soon-to-be kindergartner myself, better appreciate some of the difficult limbo Jeff and Julie Petry dealt with as parents of four young kids since the Aug. 9 trade between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens.

While Canadiens GM Kent Hughes was open with Petry about a trade, and he asked for the defenders list of priority destinations, the Petry family had know idea where’d they’d be to start the school year.

If you have school-aged kids, you know it’s already a hectic time. Now imagine the possibility of moving at the equivalent of a dart throw on the map (Dallas for example, reportedly kicked tires on a deal for Petry). Thoughts start to dance in your head to about the possibility of dad moving and the family staying behind, at least for a little bit, something the Petry family dealt with in 2021 in Montreal — it isn’t fun.

“It was stressful,” Petry said. “This process of kind of when it started in Pittsburgh, to ending yesterday, is probably about three weeks. So it’s been a long three weeks … all situations went through our minds, so it was a big relief getting call to know I was gonna be here, and it makes everything a lot easier.”

Continued (paywall)

Toledo Walleye re-sign defenseman Riley McCourt

Per the Toledo Walleye:

Here’s the press release…

(Toledo, OH) – The Toledo Walleye and defenseman Riley McCourt have agreed to terms for the 2023-2024 season.

McCourt, a native of St. Catherine’s, Ontario, joined the Walleye in December last season and turned in a nice finish to the season with 26 points (6G, 20A) in 40 games. He finished his first Walleye year with a plus-22. His work netted him an AHL call-up, appearing in three games for Colorado in the AHL (1G).

McCourt appeared in 53 games with 33 points (12G, 21A) and 54 penalty minutes in the 2021-2022 season with Newfoundland. He made his pro debut in the 2020-2021 season playing in eight games for Toronto in the AHL (1A) and also another 13 games with Wichita of the ECHL (2A).

Before joining the pro ranks, the 5’11”, 173-pound defenseman had a monster year in 2019-2020 with Flint of the OHL, posting 62 points (18G, 44A) in 63 games for the Firebirds. Over four total years in the OHL, McCourt collected 117 points (30G, 87A) in 175 games between playing for Flint and Hamilton.

Tweets of note from Jeff Petry’s introductory presser

Of Jeff Petry-related note from DetroitRedWings.com’s Carley Johnston: