Author: George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Pairs of promo videos from the Red Wings and Griffins

The Red Wings and Griffins posted pairs of promotional videos yesterday, with the Wings “Taking a Red Wing to School”…

And chronicling “Fan Day at Little Caesars Arena”…

While the Grand Rapids Griffins posted a clip of Matej Machovsky “In the Driver’s Seat”…

Continue reading Pairs of promo videos from the Red Wings and Griffins

Red Wings-Capitals morning skate Tweets: It’s an optional sort of morning

Updated 3x at 11:40 AM: The Detroit Red Wings will host the Washington Capitals this evening (7:30 PM EDT on NBCSN/97.1 FM) with the Red Wings looking to win two games for the first time since late February.

The Wings “took an optional” this morning, as noted by Fox 2’s Sky Kerstein…

And the Red Wings…

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals morning skate Tweets: It’s an optional sort of morning

WXYZ “mic’s up” Dylan Larkin’s shift at Tim Horton’s

Per WXYZ’s Brad Galli, Dylan Larkin helped out the Red Wings Foundation by working at Tim Horton’s yesterday morning, selling the Red Wings’ charitable donut, and Galli and WXYZ “mic’ed up” Larkin during his shift:

WZZM 13: Griffins tickets have a special promo code that helps Kent County K9 Unit

From WZZM 13’s “One Good Thing” segment’s Nichoulas Lafave:

Do you like hockey? Do you like supporting law enforcement? Specifically K9 officers? Well, you can do both for a little while.

The Kent County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that the Grand Rapids Griffins have offered to donate a portion of certain ticket sales to benefit their K9 unit. You’ve got to go to GriffinsHockey.com/promocode and punch in KCSD-K9. You can get up to five dollars off your ticket and they will donating two to three dollars back to the Kent County unit every time that code is used.

Kent County points out that a lot of K9 operations are run through donations. Including the dogs themselves, patrol cars, training, gear and a lot of other things.

For helping out the Kent County K9 officers, the Grand Rapids Griffins get today’s One Good Thing. And, there are three Griffins regular season home games left. So, there’s still time to take part.

If you have a One Good Thing you’d like to submit – someone or something that makes West Michigan a good place to live – email me at OneGoodThing@WZZM13.com.

 

Red Wings-Capitals set-up: Capitals sorting out pre-playoff injuries/illness as they visit the Wings

The Detroit Red Wings hope to win their second game in a row as they host the Washington Capitals this evening (7:30 PM on NBCSN/97.1 FM).

The 42-24-and-7 Capitals are sitting atop the Metropolitan Division, and they’ve won 5 of their past 6 games, with their most recent win coming in the form of a 4-3 decision over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan attended Wednesday’s Capitals practice, and she reports that the Caps’ biggest roster question going into tonight’s game is the status of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who has an upper-body injury:

Continue reading Red Wings-Capitals set-up: Capitals sorting out pre-playoff injuries/illness as they visit the Wings

Prospect round-up: Ehn has a rough day as Frolunda ties its playoff series

In the SHL playoffs, Christoffer Ehn’s Frolunda Indians tied their first-round series against the Malmo Redhawks by winning a wild 5-4 game on Wednesday (highlights are available by clicking the link and scrolling down to the bottom of the article). Ehn had 3 shots but finished at -2, winning 25% of his faceoffs over the course of 15:45 played;

And in the Swedish J20 league playoffs, Alfons Malmstrom didn’t register a point in HV71 Jonkoping’s 6-4 win over Frolunda’s J20 team.

 

Articles from practice II: All about Svechnikov making the most of his chance(s)

Also of note in terms of articles penned by the Red Wings’ beat writers after today’s practice at Little Caesars Arena:

  1. Evgeny Svechnikov’s teammates and coach were not surprised that “Geno” scored his first NHL goal last night, as noted by Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff…

“He’s played better every game he’s been up here, kind of adjusted to how he needs to play,” Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader said of Svechnikov. “He’s a big strong player that goes hard to the net, has some good skill and a good shot.”

In his seventh game since his recall from AHL Grand Rapids, Svechnikov scored his first NHL goal, but just as significantly, displayed that he is beginning to succinctly comprehend the type of game he must play in order to be a successful NHLer.

“I thought that was Svech’s best game since he’s been up,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I’ve talked lots about the chicken or the egg. Do you get ice time and produce, or do you earn the ice time? I thought he took a step in the right direction in terms of earning more ice time.”

Averaging 7:45 per game coming into Tuesday’s contest, Svechnikov played 8:38 against the Flyers.

“He needs to outplay other players, but I thought he was heavy on the puck and he got rewarded with a goal,” Blashill said.

2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James reports that coach Blashill wants Svechnikov to emulate Tyler Bertuzzi’s high-energy game…

Continue reading Articles from practice II: All about Svechnikov making the most of his chance(s)

Khan clarifies Libor Sulak’s situation

Red Wings prospects on Twitter noted that NHL.cz journalist Jakub Prchal stated that Libor Sulak was heading over to Detroit to join the Red Wings. MLive’s Ansar Khan clarified the situation:

Sulak update: Defense prospect Libor Sulak is coming to Detroit to have a medical issue checked, not to play for the Red Wings. If he’s cleared, he might join the Griffins. Sulak, 24, a free agent from the Czech Republic, had nine goals and 23 points for Pelicans of the Finnish League.

On billet families and the NTDP

The Plymouth Observer’s Tim Smith wrote a superb article discussing the roles that billet families play in the lives of Team USA’s National Team Development Program players:

The long journey for National Hockey League players such as Detroit Red Wings star forward Dylan Larkin involves plenty of God-given talent and a non-stop desire to excel.

But that quest often requires a necessary pit stop for players in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, where Larkin cut his teeth before moving on to the University of Michigan and the NHL.

We’re talking about unsung heroes — billet families who provide stability, friendship and a calm-before-the-storm environment for the teenagers who spend two years hundreds and even thousands of miles from their actual homes.

The next Larkin, Patrick Kane or Auston Mathews goes through their paces on the ice in hopes of hearing their name called someday by an NHL general manager. Off the ice, they can’t get to that destination without down-to-earth people such as the Birchlers, McKendrys and Wrights, among many others.

They give unconditional love and friendship — and no matter where a player winds up, it’s as valuable to success as skating, stickhandling and sniping top shelf.

“My host family is a special group,” said Luke Martin, a defenseman in the NTDP from 2014-16 currently at the University of Michigan and drafted in 2017 by the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. “They made it (transition to U-M) incredibly easy on me. You have bad days while at the NTDP, but my host family understood that and made it easy to just come home and be myself around them.”

Smith continues at significant length…

Articles (and videos) from practice: On Svechnikov and snapping the winless streak

Updated at 2:54 PM: The Detroit Red Wings practiced in front of season ticket-holders on Wednesday, and while the Wings skated without Henrik Zetterberg, Trevor Daley, Mike Green and Luke Glendening, all four players will be available when the Wings host the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

Thus far, we have videos to examine, with articles from practice to come:

From the Red Wings’ Twitter account:

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a clip of Svechnikov and coach Jeff Blashill speaking with the media as well:

Continue reading Articles (and videos) from practice: On Svechnikov and snapping the winless streak