Month: September 2023

A bit more about Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s visit to Big Rapids

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde stopped in Big Rapids, Michigan on the way home to thank his Alma Mater, Ferris State University, by helping announce the team’s 2023-2024 season hockey captains. The Big Rapids Pioneer’s Brendan Sanders spoke with Lalonde about the significance of his visit:

Lalonde was an assistant coach for the Ferris state Bulldogs from 2002 to 2006, helping the team win the CCHA conference for the first time in 2003.

“I really cherished my time here. I learned two things; One, I learned how to treat people right. I saw how to really care about someone and what it’s about,” Lalonde said to the team. “Second thing I learned here is I learned how to win here. This is literally the first winning I’ve ever done.”

Lalonde then announced captains as Brenden MacLaren, Jason Brancheau, Stepan Pokorny and Nick Hale. Senior Brenden MacLaren will wear the captain’s patch for the second year in a row. Stepan Pokorny had previously met Lalonde during the recruiting process before Ferris.

“It was in my recruiting process; he was telling me about the program trying to tell me what this program was about, and he was a big part of why I came here.” Pokorny said.

Continued

HSJ in the morning: How the Wings will help lighten Ville Husso’s workload

The Free Press’s Helene St. James’ morning-posted article discusses Ville Husso’s workload and status as the Red Wings’ de-facto #1 goaltender going into tonight’s exhibition game vs. Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit Extra):

“We think highly of Ville,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “When I talked about him being a No. 1, we’re going to give him a No. 1 workload. In an ideal world, we’d love to give him anywhere between 56 to 58 starts. But, we’ll keep evaluating that as the season goes on.”

The Wings start an eight-game exhibition slate tonight when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lalonde said that, “our first priority is giving NHL goalies looks to be ready, then there’s opportunity for development and growth.” It’s a bit tricky the second week of preseason, when the Wings play three straight games, but Husso should be able to get into around four games, and at least play one full one. [James] Reimer will also get multiple starts (teams often switch goalies halfway through exhibition games), as will [Alex] Lyon.

“We want both to get some good opportunities and looks in the exhibition,” Lalonde said. “James’ body of work is a lot more extensive, but full trust on Alex. A good job from our management team of just adding depth at every position.”

Last season the Wings “overused” Husso, to use Lalonde’s term, because both Nedeljkovic and the other backup they tried, Magnus Hellberg, struggled to provide consistently strong goaltending. The hope is that Reimer and Lyon mean the Wings won’t be in that position again, allowing them to be smart about how they use Husso — no back-to-backs, and making sure he gets breaks both physically and mentally.

Continued

Link: Red Wings head shots are up on Getty Images

Red Wings photographer Dave Reginek actually takes the team’s head shots for the year in a the “game room” inside Centre ICE Arena, with a lovely little gray background set up where some of the video games have been moved to give a clear line of sight.

Everybody takes their turn, from every single prospect who takes part in the prospect tournament to the team’s superstars, and there’s usually one jersey–the kind of jersey that a large person could wear–that everybody tries on for their photograph.

The head shots are up on Getty Images tonight. More will pop up as the team returns to Little Caesars Arena, and there’s more time for people to get nagged, coerced or otherwise forced to take part in the affair (see: the coaching staff hasn’t gotten their head shots yet).

Dave does a great job given that he’s got a captive audience that generally doesn’t want to “smile for mom” or look sharp for the camera. They just want to get the photo over with.

Allen: It’s time for Lucas Raymond’s top-line audition to begin

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond’s audition for a spot on the top line with Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin begins tomorrow night vs. Pittsburgh, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes:

“He does look stronger,” Lalonde said.  “He’s taken a step physically. Credit to him. Now it’s just translating it into his play.”

The Red Wings believe Raymond could be more productive offensively if he can play grit.

“He physically looks bigger, thicker, he’s put some weight on,” Lalonde said. “But we don’t need him putting weight on for weight, we just need him to be stronger. I think just naturally it’s happening. Those puck battles, staying on his feet, winning a few more of those battles, keeping plays alive. He’s a guy that can produce offense, can make plays. Him being a little stronger and winning a few more of those battles.”

Lalonde said he may use the entire preseason to experiment with lines.

“Just the way the exhibition games play out,” Lalonde said. “We play three in four and three games in a row, day off and then the last game of the year. We’d probably like to have our group by that last exhibition game and probably a few extra guys hanging around then and make a decision off that game. That’s probably the target.”

Continued; coach Lalonde says that he “isn’t married” to any of the lineup combinations, but regardless of whether Raymond plays with DeBrincat and Larkin, or it’s David Perron, it should work well for the Wings.

Coach Lalonde takes a detour to Big Rapids, helps name Ferris State’s hockey captains

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde didn’t go straight home to Detroit from Traverse City on Monday afternoon. Instead, he headed down M-22 to Big Rapids so that he could announce the captain and assistant captains for the Ferris State University Bulldogs. Fox 17’s Remi Monaghan reports:

Lalonde was an assistant coach of the Bulldogs from 2002-2006 where he helped lead them to a CCHA league championship in his first year. FSU coach Bob Daniels called him last week and asked if he would stop in Big Rapids for the announcement on his way back from training camp in Traverse City.

“It’s a huge honor for me. This program means a lot to me. It was one of my first coaching jobs. I was really green and raw, I grew up tremendously. It couldn’t have come together any better. We had our last practice this morning in Traverse City and then drove straight here on the way home. It works perfectly,” said Lalonde.

This years team captain is Brendan MacLaren. His assistant captains are Nick Hale, Stephan Pokorny and Jason Brancheau. Three of the four of them are from the state of Michigan.

“Yeah it’s awesome. Not many teams in the country can have an NHL head coach come announce team captains. It means a lot to us and it’s very special,” said MacLaren.

I can’t embed the video, but you can watch the YouTube video here.

Update: Ferris State Athletics posted a 5:12 clip of Lalonde’s appearance:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4VUcs5LQzSY%3Fsi%3DpPl0J2J0EhN8jaUF

Jesse and J.T. Compher, pro hockey-playing duo

The Hockey News’s Ian Kennedy lists J.T. and Jesse Compher as one of the better brother-sister hockey duos today:

Jesse and J.T. Compher

Jesse Compher was selected in the fifth round, 26th overall, by Toronto’s franchise in the 2023 PWHL draft. When she steps on the ice in 2024, she’ll only be a few hours down the highway from her older brother J.T. Compher, who is signed to play with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. Once that happens, the duo could become the first brother-sister pair to play in the NHL and PWHL in the same season. 

Jesse Compher has represented Team USA multiple times, winning World Championship gold, and recently completed her final NCAA season by winning a national championship with Wisconsin. Her brother won his first Stanley Cup in 2022 as a member of the Colorado Avalanche and is entering his first season with the Red Wings after scoring 17 goals and 52 points in 82 games last season.

Continued; only five days ago, NHLPA.com’s Chris Lomon posted an article about Jesse Compher’s drafting by the PHWA’s Toronto franchise. It’s a good read!

Walleye trade Cole Fraser’s rights for the rights to defenseman Matt Anderson

The Toledo Walleye have made a “rights” trade, sending former Red Wings draft pick Cole Fraser’s rights to the South Carolina Stingrays for defenseman Matt Anderson, a 24-year-old, 6,’ 194-pound defenseman:

Per the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

Anderson played five seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He had 28 points (3 G, 25 A) in 181 college games.

A native of Shakopee, Minn., Anderson helped lead Minnesota-Duluth to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2018 and 2019.

The 6-foot and 194-pound defenseman also played in 17 games over two seasons for first-year Walleye coach Pat Mikesch when they were both with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL.

“He’s an extremely versatile and strong skating d-man,” Mikesch said. “He plays both right and left d sides.”

Anderson turned pro at the end of the 2021-22 season and appeared in five games for the Stingrays. As a rookie last season, Anderson played in five playoff games for South Carolina under former Walleye player Brenden Kotyk.

Tweet of note: Penguins release lineup for Tuesday’s exhibition game vs. Red Wings, and it’s a spare one

The Detroit Red Wings know their enemy, or at least they will know which players the Pittsburgh Penguins are using for tomorrow night’s home exhibition opener (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit Extra), per Sports Illustrated’s Nick Horvat:

It’s not exactly Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang and Tristan Jarry as the starting lineup, is it?

Record-Eagle: Wings continue to improve over course of training camp

The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Jordan Puente filed a final report from Red Wings training camp this evening:

On the ice, Lalonde saw his players continue to improve since the sold-out Red and White game on Sunday.

“In our Red and White game yesterday, you could see more organization in our structure. I know it’s a small thing, but the guys looked like they were on the same page,” Lalonde said. “It’s still a huge work in progress with a lot of mistakes to clean up.”

Many players entered Monday without a clear decision on whether they made the team or not, but Lalonde is using the eight preseason games to give players plenty of opportunities to make a name for themselves.

“Everyone is going to get plenty of game time, some more than others, obviously there is a purpose for that,” he said. “Gives them a chance to find their identity and how they can fit into the bigger picture.”

Continued