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!

Tweet of note: new FOCO bobbleheads

These are pricey, but cool, per WXYZ’s Brad Galli:

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.”

Playing ‘banged-up’

I had a massive anxiety and panic attack on Thursday afternoon. It was so physically painful that I had to lie down to simply endure the physical pain that it caused–and you’d be surprised how “physical” anxiety and depression can be.

Today is the NHL’s Stadium Series game between Detroit and Columbus (6 PM EST on ESPN/TVA Sports/FX-CA/97.1 FM), and I’m not going to miss it…

But I am very far from 100% in terms of my recovery from what I can only describe as feeling like I’ve been run over by a toxic snowball of anxiety, and the after-effects are still shaking themselves out of my system.

There’s only so much that coping skills and medication can do, however, so…

I’m gonna do my best to give you some Stadium Series coverage today. I don’t know how comprehensive it’s going to be, but it’s going to be there, and I’ll try to take things a task at a time and go from there.

I may need to take a maintenance day tomorrow, but we’ll come to that when we come to that.