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!

97.1’s Jamie and Stoney ponder: Who is the most beloved athlete in Detroit sports history?

97.1 the Ticket’s Jamie and Stoney had an interesting debate this morning, wondering which athlete has been the most beloved in Detroit sports history:

Detroit Tigers fans have waited 17 years for Alan Trammell to make it into the Hall of Fame.

“I’m thrilled that both are getting in at the same time,” Jamie Samuelsen said, adding that no one would argue that Trammell is the best Detroit athlete of all time.

But is he the most beloved in history?

Co-host Mike “Stone” Stone answered: Alan Trammell and Steve Yzerman are the most beloved athletes he can remember seeing in Detroit.

He added that Trammell is special and so beloved, despite his lack of ability as manager, because people just don’t hold the manager years against him.

“Yzerman and Trammell are the two in my mind,” Stoney said.

Continued, and I’d argue that Steve Yzerman may be the most beloved Red Wing this side of Gordie Howe, but that’s just my opinion.

Who do you feel has been the most beloved Red Wings player?

From Fox 2: Little Caesars Arena team store Summer Sale to take place Saturday

The Red Wings and Pistons team store at Little Caesars Arena is holding its Summer Sale tomorrow…

And Fox 2 Detroit received an in-person preview of some of the items on sale:

 

Cotsonika speaks with Dylan Larkin at the Eastside Elite Hockey League All-Star Game

Via a heads-up from Abel to Yzerman, NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika spoke with Dylan Larkin at the Eastside Elite Hockey League All-Star Game last night, and Larkin told Cotsonika that he needs to step up during the upcoming season:

“I want to be the guy,” Larkin said. “I honestly don’t believe in No. 1 centers in the NHL [in terms of labels]. Who’s the No. 1 center in Toronto? Who’s the No. 1 center in Pittsburgh? You’ve got to have two centers. [But] I want to be the guy that’s out there whether we’re down by a goal and we need to score with a minute left or we’re up by a goal and taking that huge faceoff in your [defensive] zone. So just want to be looked at as that, like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg have for so long in Detroit.”

The Red Wings need Larkin to become the guy. Datsyuk left for SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League after the 2015-16 season, the last of Detroit’s streak of 25 straight Stanley Cup Playoff appearances. Zetterberg turns 38 on Oct. 9 and has back problems. General manager Ken Holland has said he expects Zetterberg to play this season, but it is not certain.

Larkin turns 22 on Monday. A restricted free agent, he said there are no major issues in contract negotiations. He doesn’t feel like a veteran yet, even though he’s entering his fourth NHL season and the Red Wings will give opportunities to younger players, including forwards Michael Rasmussen, 19, and Filip Zadina, 18.

“We have one of the best veteran cores in the NHL of people and players,” Larkin said. “They’re special people, and they’re established. When I think of a veteran, I think of someone who’s paid their dues and been around and knows the ins and outs and have a lot of respect.”

Cotsonika continues…

Walleye re-sign Kevin Tansey

From the Toledo Walleye:

TANSEY TO PATROL WALLEYE BLUE LINE AGAIN

Toledo, OH – Defenseman Kevin Tansey has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2018-19 season.

Tansey, a native of Hammond, Ontario, returns to the Walleye after appearing in 67 games last season with 15 points (7G, 8A) and 77 penalty minutes. He added in a pair of assists during the Walleye playoff run in the spring. His seven goals were second most on the team from a defenseman (Patrick McCarron had nine). Tansey skated in 44 games for the then Missouri Mavericks in 2016-17, his first pro season with 13 goals and 18 assists. In 111 ECHL contests, the 6’4”, 217 defenseman has scored 20 goals with 26 assists, 125 penalty minutes and is a career plus five.

“We saw what Kevin brings to the team on and off the ice,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “He is a tremendous blue line presence in both the offensive and defensive zones.”

The 25 year old brings 30 games of AHL experience with him after appearing in 19 games for Chicago in the 2016-17 season (1G, 2A) and another 11 contests with Binghamton following his final college season at the end of the 2015-16 season. Tansey played his college hockey at Clarkson University from 2011-2016. Tansey finished his college career second in career games played (151) for the Golden Knights. Tansey scored 12 goals with 22 assists and 122 penalty minutes in his college career at Clarkson.

Chris Chelios speaks with WGN’s Steve Cochran regarding ‘going home’

Chris Chelios will officially be named an ambassador for the Chicago Blackhawks during this weekend’s Blackhawks fan convention, and Chelios spoke with WGN Radio’s Steve Cochran regarding his decision to “come home”:

This is probably the last Chelios entry I’ll post for a while. I’m not going to cover the Chelios-welcome-back stuff as it’s simply no longer Red Wings-related.

Three Things: Walleye ASG tix on sale; a tribute to Chelios and a profile of Cholowski

Of disparate Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. The Toledo Walleye are hosting the 2019 ECHL All-Star Game, and tickets are now on sale for the event:

2. Winging It in Motown’s The_Roar24 paid tribute to Chris Chelios:

3. And the Grand Rapids Griffins posted a profile of Wings prospect Dennis Cholowski:

 

Filip Zadina cracks The Athletic’s Wheeler’s ‘Top 50 drafted NHL prospects’ list

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler has produced a list highlighting his top 50 drafted NHL prospects, and only one Red Wings prospect cracked Wheeler’s list:

5. Filip Zadina, RW/LW, 18 (Detroit Red Wings — 6th overall, 2018)

I’m fairly confident the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators will grow to regret their Friday night in Dallas, at least quietly. Their loss is the Red Wings’ gain — and they needed it. Despite the team’s desperate need for a rebuild, Zadina is their lone prospect in the top 50. Though I will say this: I really liked their 2018 draft, from Zadina on down to Joe Veleno and Jonatan Berggren. Zadina, more than the three forwards ahead of him on this list, is at his best when the puck’s on his stick and he can create as a primary carrier and option. Both Pettersson and Svechnikov can be dominant off the puck, finishing off plays in a split second. Zadina is electrifying because he scores his goals with that extra touch before he releases it in order to change his angle, a darting lateral cut, or a deke.

Wheeler continues (paywall)…

 

NHL Network, TSN to air World Junior Summer Showcase; Wings will have 6 prospects participating at the WJSS

The World Junior Summer Showcase will take place in Kamloops, British Columbia from July 28th to August 4th. Michael Rasmussen (Canada), Joe Veleno (Canada), Jared McIsaac (Canada), Keith Petruzzelli (USA), Alec Regula (USA) and Jonatan Berggren (Sweden) will represent the Red Wings at the annual evaluation camp for potential World Junior Championship team candidates.

According to NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman reports that some of the games will be televised on the NHL Network in the U.S.; TSN will cover the tournament in Canada:

GAME SCHEDULE

JULY 30
United States Blue vs. Sweden, 7 p.m. ET
United States White vs. Finland, 10 p.m. ET

JULY 31
Sweden vs. Finland, 4 p.m. ET
Canada White vs. United States Blue, 7 p.m. ET
Canada Red vs. United States White, 10:30 p.m. ET

AUG. 2
United States vs. Sweden, 4 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN
Canada vs. Finland, 9 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN2

AUG. 3
United States vs. Finland, 4 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN
Canada vs. Sweden, 9 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN2

AUG. 4
Canada vs. United States, 5 p.m. ET, NHLN, TSN
Finland vs. Sweden, 8 p.m. ET, NHLN (TSN2 tape delay, 11 p.m. ET)

Kimelman continues, mostly noting that the WJSS will serve as the formal draft-year debuts for top 2019 draft picks like Jack Hughes.

The WJSS was held in Plymouth, MI in 2018, and the level of hockey was excellent. If you live in British Columbia, or can watch the tournament on TSN, I highly recommend that you do so as the games are anything but “summer hockey.”

On Joren van Pottelberghe’s ‘upside’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner spotlights Red Wings prospect Joren van Pottelberghe this morning, with Wings developmental goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson weighing in on “JvP’s” upside:

Quotable: “Joren’s a big goalie that got drafted in 2015 by Detroit and has developed the last couple of years in Davos and he’s slowly starting to develop into a No. 1 role in Davos. He has to have a big year this coming year in 2018-19, but overall last year he started off very strong with a 5-2 record. Up until November 15th, he was tied with the best stats in the Swiss League with Elvis Merzlikins, the Columbus Blue Jackets prospect who is from Latvia and he also lost in the NLA Finals. From there, Joren had a hiccup in mid-December where he let up seven goals against; it seemed to fluster him a little bit and what happened, the Davos team has a New Jersey prospect, Gilles Senn, he’s going to be a very good goalie, who’s probably going to come over a year from now into their system in Binghamton. He ended up taking over for Joren, playing in 14 of the last 16 games and also playing into the playoffs. From that point on, Joren became the backup.

“I actually went and saw Joren firsthand play in a game live in Switzerland and he played well, but his game from Christmas on wasn’t at the same level it was in the fall of 2017. From my standpoint, I met with Joren for a couple of days in Davos and expressed my interest in him and ways we could develop him further from the current ways he’s being developed in Davos. In the long term, he’s got one year left and hopefully he makes a bold statement with that organization and gets the majority of playing time over the New Jersey prospect, Gilles Senn, and by the spring of 2019, hopefully he puts us in a situation where we’re forced to force our hand and sign him. But right now, we have five other goalie prospects and two that we drafted this year from Sweden. A goalie in Filip Larsson at Denver, who’s a very good prospect; Kaden Fulcher, who just won an OHL championship; Keith Petruzzelli, who’s getting on a better track we think and hopefully he’s going to have a rebound year at Quinnipiac. So, it’s a tough road ahead for Joren, but I truly believe that he could do it. We’ll see, but that’s to be determined.” – Brian Mahoney-Wilson, Detroit’s goaltending development coach

Continued