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!

Evening news: on the Wings’ checking line, and Lalonde on the Tigers’ playoff push

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered an assortment of notes and quotes this evening…

What’s the value of having a consistent line like the Michael Rasmussen-Andrew Copp-Christian Fischer trio?

Lalonde: “I’ve been a little more comfortable of keeping some guys together, that project as a line and that’s certainly one of them. And I think there’s a comfort level with that group and I think there’s an identity that they formed towards the end of last year. So I think not only a comfort from me with them, I think there’s a comfort between the three of them.”

Do they have another level they can reach?

Lalonde: “I hope so. We’ll see going forward. Certainly hope so. I think their offense is going to be honest offense, which I like, but I think you can create offense by playing the right way. When they’re out there they do a lot of the right things, manage pucks, forecheck properly, get on top, create turnovers. They can create some offense.”

2. And, from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

If there’s anything the Tigers’ unexpected season-ending surge has taught the sports world it’s “believability,” according to Lalonde.

Lalonde remembered watching the Tigers in August playing the Yankees in the annual Little League event in Williamsport, Pa.

“At the time I heard the announcer say the Tigers had a 5 percent chance to make the playoffs,” Lalonde said. “This wasn’t six or four months ago. This was midseason, and it’s amazing. The lesson on believability is pretty neat.”

Lalonde took a nap Thursday in his office at Little Caesars Arena with the Tigers trailing Tampa 3-0. When he awoke, the Tigers were 4-3 winners. They won again on Friday night against the White Sox and clinched a playoff berth.

“Pretty inspiring for anyone, pretty cool to see,” Lalonde said. “Just the lesson in believability by that group.”

Lalonde compared where the Tigers and Red Wings are in their progression.

“The Tigers might be a year ahead of schedule,” Lalonde said. “We may have been probably a year ahead of schedule last year but unfortunately we didn’t finish the job. The difference is they did that. Our guys know where we are. We’ve taken natural progressions over the last two years and we want to keep pushing that forward.”

Press release: Red Wings-Penguins game will start at 8:30 PM

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS PRESEASON GAME VS. PITTSBURGH DELAYED DUE TO PENGUINS EXPERIENCING TRAVEL ISSUES

  … Preseason Matchup is Estimated to Begin at 8:30 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today announced that their preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena has been delayed due to Pittsburgh experiencing travel issues.

The game, originally scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, is now estimated to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Doors to Little Caesars Arena will open at 5:30 p.m. as originally scheduled.

Video: Derek Lalonde speaks with the media ahead of Wings-Penguins game

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the Wings’ media corps regarding the statuses of Lucas Raymond (maintenance day) and Erik Gustafsson (out tonight) ahead of this evening’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 PM start on DetroitRedWings.com/PittsburghPenguins.com)). Here’s the video of Lalonde’s remarks:

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton took note of Lalonde’s remarks regarding Raymond and Gustafsson:

Lucas Raymond was the only Red Wing who did not take part in either the morning skate or the subsequent practice for today’s non-game group.  However, per Derek Lalonde, his absence is no cause for concern, referring to the absence as “A maintenance day, typical of camp.”  “Sometimes lower body needs a little rest, so made sense to keep him out today,” Lalonde added.  “He’ll be back in the mix on Monday” after the team takes an off day on Sunday.

Lalonde also noted that Gustafsson will not play this evening despite taking morning skate out of an abundance caution: “Gustafsson had a little upper body issue.  Very similar to Lucas where we’ll be cautious and give him the day too for maintenance, so he’ll be out until Monday also.”

On the whole, Detroit is fortunate to be, to this point in camp, as close as possible to full health all around.

Prospect round-up: ASP 1 assist, NDL 1 goal, Forslund 1 assist on a busy Swedish Saturday

Of Red Wings prospect-related note:

In the SHL, Axel Sandin Pellikka finished with an assist, 3 shots and an even plus-minus rating in 19:43 played as Skelleftea AIK won 4-2 over Orebro:

Anton Johansson finished even with 2 shots and a minor penalty while playing 15:59 in Leksands IF’s 5-4 OT loss to MoDo Hockey;

And Noah Dower Nilsson scored a goal on 4 shots, finishing even in 14:00 played as Frolunda HC lost 5-3 to Brynas IF;

In the Swedish J20 league, Charlie Forslund registered an assist but finished at -1 with 2 shots on goal in Mora IK’s 3-1 loss to Leksands IF;

In the Finnish Liiga, Jesse Kiiskinen took 3 shots in 14:33 of ice time as HPK Hameenlinna lost 2-1 to JYP;

And in the KHL, Dmitri Buchelnikov finished even with 1 shot, 3 hits and 17:16 played as Vityaz Moscow Region won 2-0 over Barys Astana.

Mazur’s battling for a spot on the roster with work, work and more work

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Carter Mazur, who’s trying to make the Wings’ roster in a bottom-six role:

Mazur tallied 17 goals and 37 points in 60 games with Grand Rapids, after missing Red Wings training camp and the first six games with an injury. He put up three goals and eight points in nine playoff games.

“I had confidence in the playoffs last year, building off that and then adding that weight is a big factor in me not making the team or making the team,” Mazur said. “It is a little thing but it’s something that really adds to my game. That’s how I play. I want to be heavy. I want to be physical. Even if I’m not 200 pounds I still think I can do that at 188. It adds a lot of confidence to my game and I feel very comfortable where I’m at.”

He’ll get a good opportunity as the net-front man on the first power play unit with Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat.

“I kind of look at is it’s an opportunity to show what I can do net front,” Mazur said. “I feel like that’s a spot I’m really good at and I succeeded throughout the year last year and being on a power-play unit with Larkin, Kane, DeBrincat, all those guys, is pretty easy. All I have to do is stand and take the goalie’s eyes and let them do all the work. But I look forward to working with all those guys.”

Coach Derek Lalonde said Mazur has been noticeable in camp.

“Part of his DNA is instinctively a high compete, battle-type guy,” Lalonde said. “I just think a good summer growing into his body a little bit improves and helps in some of those areas.”

Continued (paywall)

Alex Chiasson wants to extend his hockey career in Detroit (or Grand Rapids)

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a profile of Red Wings pro try-out Alex Chiasson, who is attempting to earn a contract after not playing during yesterday’s regular season due to hip surgery:

“I did hip surgery in January,” Chiasson explained. “So if we go back maybe a year from today, I wasn’t sure where my career was at. I thought maybe that was it for me.”

The surgery was done as much for Chiasson’s peace of mind as it was with any notion of getting him back on the ice.

“Hockey was hard physically, but just life in general,” Chiasson said. “Life at home wasn’t much fun.”

Assuring he’d be healthy enough to play with his kids and do other vital aspects of life beyond hockey was his motivation to go under the knife. The, once the surgery was done and he was on the road to recovery, that was when notions of being back on the ice began to dance in Chiasson’s head.

He’s going for it the hard way. Chiasson is attending Red Wings camp on a professional tryout offer (PTO). About 20% of PTO attendees earn a contract, so the odds are stacked against Chiasson. Yet he feels like the luckiest guy in camp.

“Pretty grateful for the opportunity to be here,” Chiasson said. “I’ve obviously worked really hard to come back. It’s not easy at 33 to put in the work and all that, but you can only do this for so long, and hopefully I can show what I can do and what I’m capable of still doing and help the organization in any way I can.”

Continued

Post-practice Lalonde: Raymond taking a ‘maintenance day,’ Gustafsson out tonight

MLive’s Ansar Khan reported that Lucas Raymond didn’t practice with today’s non-game-day group, marking the second day that Raymond didn’t practice.

After both the game-day and non-game-day groups practiced ahead of tonight’s game vs. Pittsburgh (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/PittsburghPenguins.com), Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media, and here’s what he had to say:

Also:

Non-game-day group Tweets from practice: Raymond not practicing

The Red Wings’ game-day players skated on Little Caesars’ ice surface around 10:30 AM today, preparing for the Wings’ exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/PittsburghPenguins.com), and after the morning skate, Joe Veleno and Carter Mazur spoke with the media.

The non-game-day players took to the ice at 12:10 PM, per MLive’s Ansar Khan, and Lucas Raymond was not among them: