Month: September 2023

Per Bally Sports Detroit…

Shep and C-Mo are joined in the booth by new @DetroitRedWings forward @Brinksy97, who threw today's ceremonial 1st pitch and is on the verge of starting his 1st season in Hockeytown!#RepDetroit I #LGRW pic.twitter.com/5619K8GlnP

— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) September 10, 2023

And the Red Wings:

.@Brinksy97, an athlete. pic.twitter.com/xVYdBrYftj

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 10, 2023

Thanks for having him out, @tigers! pic.twitter.com/Pbky7f0lgT

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 10, 2023

Update: There’s a YouTube video, too:

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. As you’ve already seen and read here, Red Wings prospect and Skelleftea AIK defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka is an intriguing prospect, but he’s rough around the edges. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discussed the fact that Wings fans can watch ASP closely thanks to a certain ice hockey .gif maker…

Thanks in no small part to IcehockeyGifs-provided video, Detroit fans have been able to enjoy watching Simon Edvinsson, Elmer  Soderblom, Marco Kasper and William Wallinder grow up in the SHL.

That tradition will continue this season with defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka playing for Skelleftea. His gifted puck-moving style will undoubtedly lend itself to some entertaining video highlights.

Sandin Pellikka contributed a goal and an assist to help Skelleftea down Tappara in a Champions Hockey League matchup. He played 16:53, giving him an average of 17:30 minutes per game in his three CHL contests. The SHL launches Sept. 14.

“He’ll have a good season in Skelleftea,” said Dan Cleary, the Red Wings’ Director of Player Development. “The SHL is a strong league.”

2. And Bleacher Report’s Lyle Richardson issued “Bold Trade Predictions” this morning, discussing the probable cost of any possible Mark Scheifele-to-Detroit scenario:

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a morning-published article which discusses the Red Wings’ potential forward line combinations:

The new additions plus the returning established vets add up to a main group of 13 forwards for Derek Lalonde and his coaching staff to distribute across four lines. After playing together for most of Raymond’s career, since his debut in 2021-22, Larkin and Raymond played on separate lines down the stretch this past spring. Given DeBrincat’s history as a scorer — he has two 40-goal seasons — it makes sense to put him on the top line with Larkin. In that event, Kostin could be an option to play the other wing; at 6 feet 2 and 216 pounds, Kostin would add a heavy presence on the line, and playing with two skilled linemates would give Klim the opportunity to build on the career-year (11 goals, 21 points) he is coming off.

The second line projects to be centered either by Copp or Compher, with Raymond and Perron on the wings. Potentially, if Compher pulls duty in that group, the third line could be Copp with Fabbri and Rasmussen. Copp and Rasmussen really jelled in an admittedly short time last season that ended when Rasmussen suffered a leg injury Feb 25. Rasmussen was enjoying a strong season (with a career-high 29 points in 56 games) and thrived after being moved from playing center on the third line to playing wing with Copp. Fabbri, limited by injuries to 28 games last season, played on the third line (with occasional appearances on the second line).

Continued

Former Red Wings forward and current Moscow Dynamo assistant coach Slava Kozlov gave an incredibly long interview to Sport-Express’s Arthur Khairullin, and Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discovered it.

According to Duff, Kozlov has doubts as to whether the Russian Five would have had the same kind of impact today that they did during the mid-90’s:

In the mid-1990s, the NHL was in the midst of the so-called Dead Puck Era. The neutral zone trap was in vogue. Larionov liked to call it “destroy hockey.”

“Probably, at that time we played hockey that others did not yet understand,” Kozlov said of the Russian Five.

Today’s NHL is all about skill. Fast pace and creativity are priorities. It’s a skater’s game.

In fact, it’s just about everything that the members of the Russian Five were making the emphasis of their style of game. That’s why Kozlov isn’t so sure the unit could dominate today as it did back then.

“I don’t know how it would be now, but back then it was a new thing that worked,” Kozlov said.

Duff continues; I disagree with Kozlov to some extent, because the Russian Five’s members were just so damn talented that they’d still stand out today.

Via The Score’s Josh Gold-Smith, the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reveals another detail regarding Alex DeBrincat’s departure from the Ottawa Senators that’s sure to start fires among the fan bases of the Senators and Wings:

As the Senators gathered for exit interviews with the media in mid-April, it wasn’t hard to figure out there was no chance high-scoring winger Alex DeBrincat had any desire to stay in Ottawa.

He sounded like someone who had one foot out the door and couldn’t wait to test free agency. Yes, the Senators knew the risk involved when they paid a high price to get him from the Chicago Blackhawks before the 2022 NHL draft, but they were hoping to convince him to stay.

DeBrincat made it impossible for the Senators to bring him back and even more difficult to trade him to anywhere but the Detroit Red Wings.

Sources say he didn’t like his role as a second-line winger behind captain Brady Tkachuk. If that’s the case then DeBrincat really did have to go.

Dorion sent DeBrincat to his hometown Wings July 9 and he immediately signed a four-year deal worth $7.85 million (all figures U.S.) per season.

Continued; I’m not about to paint a picture of Alex DeBrincat as a content player in Ottawa, but this notion among Sens fans that DeBrincat was nothing less than a malcontent for not getting his own way, or that Tim Stuetzle somehow “told him off” by wishing him “good luck on your way“…

It’s all a bit much.

I’m not about to bag on Garrioch for reporting that DeBrincat wasn’t thrilled to be the Sens’ second-line winger–Garrioch is just reporting what he’s learned, in an article reviewing the Senators’ offseason changes, so he’s not stirring s*** up to stir s*** up here–but the hot war that’s developed between the Sens and Red Wings’ fan bases since Detroit’s devastating back-to-back losses last February…

That’s great and all for generating a rivalry, but the trash talk is a waste of time in my book.

I’m not going to tell you “how to fan,” but I don’t see the purpose in getting into fights with an opposing team’s fan base about the parameters of a trade that’s already happened, and is probably mutually beneficial for all parties involved.

Aunt Annie and I are trying to take a “rest day” today, except for doing laundry, as tomorrow and Monday are probably going to be quite busy days.

We need to start packing, I need to go grocery shopping, and on Monday, I need to both pick up the rental car and continue packing for Tuesday’s departure…

But not before I have one final discussion with a neutral third party as to whether going on this trip makes any sense at all.

My therapist got into a minor car accident on Friday, and her cousin died today, so I’ve not been able to speak with her regarding a particularly weighty issue on my mind.

And, really, neither Aunt Annie nor I haven’t really been able to rest today.

We’ve been fidgeting and worrying all day long, wondering aloud whether we could or should try to take some of the money we’ve raised to put a down payment on a new and/or used and/or leased car, given that the 17-year-old Pacifica isn’t safe for anything but errand-running in the city (which we found out on Friday afternoon)…

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an article in which he discusses four Red Wings in supporting roles who “might be more important than we think.” Among them:

Wing/Center Robby Fabbri: Fabbri has never had a 20-goal NHL season. That’s because he’s never come close to playing a full slate of NHL games.  Due to injuries, Fabbri has played 64.1% of his available games in his seven-season career. Robby Fabbri has endured three reconstructions and another less severe knee surgery at the end of last season.

His 82-game average in his career is 20 goals, and 42 points per season. As the Red Wings look for more offense this season, that level of production from Fabbri could be useful.

Can he have one season when he stays healthy? If he does, Fabbri could end up being very valuable. He’s a feisty competitor.

Continued, with discussions as to the potential of additions James Reimer, Justin Holl and Christian Fischer.

Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider uses AYCANE athletic performance wear, and the company had former Swiss league player Thomas Ruefenacht engage in a two-part Q and A session.

Here’s the first 8-minute video…

And a second 5-minute video:

Of prospect-related note:

In the Champions Hockey League, Axel Sandin Pellikka scored the 5-2 goal and had an assist on the 2-0 goal in Skelleftea AIK’s 5-3 win over Tappara. Skelleftea has won 3 of its 4 CHL games thus far.

Sandin Pellikka had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 in 16:53 played for Skelleftea.

You can watch highlights of the game here:

And in the VHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov had two assists in SKA Neva St. Petersburg’s 4-2 loss to AKM.

Hockey News Hub on Twitter/X posted highlight clips:

OH MAMA WHAT A GOAL ‼️😮
🚨 Kirill Tankov #LetsGoPens
🍎 Dmitri Buchelnikov #LGRW
1-0 SKA Neva #VHL pic.twitter.com/970o4Ebgxd

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) September 9, 2023

WHAT A NIFTY LITTLE FEED 🤌
🚨 Semyon Demidov
🍎 Dmitri Buchelnikov (0+2) #LGRW #BuchSZN
2-0 SKA Neva #VHL pic.twitter.com/2Ra57ng8qR

— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) September 9, 2023

The VHL is incredibly slow in terms of updating their game sheets, so I’ll post Buchelnikov’s game stats as soon as they’re posted here.

Update: Buchelnikov finished with 2 assists and a +1, taking 1 shot in 15:16 of ice time.

Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon discusses the contracts which he deems to be the “worst contracts” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and he’s not a fan of the Ben Chiarot deal in Detroit:

Ben Chiarot has a particular set of skills and he’s generally pretty good at them.

He’s a defensive defenseman to whom points are an afterthought. He’s a great depth defender and specialized matchup guy.

The problem for Detroit is he’s paid like a guy who has to do more than that and now he’s got more competition for ice time. Chiarot has the highest cap hit among Red Wings defensemen at $4.75 million a year for the next three years.

With how poorly things have gone for Chiarot in Detroit, there’s a chance he could be fighting for ice time this season, never mind the two years after that.

Detroit added Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl and Jeff Petry this summer in free agency and via trade. Mix in Moritz Seider, a healthy Jake Walman, Olli Määttä, and rookie Simon Edvinsson and it’s a real crowded house on the Motor City blue line.

If Detroit winds up out of the playoff picture once again, expect this will be a major point of discussion as to why.

Continued; I’d be very happy if the Red Wings were using Chiarot as a 2nd or 3rd pair, physical defender instead of a 1st pair puck-carrier.

When playing with a defensive partner who understands that Chiarot doesn’t stick to his side of the ice when he’s pursuing a check or another opportunity to hit or impede an opponent, he’s effective. He’s not effective as the partner for a puck-moving defenseman, because “losing his side” of the ice forces that puck-carrier to clean up some egregious defensive mistakes at times.