Author: George Malik

File this one under “a timely video”: Alex Wood, a.k.a. AWood40 on YouTube, posted an 18-minute highlight clip spotlighting Filip Hronek’s 2019-2020 season:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Stanley Cup Final preview on Friday evening, and as part of his article, he notes that Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill is still grateful for his time spent as the Detroit Red Wings’ assistant GM:

“Every day you came to work and learned something new,” said Nill during Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Friday, mentioning being able to work and learn from the likes of Jimmy Devellano, Ken Holland and Steve Yzerman, along with players such as Nicklas Lidstrom. “It prepared me for where I am now and I owe so much to those people. The way the Ilitch family operates their franchise, everything was first class. You respect people and we played the game the right way.

“I was very fortunate and happy to be associated with those people.”

Continued; Kulfan discusses the Wings’ ties to both the Stars and Lightning.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji posted an article profiling 20-year-old Wings prospect Ryan O’Reilly, who will begin his college career with the Arizona State University Sun Devils sometime this fall. Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff weighs in on O’Reilly’s outlook:

Quotable: “He’s committed to Arizona State University next year. I think he’s excited to leave junior and go do that. He’s a guy that’s a scorer. When Ryan’s playing his game, he’s putting the puck in the net and he’s using his size to get in on the forecheck and turn pucks over and be a good, physical presence, get to the hard areas, get to the front of the net. We’re excited to see. I think for him, it’s just another step in his development, going to ASU, going to a good program down there. We’re going to look forward to seeing what he can do in college.” — Shawn Horcoff, director of player development and assistant director of player personnel

Continued.

In a subscriber-only story, the Detroit News’s Mark Falkner penned a profile of Buffalo Sabres director of player development Matt Ellis, who played for the Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins, regarding the Wings-and-Griffins-learned lessons the AHL veteran will apply to developing Sabres prospects:

“On some teams, a lot of guys do a lot of talking but they don’t walk the walk,” Ellis said. “They get labelled as heroes because they turn it on and off when the time is right. In Detroit, the guys just did it and it wasn’t broadcast all over the place. This is what we do, our habits, our preparation. They aren’t necessarily the sexy things, the work, the sacrifice but when it’s driven internally like that, you have a really good thing going because the people who come in are either on board or they don’t last long.”

Ellis spent six years in the Red Wings’ organization, starting with a 27-goal season with the ECHL Toledo Storm and then another four straight years of improved point production with the AHL Grand Rapids Griffins.

Named the youngest captain in Griffins’ history at age 24 in 2005-06, the 6-foot, 210-pound forward went on to become captain with the Portland Pirates and Rochester Americans and registered 21 goals and 28 assists in 356 career NHL games.

“Being a leader and being counted on in Grand Rapids allowed me to grow and gave me the very, very solid foundation and great lessons to draw on to this day,” Ellis said. “The beauty of the organization was the great mentors to look up to, the great players and great staff to look to, to learn from. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Continued (paywall); this article’s about Ellis’ journey as much as anything else, and Griffins fans will tell you that Ellis is easy to root for.

Red Wings senior vice president Jimmy Devellano spoke with MLive’s Ansar Khan regarding the numerous ties between the Wings and the management of the Dallas Stars (see: GM Jim Nill, director of amateur scouting Joe McDonnell, assistant coach Todd Nelson) and Tampa Bay Lightning (see: Steve Yzerman helped build their roster; assistant GM Stacy Roest and assistant coach Derek Lalonde).

Khan illustrates said ties while discussing Nill and Yzerman’s respective managerial ascents but Devellano’s most interesting comments involve the team he still works for:

“I’m kind of proud because both teams have Red Wings-trained backgrounds,” Devellano said. “It’s nice to see.

“Now we have to figure out how to get our house in order. We’ll find a way. It’s just going to take some time. There is no easy way out of this. We need to get luckier in the draft.”

They weren’t lucky in the lottery, dropping to fourth overall despite finishing 23 points below anyone else.

“It’s unfortunate, but we got to do what we got to do,” Devellano said. “As I always say to Steve, ‘We got you at No. 4. Just find another you.’ “

Continued with Khan’s Cup Final pick…

This note from NHL.com’s John Kreiser, offering a, “This Date in NHL History” article, takes note of a significant birthday:

1933: Scotty Bowman, the most successful coach in NHL history, is born in Montreal.

After an injury ends his hopes of becoming an NHL player, Bowman turns to coaching and gets his first NHL job at age 34 in 1967 as an assistant with the expansion St. Louis Blues. He replaces Lynn Patrick as coach later that season and guides the Blues to the Stanley Cup Final in each of their first three seasons. Bowman moves to the Montreal Canadiens in 1971-72 and wins the Stanley Cup five times in eight seasons, including four in a row from 1976-79, before leaving to become coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres.

Bowman becomes director of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990 and is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 1991, but goes back behind the bench when coach Bob Johnson is diagnosed with brain cancer after leading the Penguins to the Cup in 1991. Johnson dies Nov. 26, 1991; the Penguins dedicate the season to him and Bowman guides them to a second straight Stanley Cup championship.

He takes over as coach of the Detroit Red Wings in 1993. They make the Final in 1995, win a regular season-record 62 games in 1995-96 and end a 42-year championship drought by sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 Cup Final. Under Bowman, the Red Wings win the Cup again in 1998 and 2002; after that, he retires with NHL records for games coached (2,141), wins in the regular season (1,244) and playoffs (223), and Stanley Cups (nine).

Bowman is part of another Cup-winning team with Detroit in 2008, as a special consultant. In July 2008 he is named a senior adviser with the Chicago Blackhawks, working with his son, GM Stan Bowman. He is part of Chicago’s championship teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Happy Birthday, ?????? ‼️? pic.twitter.com/2EzeNdIjac— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 18, 2020

The man. The myth. The legend. Happy birthday Scotty Bowman! Join us as we roast and toast the man of the hour on October 14th at The Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman presented by @DeltaDentalMI For more info (including silent auction!) visit https://t.co/jj2XvGcmbP pic.twitter.com/zEdbrcjwjs— Jamie Daniels Foundation (@JDanielsFund) September 18, 2020

A happy 87th birthday to the one and only Scotty Bowman @coachwsb. One of my favourite people, Scotty has always been unafraid to make bold statements, like wearing these pants while coaching Montreal. pic.twitter.com/0nyW5rnKmO— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) September 18, 2020

According to the Free Press’s Helene St. James, two members of the AHL’s “Return to Play” committee, including Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland and AHL president Scott Howson, the American Hockey League may or may not be able to hold a 2020-2021 season, especially if the ticket-revenue-driven league is not able to accommodate fans’ rear ends in seats:

“It would be very difficult for most of our teams to operate without fans,” Scott Howson, the president of the AHL, told the Free Press. “I think there are some that would want to do it. Most of our teams are sort of able to operate at 50% capacity. That is the feedback we are getting from surveys, but right now, we aren’t close to that in most of our jurisdictions.”

Van Andel Arena, home to the Grand Rapids Griffins, has a capacity of 11,000 for hockey games, but under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s current orders, 5,500 fans would not be allowed to gather at the rink.

Local restrictions on travel and large gatherings in several locations are among the many issues Howson and the AHL committee have to consider.

“We have four Canadian AHL teams and further to that, we have three NHL Canadian teams that have their players playing in AHL U.S. market, which would make it difficult for them to recall players,” Howson said. “Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver all have their teams in the States, so that’s a big obstacle and consideration as we tackle this issue.”

The AHL has a board meeting scheduled for Sept. 30, at which point the committee is expected to “come up with a recommendation for us to consider,” Howson said. “So it’s all still very much up in the air. We just aren’t able to decide anything on whether Dec. 4 is realistic at this point.”

Continued; the NHL, AHL and ECHL seasons are all “up in the air” right now due to travel and stadium capacity restrictions…

NHL.com’s resident draft guru, Mike G. Morreale, employed NHL Central Scouting’s Joey Tenute to answer 2020 draft-related questions yesterday, and the pair focused on the Ontario Hockey League’s top prospects, including two possible Red Wings picks.

First, Morreale and Tenute discussed Marco Rossi’s size and strength…

Q: Ottawa center Marco Rossi is No. 6 in Central Scouting’s final ranking of North American skaters. He led the OHL with 120 points (39 goals, 81 assists) in 56 games. Do you think his size (5-9, 183) will deter him from taking his game to the next level?

“I don’t believe so. He’s got that low center of gravity and looks like he’s got a strong core and strong legs. He’s just a dynamic skater, has that elusive ability and it’s hard for guys really to hit him. He very rarely is eliminated from the play and has a strong determination to his game. I see Marco always looking for an edge over his opponents, he’s feisty and has that grit game. Marco plays at a high pace and doesn’t need a lot of time on the ice to make plays happen. He’s got that goal-scoring ability and playmaking ability and he wants to win and that’s what I think sets him apart and why his size won’t be an issue for him at the next level.”

And they addressed the hype (or lack thereof) surrounding Cole Perfetti:

Q: Saginaw center Cole Perfetti scored 111 points (37 goals, 74 assists) in 61 games and was the second-leading scorer in the OHL, yet hasn’t garnered a lot of attention. Based on your viewings, how special a player is he?

“I think Perfetti (5-10, 177) grabbed the attention of our whole country at the start of the season with his clutch performance for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup (12 points; eight goals, four assists in five games) in August and he really just carried it into this season. I was excited every time he came onto the ice during my viewings to see what he could do and what he was going to do. He’s a player that’s targeted and he draws the attention from the other players. They want to eliminate him and take as much time and space away from him as possible because he’s a guy that gets it done. He’s elusive with his stops and starts and his ability to turn and change directions. He draws the attention of everyone on the ice, including scouts and fans and everybody’s looking at him. He’s a guy that’s stepping up off the blue line, back door, and putting it on his tape and it’s in the net. His statistics backed it up and he’s got a bright future.”

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman wrote a mailbag feature this morning. Among the questions asked was an interesting query: of the Wings’ possible 2020 first round draft picks, which player is the “closest” to providing an immediate impact:

I think Marco Rossi is the first guy in that group to the NHL, partly because he’s one of the oldest players in the class, partly because he already ran up the score on the OHL last year, and partly because he’s already signaled he wants to be in the NHL right away. Scott Wheeler reported in August that Rossi opted against signing in Europe this fall to instead focus on training, with the intent of being in the NHL when it starts back up.

Among the others: Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz start their seasons in Sweden this weekend. Jake Sanderson is on the young side of the draft class as a July birthday, and is bound for college. Jamie Drysdale will take time to fill out and keep developing. And Cole Perfetti still likely needs to improve on his strength and skating before he’s ready, although he could torch the OHL this year, to the point he may need to be in the NHL in 2021.

Which one is an impact player first might be a different question, but the Red Wings shouldn’t worry about who becomes a difference-maker first so much as who can make the biggest difference overall.

Continued (paywall); I swear to you that I was going to ask for mailbag questions today, but Bultman beat me to it.

Still, if you have Red Wings-related questions, send them my way via the comments section, Twitter or email at rtxg@yahoo.com. It’s just time to start answering some hockey questions on a regular basis.

It’s a simple question in theory: “Who are you rooting for in the Stanley Cup Final?” For Red Wings fans, it’s not an easy answer:

The Red Wings have significant ties to the Dallas Stars (see: GM Jim Nill, assistant coach Todd Nelson and forward Mattias Janmark), but Corey Perry’s on the team, and we all hate Corey Perry…

And the Lightning also have Red Wings ties as well (assistant coach Derek Lalonde, assistant GM Stacy Roest), and current Wings GM Steve Yzerman built quite a bit of the Lightning’s roster, which may or may not offset the fact that the Bolts have become something of a Wings nemesis (and the Bolts have used the Red Wings as something of a punching bag over the past five years)…

All of that being said, one Down Goes Brown, a.k.a. Sean McIndoe, believes that Wings fans should be rooting for the Bolts in the Stanley Cup Final:

Detroit Red Wings
I’m sure there might be some lingering Jim Nill support, and when I suggested Wings fans root for the Lightning back when this all started, more than a few Detroit fans pushed back. I get that there’s some recent playoff history, and I’m all for a little bad blood. But there’s only a little, and it’s not like the Wings didn’t have some history with the Stars in their glory years. Besides, do you want to know that Steve Yzerman can build a Cup winner or don’t you?

Pick: Lightning

I’m going with the Stars, despite Corey Perry’s presence on the team. Jim Nill is one of the kindest men in hockey, I want to see coach Nelson and Mattias Janmark win, and I’m rooting for coach Rick Bowness and Anton Khubodin in this instance.

Who are you rooting for tomorrow night?