Author: George Malik

Of note from TSN’s Frank Seravalli’s “Trade Board” report:

At No. 24, Detroit’s Petr Mrazek is the top-ranked goalie on the board. The Philadelphia Flyers recently lost starter Brian Elliott for a period of five-to-six weeks after core muscle surgery. Mrazek is an RFA at the end of the season and the Red Wings are not expected to qualify him at $4 million. That is the exact situation under which Philadelphia rescued and resuscitated Steve Mason’s career from Columbus on Deadline Day in 2013.

The belief is the Red Wings are looking to move one of either Mrazek or Jimmy Howard before the deadline. Howard, 33, has one more season remaining at $5.3 million. A comparable either-or situation exists up front in Detroit. Gustav Nyquist ranks No. 27 on the list, but the Red Wings are also shopping two-time 20-goal scorer Tomas Tatar. The difference is Tatar is in the first season of a four-year, $21.2 million deal.

Continued

Today we’re kicking off The Malik Report’s logo contest. Anyone can enter, and the winner will earn $50 and a cut of merchandise sales.

I’m looking for two logos: a 500-pixels-wide-by-100-pixels-high banner using “The Malik Report” name as an anchor and incorporating Red Wings red (Pantone 186), black, gray and/or white into the logo, anda 150×150-pixel design to use as the webpage’s bookmark logo, and possibly a hat design.

Whether you use part of the Wings’ logo in the design is up to you, but using an entire Wings logo probably won’t fly.

If you are interested in taking part in the contest, please either post your submission below via upload of a logo from your Imageshack, etc. account, or email me at rtxg@yahoo.com with your submission. Ideally, I’d like the submissions to come in by Tuesday, February 20th.

Also “ideally,” I’d like to conduct several votes as to which “banner” and “bookmark” pass muster by February 28th, with a winner declared on March 1st. That may not be realistic, but setting a two-week timeline for the contest seems logical.

Thanks for reading and participating!

Updated 4x at 12:59 PM: The Detroit Red Wings hope to snap a 10-game losing streak when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning this evening (7:30 PM EST on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM).

Our friends in Tampa Bay are annoyed with themselves after dropping 2 straight games, and the Bolts will be desperate to bolster their status in a dogfight for the Atlantic Division title when they play the Wings this evening.

The Lightning took to the ice first at Amalie Arena for their morning skate, per Fox Sports Sun’s Paul Kennedy…

@TBLightning Morning Skate underway with @CoopersLaw offering instruction. Seeking four game regular season sweep of @DetroitRedWings 7pm @FOXSportsBolts pic.twitter.com/jSUd4tZpGF

— Paul Kennedy (@PaulKennedyFOX) February 15, 2018

The Lightning said, “Hello”…

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning morning skate Tweets: Bolts want to get back to winning; AA out sick

South Korean hockey coach and former Grand Rapids Griffins assistant coach Jim Paek spoke with The Coaches’ Site regarding his journey with the Korean national ice hockey team:

Being a part of Olympic hockey is great for our team, it’s helped tremendously, giving [the sport] a lot more visibility. And with how hockey in China has taken off, that’s grown the sport on this side of the world, and it’s given notice to the rest of the world that there is hockey over here in Asia.

For us in the hockey world right now, there’s a huge buzz. The media coverage we’re getting for the hockey team is fantastic, it’s on TV and in the papers. It’s never been seen before and people are starting to notice the sport. It’s really exciting.

There are always hurdles and obstacles you have to overcome. But with the support from the Korean Ice Hockey Association, people in the hockey circle, and even the fans now, especially with the media supporting us, we’re really fortunate.

The Olympics are not the end goal for us, it’s just the start. Being a part of the Olympics here is the start of something great to come for Korean hockey.

When you go to one of the IIHF conferences and then you can see all the countries that are involved in hockey, it’s unbelievable. Kuwait, India, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, places you never thought there’d be hockey have teams now.

Why? It’s a great sport. Once you play it, you get hooked. It teaches you a lot of things and life skills — team play, leadership, discipline. And it’s a great sport to watch.

Continued

The Athletic’s Max Bultman asked Slovenian Olympic hockey forward Jan Mursak’s former Red Wings and Griffins teammates to weigh in on Mursak’s Olympic success (Mursak scored 2 goals as Slovenia upset Team USA 3-2 on Wednesday):

Mursak, 30, spent time between Grand Rapids and Detroit from 2007 to 2013 (though he spent the 2007-08 season in the OHL), including winning the Calder Cup with the Griffins in 2013. He was second on the team in both goals (11) and points (17) in those playoffs, behind only Tatar.

If Red Wings fans have foggy memories of Mursak, they could be forgiven. His NHL totals include just 46 games and two goals.

But that’s part of what makes his showing on Wednesday special. NHL players have made no bones about their desire to be playing in these Olympics, but with them back in North America, there’s more spotlight for someone like Mursak — now in the Swedish Hockey League — to shine on the world stage.

That’s not to say he wouldn’t have been on Team Slovenia regardless — he is one of two Slovenian-born players to play in the NHL — but the lack of traditional star power helped open the window for this sort of moment. Slovenia may not have been in position to even tie the U.S. with NHL inclusion.

“There’s positives either way,” said Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who coached Mursak in Grand Rapids. “You can debate what you prefer, and I get that, but … today’s a moment for Jan Mursak, who might not have got that moment.”

Continued

The Red Wings’ Warrior Hockey gear-wearing players gave new Warrior gear to the Motor City Stars hockey team (a team for players with disabilities) as part of Hockey Is For Everyone month, as chronicled by WXYZ…

In conjunction with the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association, the Red Wings launched their numerous activities celebrating Hockey is for Everyone Month on Wednesday by hosting the Stars players, their parents, family, friends and coaching staff to a day they’ll never forget at the BELFOR Training Center.

The festivities began with the Stars watching the Wings practice and culminated with the team skating on the practice ice where many of the players showed off their on-ice skills.

But it was what occurred between the Wings practice and the Stars’ on-ice experience that made everyone’s day.

Several of the Red Wings met with the Stars, including captain Henrik Zetterberg and Hockey is for Everyone ambassador Justin Abdelkader.

As the players were awestruck meeting the Wings, Abdelkader escorted the Stars into an adjoining locker room where the team was surprised with $12,000 worth of new hockey equipment donated by Michigan-based Warrior Hockey. Not only were the Stars overwhelmed at this point, their reaction touched the Red Wings players.

“This is awesome,” Zetterberg said. “What the Wings are doing with Warrior and the league, especially this month with Hockey is for Everyone, meeting these guys, to have them come down here to watch a practice and to see them pick out their own sticks and see them skating around, flying around here right now, it’s awesome for the players to be part of it.”

Continued

CBS Detroit’s Will Burtchfield penned an article wondering whether the latest benching of Andreas Athanasiou. Burtchifeld wonders aloud whether the relationship between coach Jeff Blashill and Athanasiou, who has handled his benchings with team-first answers, is already beyond repair:

“There’s other guys that some nights their minutes are diminished a little bit and we don’t talk tons about it,” said Blashill, “… but obviously because of the profile of Double-A we talk lots about it.”

The erratic nature of things fuels further frustration, as does this: Athanasiou’s pending free agency. The Red Wings might consider him a key piece of their future, but is the feeling mutual? Athanasiou’s numbers the past two seasons have no doubt been suppressed by inconsistent playing time. He might decide this summer — or maybe he already has — that he’d be better off in a new environment under a different coach.

The Red Wings’ fledgling rebuild is desperate for players of Athanasiou’s ilk. His talent is that of a 30-plus goal scorer. But the strained relationship between the two sides doesn’t bode well for a long-term partnership. Even in the short term, Athanasiou’s status as a restricted free agent matters little if he already has designs of leaving. A change in the GM’s office, where Holland’s contract expires after this season, and/or behind the bench, where Blashill is under contract through next season, may be the only way to salvage the situation.

For now, Athanasiou will “get back on the horse,” as Blashill said Wednesday, and put Tuesday behind him. The coach believes he’s played well over the past month, even if points have been hard to come by and ice time has been as volatile as ever. Athanasiou was bumped back up to the second line with Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar Wednesday at practice, and Blashill plans to call his number often Thursday night.

“He’ll get another chance against Tampa to have a big impact,” said Blashill.

Burtchfield continues…

I’m probably in the minority here, but I don’t think that Blashill’s relationship with Athanasiou is unusual given Athanasiou’s potential…

And I don’t believe that Athanasiou’s talent, nor his pre-season, end-the-hold-out discussions with Ken Holland or Jeff Blashill have somehow earned him deference from the coach. I fall in the, “If you perform well, you’ll play more” side of the argument as to whether ice time merits performance or performance merits ice time. As such, and as far as I’m concerned, AA’s inconsistencies in terms of his performance merit the occasional kick in the ass by planting his ass on the bench.

Mind you, I wish the entire team was treated in a more egalitarian manner, but given that Athanasiou tends to respond to these benchings with bursts of performance, I can’t suggest that Blashill is doing something that doesn’t work in #72’s case.

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Gustav Lindstrom scored the 2-0 goal in Almtuna IS’s 2-1 win over Vasterviks IK. Mattias Elfstrom played on the fourth line and took a penalty for VIK, and Red Wings prospects on Twitter posted a clip of Lindstrom’s goal:

Lindström goal https://t.co/G4Zaqfeg5M

— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) February 14, 2018

Malte Setkov played on IK Pantern’s second defensive pairing and took a penalty in IK Pantern’s 5-4 OT win over BIK Karlskoga;

In the OHL, Givani Smith had 3 shots and went 0-for-3 on faceoffs in the Kitchener Rangers’ 3-2 win over Mississauga;

Jordan Sambrook finished at -1 with 2 shots in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ 6-5 shootout loss to the Saginaw Spirit. Reilly Webb finished at -2 with 1 shot for Saginaw;

In the WHL, Michael Rasmussen scored a goal but finished at -2 with 2 shots and a 4-for-13 faceoff record in the Tri-City Americans’ 4-3 win over Calgary;

Dennis Cholowski finished at -2 with 3 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-2 loss to Vancouver;

Lane Zablocki finished at -1 with 2 shots and an 8-for-12 faceoff record in the Victoria Royals’ 7-6 shootout loss to Edmonton;

In the USHL, Filip Larsson stopped 23 of 24 shots as the Tri-City Storm lost 1-0 to Omaha;

And in NCAA hockey, Patrick Holway finished even with 3 shots in the University of Maine Black Bears’ 4-3 win over New Hampshire. Chase Pearson is out with an undisclosed injury.

The Detroit Red Wings open up a difficult two-game road trip against what is arguably the team’s arch-rival at present.

The Wings will play the Tampa Bay Lightning this evening (7:30 PM on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM) having lost 10 straight games against Tampa Bay, and they’re going to face an ornery opponent.

Our friends from Florida find themselves in a dogfight for the top spot in the Atlantic Division, thanks to surges by the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs, and the 38-16-and-3- Bolts have hit a rough patch, losing 3 of their past 5 games, including 2 losses in 2 days to Toronto (on Monday) and Buffalo (on Tuesday).

Tampa Bay did not practice on Wednesday, so we must examine their 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday to provide context for tonight’s game–and the Bolts were mighty peeved after losing to Buffalo, as the Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning set-up: Wings are 0-and-10 vs. Bolts of late

NHL.com’s Rob Vollman used advanced statistics to examine whether 32-year-old Mike Green’s trade value could be compared to last year’s belle of the deadline ball, now 28-year-old New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Here’s Vollman’s conclusion:

Green was transitioned into the No. 1 role in Detroit as the roster started to change. During the past two seasons, he has averaged 20:01 per game at 5-on-5, which ranks sixth among NHL defensemen.

This tougher role has taken a toll on Green’s shot-based metrics. In 2015-16, Detroit outshot opponents 1,097-891 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, for an SAT of plus-206 that ranked No. 13 among NHL defensemen. In percentage terms, Detroit’s share of shot attempts rose from 50.57 percent to 55.18 when he was on the ice, for a Relative SAT of plus-4.61 that ranked No. 17 among defensemen who played at least 20 games.

Since Green was moved into the No. 1 role, his SAT of minus-199 is tied for No. 239, and his Relative SAT of minus-1.02 is tied for No. 158 among defensemen who played at least 20 games.

These results suggest that Green can handle a No. 1 role when necessary but is most effective when assigned a scoring-focused role like Shattenkirk. In that capacity, he should match Shattenkirk in every regard, except power-play scoring.

Shattenkirk’s trade also provides a clue as to what Detroit may be expecting in return for Green. St. Louis received forward Zach Sanford, a first-round pick, plus two conditional picks for Shattenkirk.

That package isn’t without precedent; it’s almost exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs obtained from the Boston Bruins for defenseman Tomas Kaberle at the 2011 NHL Trade Deadline.

Vollman continues…