Month: September 2024

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS 2024-25 SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE NOW

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Single-game tickets for each of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 36 regular-season home games at Van Andel Arena are on sale now to the general public at griffinshockey.com/tickets.

Under second-year head coach Dan Watson, the Griffins will begin the home portion of their 72-game slate on Friday, Oct. 11 against the Milwaukee Admirals with Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank.

Griffins tickets can be purchased through the following methods (all purchases subject to a convenience charge):

• Online through griffinshockey.com/buytickets;
• On the Griffins app, available for iPhone and Android;
• In person at The Zone at Van Andel Arena, beginning Oct. 1 (open 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday);
• By phone at (616) 774-4585 or (800) 2-HOCKEY.

Advance ticket prices start at $19 for Upper Level Crease, $21 for Upper Level Faceoff, $24 for Upper Level Center Ice, $25 for Upper Level Preferred, $26 for Upper Level Prime and $29 for Upper Level Edge; and $27 for Lower Level Faceoff, $31 for Lower Level Center Ice, $37 for Lower Level Preferred and $54 for Lower Level Glass. (Additional $3 per ticket on game day.)

On game night, tickets may be purchased without a convenience charge at the Van Andel Arena box office, beginning 90 minutes before puck drop. Fans who attend multiple games can avoid charges and receive a discount from the single-game price by purchasing a 10- or 20-game select season package. These plans, along with full-season, FLEX ticket vouchers and group ticket packages, may be ordered by calling the Griffins’ office at (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visiting griffinshockey.com.

According to Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen, long-time Grand Rapids Griffins forward Taro Hirose has signed with EHC Red Bull Munchen of the DEL:

Left wing Taro Hirose, a member of the Detroit Red Wings organization for five years, has signed a deal to play for the Red Bulls in the German League.

The Red Wings signed Hirose as a college free agent out of Michigan State after the 2018-19 season. He played 60 games for Detroit over four different seasons. Hirose, 28, didn’t spend any time last season with the Red Wings, but played 54 games (nine goals, 36 points) for the their Grand Rapids Griffins farm team.

The Red Bulls signed Hirose as a replacement for the injured Trevor Parkes who is also a former Griffins player. Smallish forward Hirose is a play-making winger with quality power play instincts.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a list of five prospects to watch at this weekend’s Prospect Games between the Red Wings and Dallas Stars (on Saturday at 6 PM EDT and Sunday at 2 PM EDT):

Emmitt Finnie, C: You don’t hear much about seventh-round picks after they’re drafted but Finnie is an exception. The Red Wings signed him to a three-year entry level contract only nine months after selecting him 210th overall in 2023. A playmaker with good hockey sense, he led Kamloops (WHL) with 40 assists in 62 games and appeared in three games for the Griffins near the end of the season (no points).

Jakub Rychlovsky, LW: At 23, he’s older than a typical prospect. The Red Wings haven’t had much success with undrafted European free agents, but Rychlovsky is coming off a breakout year during which he led the Czech League with 26 goals in 51 games. He had scored only 13 goals in 138 games during his first four years in the league.

Continued; there are a fair amount of prospects who will be in the spotlight this weekend;

2. And meanwhile in Europe, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Axel Sandin Pellikka will most likely return for today’s Champions Hockey League game in which ASP’s Skelleftea AIK and the Lahti Pelicans will face off:

The Swedish club is facing a crisis due to injuries along the blueline. Facing Finland’s Lahti Pelicans on Friday in Champions Hockey League play, Skelleftea is showing three defensemen on the shelf. Rearguards Arvid Lundberg, Mans Forsfjall and Frans Haara are out.

Sandin Pellikka was also on the injury list. He’d been hurt in the club’s opening CHL game. He was missing for the second game, a loss to German’s Straubing Tigers, after aggravating an old injury.

Skelleftea has been using four defensemen from its junior club. Also recruited on loan was defender Fredrik Granberg. He plays for Pitea in HockeyEttan, Sweden’s third division.

However, there appears to be good news. At Thursday’s practice, Sandin Pellikka was no longer wearing the red no-contact jersey.

“Axel Sandin-Pellikka has taken off the red shirt,” Robin Lindgren reported on Swedish website Norran.se. “Looks to be ready again.”

Continued; you never know for sure until Sandin Pellikka takes to the ice, but this is encouraging news.

ESPN’s Sean Allen discusses potential breakout defensemen for the 2024-2025 season from a fantasy hockey perspective, and Simon Edvinsson kind-of-sort-of makes the list, though he’s not experienced enough to meet Allen’s criteria for a true breakout candidate:

Simon Edvinsson, D, Detroit Red Wings (1.21 FPPG, 21.6 years old, 25 games played): With minimal ice time and minimal role, Edvinsson dished out 26 hits and blocked 25 shots in 16 games last season. He is the real deal when it comes to physical defenders. He should open on the second pairing and get plenty of ice time to pile up fantasy points.

Continued; we forget sometimes that when Edvinsson does focus on defense, he’s 6’6″ and has a bit of a nasty streak. If he can summon those characteristics more regularly, he’s going to develop into a hell of a defenseman.

The State News’s Madilynn Warden posted a preseason profile of Michigan State University starting goaltender and Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine:

The starting goaltender for Head Coach Adam Nightingale and MSU, 18-year-old Trey Augustine is a Michigan born and raised kid, growing up just an hour from East Lansing in South Lyon, MI.

“I think that growing up in Michigan, you get the feeling that hockey’s a big deal here. . .” Augustine said. “Everyone just loves hockey and loves the game and I think it’s a great community.”

Growing and learning on the ice from a young age, Augustine began his development playing for the Honeybaked League, then switching to play for the US National Team Development Program in his early years. The jump from Triple-A to junior league was a big one, he said. Still, Augustine had his family nearby, who was always a help in his milestone transition.  

Augustine said having his close family nearby, aunts, uncles, grandparents and his parents, was something that meant a great deal to him, along with always having the proper hockey resources accessible.

MSU Goaltender Coach Jared DeMichiel said Augustine’s parents, Ken and Yvette, have done their job of ensuring he has the right mindset to handle things on and off of the ice.

“Ken and Yvette, he’s lucky to have those genes, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree with his parents,” DeMichiel said. “They’ve instilled good values on him and he’s obviously trending in a very positive direction.”

Continued…good story.

Today was supposed to be the day that Aunt Annie and I were going to pack up the car, pack up the aunt, and make the 250-mile journey to Traverse City to cover the Red Wings’ “Prospect Games” and training camp.

Instead, I’ve gone to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription, and now I’m back home for the weekend.

I guess I’m sort of grieving the trip after realizing that we weren’t going to raise enough funds to go to Traverse City this year.

There are definitely times that I’m angry, wondering whether my readers are sending a message that I’m simply unnecessary at this point, or unworthy of their support–which pisses me off–but I’m mostly in denial right now.

Real frustration and sadness will probably going to hit home on Saturday, when the Red Wings’ Prospect Games team takes to the ice for their morning skate at Centre ICE Arena, ahead of a pair of games against Dallas Stars prospects on Saturday and Sunday, and I’m not in the cold, crisp atmosphere of the rink.

Continue reading Staying behind

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan posted a rather stock preview of the Red Wings’ Prospect Games this weekend:

The Wings roster is highlighted by first-round picks from each of the last two NHL Entry Drafts — center Nate Danielson (2023; ninth overall) and right wing Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (2024; 15th overall). Chances are slim that either will make the Wings’ opening night roster, but a good start this weekend will likely mean more preseason games and chances to be evaluated by the front office and coaching staff.

Defenseman Shai Buium (2021; second round), who recorded 36 points, 29 assists and a plus-33 rating in 43 games at Denver to help the program win its second NCAA national championship in three seasons, as well as center Emmitt Finnie (2023; seventh round), who led the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers with 59 points and 40 assists in 62 games before making his professional debut in Grand Rapids last spring, are on the squad.

Also of note on the roster is center Ondrej Becher (2024; third round), who had 96 points and 64 assists in 58 regular-season games to go along with 19 points and 14 assists in 15 playoff games with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, and right wing Jakub Rychlovsky, an undrafted free agent who signed with the Wings in June after leading Czechia’s top pro league with 26 goals last season.

Continued (paywall)

The Hockey News’s Rory Boylen has posted his first set of power rankings for the 2024-2025 season ahead of training camps starting for NHL teams, and there’s not all that much to say about his blurb on the Red Wings:

18. Detroit Red Wings: The Wings surged forward to compete for a playoff spot, but this is where we find how out much gas is left in the tank to fuel the Winged Wheel higher. First things first: get Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider signed.

Continued; the Red Wings had some significant offseason additions and subtractions, and whether the additions outweigh the subtractions is a big talking point; there is the goaltending situation to be rectified; and yes, Raymond and Seider need to be re-signed…

And I guess 18th is representative of where the Wings finished last season.

Bleacher Report’s Joe Yerdon issues “1 reason for every NHL team to be optimistic” with about a month to go before the NHL’s 2024-2025 regular season begins:

Detroit Red Wings

Eventuality

Fans in Detroit have been patiently waiting for GM Steve Yzerman to put it all together to get the Red Wings back to the playoffs. And it’s got to come together now, right?

Dylan Larkin was the guy who made it all go. Patrick Kane arrived and found a way to turn back the clock and pile up points. Alex DeBrincat’s homecoming was everything they thought it could be. Lucas Raymond exploded last season and was brilliant. Moritz Seider showed he can handle the weight of being a No. 1 defenseman so young.

Now they’ve got Vladimir Tarasenko reuniting with Kane after winning his second Stanley Cup and Cam Talbot signed on to solidify their goaltending. It has to work now because there are so many question marks with many of the other teams in the Eastern Conference and they showed last season for a good chunk of it that, yes, they can be a playoff-caliber team.

It’s got to happen eventually, and maybe eventually is right now.

Continued; it doesn’t have to happen this season, but it has to happen soon.

DobberProspects’ Ben Gehrels discusses the Red Wings’ top prospects this morning, offering assessments of the Red Wings’ likely NHL graduates, their turning-pro players, a rising prospect and a falling prospect as he offers a “top 20” prospects list:

Graduating Players: Minors to NHL

Jonatan Berggren, LW/RW

Berggren, 24, definitively proved his NHL readiness last season in the minors, leading Grand Rapids (AHL) in points with 56—a total nearly 20 points higher than his nearest teammate. He also led the team in shots (2.9 per game), which suggests he will provide help in that category unlike many smaller playmaking winger types. He also racked up a healthy number of penalty minutes, surprisingly tying for second on the team in PIMs, so he is clearly not afraid to mix things up. 

With Berggren’s 19 PPP representing 20% of the team’s total production with the man advantage last year, the Griffins’ power play will need to find a new engine next year. Berggren is going to be sticking with the Red Wings full time in 2024-25. Even if he kicks off the year playing down the lineup, do not be surprised to see the skilled Swede ascend into the top six before the end of the year. Dobber has his upside at 82 points in the Guide, higher than many top prospects. Point-per-game upside with a very short timeline.

Simon Edvinsson, LHD

Although he spent most of the year with the Griffins, Edvinsson played the final 14 games of the year with Detroit on the bottom pair with Jeff Petry. While on paper it may seem like he did not progress much in his second AHL campaign, he posted slight increases all across the board— points, shots, PPP, and plus/minus—suggesting he had a greater overall impact on the game and is figuring out how to drive play at the pro level. 

His NHL audition in 2023-24 showed that Edvinsson has a real shot at being a prized asset in multi-cat formats. He put up over 1.5 hits and blocks per game and broke even in terms of driving play (49% expected even-strength goal share), demonstrating that he is ready for a larger role on this team. Like Berggren, his time is now.

Continued; good stuff here.