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!

Coach Lalonde discusses ‘all-inclusion’

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde was asked about the NHL’s decision to ban “Pride Tape” during the offseason, and, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes, coach Lalonde was blunt in his reply:

“That’s a league decision; obviously, that’s out of my hands and above my pay scale or even what I should even comment on,” Lalonde said when asked about the hot-button topic. “But I’m an all-inclusive guy. I’ve always been. Probably a lot of credit to my family, my upbringing. I fully support the league mandates, but I’m a person that believes in all-inclusion, always have and always will.”

The NHL sent a memo to teams last week outlining what players are allowed to do and what they can’t do during theme celebrations this season. It included a ban on the colorful tape. Any player who uses such tape will be fined.

“That’s probably not my spot to say because some of these, it comes down to the individual at times,” Lalonde said. “I can’t speak for the Red Wings. I don’t want to speak for the Red Wings. I can speak for myself and I always have been, always will be a very proud, all-inclusive person.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James also took note of coach Lalonde’s remarks:

Amid the NHL’s decision to ban rainbow-colored “Pride tape” coming as a further blow to what used to be a league celebration of Pride Night, Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde favors inclusion.

“I’m an all-inclusive guy, I’ve always been,” Lalonde said Wednesday.

The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players are allowed — and not allowed — to do to celebrate special causes. One of the items included a ban on the use of “Pride tape” — rainbow-colored stick tape. The memo states that player uniforms and game gear cannot be altered to reflect theme nights, including Pride, Hockey Fights Cancer or military appreciation celebrations. Players can voluntarily participate in themed celebrations off the ice.

Let’s be honest here: an outright ban of things like “Pride Tape,” camouflage tape and purple tape for Hockey Fights Cancer Night is dumb. If somebody doesn’t want to participate, that’s their business, but the theme nights raised tens of thousands of dollars for charities, and…

It’s all very short-sighted of Mr. Gary Bettman and his Board of Governors, because the whole concept is that everyone should be welcome at NHL games, whether we agree with each other’s beliefs or not. If we love hockey, that’s the point.

Mills speaks with Andrew Copp ahead of his restart with the Wings

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Red Wings forward Andrew Copp about his increased confidence level as he begins his second season with the Wings:

A natural progression to the regular season is a luxury Andrew Copp did not enjoy last year, when offseason abdominal surgery forced him to miss his first training camp and preseason with the Detroit Red Wings.

But the 29-year-old forward is in a much different position entering the 2023-24 campaign and believes coming off a full, healthy offseason will pay huge dividends.

“It was nice to have a full summer of training,” Copp said on Sept. 29. “I did a lot of new stuff, things that helped me get to the point where I am now. It was nice to not have to worry about that side of things coming into the year. Just go out and play a little bit.”

Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said Copp looks ready to go this season.

“He’s a guy who is today’s pro,” Lalonde said about Copp on Oct. 5. “He trains extremely hard in the summer, so he’s physically in a good spot.”

Continued

A pair of columns from Burchfield regarding the Red Wings’ rebuilding process

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with 97.1 the Ticket’s Stoney and Jansen show this morning…

And 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield posted two columns about the interview, first noting Lalonde’s more quotable remarks…

When the Red Wings open the season Thursday night in New Jersey, they won’t have a single first- or second-year player on the roster — which feels counterintuitive for a rebuilding team. Derek Lalonde says it’s a reflection of a deeper roster with higher ambitions.

After the Wings added several veterans this summer, key prospects like Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper and Jonatan Berggren will start the season in Grand Rapids.

“I do think you’re going to see plenty of those guys, but they’re not fitting what we’re trying to do right now,” Lalonde said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket. “Our goal is to win now, of course with the vision of improving in the future. When you say is it important for them to play? I would agree with you. Absolutely, it’s important for them to play 23 minutes in a significant game (in the AHL rather) than seven, eight minutes with us and growing on the fly with mistakes or sitting up in the press box.”

The Red Wings have leaned toward the latter the last few years, said Lalonde, without gaining much ground. He pointed to Berggren, a 2018 second-round pick who debuted in Detroit last season and scored 16 goals in 67 games, and said, “No disrespect to Jonatan Berggren, but he was forced to play for us last year where with we were at.”

And then questioning the Red Wings’ identity as a rebuilding team:

Continue reading A pair of columns from Burchfield regarding the Red Wings’ rebuilding process

Caputo wonders whether the Red Wings can make the playoff cut

97.1 the Ticket’s Pat Caputo ponders whether the improved Detroit Red Wings can make the playoff cut in the incredibly competitive Atlantic Division this upcoming season:

Yes, Alex DeBrincat is a fabulous addition for the Red Wings. This could be the year that Mo Seider establishes himself as a top defensemen in the NHL. Dylan Larkin is in his prime, and this will likely be his most productive season. Yzerman added nine veterans to his roster. The Red Wings figure to be bigger, stronger, tougher, deeper and more balanced.

Thing is, the same can be said for the Sabres and Senators. Those are the teams the Red Wings are most compared to as up-and-comers in the Eastern Conference. In truth, those teams are more advanced in the rebuild phase.

The Red Wings had 80 points last season. They could be distinctly better and not make the playoffs. Grand Rapids is loaded with prospects, and Yzerman clearly is building the organization the right way. It does include trying to reach the playoffs now. Otherwise, he would not have added this much veteran talent in the offseason.

Yzerman inherited a disaster. He had to endure a difficult teardown before he could start rebuilding in earnest. The Red Wings essentially missed half a season because they were not in the NHL’s version of the NBA bubble during the pandemic. The Red Wings have a very strong prospect pipeline, and are being assembled to last once they emerge.

Even if these are legitimate reasons, not excuses, it won’t fly with many of the Red Wings’ faithful if they don’t reach the postseason.

Continued

Tweet of bemusement: Griffins answer a twist on the ‘How often do you think of the Roman Empire’ question

This is a cute way of doing “Media Day” differently:

Belated Tweets from Wednesday’s practice: no line changes

The Detroit Red Wings practiced earlier today at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center ahead of tomorrow night’s season-opener in New Jersey (7:30 PM EDT on ESPN+/hulu), and here are the Tweets from said practice:

Continue reading Belated Tweets from Wednesday’s practice: no line changes

Prospect round-up LDN scores his 7th of the season in Bjorkloven loss

Of Red Wings prospect-related note in Europe:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Liam Dower Nilsson scored again, scoring his 7th goal of the season on 5 shots, finishing at +1 in 15:16 of ice time as IF Bjorkloven lost 4-3 to Tingsryds IF:

Tweets of note: off to Newark!

The Detroit Red Wings open their regular season tomorrow night against the New Jersey Devils (7:30 PM EDT on ESPN+/hulu), and the Wings headed to New Jersey this afternoon on Red Bird III: