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!

What about the outdoor conditions?

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton asks three questions related to tonight’s Stadium Series game between the Red Wings and Blue Jackets (6 PM EST start on ESPN/TVA Sports/FX-CA/97.1 FM), and the second question is the most pertinent one:

For whatever advancements the NHL has made in building a rink up to their standards outdoors, the league’s open-air games nonetheless tend to promote spectacle and environment over the hockey itself.  Despite the league’s best efforts, the game inevitably takes on a different tone and tenor to standard NHL fare, in large part because of lesser ice conditions.  The forecast for puck drop at 6 PM presently looks just about optimal: 29 degrees and mostly cloudy, though the forecast also calls for 15 mile-per-hour winds, a not insignificant potential variable.

In his Friday comments, McLellan pointed to three key variables in taking NHL hockey outside: ice (the most obvious), boards, and general spatial awareness.  The league’s short-term outdoor rinks tend to take away from the predictability of pucks bouncing off the boards, inviting potential for some chaos.  Meanwhile, to the note on spatial awareness, shifting the backdrop dramatically (fans at much greater remove than they would be in an NHL arena and an unconfined space) is perhaps the biggest disruption to normality on a shift-to-shift basis, making it impossible to see the game (in the most literal sense) as identical to any other regular season game.

McLellan, predictably, emphasized that the novel environment shouldn’t disrupt Detroit’s focus, saying,  “Some of the players are in awe of it a little bit…but once the puck drops, it’s hockey.  It’s just played in a different environment.”

Meanwhile, the Ohio Stadium backdrop on campus at Ohio State invites a collegiate feel.  In his Friday remarks, Larkin—a proud University of Michigan alum—quipped that the environment is “probably the ugliest stadium I’ve ever been in, but it’s cool to play hockey outside.”  Detroit has also equipped itself with skate guards in U-M’s traditional maize and blue, as the Red Wings look to replicate the Wolverines’ recent success at the Shoe.

Continued; the key to outdoor hockey is to play simple and to play north-south hockey. The ice, boards and glass are unpredictable, perspective is off, and simpler is better.

Friday’s practice helped the Red Wings acclimate to outdoor ice

A little belated: DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with several Red Wings players and coach Todd McLellan about the importance of yesterday night’s practice at Ohio Stadium in terms of acclimating the Wings to the outdoor rink:

As enjoyable as Friday’s outdoor practice was, skating at Ohio Stadium was also very beneficial. Hitting the ice at 6:30 p.m., a later start time than any practice Detroit has scheduled this season, helped the players get a feel for the ice itself, weather conditions and sightlines they’re set to experience during Saturday’s highly-anticipated clash.

“It doesn’t feel the same when you’re on the ice surface as it does in a building,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Add the crowd, and they’re further away yet they’re noisy. I think for those players that have played in it, it’ll come back quicker. For the new ones, I jumped on the ice with [goalie] Alex Lyon, and he was like a kid in a candy shop. ‘So cool,’ I think he said.”

Practicing in front of empty stands, the Red Wings know their surroundings will be very different in roughly 24 hours, when 90,000-plus fans are expected to pack Ohio Stadium.

“I don’t think you really know what that’s going to feel like,” Marco Kasper said. “It’s going to be awesome. I haven’t even watched a game with that many people. I’ve watched some soccer games with a lot of people, but I don’t know if there’s been that amount. It’s going to be really fun.”

The Red Wings want to earn a measure of revenge on Columbus, too:

Detroit dropped a 5-2 decision to Columbus at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday. With the loss, the Red Wings saw the Blue Jackets move into a tie with them for the Eastern Conference’s first Wild-Card spot.

“There’s still a lot of hockey to be played,” Larkin pointed out. “We were in this situation last year where we let it slip, and it got to a point where it ultimately wasn’t in our control at the end of the season. Right now, we still control our own destiny. We got to get back on the horse and start winning some games again.”

Continued

On Kane’s ‘family skate’

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen spoke with Red Wings forward Patrick Kane after the Wings held a “family skate” at Ohio Stadium last night:

Being on the rink never gets old for Kane who has long had reputation of being a rink rat.

“It’s cool. I remember the first time I took [Patrick II] on the ice and skated with him,”  Patrick said “Everyone’s like, ‘watch, watch’… Bending over so much and picking him up. And I didn’t think anything other than the next day, my lower back was in pain. So I kind of let (partner) Amanda do all the work today and just sit back and enjoy just being out there with Amanda and Patrick and my sisters as well. That’s the cool part about these events. You know, it’s an important game. It’s a fun atmosphere. Ties in with the Michigan -Ohio State rivalry, too, and you can enjoy your family.”

As sentimental as as the game is for the Kane family, the NHL Kane has not lost the importance of the game. He’s 1-5 in previous outdoor games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He needs this win.

“Obviously, this one, it has a lot at stake to it, especially with them
coming into our building (Thursday) and taking two points from us,” Kane said. “We’d like to do the same to them here in Columbus.”

Continued

Tweet of note: ESPN ‘Marvelizes’ Blue Jackets’ Stinger, Red Wings’…car thingy

The Red Wings may not have an official mascot, but ESPN and Marvel could have done a better job here. Where’s Al the Octopus?

Werenski: ‘We hate these guys until the game is over’

From The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline’s Stadium Series notebook:

• Werenski and Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin grew up playing hockey together in Michigan. Werenski has said they first met when he was 8 years old. But that friendship hits pause whenever they play. During the Blue Jackets’ family skate on Friday, Larkin and other Red Wings were warming up with a soccer ball near the rink. Here’s Werenski: “My fiancee (Odette Peters) was like, ‘Should we go say hi to him?’ I was like, ‘No, no, no. We’re not doing that. We hate these guys until the game is over.’ We’re going to battle, we’re going to play hard, and after the game I’ll give him a hug and we’ll talk about it.”

• The Blue Jackets and Red Wings both enter today’s game with 66 points. The Red Wings own the first wild-card playoff spot, and the Blue Jackets the second, because the Wings have more regulation wins. It marks the third time in the NHL’s 43 outdoor games that the two opponents are tied in points. In 2014, Toronto and Detroit were tied (45 points) when they played in a Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium. Two months later, Pittsburgh and Chicago were tied (84 points) when they played a Stadium Series game in Soldier Field.

Continued (paywall)

ESPN’s Ocal recalls the first unofficial NHL outdoor game

ESPN’s Arda Ocal discusses the Red Wings’ participation in the first unofficial NHL outdoor game–which took place at Marquette Prison in 1954:

In June 1953, Wings general manager Jack Adams and team captain Ted Lindsay, both of whom have NHL trophies named after them, went on a promotional tour around Michigan. One of the stops was Marquette State Prison, a maximum security facility nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the North.” While they were there, the warden, Emery Jacques, repeatedly asked Adams to bring his team to the prison to play a game against his inmates, who called themselves “The Pirates.” After some back and forth, Adams said that if Jacques could provide funding for transportation, lodging and food, he would return with his team.

Jacques called Adams’ bluff and got everything sorted. And so, in the middle of the 1954 season, the Red Wings were true to their word and went to the prison to play a game of hockey against the inmates.

It was said to be a brisk 22 degrees. The official score wasn’t kept, but with the likes of Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuck and Lindsay on the ice, by some accounts it was a pretty lopsided first period. The teams made “trades” and played out the rest of the game, with goalie Sawchuck tending net against Detroit. Sid Abel and Alex Delvecchio switched jerseys as well. An inmate got the hockey thrill of a lifetime, centering Howe and Lindsay.

Howe did recall one particular moment that made him laugh: “I deked around their goaltender, put in the far side and their defenseman was laughing,” Howe said after the game. “The goalie says to him, ‘I’ll kill you, you bastard.'”

The ice at the prison was created by Marquette athletic director Leonard “Oakie” Brumm, who played for Michigan, winning the inaugural NCAA men’s ice hockey national championship in 1948. At the time, Marquette was the only penal institution in the nation with either an organized “varsity” hockey team or a boarded regulation hockey rink.

There are differing reports of the final score — as eye-opening as 5-2, and a more realistic-seeming 9-0 and 18-0. After the game, the Wings were awarded the Doniker Trophy, also known as the Honey Bucket.

Continued

Morning notebooks: a percolating rivalry and outdoor conditions

Both Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen and MLive’s Ansar Khan filed morning notebooks based upon yesterday’s post-practice press conferences.

Duff focused upon how the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry may play into the game…

“It’s probably the ugliest stadium I’ve ever been in,” Larkin suggested.

Granted, the bitterness of the Ohio State vs Michigan rivalry might be coloring Larkin’s opinion somewhat. At the same time, that Michigan vs Ohio factor is just one of many layers making this arguably the NHL’s most enticing outdoor game ever.

“For sure,” Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond said. “I mean, I think it adds to it. With the Michigan-Ohio rivalry and obviously the importance of a game where the standings is at, but at the same time, I think most guys enjoy playing those type of games. It’s a big-time game and I think most guys thrive in those environments.”

That’s the other factor ramping up the intensity of this game. The Red Wings and Blue Jackets are deadlocked in the standings with 66 points. Both sit tied for seventh overall in the Eastern Conference. This game could play a vital role in determining playoff seedings, or even playoff appearances for that matter.

Add in the fact that Columbus whipped Detroit 5-2 on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena and there’s another element for the Red Wings to embrace. They’d love to spoil the first outdoor appearance ever made by the Blue Jackets franchise.

“This one, it has a lot at stake to it,” Detroit forward Patrick Kane said. “Especially with them coming into our building (Thursday) night and taking two points from us. We’d like to do the same to them here in Columbus.”

And MLive’s Ansar Khan discussed the novelty of playing outdoors:

“It’s exciting to get back outside and see that feeling of just like walking into a rink in the middle of a football field and seeing the lights and how many people the stadium could fit,” [Patrick] Kane said during his media scrum in Columbus.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to high 20s, which is good, but strong wind gusts are possible, which isn’t so good, at least for one team.

“I’m sure the ice will be a little bit better (tonight), being colder,” Kane said. “Sometimes today I noticed it a little bit, you’re skating into the wind, and then the other way, you’re skating with the wind at your back. That could be something that comes into play where maybe they might switch the sides with 10 minutes left in (the third) period.”

Lucas Raymond is among the players taking part in his first NHL outdoor game.

“Just looking up, seeing the big stadium and all the seats, it’s great,” Raymond told reporters. “The challenge of playing on a rink like that, I don’t know what it’s going to be like in a game, but from practice, the ice isn’t going to be perfect, but it’s the same for everyone out there.”

McLellan didn’t reveal his lineup, but Cam Talbot is expected to start in goal. It would be his third outdoor game as a starter.

“For goalies the biggest thing is depth perception,” Talbot said. “There’s nothing behind the glass, so it throws your depth perception off on a shot. It’s different when you can see the people behind the glass, so anything from distance or (the puck) gets flipped up in the air you can lose it a little bit easier. From a goalie’s perspective, I don’t think the conditions are always ideal. Both goalies have to deal with the same conditions, so there’s no excuses.”