Author: George Malik

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe examined 8 Stanley Cup champions “who survived early deficits“:

3) 2002 Detroit Red Wings

If there are any Canucks fans still reading after we mentioned the 2011 Bruins, this section should finish them off.

The 2001–02 Red Wings were easily the Cup favourites heading into the season; they were coming off a 116-point season in a year when nobody else managed more than 101. But the eighth-seeded Canucks seemed poised to pull off the upset, stealing the opener on Henrik Sedin’s OT winner and then rolling to a 5–2 win in Game 2.

With the Red Wings on the ropes and a raucous home crowd cheering them on, the Canucks tied Game 3 with a goal midway through the second period and were headed into the intermission with a chance to shove the favourites into an impossible hole.

Every Canucks fan remembers what happened next:

The goal held up as the winner, and the Canucks didn’t win another game. The Red Wings went on to beat the Blues and Avalanche on their way to an easy final matchup with the overmatched Hurricanes.

But look on the bright side, Canucks fans. While the series may have featured one of the most devasting gut-punch goals in modern NHL history, at least it served up a legendary Brian Burke press conference.

2. USA Today’s Kevin Allen compiled a list of 15 potential unrestricted free agents of note, and the Wings are mentioned in the cases of two potential UFA players:

Continue reading Three things: Recalling 2002’s Wings-Canucks series; UFA’s of note and Nyquist’s ‘numbers’

This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan examines the Red Wings’ top prospects, attempting to estimate when Michael Rasmussen, Evgeny Svechnikov, Filip Hronek, Dennis Cholowski, David Pope, Libor Sulak, Givani Smith, Filip Larsson and Vili Saarijarvi will be ready to arrive in the NHL:

Michael Rasmussen

Position: Center

Height/Weight: 6-6/221

Shoots: Left

Drafted: First round in 2017 (No. 9)

2017-18 season: He tallied 31 goals and 59 points in 47 games with the WHL Tri-City Americans in a season interrupted by wrist surgery. He was even more dominant in the playoffs, with 16 goals and 33 points in 14 games.

Timeline to NHL: The Red Wings are counting on Rasmussen to make the team in training camp. They plan to ease his transition to the NHL by starting him on wing, like they did with Dylan Larkin as a rookie in 2015-16. If Rasmussen isn’t ready for the NHL he will return to Tri-City for his final junior season. He is not eligible to play in the AHL in 2018-19.

Of video-related note this morning:

1. Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon spoke with WOOD TV’s Jack Doles regarding his hiring by the Griffins:

Of note from Elliotte Friedman’s 31 Thoughts:

1. Regarding the draft…

I don’t think Detroit is moving, barring an offer that gives them great assets for their rebuild. After that sixth pick, teams willing to move are Vancouver (at seven), Edmonton (at 10) and possibly the Islanders (11 and/or 12).

2. Regarding the Wings’ assistant coaching search…

There are rumblings Dan Bylsma may return somewhere as an assistant coach if he’s not on the Islanders’ radar. A logical spot would be Detroit, since he and Jeff Blashill just worked together at the World Championships.

3. And regarding managerial news:

It’s believed assistant GM Mike Futa — linked to almost every job opening in existence — signed an extension with Los Angeles.

Mark Hunter, involved in almost as many rumours, has been linked to Detroit, Montreal and the Islanders. We’ll see. He’s (officially) unavailable until July 15.

The Detroit Red Wings’ front office is holding its second set of organizational meetings this week, re-examining the team’s draft rankings post-scouting combine and discussing the team’s outlook for both its own free agents-to-be and the UFA marketplace.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Red Wings GM Ken Holland regarding the front office’s docket…

“The object of the meeting is to bring the staff together and talk about what we are going do with team over the next month and beyond,” Holland said. “We’ll go through our team in detail, talk philosophy for ’18-19 and ’19-20. Then we’ll go through all the other teams and talk about what opportunities exist, if any with other players.”

The group also includes special assistant Kris Draper and assistant general manager Ryan Martin, who are part of the group spearheading plans for the June 22-23 draft.

Whoever the Wings select with their sixth overall pick — options could include defensemen Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson and Quinn Hughes — figures to be in the group of prospects club personnel hopes to see challenge for a spot with the Wings during exhibition season this autumn. Those prospects include 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen, 2016 first-round pick Dennis Cholowski, 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov, as well as Filip Hronek, Libor Sulak, Joe Hicketts and Dominic Turgeon.

“Part of our plan is going to be youth,” Holland said. “We are going to training camp and on defense, Sulak, Hronek, Cholowski, Hicketts — we want to see how those players are. Same with Svech, Rasmussen, Turgeon, and the sixth pick in the draft, whether it’s a forward or defenseman. Part of the decisions won’t be answered until camp, but we are hoping that one or two of those names are going to be grab a couple spots.”

St. James continues, and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan picks it up from there:

Continue reading Organizational meetings, part 2, on tap for the Wings

The Detroit Free Press is officially kicking off its “Greatest of All Time” series in which readers will vote for the best players on the Red Wings, Tigers, Lions and Pistons. The Free Press’s Shawn Windsor explains the contest, which will eventually pick one Detroit sports player winner to rule them all:

Starting today, the Free Press begins its “Tournament of G.O.A.T,” in which you, dear reader, are expected to vote for the Greatest athlete Of All Time from a Detroit professional sports team.

Our tournament runs through mid-July. Which gives you plenty of time to think, to debate, to consider, say, whether former Lions quarterback Bobby Layne was better than former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell.

But back to that word — greatest. Because it can mean different things.

Are we talking about winning? About greatness relative to the history of a particular position? About skill? About identity?

About what an athlete meant to our region? About how that athlete helped define us through his athletic feats?

If that’s the case, then … it’s got to be Gordie Howe, right? Mr. Hockey. The best all-around player of his generation. Maybe of any generation.

Windsor continues, and the Free Press’s timing is ironic because it’s the second anniversary of Gordie Howe’s passing:

2 years and not a day goes by where we aren’t thinking of you, Gordie. https://t.co/ho3njOzMUy

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) June 10, 2018

Windsor suggests that fans will probably end up voting between Howe, Ty Cobb, Barry Sanders and Isaiah Thomas.

I’m biased, but I believe that no Detroit athlete changed the sport he played like Howe changed his sport, all while playing a physically dominant game for a longer period of time than any other Detroit athlete.

The Red Wings have a solid number of goaltending prospects, but with the crop is in flux right now as Patrik Rybar and Kaden Fulcher may or may not be ready for prime time, Joren van Pottelberghe is still finding his way in Switzerland, and Keith Petruzzelli and Filip Larsson are a little further away as they take the college route.

Given the departure of Matej Machovsky and the likely departures of Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum, the Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo suggests that the Wings aren’t deep enough at the goaltending position to find a successor for Jimmy Howard (never mind a back-up). As such…

Continue reading Caputo discusses the Wings’ goaltending pipeline

The Free Press’s Helene St. James continues examining the Red Wings’ past 5 drafts with a discussion of the team’s 2016 draft picks. I would suggest that it’s a little early to pass judgment on the Wings’ picks, but kudos to St. James for trying:

D Filip Hronek

Drafted: 53rd.

Draft year doings: Four assists in 40 games with Hradec Kralove in the Czech Extraliga, which is the country’s top hockey league.

Draft day scouting report: On the smaller side, but good skater. Competitive and strong with the puck. Scouts were excited about his upside, and character.

Post-draft doings: Had 14 goals and 47 assists for 61 points in 59 games in 2016-17 with Saginaw (Ontario Hockey League), tying him for fourth among OHL defensemen in scoring. Joined Grand Rapids in spring of 2017 and had two points in 10 games, and made two appearances in the AHL playoffs.

Had 11 goals and 28 assists for 39 points in 67 games with the Griffins in 2017-18, second among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring. Ran one of the power-play units. Had one goal and two assists for the Czechs at the 2018 World Championship.

Next-season doings: Hronek is a candidate to push for a job with the Wings in 2017-18.

Draft assessment: Looks promising.

St. James continues…

The Free Press is about to launch a “contest” pitting 16 players against each other in a voting showdown to determine the “Best Red Wings Player of All Time.”

I know this because the Free Press posted a photo gallery of the 16 players, and I know that it’s the end of the first full week of June, some 3 weeks away from the first round of the draft on June 22nd in Dallas, so it’s the perfect time to launch this kind of thing.

I usually don’t spout off after posting stuff from other sites for a reason–I want you to weigh in and let your opinions be known, and I’m more of a news-oriented person–but to me, this one is easy.

Gordie Howe is the winner for both the player he was and the person he was. Just as other teams’ fans suggest that Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr changed the game at their positions, because they did, they are superb human beings, and it’s hard to move away from that triumvirate because goalies (like me) are such ecclectic, weird people.

After that, good luck. The Free Press offers Bob Probert, Nicklas Lidstrom, Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Reed Larson, Chris Osgood, Terry Sawchuk, Alex Delvecchio, Brendan Shanahan, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Sid Abel, Norm Ullman and Red Kelly as choices.

You could easily add Vladimir Konstantinov, Black Jack Stewart, Larry Aurie, Marcel Pronovost, Mickey Redmond and others to the mix, and I’d argue that your choices would nearly be arbitrary. I did a “Red Wings Mount Rushmore” for Puck Daddy a couple of years ago, and I went with Howe, Lindsay, Yzerman and Lidstrom (who was still playing at the time, by a hair’s breadth over Fedorov), but the permutations are limited by your fandom’s imagination.

Who are your #2-5, or 2-10?

I wish the Free Press luck with their vote-counting and fan-argument-separating, because it’s going to be an interesting diversion…

But you’ll have to trust me when I say that June has a way of keeping the news flowing. We really don’t get “slow” until the month-long period between mid-July and mid-August when it truly gets quiet…and even then, there’s content to be had.

As CapFriendly noted…

Here is an overview of some of the upcoming important NHL off-season dates: pic.twitter.com/2klHUm9CSs

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 4, 2018

The Free Press’s George Sipple reports that the Great Lakes Invitiational and Red Wings will host a “triple-header” of hockey on December 31st, 2018:

he second day of the next Great Lakes Invitational is expected to be part of a triple-header of hockey at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 31, the Free Press has learned.

The Red Wings haven’t yet announced their schedule for the 2018-2019 season. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Friday that he expects the Wings to play their traditional New Year’s Eve game, although the NHL schedule hasn’t yet been finalized. The NHL schedule is expected to be released in a couple weeks.

Michigan State announced its 2018-2019 schedule on Wednesday and will play in the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 30-31. MSU will meet Lake Superior State in the second semifinal game at 4 p.m. on Dec. 30. Michigan Tech will face U-M in the first game at 1 p.m., according to Michigan Tech’s 2018-2019 hockey schedule.

The Great Lakes Invitational is scheduled for Dec. 30-31.The GLI’s Dec. 31 game times are slated to be 11:30 for the GLI third-place game, 2:30 for the GLI championship game, according to MSU’s hockey schedule.

Continued…