Month: January 2025

Video: Andrew Copp interviewed on NHL Tonight: First Shift Podcast

From the Red Wings on Twitter:

You can also watch the 10:44 interview on DetroitRedWings.com (not embeddable).

Video: Marco Kasper reads to students at Detroit’s Paradigm Glazer Academy

From WDIV Local 4:

Update: Here’s more from DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills:

Presented by the Detroit Red Wings Foundation, Red Wings for Reading is a no-cost literacy program that encourages students in K-5 classrooms across the state of Michigan to increase the time they spend reading both in school and at home.

“Reading is really important,” Kasper told DetroitRedWings.com on Friday. “It develops your language and social skills.”

With that message in mind, Kasper enthusiastically read “Dino-Hockey” – a book by Michigan-based author Lisa Wheeler – to the students before answering their questions and helping them select new books during the charter school’s book fair.

“It’s awesome coming here,” Kasper said. “All the kids asking fun questions, teaching them about hockey in a fun way and thinking about how dinosaurs play hockey. It’s a great way of getting kids involved with hockey and great to give back to the community. It’s always fun to come to schools and read to kids.”

As part of the Red Wings for Reading Program, the Detroit Red Wings Foundation has teamed up with United Way for Southeastern Michigan to support their “My Home Library” program, which provides a set of five complimentary books to each student at schools in Southeast Michigan communities that face a lack of adequate access to reading materials.

Approximately 200 students at New Paradigm Glazer will benefit from 1,000 books on Friday. In all, this year’s program will benefit 600 total students, providing 3,000 books over three school visits.

Albert Johansson’s earning his ice time

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Albert Johansson, who Red Wings coach Todd McLellan called his “biggest surprise” as he’s learned about the Wings’ roster, on Friday afternoon:

“Probably the biggest surprise for me to date is Albert,” McLellan said following Thursday’s 4-2 victory over Montreal. “I knew nothing about Albert. We get here and he’s kind of parked on the shelf and everybody’s playing and we’re trying to figure players out. I think his rise has been remarkable, really, unless I underestimated him, and that’s on me. But he’s played steady in all three zones. There’s some fierceness in his game. When he gets engaged with bodies and battles, he wins a lot of them. He’s not the biggest guy. We talk about him in the locker room all the time. We’re so happy we have him. He’s the biggest surprise in my mind.”

Johansson, 24, said it was “fun to hear those words.”

“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” Johansson said. “I’m trying to just focus on the next game every day. But I think overall, when your coach is talking good about you, that gives you confidence and a boost in your game.”

The Red Wings (22-21-5) host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).

Johansson has played the past 10 games, in a top-four role with Simon Edvinsson. When Petry recovers from his injury, Johansson isn’t an automatic scratch.

“I think (Johansson) keeps on playing,” McLellan said. “But it can change. He can’t give any of his game back because he’s raised the bar so high. Our expectations are going up for him. I think it’s a luxury more than a problem.”

Continued;

Update: Here’s more from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Continue reading Albert Johansson’s earning his ice time

Wings’ PK getting on track

Detroit Hockey Now’s Tim Robinson notes that the Red Wings’ PK came through in a big way vs. Montreal last night:

Detroit got a small measure of revenge in Thursday’s sin over  Montrreal and the penalty kill was a factor. The PK, ranked 31st in the NHL, held Montreal at bay and een got a shorthanded goal from Andrew Coop. The Wings killed off three Montreal man-advantages.in their 5-2 victory.

“Teams are probably coming in thinking they can take advantage of our penalty kill because our numbers have not been good,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “They had a chance to strike and swing the momentum back to their side, but our group did a real good job.”

The performance was a morale boost, too.

“It’s huge that the coach trusted us to get that kill,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “It’s obviously a good feeling to know that, and we did the job. That gave us a big boost.”

Continued

A brief set of Red Wings injury updates

Per the Hockey News’s Sam Stockton, regarding Patrick Kane, Jeff Petry and Tyler Motte, who are all battling injuries:

Kane—whom [Red Wings coach Todd] McLellan said Thursday had picked up an upper body injury during the Red Wings’ Saturday game in Dallas, then aggravated that injury against the Flyers Tuesday night—already missed Thursday’s win over the Canadiens.

The injury comes at an unfortunate time for Kane, who was heating up to his best form of the season throughout the month of January. In the 10 games leading into that game against the Stars in Dallas when he initially suffered the setback, Kane had six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. Against Montreal, Vladimir Tarasenko filled in for Kane on Detroit’s second line position as well as his place on the top power play. While the Red Wings were hardly starved for Kane’s offense against the Habs, they would of course benefit from a hasty recovery that as of this moment does not appear particularly imminent.

Elsewhere on the injury front, Jeff Petry—who has been out since Jan. 2 but took part in Thursday’s pre-game skate—did not participate in Friday’s practice.  However, McLellan clarified that this doesn’t represent a setback for Petry; instead, he is simply adhering to the training staff’s designed recovery plan.  Finally, Tyler Motte—out since Jan. 14 with an upper body injury—took part in practice wearing a full ‘bubble’ face shield.  He also does not have a definitive timeline toward his return, though he is unlikely to play against Tampa.

Continued;

We’ve all got questions as to what happens with Jeff Petry’s return given Albert Johansson’s play, and the same is true with Tyler Motte given how well Elmer Soderblom has played during his recall. We’ll find out when we find out.

Video: Berggren, Johansson and coach McLellan speak to the media after Friday’s Red Wings practice

The Red Wings practiced on Friday at the BELFOR Training Center underneath Little Caesars Arena, and after practice, coach Todd McLellan confirmed that Patrick Kane (upper-body) will miss Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning (who are playing the first of back-to-back games tonight in Chicago).

McLellan also told the assembled media that the team’s starting goaltender for tomorrow is undecided, with Cam Talbot a possibility against the Bolts.

Here’s the Red Wings’ post-practice player-and-coach comment video, which includes Jonatan Berggren, Albert Johansson and coach McLellan:

Friday’s post-practice Tweets: Kane still out for Saturday vs. Tampa

The Red Wings practiced today at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning (who play tonight in Chicago). The Wings did so without Patrick Kane (upper-body injury) and Jeff Petry, and they did so hoping to build upon last night’s 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

After practice, Red Wings coach Todd McLellan spoke with the media:

Tweets from Friday’s practice: Kane, Petry absent, but Thursday’s lineup remains intact

The Detroit Red Wings hit the ice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center just before 12 PM Friday, the day after Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The Wings are preparing for a pivotal game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday evening.

Detroit sits only 4 points behind the Lightning in the Eastern Conference standings, but Tampa Bay has 2 games in hand on the Red Wings, so it’s crucial that the Wings win both tomorrow and on Saturday, February 8th, when the teams wrap up their season series.

Continue reading Tweets from Friday’s practice: Kane, Petry absent, but Thursday’s lineup remains intact

Doing what I’ve gotta do to pay the bills

We’re still underwater bills-wise, so I’m continuing to do fundraising.

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Thank you for your time.

Albert Johansson, the ‘biggest surprise’

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton notes that Red Wings coach Todd McLellan singled out Albert Johansson as a superb surprise after last night’s 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens:

After the Red Wings’ 4–2 win over the Montreal Canadiens last night, coach Todd McLellan—who has now been in Detroit for just shy of a month—revealed the biggest surprise of his tenure.

“Probably the biggest surprise for me to date is Albert [Johansson],” the coach said in his post-game media availability.  “I knew nothing about Albert.  We get here, and he’s kinda parked on the shelf, and everybody’s playing, and we’re trying to figure players out.  I think his rise has been remarkable, really.  Unless I underestimated him too, and then that’s on me, but he’s played steady in all three zones.  There’s some fierceness in his game.  When he gets engaged with bodies and battles, he wins a lot of them.  He’s not the biggest guy.  We talk about him in the locker room all the time.  We’re so happy we have him.  Biggest surprise in my mind.”

In last night’s win, Johansson played 18:35 last night against the Canadiens, throwing a hit and blocking two shots. He broke the 18-minute plateau for the first time in his NHL career during last week’s Detroit win in Florida, and in the four games since, he’s broken it three times (including a career high 20:27 in Dallas over the weekend).

Continued; he’s a plucky little bugger for sure.