Month: June 2025

Press release: Wings select Carter Bear in 1st round of 2025 NHL Draft

Officially official:

RED WINGS SELECT FORWARD CARTER BEAR 13TH OVERALL IN 2025 NHL DRAFT 

  … Bear Led WHL’s Everett Silvertips with 82 Points in 56 Games During 2024-25 Season …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today selected forward Carter Bear in the first round (13th overall) of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles.

Bear played the 2024-25 season with the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips and ranked among the team leaders with 40 goals (1st), 42 assists (4th), 82 points (1st), a plus-33 rating (7th), 77 penalty minutes (2nd), 14 power play goals (1st), 27 power play points (T1st), two shorthanded goals (T2nd), nine game-winning goals (1st) and 185 shots (4th) in 56 games. The 6-foot, 179-pound forward earned a place on the WHL’s Western Conference Second All-Star Team. Bear spent the entire 2023-24 campaign with the Silvertips, recording 57 points (25-32-57), a plus-23 rating and 26 penalty minutes in 67 regular-season games, in addition to four assists in nine postseason contests. In total, Bear has compiled 141 points (66-75-141), a plus-53 rating and 103 penalty minutes in 142 WHL games with the Silvertips since 2022-23.

A native of Winnipeg, Man., Bear played the majority of the 2022-23 season with the Winnipeg Thrashers in the Manitoba U18 Hockey League, capturing Most Valuable Player honors and a spot on the league’s First All-Star Team after recording 59 points (32-27-59) and 24 penalty minutes in 31 regular-season games, along with two points (1-1-2) in three postseason matchups. Bear also spent the 2021-22 season with the Thrashers’ under-18 squad, notching 42 points (25-17-42) and 34 penalty minutes in 39 regular-season games, in addition to two points (1-1-2) in three playoff games. Bear skated with Team Manitoba at the 2021-22 WHL Cup, finishing with one assist in five appearances.

Detroit currently has eight selections for the second day of the 2025 Entry Draft: one in the second round (44th overall), two in the third round (75th and 76th), one in the fourth round (119th), one in the fifth round (140th), one in the sixth round (172nd) and two in the seventh round (204th and 211th).

Kulfan, St. James, Allen on Carter Bear, updated with video

Updated at 10:56 PM: The Detroit Red Wings drafted Everett Silvertips winger Carter Bear with their 13th overall draft pick at the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles. After Bear was drafted, he spoke with several media members, including the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

Bear (6-foot, 180 pounds), who suffered a partially torn Achilles tendon that ended his season in March, scored 40 goals in 56 games for Everett (WHL). Bear said expects to be ready for training camp.

“I’m skating right now,” said Bear on a Zoom call with Detroit media after being selected. “It’s about 80 percent I would say, not getting into contact yet right now, but it’s good for the season with Everett for sure.”

Not competing in the playoffs was a disappointment but Bear found out much about himself in the rehabilitation.

“Pretty bummed out when you can’t play with your team,” Bear said. “I tried to take it in a positive way going through this whole stage in recovery. To hear my name called, it’s kind of a relief for sure. I’m grateful to think of what Detroit thinks of me and to give me an opportunity.”

Bear was emotional after hearing his name called by the Wings and broke down in an interview with ESPN.

“It really did (hit me),” Bear said. “I didn’t really realize (how emotional he was) until I was in that building and it hit me hard.”

Bear is one of the fiercest competitors in this draft, going to the net and playing a hard, edgy game. But he combines that with an offensive ability that’s among the best in the draft.

“Wanting the puck, creating plays, I have a hard nose with the puck in front of the net for sure,” Bear said. “I’m at the right spots at the right time.”

Continued; I like the pick. Scoring and intensity are two things that the Red Wings need in their prospect pool, and the more competitive they can get, the better they will be in the future.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James also posted Bear’s Zoom interview:

The Wings also posted a clip of Bear’s post-draft scrum:

Here’s a little more from Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen:

Continue reading Kulfan, St. James, Allen on Carter Bear, updated with video

Red Wings select Carter Bear 13th overall

The Detroit Red Wings drafted forward Carter Bear with the 13th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Continue reading Red Wings select Carter Bear 13th overall

Not expecting surprises as the Red Wings’ ‘little engine that could’ steams along at a familiar pace

It’s been a long time since I got behind the keyboard and wrote a blog entry, but not so much has changed when it comes to the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wings have been following their front office’s usually methodical path through the offseason, not yet choosing whether to buy out Justin Holl or Vladimir Tarasenko, and instead, revealing plans for the team’s Centennial celebrations, re-signing Griffins defensemen Antti Tuomisto (a prospect with a little bit of runway left to develop at 24 years of age) and William Lagesson (a 29-year-old d-man who dutifully served as the Wings’ 7th defenseman in warm-ups for the vast majority of the regular season)…

And that’s about it. We can all guess that the Wings are probably eying diminutive Swede William Eklund with the 13th overall pick, and then they’ll draft 8 more players on Saturday in LA…

We know that the team is going to sign more Grand Rapids Griffins players before the Summer Development Camp begins on Monday and free agency begins on Tuesday…

And there are a lot of people who are frustrated with the team right now, because their front office doesn’t seem to be doing what the Detroit News’s Bob Wojnowski prescribed yesterday night:

Continue reading Not expecting surprises as the Red Wings’ ‘little engine that could’ steams along at a familiar pace

Taking action

Hello, everybody.

I see that some of you are still checking the blog, and I’m grateful for that. I wanted to post a quick update regarding my mental and physical health here:

Things are starting to get better after a long time of really struggling with depression.

I’ve been working very hard with my psychologist to find a way out of the ditch, which has been productive, and my psychiatrist upped the dosage of one of my medications when I spoke with her recently.

I’ve still been hampered by heavy anxiety as well as depression, but I’m able to at least get a couple of days a week where I feel like a human being, and that’s progress.

Caring for Aunt Annie has served as good discipline, too, because nobody else is going to do it if I don’t, and so I have to drag my butt out of bed and spend my evenings with her. She’s been really supportive of me as I battle through my symptoms, too, and that’s been of great comfort, and she’s been very supportive of my desire to return to the blog, too.

As far as a timeline for getting back to work is concerned, I miss the job tremendously, and I am hoping to try and get back by the time the NHL Draft hits next Friday. I don’t know whether that’s realistic at this point, but that’s the plan as of this morning.

I know that it’s been a shitty year for me coverage-wise, but dealing with moderate-to-severe anxiety, depression and bipolar 2 = some years are better than others.

I thank you for your support and your time, and, as I continue to place a significant amount of work into my recovery, I hope to get back to work soon.