Two notes in the FYI department:
?️ jerseys. ✌️ bobbleheads.
— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) July 23, 2019
? OUR 2019-20 PROMO SCHEDULE IS HERE ?https://t.co/rV8uvbTslc
2. And the NCAA’s website states that tickets are on sale for the 2020 Frozen Four, which takes place at Little Caesars Arena from April 9th to 11th, 2020.
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner examines forward David Pope’s 2018-2019 campaign “By the Numbers” this morning, discussing Pope’s rookie campaign spent with the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye. Pope is an older prospect at 24 years of age, so he’s got to make the most of his chances to shine:
Quotable: “He came out of college (so he’s) an older guy, had a really good senior year. (He’s) a guy that can score that does well on the power play and like everybody else, he came in as a rookie to a deep team and struggled in the AHL right out of the gate. The thing with the AHL and you see it a lot with college players – actually all players in general – they think, ‘Oh man, I’m going to eat these minor leagues up,’ and it just doesn’t work that way. It’s a hard league and in Grand Rapids we always have a good hockey team, there’s always good competition for playing time and roster spots and he found himself behind the eightball early. But I think it was a good thing for him. I know he’s putting the work in and doing things differently this summer. He’s going to come back ready to get a bigger role and play better next year.” – Shawn Horcoff, Detroit’s director of player development
WXYZ’s Brad Galli filed a live video report from St. Louis Blues forward and Bloomfield Hills native MacKenzie MacEachern ‘s day with the Stanley Cup:
According to the Petoskey News’s Greg Wickliffe, Fedor Fedorov, the younger brother of Sergei Fedorov, held a hockey camp in Petoskey, Michigan recently, and all went well in the second annual installment of Fedorov’s camp:
For the second year in a row, Fedor has put together a hockey camp at the Petoskey Ice Area to teach young aspiring hockey players the basics of the game as well as improve their existing talents.
The success from the first year of the camp created an exponential growth for Year 2 as the camp has grown from 60 participants in 2018 to close to 250 this summer.
“I don’t really see any training camps around, so we have a rink, we have the ice, kids want to do it, so I’m just trying to make them better everyday possible,” Fedorov said. “If they want to work, I’ll be here.
“I want to thank northern Michigan for making hockey great again and participating because when I got here, I felt like there were no kids and now I see kids and that’s all really matters. I’m thankful that they’re coming.”
Of Red Wings-related note in the “smaller stories” category:
2. According to the Detroit News, the latest set of Stanley Cup odds coming from a sports betting organization suggest that the Red Wings will be hard-pressed to make a playoff run this upcoming season:
SportsBetting.ag released its over/under numbers for NHL point totals next season Tuesday, setting the Red Wings’ points at 75.5. That’s a slim 1.5 points more than last season, when Detroit finished 32-40-10 with the fourth-fewest points in the NHL.
Only two teams — the Los Angeles Kings and Ottawa Senators — are projected for fewer points than the Red Wings, according to SportsBetting.ag.
What’s more, the Red Wings’ odds to win the Stanley Cup also have grown longer since the NHL draft and, more importantly, free agency, according to the sportsbook. The Red Wings’ odds have gone from 66/1 on June 13 to 100/1 — longer than any other team except for the Senators.
3. Finally, the Red Wings are counting down the days, hours and minutes until the 2019-2020 season begins:
1,778 more hours. ?? pic.twitter.com/IzvseZfTlg— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 23, 2019
According to the Blackburn News’s Mark Brown, former Red Wing and St. Louis Blues assistant coach Steve Ott will share his “day with the Stanley Cup” with fans in Lakeshore, Ontario this Sunday:
The Town of Lakeshore announced Tuesday that the Stanley Cup will be displayed at the Atlas Tube Centre for a public event. The Cup will be available courtesy of Steve Ott, a current assistant coach with the recently-crowned champion, St. Louis Blues.
Traditionally, all team personnel are given their own day with the Stanley Cup. Ott, who grew up in Stoney Point, is using his day to set up the viewing.
The Cup will be on display from 11:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. in the Rock Development Rink of the Atlas Tube Centre. The first 45 minutes will be set aside for the Belle River District Minor Hockey teams and the Lakeshore Lightning teams to have their photos taken with the trophy. The general public will then have their chance to see the Cup from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.
If you would like your photo taken with the Cup, you are asked to bring a canned good to donate. They will be collected and sent on to the Community Support Centre of Essex County’s Community Food Pantry. Only photos will be taken, no autographs will be signed.
In brief Red Wings-related news this morning, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan posted a set of mid-summer power rankings, and she seems to suggest that the Red Wings may simply have to wait out the 2019-2020 season before their team is able to make meaningful changes:
Previous ranking: 27
Stanley Cup odds: 150-1After months of speculation, the Steve Yzerman era has begun in the Red Wings’ front office. But he’ll need to wait a little longer to truly shape this roster into a contender. The Red Wings are still shedding bad contracts and waiting for their prospect system to develop.
Continued, and I am hoping that the Wings’ prospects are allowed to step forward and step up this season, but I would like to believe that the team won’t be as woefully bad as they’ve been over the past two seasons as well.
The truth of the matter is always the same as far as players are concerned, anyway: the Wings’ players and coaching staff will begin training camp and the exhibition season aiming for nothing less than a playoff spot and a deep playoff run as everyone is hard-wired to believe they can win, no matter how long the odds may be.
The NHLPA posted a set of videos in which the late Ted Lindsay shared his opinions on various hockey topics, and it appeared that the last “Ted Take” was posted on July 15th.
Today, the NHLPA posted another video in which Lindsay discusses the integrity needed to try and start the NHL Players’ Association:
Of Red Wings-related note this evening:
Ken Holland, Detroit Red Wings (1997-2019)
*Current GM: Steve Yzerman
Best move: Drafting Pavel Datsyuk – Holland’s Red Wings career spanned parts of three decades, so there’s plenty to choose from here, but Datsyuk takes the cake. Plucked in the sixth round of the 1998 NHL Draft, the Magic Man played 14 seasons for Detroit, winning two Cups, three Selke trophies, and four Lady Byngs while adding 918 points during a Hall of Fame career.
Worst move: Signing Stephen Weiss – The arrival of the salary cap made it more difficult for Holland to swing for the fences as he did when he was building Cup contenders in the ’90s, but he still didn’t shy away from doling out big-time money in free agency. He proved as much with a five-year, $24.5-million contract for Weiss in 2013. The forward played 78 games for Detroit, and his buyout is on the Wings’ books until 2021.
You’ll have to read on for Yzerman’s best and worst moves…
2. Speaking of heavy contracts, Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Lambert gave a graduating Red Wing a dig a dig in his latest “31 Takes”:
Continue reading Evening news: On managerial moves, dekeing DeKeyser, ‘weighing’ the Winged Wheel and Evan McGrathThe Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an “emptying out the notebook” article reflecting upon Red Wings prospect Ryan Kuffner’s rookie campaign and experiences at the Wings’ summer development camp:
Kuffner is doing everything he can to help himself do that. He’s spending this summer living with 2015 sixth-round draft pick defenseman Patrick Holway, while skating several times a week with the likes of Dylan Larkin, Darren Helm and Luke Glendening.
“Being here, it’s away from home (Ottawa) and it’s a great opportunity of just 24 hours a day, doing everything it takes (to become an NHL player),” Kuffner said. “A big thing for me this summer is just being here, with the guys, doing everything we can to make it a competitive environment, because that will make us better.”
Improving and strengthening his core and lower body is something else Kuffner is concentrating on, after losing too many personal battles in that NHL audition.
“In the corners, the tight spaces, if you can be on the opposite side of the pushing around, that’s massive,” Kuffner said. “Then it just opens up an extra second to make a play, and that’s more than enough time to be able to make a difference.
“It’s strength, especially on the bottom, but working the whole body and just getting as strong as I can.”
