Month: February 2025

Morning news: On Petry and Johansson, Kane’s shootout goal, ‘the road’ and ‘the kids’

Of Red Wings-related note this morning, after Detroit’s 5-4 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken:

  1. We start with the bad news of a sort. The Free Press’s Helene St. James notes that Red Wings coach Todd McLellan confirmed Frank Seravalli’s report that Jeff Petry’s injury required surgery, and that the veteran defenseman will be out for 6-8 weeks. St. James accentuates the positive, however:

Coach Todd McLellan said after Tuesday’s morning skate at Climate Pledge Arena that Jeff Petry, out since Jan. 2 with an upper-body injury, “won’t play for a while. He had surgery and he’ll be out for about 6-to-8 weeks depending on healing time. It’s unfortunate for him as an individual and it’s certainly for our team.”

The Wings have been rolling along without Petry, though, buoyed by the quick work McLellan and assistant coach Trent Yawney made of the defense pairings shortly after arriving on Dec. 26. They split up Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, instead pairing Ben Chiarot with Seider and then finding, to their delight, what a good fit rookie Albert Johansson makes with Edvinsson. Justin Holl and Erik Gustafsson round things out on the third pairing.

“One, we found Albert,” McLellan said. “That allowed us to kind of settle everything out. Breaking up Simon and Mo was something we talked about on the flight in, when we got hired. They were getting a lot of attention as young defensemen – there was a lot of that was being asked of those two, and we forgot that we had some pretty good veterans, too. So a little bit of balance, make everybody important. Albert comes along and he does his thing, and it kind of just slots everybody in the right places. That’s how we got to that.”

2. MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of the historic nature of Patrick Kane’s shootout goal last night, with Kane scoring an all-time NHL-best 53rd shootout goal:

Continue reading Morning news: On Petry and Johansson, Kane’s shootout goal, ‘the road’ and ‘the kids’

Red Wings-Kraken wrap-up: a bit of a sloppy shootout win yields 7 straight ‘W’s’ for Detroit

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning, sweeping their 4-game road trip through Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

The Red Wings’ 7th straight victory affords the Wings the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference at 28-21-and-5 for 61 points in 54 games played, one more point than Saturday’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning (which holds 2 games in hand upon Detroit as of Wednesday morning).

It’s almost inconceivable to say this, but the Red Wings sit 1 point behind the 3rd-in-the-Atlantic Ottawa Senators, and only 6 points behind the Atlantic-leading Florida Panthers.

The Red Wings probably aren’t going to climb that high, but as mashed-up as the Eastern Conference’s Wild Card race is, it will behoove the Red Wings to close out the pre-Four Nations tournament schedule by earning their 8th straight win.

Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken wrap-up: a bit of a sloppy shootout win yields 7 straight ‘W’s’ for Detroit

Red Wings-Kraken quick take: shootout spectacular goes Detroit’s way

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to push their winning streak to 7 games at the expense of the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Detroit time, the Red Wings had to work for their 5-4 shootout win over the Seattle Kraken. The process wasn’t pretty–Detroit gave up 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-2 leads, Joey Daccord was tremendous for Seattle in stopping 36 shots, Cam Talbot was wonderful at times and shaky at others in giving up 4 on 27…

But Raymond, Seider, Berggren and Soderblom all scored in regulation, overtime solved nothing, and the Red Wings got the only goal they needed in the shootout–from Patrick Kane, who set an NHL record for the most shootout goals in history with 53.

It was a very late-night victory for the Red Wings, but it was necessary to sweep the road trip, and Detroit did just that. 4 wins in 4 games, 7 straight overall.

Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken quick take: shootout spectacular goes Detroit’s way

Alex DeBrincat has a ‘certain knack’ for scoring goals

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an evening notebook article which discusses Alex DeBrincat’s goal-scoring aplomb, noting that DeBrincat’s overtime winner against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday was historic in nature:

DeBrincat reached the 50-goal mark as a Wings’ player in his 135th game. DeBrincat is the fastest to reach 50 goals with the Wings since Brett Hull did it in 130 games from 2001-03.

The winning goal was one DeBrincat has scored often in his career. On a rush, able to unleash an accurate and effective one-timer, and finding the right places on the ice to get prime scoring opportunities.

“Their guy got lost in our zone when we picked it up,” DeBrincat said of the game-winning goal in Vancouver. “I saw it was going to be a long 3-on-2 (rush), and Raymond was the late guy. I gave it to him and he made a great play back to me.”

Since becoming Wings’ coach, Todd McLellan has spoken glowingly about DeBrincat’s ability and instincts for the game. DeBrincat’s ability to be so effective net-front, making life difficult for opposing goalies, despite DeBrincat’s smaller size, was one area McLellan has been impressed with.

“You almost appreciate him more when you’re around him more,” McLellan said. “You see him shift after shift and there is more to his game than his shot and goals, which we all know him for. But the work he does in and around the blue paint, screens, his thought process on the power play, how he gets open, his shooting and competitiveness … I’m glad he’s on our team.

“It’s a skill (playing net-front) and he (DeBrincat) has been taught, somebody taught him how to move through the eyes and not just stand there, and we’re reaping the benefit of it now.”

Continued (paywall)

Coach McLellan wants the Red Wings to give full effort vs. Seattle; Petry surgery confirmed

Red Wings coach Dan Watson and defenseman Moritz Seider spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills about the expectations for the team heading into tonight’s game with the Seattle Kraken (10 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KONG/KHN/97.1 FM):

“We can be full right now if we want to be, but in late March or April when we’re not full, we’ll regret it if we don’t come and compete tonight,” Detroit head coach Todd McLellan said after Tuesday’s morning skate at Climate Pledge Arena. “That will be the message tonight. This group has never given us any indication that they’re not ready to go. Expect the same effort, the same grind and the same type of input into the game for most of the nights that we’ve been here.”

In the second half of its weekend back-to-back set, Detroit grinded its way to a 3-2 overtime victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Alex DeBrincat scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the extra frame, and goalie Alex Lyon made 25 saves to help the Red Wings improve to 12-10-3 on the road this season.

Moritz Seider, who is set to play in his 300th career NHL game on Tuesday, said he believes a huge part of the club’s current win streak has been its defensive structure.

“We try to play really hard in front of our own net,” Seider said. “Obviously, [opponents] are going to get chances, but we try to eliminate second and third opportunities, sweep the crease, make it easier for goaltenders — to let them see the puck as often as we can — and capitalize on our chances. On [Sunday] we didn’t even play our best, but we found a way to capitalize on the limited chances we had and got away with a win.”

Speaking of Detroit’s defense, McLellan confirmed that Jeff Petry (undisclosed) recently underwent surgery and will be “out for about 6-8 weeks, depending on healing time.”

“It’s unfortunate for him as an individual and certainly for our team,” McLellan said about Petry, who has six points (one goal, five assists) in 34 games this season. “But we’re going to work hard with him to get him back.”

Continued

Griffins coach Dan Watson praises Sebastian Cossa’s development

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson regarding Red Wings prospect goaltender Sebastian Cossa:

“Every day before practice, he’s prepared for practice,” Watson said. “And that’s a growth that I’ve seen from when I first saw him in Toledo all the way till now. And it’s translating into wins, form, and good performances on the ice.”

His focus and preparation has helped Cossa, 22, post a 14-8-3 record with a 2.20 GAA and .920 save percentage. His focus and competitiveness even extended to the AHL All-Star game where he helped the Watson-coached Central Division team beat the Atlantic Division 2-1 in the shootout to win the AHL All-Star Challenge. Cossa and Milwaukee Admirals goalie Mike Murray combined to give up only seven goals in four games for the Central Division.

…

Cossa faced obstacles this season, like the fact that the Red Wings have three goalies playing in Grand Rapids. Ville Husso and Jack Campbell both have considerable NHL experience.

“The three goalies probably right now was throwing him off a little bit,” Watson said. “But to spin that to a positive, he’s had more time in the gym to get stronger. He’s had more time off the ice, do other cognitive learning things that resources that we have here. And then in that it’s. For him, it’s all about his daily habits and what he does, his routine.”

Even with three goalies sharing time, Cossa will still get close to 40 games this season.

“His development,” Watson said,”I think is on the right track and the right path.”

Continued

Ugh

I don’t want to post this story, but I would be remiss if I did not share it with you. The Free Press’s Violet Ikonomova reports that Red Wings/Tigers owner Christopher Ilitch is divorcing his wife, Kelle, and there are some concerns among the public that the Red Wings or Tigers’ ownership may be affected by said divorce:

Whether the Ilitch couple’s separation will have bearing on the hockey club or the baseball operation will largely depend on Chris’ ownership stake and whether legal documents are in place to prevent their being considered marital assets, such as a pre- or post-nuptial agreement, experts said.

The Red Wings are owned by Ilitch Holdings and the Tigers – according to Forbes and Crain’s Detroit Business – are in a family trust. Chris Ilitch is listed as Tigers CEO and chair and Red Wings governor, president and CEO.

Experts said a family with the wealth and business savvy of the Ilitches would likely have protections in place preventing their teams and other major assets from being subject to split.

“Could (Chris Ilitch) be forced to sell his interest if he needed cash in the event of a huge divorce settlement or obligation? Could it strip the franchises of their cash flow and prevent them from signing players? It could, but not likely,” said James Quigley of Chicago-based Beermann LLP, a firm handling high-asset divorces. “These franchises are so valuable and the ownership or transfer of them in the family is going to be so closely guarded that even a loving spouse of 20-something years is going to be kept out of that.”

The Red Wings are valued at $2.1 billion and the Tigers at $1.45 billion, according to the latest calculations by Forbes.

Lowell Friedman, a family lawyer and founding member of Friedman Law Firm in Royal Oak, agreed it’s unlikely either team would be affected, but said it’s possible Kelle Ilitch was given a stake.

“Should anyone be concerned about how the company or teams are going to be run? The answer is sure,” said Friedman. “In a long-term marriage, everything is going to generally be considered as marital property … until and unless a party can demonstrate why a particular asset should not be considered a marital asset.”

Continued; long story long, there is nothing to worry about, Red Wings or Tigers fans. I just hope that their divorce is relatively amicable, and that the two parties continue on their respective ways.

Update: From MLive’s Evan Woodbury:

Attorney David Mendelson issued a joint statement from the couple that said the divorce would not impact any of the businesses.

“After thoughtful consideration, we will be transitioning into separate lives and do so with love, friendship, and a commitment to our children,” the statement read. “We have settled this matter and it will have no impact on the ownership or operation of the Ilitch businesses.”

Times two from the Detroit News’s Kara Berg and Breana Noble:

Continue reading Ugh

Video: Raymond, Seider and coach McLellan speak with the media ahead of Red Wings-Kraken game

The Detroit Red Wings and Seattle Kraken held their respective morning skates at Climate Pledge Arena ahead of tonight’s game between the two teams (10 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KHN/KONG/97.1 FM), and it appears that Cam Talbot will oppose Joey Daccord in goal this evening.

After the teams’ skates, the Red Wings’ players and coaches spoke with the media:

Red Wings-Kraken morning skate Tweets: Talbot vs. Daccord in goal as Wings aim for 7th straight win

The Detroit Red Wings battle the Seattle Kraken this evening (10 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/KHN/KONG/97.1 FM), with the Red Wings looking to extend their winning streak to 7 games.

The “Sound of Hockey” followed the Kraken’s morning skate, which started at 10 AM local time…

Again, it doesn’t look like Eberle will play tonight…

Continue reading Red Wings-Kraken morning skate Tweets: Talbot vs. Daccord in goal as Wings aim for 7th straight win