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!

Wings understand the importance of NYE game as they attempt to find secondary scoring

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a Red Wings-Penguins preview ahead of tonight’s game (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pittsburgh/97.1 FM) which discusses both the importance of tonight’s game to the Wings’ players…

“New Year’s Eve, I think it’s easy to get up for those games,” Joe Veleno said. “Especially when you’re playing at home. Obviously, there’s no better feeling than to play in front of your home crowd on such a special night.”

As well as the Wings’ attempts to find secondary scoring:

As this season progresses, like every other NHL club, Detroit is seeking more secondary scoring. According to Copp, he believes the Red Wings’ confidence with the puck is starting to rise.

“We have to score more goals and keep more out defensively,” Copp said. “We can improve in all aspects of the game. It feels like we’ve kind of found a little bit of offensive confidence with some combinations, but it’s just like everything else – you got to continue to put the pedal down.”

When McLellan was asked how to get more players going offensively, he explained that “the concept comes first, and then we try to pull everybody into it.”

“There are some offensive concepts that we’ve begun to talk about,” McLellan said. “Some of the beliefs that we have that we’re trying to implement into the players. Blend our beliefs with theirs. Saw some of the attempts [on Sunday] – the volume, the secondary opportunities that were created off the first one are really important.”

Post-morning skate Tweets: Lyon starts + catch-up posts, Wings-Penguins previews

The Detroit Red Wings held their morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pittsburgh/97.1 FM), with Alex Lyon slated to start and the lineup static for now.

According to the Penguins’ website’s game preview, Detroit’s in for a tough task tonight:

Continue reading Post-morning skate Tweets: Lyon starts + catch-up posts, Wings-Penguins previews

Press release: Red Wings sign Ondrej Becher to entry-level contract

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS SIGN ONDŘEJ BECHER TO THREE-YEAR, ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT

  … Forward Was Selected by Detroit in Third Round of 2024 NHL Entry Draft …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed forward Ondřej Becher to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Becher, 20, has recorded three points (1-2-3) and six penalty minutes in 19 games with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin the 2024-25 season. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward spent the entire 2023-24 campaign with the Western Hockey League’s Prince George Cougars and ranked among the team leaders with 32 goals (4th), 64 assists (2nd), 96 points (4th), a plus-38 rating (4th), 48 penalty minutes (6th), eight power play goals (4th), 29 power play points (4th), four shorthanded goals (T1st) and 166 shots (5th) in 58 regular-season games. Becher also tallied 19 points (5-14-19) and 14 penalty minutes in 15 postseason contests, helping the Cougars reach the Western Conference Final. Selected by the Red Wings in the third round (80th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Becher compiled 134 points (48-86-134), a plus-69 rating and 85 penalty minutes in 121 WHL games with Prince George from 2022-24.

A native of Ostrava, Czechia, Becher spent the majority of the 2021-22 season with AZ Havířov’s under-20 squad in Czechia’s top junior league, recording 36 points (22-14-36) and 38 penalty minutes in 45 games. He also registered one goal and four penalty minutes in four games with AZ Havířov in Czechia’s second division in 2021-22. Becher made his professional debut with AZ Havířov in 2020-21, collecting two points (1-1-2) in 11 games. On the international stage, Becher won a bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, collecting 10 points (3-7-10), a plus-six rating and four penalty minutes in seven games. Becher also played for Czechia at the 2022 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, netting two goals in six appearances.

Red Wings-Penguins morning skate Tweets: Alex Lyon to start, lineup appears set

The Detroit Red Wings host the Pittsburgh Penguins this evening (8 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/Sportsnet Pittsburgh/97.1 FM), and MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Alex Lyon is going to start this evening…

And the Red Wings will stick with coach Todd McLellan’s initial lineup…

The Penguins will be skating later this morning as well:

Having an anxiety issue

Hi, everybody. I’m having a difficult time with an anxiety issue, and I’ve taken all the medications that I can take to alleviate the situation, but they’re not working well. I will try to get back to work ASAP.

I’m just in a ton of discomfort and I’ve tried to push to get behind the laptop, but I can’t get going.

Sadly, this is part of having an anxiety disorder, and I have to deal with it as best as I can.

Mid-day HSJ: On McLellan’s philosophy and Yzerman’s observations

The Free Press’s Helene St. James weighs in regarding Red Wings coach Todd McLellan and GM Steve Yzerman’s press conferences:

“What we’ve asked the players to do is play harder, to play faster and a little bit smarter,” he said. “Those are three simple things that I think we can control without any type of tactics or systematic structure play.

“And then the last thing is, the spirit of the team has to improve. When something like this happens, the spirit of the team is at a low. We’re going to work hard to build that back up.”

General manager Steve Yzerman made the coaching change during the three-day Christmas break, relieving coach Derek Lalonde and assistant coach Bob Boughner of their duties. Trent Yawney will be McLellan’s new right-hand man alongside Alex Tanguay, who retained his job.

Yzerman pointed to the Wings’ 13-17-4 record and especially how listless the team looked in Monday’s 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

“I can’t give you the exact date or time, but as our season started and has progressed to today, you start to think about, how do you improve your team, how do we get going in the direction we want to or playing the way we want to,” Yzerman said. “You look at all different types of things. The first option is player personnel, to move things around and what not. And then as we’re getting closer to yesterday, start to think, we might have to make a change here. 

“My thought process is, our team isn’t performing to what my expectations are. Whether anybody agrees with that or not – I have my own expectations of the team and why they aren’t, is because our players aren’t playing to each of their individual expectations. I have my own own expectation of each individual player. So collectively, we are where we are and we’re playing the way we are, and a decision comes at some point.”

Tweet of note: It’s a work in progress

Red Wings coach Todd McLellan made it very clear that he and assistant coach Trent Yawney are in a unique situation, having been parachuted in to help the Red Wings team mid-season, and as such, McLellan told the media that he is going to take 5-7 games to get to know the players, that he’s going to preach playing with more energy and enthusiasm…

And that initial changes to personnel and systems will not be drastic, as CBS Detroit’s Rachel Hopmayer notes:

Tweet of note: Leak-proof

From EliteProspects and Shap Shots Hockey’s Sean Shapiro: