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!

In search of secondary scoring

The Red Wings changed up their lines ahead of tomorrow night’s game in Buffalo (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSG-B/97.1 FM), and the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde regarding the Wings’ rationale behind their revisions:

Dylan Larkin was between Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond, basically the only three forwards who are scoring goals these days. Marco Kasper was between Michael Rasmussen and Patrick Kane. J.T. Compher centered Vladimir Tarasenko and Andrew Copp. The fourth line consisted of Jonatan Berggren, Joe Veleno, Tyler Motte, with Christian Fischer rotating in.

…

“We’re doing pretty good things away from the puck, defending pretty well, but what’s frustrating is we’re not finishing,” Lalonde said. “Even this stretch of late, it’s a lot different than what we had early when we weren’t scoring. We weren’t getting looks. We’ve had some good looks of late here, and hopefully, we can start finishing.”

Lalonde has talked the last several days about wanting the Wings to be more effective around the net, scoring some “greasy” goals, in hockey parlance — and with that in mind, most of those new lines have a touch of that going for them.

“With some of those lines, (they’re) getting some different skill sets to complement some guys,” Lalonde said.

After Raymond (10 goals, 28 points), DeBrincat (11 goals, 22 points) and Larkin (12 goals, 21 points) there’s a huge drop-off to defenseman Moritz Seider (13 points). The Wings have received minimal secondary scoring among the forwards this season.

“We’d like a little more secondary scoring,” Lalonde said. “Again, we’ll keep pounding (for) some harder offense, on the whole. I don’t think scoring is going to be a natural, or a strength of ours by any means. I didn’t look at shooting percentage but it has to be one of the poorest in the league (23rd of 32 teams). Hopefully, we can keep harping on some things and get some pucks in the back of the net. I still think we can get scoring throughout our lineup, guys willing to continue getting to the inside, some of the harder areas.”

Continued (paywall); there’s no doubt that the Red Wings’ lack of secondary scoring is damning them, offensively speaking…

Video: Kasper, Cossa and Lalonde’s post-Sunday-practice remarks

The Red Wings shook up their forward lines during Sunday’s practice at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center.

Before flying to Buffalo for tomorrow night’s game vs. the Sabres (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSG-B/97.1 FM), coach Derek Lalonde told the assembled media that the Wings are uncertain as to whether they’ll start Ville Husso or Sebastian Cossa on Monday evening.

The Red Wings posted a 10:16 video of Marco Kasper, Cossa and coach Lalonde’s post-practice remarks for your viewing pleasure:

Sunday fundraising

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Revise and edit

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton discusses the Red Wings’ revised forward lines as evidenced by Detroit’s Sunday practice:

Coach Derek Lalonde reunited an Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Larkin–Lucas Raymond trio that found some success early in the season.  He also reconnected J.T. Compher and Andrew Copp, placing them on a line with Vladimir Tarasenko.  Patrick Kane—who has been quiet since returning from injury—moves down to a third line role, beside Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen.

The purpose behind the changes is obvious: The Red Wings need to find more goals. As Lalonde explained, “We would like a little more secondary scoring, and again, we keep trying to pound some harder offense. And yes, obviously on the whole for the year, we rank towards the bottom of the league and rightfully so…The early stretches, we were not producing chances, kinda living off our power play there a little bit. But of late, we’re getting some quality looks.”

Continued with an update on the Red Wings’ goaltending situation…

Sebastian Cossa’s learning experience

The Red Wings may or may not start Sebastian Cossa tomorrow when they face the Buffalo Sabres (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSG-B/97.1 FM), but Cossa told MLive’s Ansar Khan that, regardless of whether he starts or not, he’s learning from and enjoying his time with the Red Wings:

“This is the highest level of hockey in the world, so just kind of seeing it day by day I’ve been taking a lot away from Huss and even Talbs and Lyon as they’re getting back now,” Cossa said. “Just kind of seeing their day to day and how they perform at this high level.”

Cossa, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft, has backed up Husso the past three games.

“Obviously you want to play for sure, but at this point where the team’s at right now, points are really important, and Huss has been doing a great job giving this team a chance to win every night,” Cossa said. “Just trying to replicate what he does every day.

“The intensity of the practice, obviously the skill of the shooters, it’s a big jump from the AHL to here and just kind of getting comfortable at that level, pushing my pace and even the size of the guys. There’s bigger boys in here in front of the nets taking screens and a lot better at tips and stuff.”

Cossa’s parents are on standby back home in Fort McMurray, Alberta, ready to travel to wherever he makes his NHL debut, if he makes it this season.

“They probably got their bags packed,” Cossa said. “They’re just waiting, day by day, whenever they hear anything.”

Continued (paywall)

Post-practice Tweets: Monday’s starting goaltender yet to be determined

Ahead of a two-game road trip to Buffalo (on Monday night at 7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSG-B/97.1 FM) and Philadelphia (on Thursday at 7 PM on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/NBC Sports Philadelphia/97.1 FM), the Red Wings practiced at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center, shaking up their forward lines.

After practice, the Red Wings’ players and coach spoke with the media:

Tweets from Sunday’s practice: forward lines tweaked before trip to Buffalo, Philadelphia

The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to snap their 0-3-and-2 streak when they travel to Buffalo to play the Sabres tomorrow evening (7 PM EST on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/MSG-B/97.1 FM), and the Wings were understandably frustrated after last night’s 2-1 loss to Colorado…

So it remains to be seen whether the team will embrace their emotions as a motivator with which to improve.

Before heading to Buffalo, the Red Wings practiced at Little Caesars Arena at noon on Sunday:

A bit about Trey Augustine’s 24-25 season (thus far)

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offers the following note about Red Wings prospect and Michigan State University goaltender Trey Augustine:

Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine (41st overall, 2023) made 30 saves Saturday to help the No. 1-ranked Michigan State (12-2-0) Spartans down Wisconsin 3-2 on an overtime goal by Isaac Howard.

The win gave MSU against a Wisconsin squad that ended the Spartans’ nine-game winning streak Friday with a 4-0 triumph. Augustine gave up three goals in that contest, making 22 saves. This season, Augustine is 10-2 with a 1.83 goals-against average and .934 save percentage.

Augustine’s 30 saves included an overtime stop by Christian Fitzgerald.

Over two seasons at Michigan State, Augustine is 33-11-2. In Sebastian Cossa, Carter Gylander and Augustine, the Red Wings have three quality goalie prospects in the 22 and under category. Gylander made 23 saves to earn the 5-4 overtime road win for Grand Rapids Griffins against the Chicago Wolves Saturday.  He is 2-1 for the Griffins this season and 5-1-2 for the Toledo Walleye.

MSU plays at No. 4 Minnesota for two games next weekend.

Continued

When frustration is not a waste of time

I was incredibly relieved to hear Moritz Seider, J.T. Compher and coach Derek Lalonde crack a little bit in terms of their stoic facades last night, revealing the underlying frustration that lies beneath the Red Wings’ 0-3-and-2 record of late.

Coach Mike Babcock used to say, “Frustration is a waste of time,” and that may or may not be true, but the concept that a team and its players cannot or should not embrace a the motivation that comes from acknowledging negative emotions…

It’s kind of robotic, and it yields robotic results in terms of teams, players and coaches who continue to insist that they need to “trust the process” when it’s evident that their process isn’t working.

If this year’s Red Wings team is to turn around its 10-13-and-4 record, it’s going to have to not only embrace its work ethic and resolve, but also the emotions that the team is feeling.

It finally sounds like the Red Wings are willing to acknowledge that what they’re doing right now hasn’t facilitated successful results, and therein lies a kernel of hope…

Hope that the Wings will embrace the changes they need to make to their play in order to stop the losing streak and restart the team’s 2024-2025 season, starting with game 28 against Buffalo on Monday.

Now the 11-13-and-3 Sabres’ 5-2 loss to Utah on Saturday has the team’s fans ready to revolt against GM Kevyn Adams, and the Sabres are on a six-game losing streak, so the Red Wings are going to be heading into an incredibly hostile environment on Monday, with an opponent that will be absolutely desperate to break its winless streak.

But the first part of solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem, and that’s where the Red Wings’ acknowledgment of frustration and disappointment with how their season has gone thus far is in fact a beacon of hope.

Last week, Dylan Larkin said that the Wings have to play as if nobody’s coming in to save them, and that may be true, so it’s imperative that the Wings re-embrace their work ethic and the fundamentals of their game going forward.

It’s going to take hard work and the initiative to plain old out-hustle and out-grind their opponents in order to take the looming 2-game road trip (and then the home-heavy remainder of the team’s December schedule) and utilize it to prove that the current players and coach Lalonde and his staff can still earn their pay and earn their keep…

And there is nothing wrong with embracing a little anger in order to achieve their goals. Babcockian logic suggests that stoicism is the way, and that there’s no reason to play with a chip on your shoulder, but I happen to believe that too much “robot hockey” and “trusting of the process” can be absolutely deadly to a team’s hopes of playing competitive hockey in January, never mind February, March or April.

As Red Wings play-by-play broadcaster Mickey Redmond suggested, the Wings probably have a window until the end of December to turn their ship around without requiring significant intervention from their management group in terms of changing player personnel and coaching staff…

So perhaps the best thing the Wings can do is take their frustration and utilize it to give them the kick in the ass that they need to motivate themselves to recommit to the fundamentals of playing sound hockey.

Here’s hoping that embracing frustration, and using the energy it creates to facilitate change, actually works.

HSJ in the morning: all about Marguerite Norris

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an excerpt from her book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, a Curated History of the Red Wings” this morning, discussing the influence of trailblazing Marguerite Norris, who should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Why? Because she ran the Red Wings to two Stanley Cups as the first woman to run an NHL team, starting her 3-year tenure as the Wings’ active governor at all of 25 years of age:

On December 5, 1952, a headline ran across one of the pages of the Detroit Free Press: “Wings Lose Owner and ‘No. 1 Fan’ as Norris Dies.” James E. Norris, the man who in 1932 bought a fledgling hockey franchise in Detroit and used his money and power to make the re-named Red Wings successful, died at age 73 from a heart attack. The immediate presumption was that son James D. Norris— who went by Young Jim—would become the next head of the Detroit hockey club. Ten days after James E. Norris’ death, the contents of his will revealed his choice: his youngest child, Marguerite Ann Norris, would become the first woman ever to head a professional hockey team.

She was named president of both the Red Wings and Olympia Stadium. The announcement was made by general manager Jack Adams on behalf of the Norris heirs. “Marguerite Ann was selected to follow the prescribed wishes of her father,” Adams said in a brief statement that he telephoned to Detroit hockey writers.

A graduate of Smith College, Marguerite later had business training with Dun & Bradstreet in New York and West Farm Management in Chicago. When coach Tommy Ivan was introduced to Marguerite a few days later, he inquired how to address her. “What should I call you when we talk hockey,” he said. “Miss Norris? Miss Boss? Miss President? Miss Owner?” She replied, “Margo will do.” (Margo was “my father’s choice,” Marguerite explained, while “Marge is what my brothers and sister call me.”)

Marguerite Norris accepted her new role with aplomb. “One minute I’m thrilled and the next I feel rather humble,” the 25-year-old said a week into the job. “This is all so new and exciting, and I really can’t say a thing yet about team operations.”

Continued;