Month: August 2024

The captain weighs in on Johnny Gaudreau

I spotted this via my Google Email alerts just now:

Update: Per the Hockey News’s Connor Eargood:

In the wake of a tragic loss, some Red Wings players have also taken the time to support the family Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau leave behind. A GoFundMe was created to support the Gaudreau family, particularly Matthew Gaudreau’s wife Madeline, who is pregnant with their first child. Detroit forward Andrew Copp and former Red Wing Zach Aston-Reese were among the 4,649 donors to the fund. Those were just the players to make their names public; a number of donations to the fund were anonymously made.

Those wishing to donate to the GoFundMe can find it here.

Stuck with Holl

Red Wings defenseman Justin Holl’s team won “Da Beauty League’s” title recently, earning a banged-up keg for their summertime hockey troubles. This morning, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses Holl’s status as something of a survivor among the Red Wings’ frequent scratches:

Holl is often a magnet for criticism. The much-maligned defender was a healthy scratch for all but three of Detroit’s final 32 games during the 2024-25 NHL campaign.

There were calls from parts of the fanbase for Holl’s contract to be bought out during the summer. He’s entering the second year of a three-year deal with an AAV of $3.4 million.

By contrast, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has been suggesting over the summer that Holl, a right-hand shot, may be filling a role of more prominence during his second season in Detroit. The Red Wings are bereft of right shot defensemen beyond Moritz Seider.

“He’s an NHL defenseman,” Yzerman said of Holl. “Justin was a good player in the NHL and will be.”

Continued with an assortment of stories; if the Wings want to move Holl, they’ll probably have to wait until later this season to do so thanks to the term on his contract.

He can do the job of playing as a no-frills, shut-down defender, but he can also play inconsistently. At 6’4″ and 194 pounds, he can leave you wanting more in terms of physicality…

But it could be argued that Holl’s inconsistent play was in part due to his incredibly inconsistent ice time. He’s not a bad defenseman, just not somebody who kept up the level of play that he displayed early on in the 2023-2024 season. At 32 years of age, with those two years remaining on his contract, he appears to be the Red Wings’ reclamation project, for better or worse.

Roughly translated: An interview with Ondrej Becher

I have Google email alerts set up to help find obscure interviews and other Red Wings content, and this evening, my email alerts let me know of an interview which Red Wings 2024 draft pick Ondrej Becher gave Polar.cz’s Yvona Fajt.

The Wings drafted the 20-year-old from Ostrava with the 80th overall pick in this past June’s NHL Draft, and the Prince George Cougars forward was training with his childhood team, HC RT Torax Poruba, until today, when he left Ostrava to head to Detroit.

Czech is always a little tricky, but here’s a rough translation of Faijt’s interview, which is accompanied by a video that you’re not going to get much out of unless you speak Czech yourself.

In any case, the interview and the video seem to sync up well, and I believe that Becher will be taking part in the prospect tournament and training camp this September:

Hockey player Ondrej Becher is heading to the Detroit Red Wings. His dream is to play in the NHL.

Ondrej Becher, a native of Poruba and a promising hockey player, will soon be heading to Detroit. The Detroit Red Wings bet on him during this year’s NHL Draft.

Hockey player Ondrej Becher, a bronze medalist at the World Junior Championship this past year, is spending his time preparing with great intensity to play in the NHL. He will be heading to the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow.

Ondrej Becher, hockey player: “I’m preparing here with the Poruba A team on the ice, every day we have practice on the ice, plus I go to the gym. I have my own skills coach, my personal trainer and I go to the gym with him every day. I will fly to Detroit at the beginning of September, and my greatest achievement, I would probably say, is the World Championship, definitely the championship.”

Ondrej spent a week in Detroit [earlier this summer], right after the draft. It was a great experience for him.

Ondrej Becher: “It was great there. I met the management, coaches, a few players, and Pavel Datsyuk was there, the Detroit legend, right, so that week it was great, definitely great. I was there for a week, I had about 3 practices on the ice and the camp was pretty familiar. I think I need to work on everything, how to skate and shoot, I need to work on everything. I need to work on all my shooting, and on my shot.”

Continue reading Roughly translated: An interview with Ondrej Becher

THN’s list of the best Red Wings goaltenders includes a very, very Osgood one

The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood ranked his top 5 Red Wings goaltenders today, and I stand by the assertion that #2 should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, even if that means making it the “Hall of Very Good”:

2. Chris Osgood: If he played for any other team, maybe Osgood would be a Hall of Famer. He ranks 13th all time with 401 wins, 317 of which came with Detroit ranking second in franchise history. His three Stanley Cup rings also tie for 13th most among goaltenders. But to most people looking back, the perception is that Osgood was carried by those ‘90s and ‘00s Red Wings teams, chock full of inductees themselves.

Even if Osgood had support from his teammates, he still delivered. He was one of the most consistent, winning goaltenders Detroit has ever had.

Don’t take it from me. From a 2009 ESPN article by Pierre LeBrun, take it from former GM Ken Holland. “First of all, there’s a perception that we can put anybody in our net,” Holland told LeBrun. “We’ve always had high-profile talent. And through the years, we’ve always outshot the other team, so our goalie is in a position to only be responsible for the loss; he’s not responsible for the win. I think Dominik Hasek had a hard time when he first got here, I think Curtis Joseph had a hard time with it, because we win because of our skaters and we lose because of our goalie. It’s the perception.”

Osgood delivered, logging 10 seasons with 20 wins or more, tied only with Terry Sawchuk in franchise history. He also owns the record for consecutive games without a loss, refusing to lose in 21 straight contests in early 1996.

Throughout the course of his career, Osgood’s highs weren’t quite as high as many contemporaries — Osgood won no Vezinas, topping out at second place in his elite ‘95-’96 season. He got waived to bring in Hasek. He struggled in his only two seasons away from Detroit. Playing with so many Red Wing legends made his life incredibly easier. But, Osgood always delivered.

Continued; Osgood may never get the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame, but that’s okay. He has three Stanley Cup rings to drown his sorrows with.

A really shitty day for the hockey community

I’ve waffled in terms of making any sort of blog-public statement regarding the untimely passings of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

I can at least tell you that I lost both my parents suddenly and unexpectedly, which is painful enough…And I have a cousin who was killed by a drunk driver as well…

It’s just tough. The Gaudreau brothers were beloved throughout our little hockey world, and it takes all of one person making a horrible decision to end the lives of two very special people.

I can at least relate to what so many people must be feeling today–that the world has stopped, and that it’s unfair to see that the earth continues to turn on its axis, and people continue to act as if the world has not stopped for them. That’s a really rough part of losing a loved one, because your world really does stop when you find out they’re gone.

Everybody’s saying it, so I will as well: this fatal accident doesn’t happen if the perpetrator doesn’t choose to drive drunk. It’s easy to think you’re “okay to drive” after a beer or three, but it’s just…Dumb. There are so many ways to get a ride home from wherever you are drinking these days that there’s no excuse for not finding a designated driver, friend, Uber, Lyft, cab, etc.

Two brothers are gone the day before their sister’s wedding was scheduled to happen. It’s a senseless tragedy, and I hope that the Gaudreau family knows that they are surrounded by love and support, as alone as I’m certain they feel right now.

Take care of yourselves and each other. Be safe out there, especially as people celebrate this Labor Day weekend. Not everyone is going to be smart about their decision-making, so you be safe instead.

Axel Sandin Pellikka happy to stay home (for one more year)

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offers a profile of Axel Sandin Pellikka this afternoon:

Axel Sandin-Pellikka will continue his development by returning to play for Skellefteå AIK in the Swedish Hockey League for the 2024-25 season, giving the Detroit Red Wings defenseman prospect another year of valuable experience and time honing his craft.

“It’s nice to be home another year,” Sandin-Pellikka said during the Red Wings’ 2024 Development Camp last month. “I know my coaches and teammates well. We have a good team, so we’re going to go for the gold next year too.”

Sandin-Pellikka helped Skellefteå AIK win the SHL Championship last season, recording 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 39 regular-season games and seven points (two goals, five assists) in 14 postseason contests.

“(Skellefteå AIK) had a really good run,” Sandin-Pellikka said. “Obviously winning the Swedish championship is one of my lifelong dreams.”

Continued; it’s better that Sandin Pellikka plays another season in Sweden rather than battling for ice time on a crowded Grand Rapids Griffins’ blueline.

In this case, another year of home cooking makes sense.

Brandsegg-Nygard held off the scoresheet as Norway wins 2nd game at Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard didn’t score in Norway’s 6-2 win over Great Britain, but the Norwegians earned their second win in two games at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and a win against Denmark on Monday would sew up their status as having qualified for the 2026 Olympics in Milan.

While it looks like Marco Kasper’s Austrians are going to be playing for pride after dropping a 2-1 decision to Kazakhstan, the Norwegians definitely have momentum, and they talk a lot on the ice. I was very impressed by the levels of communication (mostly in English) by both Norway and Great Britain…

And MBN looked good playing on the right wing again. He’s not huge at 6’1,” but Brandsegg-Nygard plays like a very big man, he skates well, shoots superbly and grinds out pucks along the boards and behind the net. There’s a lot of raw potential there, and in that sense, I can see why MBN wants to play for Skelleftea AIK of the SHL before making the jump to North American hockey.

There are still some rough edges to his play after skating in the HockeyAllsvenskan for Mora IK during his draft year, and it might be best for him to remain in Europe to round out his game.

Former Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher’s now a goaltending coach for Sarnia

Just a quick note here: one-time Red Wings goaltending prospect Kaden Fulcher is now 25 years old, and after playing in the SPHL last season, Fulcher retired. According to the Sarnia Observer’s Mark Malone, Fulcher is now a goaltending coach with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting:

Assistant goalie coach Kaden Fulcher, left, speaks with Ethan Lawrence at the Sarnia Sting’s training camp Thursday at Progressive Auto Sales Arena. Fulcher was hired in the off-season after playing six years in the pros. (Mark Malone/Chatham Daily News)

Not everybody pans out as an NHL prospect, but I’ve found that the vast majority of the Red Wings’ prospects stay in hockey somehow.

Kasper’s Austrians suffer blow at Olympic Qualifying Tournament, drop 2nd loss to Kazakhstan

Marco Kasper and Team Austria are in a tough spot in terms of qualifying for the 2026 Olympics.

Kasper scored a goal on Thursday as Austria lost 2-1 to Slovakia, and today, Kasper was muted (though he went to the front of the net and stayed there, he won faceoffs, and he mucked and ground enough to take a 2-minute roughing penalty at the 60-minute mark) as Austria lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan.

Austria plays their final qualification game vs. Hungary on Monday, but as the Kazakhs have already won 2 games, it may not matter unless goal differential comes into play.

Update: The Austrian Ice Hockey Association’s website confirms that the Austrian team is out of the running for a 2026 Olympic spot.

Tweet of note: Emmitt Finnie, 19-year-old ‘greybeard’

Via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter, Wings prospect Emmitt Finnie had this to say about being a 19-year-old “veteran” among 16-year-olds trying to earn jobs on the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers: