Month: October 2025

Tweet of note: Lucas Raymond’s ‘red carpet’ interview

WXYZ’s Brad Galli spoke with Red Wings alternate captain Lucas Raymond from the Red Wings’ ‘red carpet’:

Update: Moritz Seider spoke with Galli as well:

THN’s Whitaker speaks with the Motor Finnie

The Hockey News’s Michael Whitaker spoke with Red Wings forward Emmitt Finnie about his imminent NHL debut:

It doesn’t seem like long ago that established Red WIngs players like Larkin, Raymond, and Moritz Seider were once rookies themselves, and Finnie has leaned on their support and picked their brains on what he himself can expect as he hits the ice for the first time in regular season play. 

“I’ve talked to a couple of guys about their first games and how to kind of get into it and relax then nerves, and they tell just keep telling me to play my game and the nerves will settle in off the start,” Finnie said. “Just be super confident out there and play my game.”

Just like his rookie teammates Brandsegg-Nygård and Sandin-Pellikka, Finnie is going to have a large presence of relatives in the stands to watch his inaugural game. 

“I’ve got my mom and dad, brother, sister, my girlfriend, aunt, uncle, and his wife,” he said of who will be coming to support him. “Lots of family and friends.” 

Finnie especially impressed with his play in Training Camp and the pre-season, during which he skated in seven of eight games and was used in all situations by head coach Todd McLellan. Not only does he possess tremendous speed, he’s also shown that he’s unafraid to go into the tough areas of the ice – not something that your average 20-year-old does with such enthusiasm. 

“I think I bring a high motor, I feel like a 200 foot player, and I have lots of speed so I can be all over the ice and impact the game in lots of ways,” Finnie said of his playing style. 

Continued–a very good article!

Inevitably fundraising

Good afternoon.

I’m a bit uncomfortable doing this, but one of the reasons that I had to return is that we need to fundraise to plain old pay the bills.

My check from the State of Michigan (as Aunt Annie’s caregiver) is going to be about a week late due to the delay in negotiating and signing the State of Michigan’s budget (I usually receive my check on the 12th, and it’s going to come about a week later), and in the interim, we’ve got about $28 to get us until whenever that check arrives.

That’s a bit of a tight squeeze, and, put bluntly, the blog keeps us from having to use credit cards to cover expenses (on a caregiver’s salary, you don’t really have any “savings.” The money comes in, the bills come in, and the money goes out. And if you get into debt, it’s hard to get out of it).

So I’m back at work, understanding that this first-couple-games-of-the-season schedule is pretty punishing at times. This week has been a bit nuts, though I understood that it would be from the get-go…

And I’ve got to ask for a little pay-it-forward assistance as I simply try to get through restarting the blog and dealing with the realities of the fiscal grind.

Blogging is how I get by in addition to the caregiving part of the job. I missed it terribly over the last two weeks, and it’s definitely a little early to make a fundraising appeal, but life circumstances make this necessary.

Continue reading Inevitably fundraising

Tweets of note: The Forecheck, and jerseys in frame

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Grand Rapids Griffins name Dominik Shine captain

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

The Griffins filed their weekly press release as well.

Afternoon news: on evidentiary evaluation, fast fashion, tonight’s match-up and Andrew Copp stepping up

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

  1. As the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan notes, Red Wings coach Todd McLellan is more than ready to start evaluating his team’s best-on-best play:

“We plan all summer, you go through training camp to get your team together and organized and really have nothing to base your judgements on,” said coach Todd McLellan, who admitted he’ll be as nervous as anyone heading into Game No. 1.

“I call it evidence. That’s why we play the games now. The players give you evidence and guidelines as to where you take the group. Do we keep pounding the basics into them? Or do we grow as a team? The first one (game) is a little bit unpredictable. Those nerves can get you and you can overplay or underplay.”

Many players talked about the urgency of making the playoffs this season, after a nine-year postseason drought. McLellan believes this roster has laid a good foundation for success.

“This is the first training camp I’ve had with this group and their attention and the work they’ve put in throughout camp allows them to have a little bit of a foundation heading into the season,” McLellan said. “That foundation doesn’t guarantee anything. It doesn’t guarantee a playoff spot. But it allows us to grow off something. We’ve improved in some areas, we’ve injected energy in the lineup with some pace speed. We’ve had more of an opportunity to work on our structure.

“Do those things add up to the end goal (playoffs) that you’re talking about? We’ll find out in 190 days or whatever, but that’s what we’re hoping for.”

2. Coach McLellan also told MLive’s Ansar Khan that the Red Wings will play fast hockey…

“We need to play with some pace,” McLellan said. “We need to have a hunting mentality. Our special teams have to polish up again. The power play has to maintain or try to maintain the level it was at last year (fourth in the league) and have the same impact on games. Penalty kill has to improve (last in the league). We believe that we’ll get some good goaltending that will allow us to play through spells, maybe when we’re not playing really well. And then on the other side of it, maybe we can score more to help the goaltenders and alleviate some of the pressure off of them.

“A lot of things have to go right for us, and it’s up to us to make them happen.”

The Red Wings have some festivities planned to celebrate their Centennial season and will be wearing special uniforms in select games, including tonight, when defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka and forwards Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard make their NHL debut.

“Hopefully, we can impress our fans by our playing style we really implemented over training camp and get a good start,” Moritz Seider said. “Todd emphasized on dialing in your first shift, being ready right from the get-go. I think if we can nail that, then we’ll be in a good spot. If everyone can win their first shift and we kind of build momentum.”

3. And Lucas Raymond agreed with his coach, as DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills noted:

“This is the first Training Camp that I had with this group, and I think their attention and work that they’ve put in throughout allows them to have a bit of a foundation heading into the season,” McLellan said. “I don’t know what it’s been like in the past. I just know how it feels right now. The simple fact that we’ve done that gives us a chance.”

Embracing a grounded approach regardless of what highs and lows come their way over the next several months will be key, Raymond believes.

“We want to get off to a good start, but it’s a long season,” Raymond said. “There are a lot of games and it’s going to be a tight schedule this year, so for us it’s just going day-by-day and game-by-game. We’re looking to take steps during the season and put ourselves in a good spot down the stretch. It starts tonight. I think everyone is excited to get out there. We’ve been working hard, and I like where we are as a team.”

The Canadiens started their season on Wednesday, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Oliver Kapanen and Zack Bolduc scored, while netminder Sam Montembeault made 22 saves for Montreal.

“[Head coach Martin St. Louis] has been there a number of years now and has done a tremendous job,” McLellan said. “Their roster hasn’t changed a whole lot. Every coach makes adjustments. Yes, we’ll give them a pre-scout, and we’ll have to try to create a picture of what it’s going to feel like to play against the Canadiens or the Leafs and any other team. But really, we can overcook that a little bit too. It’s a lot more about us and what we want to do, and can we get to that quickly or can we maintain it more than what they’re doing.”

4. Finally, the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article about Andrew Copp’s desire to step up his play:

As his fourth season with the Detroit Red Wings gets underway, Andrew Copp is focused on playing his best style of hockey.

Among the most vocal in the locker room regarding what a difference Todd McLellan has made, Copp was playing that last season when he entered a scrum and exited with a pectoral injury that ended up requiring season-ending surgery. Now he’s trying to recapture that form.

“I think I was playing well when I got hurt and am just trying to continue that on,” Copp said. “Just trying to be as involved in the game as possible. Let my brain and anticipation lead me.

“Even Todd has said, Your brain is your best attribute and your skating is good. Use that. Don’t think too much. Use it to anticipate instead of use it to read and react.“

…

McLellan had Copp, a natural center who can also play wing, on a line with Rasmussen and newcomer Mason Appleton when this year’s training camp began, but on Thursday, Oct. 9, when the Wings host the Montreal Canadiens in their season opener, Copp will be with veteran J.T. Compher and rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård.

“JT and Copp are both centermen,” McLellan said. “Both are really important players and we pushed both, not only last year, but we reminded them this year. We put them together with the kid and, you know – experience, some size, some poise, some directness, some heaviness. We expect all that from those three.

“But then Copp and Compher in particular, they can be big penalty kill pieces and we’ve used them a lot in exhibition season in that role, and we’ll start with them there. If they embrace it, lead it, that would be a real good thing.”

Red Wings’ rookie trio say they’re ready to deal with ‘family stuff’ as they make their NHL debuts

As we all know by now, Emmitt Finnie, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka’s families are all in Detroit to watch the young trio make their NHL debuts. MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Wings coach Todd McLellan believes that the young players are ready to handle the distractions thrust upon them:

“We’re not going to overburden them,” McLellan said. “There’s enough nerves and anxiousness around. Their families are in, Game One, home opener, 100 years celebration. There’s a lot going on that they can get caught up in. The last thing they need is us in their ears. They’ve been around us now for almost a month. They know what they have to do and they know how to do it or they wouldn’t be in the lineup. So just going to get out of the way and hopefully they play a fearless-type game. They just go out and everything flows.”

As Khan notes, the Wings’ home games tonight and Saturday mean a double dose of family time for the Wings’ rookies, which is fine by them:

Continue reading Red Wings’ rookie trio say they’re ready to deal with ‘family stuff’ as they make their NHL debuts