Month: July 2024

Tweet of note: the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp scrimmage starts tomorrow at 8:30 AM, will be streamed

Early early:

THN’s Stockton examines a Wings learning model

Red Wings beat writer Sam Stockton got into the details of the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp’s learning model, as evidenced by breaking down several videos of skill development drills:

The person who does the work does the learning. This sentiment is a fundamental truth of any form of education, and athletic training is no exception. From that sentiment, a question begs for the world’s teachers and coaches: How do we make sure the right work is happening to maximize our efficiency in the limited time we have with which to impart a lesson?

Take 2024 Red Wings Development Camp as an example. As Detroit brass likes to say, the camp is meant to be educational and not evaluative. Camp is also only five days, which is reduced to three days of on-ice education by a preliminary day of testing and capstone day reserved for scrimmaging. The camp represents an extremely limited window of direct, face-to-face, collective opportunity to work with a group of 50 drafted and invited prospects for the organization, building in an imperative to make that time count.

Continued at length…

Video link: Red Wings to stream Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Per the Detroit Red Wings’ YouTube channel:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vGFjAO59zR0%3Fsi%3DMGROG5mQxq3O1TbE
Continue reading Video link: Red Wings to stream Steve Yzerman’s press conference

Tweets from Day 4 of the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp

The Red Wings’ prospects don’t get Independence Day off. They’re busy at work, taking part in the final practices of the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center:

Impressions of the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp participants, away-from-the-rink version

I haven’t been able to attend the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp for the first time since 2006 due to vehicle issues this summer, and it’s eaten at me all week long.

I’ve felt like I’ve been grieving not being able to raise quite enough funds to rent a car as my own 18-year-old Chrysler Pacifica’s tailpipe, muffler and catalytic converter are all dragging on the ground (with no money to replace the automobile, we’re trying to reach out to simply get the rust-bucket, declared unsafe to drive by our mechanic last fall, repaired), and I’ve been in a rotten mood all week long.

Continue reading Impressions of the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp participants, away-from-the-rink version

MLive: Joe Louis Arena site to become home of a 600-room hotel

As MLive’s Edward Pevos reports, the former site of Joe Louis Arena will soon be home to a 600-room hotel that will be connected to the former Cobo Hall:

Long gone is the Joe Louis Arena, the former home of the Detroit Red Wings. In its place will soon be a swanky new hotel. Detroit-based developer Sterling Group and the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) have revealed details on what’s being built at the former site of “Hockeytown.”

The 600-room hotel will open under the JW Marriott brand and will be connected to the Huntington Place Convention Center via a skybridge. The JW Marriott Detroit Water Square will be 25 stories and will feature 50,000 square feet of meeting spaces, restaurants, a market and more.

“This connected hotel will change the hospitality landscape in the City of Detroit and allow for Huntington Place to attract more and larger conventions,” said Danny Samson, Chief Development Officer of Sterling Group. “It will be a significant economic benefit to the City and the region.

Construction of the hotel began in early April and is expected to be completed by early 2027, just in time for the Men’s NCAA Final Four tournament taking place at Ford Field in Detroit in March of that year.

Continued; the incredibly expensive apartment building that is “The Residences at Water Square” has already opened at the former JLA site.

Eying Big Elmer

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen wisely suggests that Red Wings fans keep an eye on Big Elmer Soderblom, Detroit’s 6’8″ forward prospect, as Soderblom attempts to break into Detroit’s bottom six forward lineup this fall:

One player to watch in training camp is Elmer Soderblom. After a slow start, the 6-foot-8 forward finished with 13 goals in 61 games. Seven of his goals came in his last 20 regular-season games. The Red Wings could use his size. He weighs almost 250 pounds. It wears down opponents to deal with his size. If the Red Wings carry 13 forwards, he could be a candidate to make the team. The issues standing in his way: Detroit could have three goalies on their roster and they many need to carry eight defensemen to protect Albert Johansson from being claimed on waivers. Johansson will be competing with William Lagesson for that No. 8 spot.

Continued; Soderblom is waiver-exempt for one more season, and he’s just starting to put his game together at 22 years of age.

Do the Wings still need to add a blueliner via trade? ‘Spector’ believes so

This morning, Bleacher Report’s Lyle “Spector” Richardson discusses “5 teams in need of a trade” because they didn’t address all their needs during the unrestricted free agent period.

The Red Wings definitely built up their third and fourth lines by re-signing Christian Fischer and Tyler Motte, added goaltending depth in Max Talbot and Jack Campbell, and addressed some of their scoring losses in Vladimir Tarasenko, but Richardson believes that the Red Wings must do more to add to their defense:

On June 25, the Detroit Red Wings traded Jake Walman to the San Jose Sharks for future considerations. It was an obvious salary dump, clearing the 28-year-old defenseman’s $3.4 million average annual value (through 2025-26) from their books. That move seemed to set the stage for a significant addition by the Wings.

The Wings had plenty of salary-cap space entering the free-agent market, but a big portion of it will go to restricted free agents Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Joe Veleno. They brought back Patrick Kane on a one-year deal but opted for smaller depth additions like goalies James Reimer, Cam Talbot, Jack Campbell and blueliner Erik Gustafsson.

That may be because the new deals for Seider, Raymond and Veleno will eat most of their remaining $21.5 million. Still, adding three fading goaltenders won’t address their problems between the pipes. Trading Walman for nothing only weakens their blue line following the departure of Shayne Gostisbehere to the Carolina Hurricanes.

If Yzerman can get Seider, Raymond and Veleno under more affordable terms, it could give him the cap room to acquire a defenseman by peddling a high draft pick or a quality prospect. He was reportedly close to a trade for New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba, though complications appear to have scuttled that deal.

Continued; I believe that it’s pretty certain that the graduations of Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson from Grand Rapids mean that the Wings’ blueline “is what it is” for now, and may remain in its current state until the trade deadline.

The Wings have enough cap space to re-sign Jonatan Berggren, Raymond, Seider and Veleno, but not much else at this point. They’d have to at least move Justin Holl and his 2 years remaining on his contract at $3.4 million per season to squeeze out some wiggle room, and as that’s going to take some assets in the form of a draft pick or prospect to “sweeten the pot.”

As such, I’m not certain whether we’re going to see a trade for a defenseman for now, especially as the Trouba trade fell through. Detroit may have to wait to sort out its blueline.