Month: January 2025

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted her customary 6 AM recap of the Red Wings’ 2-1 OT loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night:

“We limited them to two goals, one in overtime,” Lucas Raymond said. “Our defensive structure was really good most of the time, especially desperation around the net. But, it’s not a successful trip in our point of view. We have a couple of these games that we want to get back and it’s about learning from it.”

The Wings (21-21-5) are 8-4-1 since Todd McLellan was named coach Dec. 26. This was their first extended trip, and began on a high note with a 5-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, a terrific response after a 6-3 loss at home to the struggling San Jose Sharks.

“To start in Florida and play against that team and weather their storm, that was a really good win,” McLellan said. “Tampa, a little bit disappointing because I think we got tricked with the volume of shots but not the intensity around the net. Dallas, after falling behind 3-0 we settled in. But I think the game really does change for both teams at that point. And then we finished strong and hard.

“You never head out for 50-50, you always want more, and we came up a little short. An average trip for our group but I think we are making strides in certain areas. We’re a little better in our zone, we’re breaking the puck out a little better than we have in the past. We checked through the neutral zone better. Those are all good things. But we have to find a way to score more than one a night five-on-five if we’re to have success.”

Continued (paywall);

2. The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton also posted his day-after-the-game notebook…

Continue reading Morning news: Three post-Red Wings-Flyers things

The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe discusses “every goalie goal ever scored” in exacting detail this morning, and he gives Chris Osgood’s goal a mediocre grade…Not knowing that the last game PASS didn’t air was the Wings-Whalers game where Osgood scored, yielding clips with either the Hartford Whalers’ call or the Wings’ radio call:

12. Chris Osgood, March 6, 1996

Situation: This one comes with 10 seconds left in a game between a record-breaking Red Wings juggernaut and a Whalers team that was, uh, not that. But it’s also the first goalie goal in almost seven years, and the first that wasn’t scored by Ron Hextall, so there’s a neat “Oh right, that’s a thing you’re allowed to do” factor. 7/10.

Style: Nothing too fancy, but the way Osgood manages to knock down and control the puck with his extended stick is pretty impressive. After that, it’s just about the shot, and he pretty much drills it. 7/10.

Continue reading DGB ranks goalie goals, including Chris Osgood’s goal

Pavel Datsyuk always said that he wanted to work with kids in hockey when his playing career ended.

Datsyuk reiterated that point when he came over to the U.S. to take part in the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp last July, and again when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this past November.

As such, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff reports that Datsyuk, who works for in player development for his hometown organization, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, has signed an extension with his team:

Earlier this week, Datsyuk was truly putting an end to any hope he might be changing his mind. He was confirming that he’s extending his relationship as a development and skills coach with KHL club Avtomobilist in his Russian hometown of Yekaterinburg. After leaving the Red Wings, he would finish his playing career with this club from 2019-21.

“I work for the Avtomobilist club, for which I am very grateful,” Datsyuk told Russian news agency Tass. “They trusted me and allowed me to do what I love, I like it. It’s not that easy, obviously I’m still learning.

“I like being in the arena with the guys, being part of the club and helping it. I will continue to do this with pleasure.”

Continued; no surprise here. Datsyuk

The Detroit Red Wings head home with 3 out of a possible 8 points on their 4-game road trip after losing 2-1 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

As such, the Red Wings fell 3 points behind the Flyers in the Wild Card race, and they are 5 and 6 points behind the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning–Thursday and Saturday’s opponents–respectively.

FLYERS WIN 🟠⚫️

They collect the extra point on home ice in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/tGirqMz2Op

— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2025

The Flyers know where they are in the Eastern Conference’s jumbled playoff race, too, as Flying Fish Hockey’s Wayne Fish suggested…

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers wrap-up: heading home with lessons learned after an OT loss to Philly

The Detroit Red Wings played an important game for Wild Card positioning against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, with the Flyers sitting two points ahead of the Red Wings, who were on a 2-game losing streak, in the Eastern Conference standings.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wings lost a game that was hard to swallow. The Philadelphia Flyers won 2-1 in overtime, despite Ben Chiarot tying the game 30 seconds into the 3rd period from Raymond, and the Red Wings holding their own in OT until the Flyers rushed up ice, Seider and Raymond both tried to poke check, and Rasmus Ristolainen poked in the rebound of an Owen Tippett shot with 26 seconds remaining in the extra session.

Long story long, Detroit lost 2-1 to Philadelphia and will fly home having earned 3 points out of 8 on their road trip.

Detroit actually out-shot Philadelphia 28-26, but the Flyers held a 5-1 shot advantage in OT, and the Flyers out-shot Detroit 15-14 over the final two periods thanks to a gritty, grinding effort that seemed to wear the Wings down.

Continue reading Red Wings-Flyers quick take: Ground down and out of an OT loss to Philly

I’m going to post this again as I very simply need to raise funds to pay my bills. It’s part of blogging when you don’t have commercial ads, and it’s not my favorite part of the job, but I hope you understand that it’s necessary.

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Per Hockeysverige.se and Hockeynews.se, Red Wings prospect Michael Brandsegg-Nygard will not be taking part in the Norwegian National Team’s February participation in the Four Nations Tournament in Oslo.

Norway GM Tobias Johansson tells TV2 that, and I quote:

“We have made the decision that Michael will stay with Skellefteå. He has been through a year that has contained a lot. Therefore, we agreed that he will remain in Sweden and train. It is both best for him and for us in the long term,” says the national team manager.

“So there is nothing dramatic about rejecting him,” adds Johansson.

Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Trudeau suggests that the Red Wings are, at best, a “long shot” to earn one of the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card spots, per an article which attempts to handicap the teams battling for said spot:

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings wanted to play a more disciplined defensive game this season, but that resulted in a lineup full of guys who were gripping their sticks too tight and generally afraid to make plays. Before they fired Derek Lalonde, the Wings were outshot by five attempts per game and had the second-worst goal differential in the NHL. In the immortal words of John Tortorella, “safe is death,” and the Red Wings’ season was on life support before Steve Yzerman pulled the plug on Lalonde.

Under Todd McLellan, they’ve been far more proactive, outshooting the bad guys and riding a sizzling power play (41.9% since the coaching change) back to the .500 mark. Patrick Kane looks rejuvenated (6 G, 16 P in 12 GP under McLellan), Lucas Raymond is a star (50 P in 46 GP), and Marco Kasper (3 G, 5 P in last 5 GP) has been a revelation on Dylan Larkin’s left wing.

So, why are the Wings a long shot? Just look at the schedule. The Red Wings have beaten some good teams including Florida and Washington on their road back to relevance, but the hard part starts now. Detroit has the toughest remaining schedule in the NHL, and losses to Tampa Bay and Dallas by a combined score of 9-1 over the weekend served as a reminder that even with McLellan on board, this team can be prone to sloppy, turnover-prone hockey. There will be growing pains, and for a team that probably can’t survive a three or four-game skid, that’s a problem.

Continued; we all know that the Red Wings are facing the toughest remaining schedule in the league in terms of quality of competition–the Wings’ broadcasters keep telling us that–and I do not disagree that coach McLellan is engaged more in a salvage job than he is engaged in a playoff run…

But I choose to believe that the Wings can at least stay relevant over the second half of the season.

The Philadelphia Flyers’ media corps posted some game-day stories ahead of tonight’s game between the Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/NBCSP/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM), starting with a video preview from the Flyers’ website:

The Hockey News’s Siobhan Nolan described tonight’s rubber match thusly…

The Philadelphia Flyers, surging with momentum and confidence, are set to host the Detroit Red Wings in what promises to be another exciting matchup.

Last time these two faced off against each other, Scott Laughton enjoyed a four-goal game, and while Laughton won’t be available tonight due to a personal matter, the Flyers will be looking to continue collecting points to move themselves more comfortably into a playoff spot.

Noting that goaltender Samuel Ersson has a challenge ahead of him…

Continue reading From the Flyers’ side

Updated at 5:52 PM: The Detroit Red Wings face the Philadelphia Flyers this evening (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/NBCSP/Sportsnet One/97.1 FM). Among today’s game-day notebooks:

1. DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Wings coach Todd McLellan about the team’s outlook heading into tonight’s game:

“I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m not in there looking at the standings or the stats,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said. “I’m watching video to make sure that the team is trying to get better night after night. That’s the only way we’re going to get wins.”

The Red Wings are in the City of Brotherly Love vying to get back on track after getting swept in their weekend back-to-back set, which ended with a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Detroit fell behind early in Dallas, allowing three goals before the 15-minute mark of the first period, and ultimately couldn’t recover.

“On this trip, we’ve been able to beat the Stanley Cup champs but the two other teams, in a weight class that’s maybe a little more elevated than ours, we haven’t had success,” McLellan said. “So that’s a little disappointing. We’ve had to fix some things. Do it via video, a little bit on ice and challenge a few players. Now, we’ll see what happens here tonight.”

One player that will be embracing the challenge on Tuesday is Elmer Sodberlom, who the Red Wings recalled from the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins prior to morning skate at Wells Fargo Center.

According to McLellan, Soderblom “has earned the right to come up here.”

“The last two to three weeks, really starting to come into his own and we’re hoping he can do that here,” McLellan said about Soderblom. “Obviously, a different league but he’s experienced it before. Hoping that he provides a little injection of life into the group, too. I think that will come out as the game goes on.”

2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James also wrote an article about Soderblom’s recall…

Continue reading Game-day notebooks: on Elmer Soderblom and being proactive