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!

Rooting for captain Larkin

MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that Dylan Larkin’s teammates and coach are looking forward to watching the final of the Four Nations Face-Off between the USA and Canada tonight (8 PM EST on ESPN/Sportsnet/TVA Sports), with the Wings rooting for captain Larkin, even if not everybody is rooting for the American team:

“Just so happy for him,” Patrick Kane said. “It seemed like he started kind of down there in the lineup and not playing as much the first game and then when he gets the chance, he’s going to play well and do all he can with his opportunity. I thought he played great that game and had a couple more chances as well. To see him scoring on the two-on-one and the excitement and just how big of a goal that was, it was cool to see.”

Kane wishes could be on the ice for the U.S., but the next-best thing is being in front of his TV.

“It’ll be fun to watch,” Kane said. “As much as you’re a player and you love playing the game, I’m still a fan of the game. I’ll definitely be on my couch tuning in and paying attention.”

Larkin and linemate Lucas Raymond were the lone Red Wings participating in the tournament. Raymond had three assists in three games for Sweden, which was eliminated from title contention following Canada’s 5-3 victory over Finland Monday.

“For both of them, obviously, an incredible experience that isn’t over yet for Larks,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “It’s one thing to go and be on the team, it’s another thing to be on the team and be a factor, and both of them were factors for their team. So that’s a real good sign. It gives them experience that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. When an organization hasn’t been in the playoffs for a number of years, a lot of players don’t have playoff experience. It might be with other teams. We’ve got guys with Stanley Cups here. But as a group, we haven’t experienced that yet, and it still is different. It’s different when you get there, but this opportunity can’t hurt either of them.”

Continued; Khan reports that coach McLellan wants Raymond to take today off and return to practice on Friday; Larkin won’t rejoin the team until Saturday, when the Wings begin their post-Four Nations schedule with a matinee against the Minnesota Wild (12:30 PM EST start on ABC/97.1 the Ticket).

The pessimist’s view

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff examines the Red Wings’ remaining 27-game schedule from, well, the pessimist’s viewpoint:

Detroit’s final five regular-season games include four road games – a pair of back to to backs – sandwiched around a home date against the Dallas Stars. The Red Wings have lost eight in a row and 11 of the last 12 games in which they’ve faced the Stars.

As for the road games, Detroit goes to Florida (April 10) and Tampa Bay (April 11). The Wings finish up with games at New Jersey (April 16) and Toronto (April 17).

They’ve lost seven of their last nine visits to face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers. They’ve also lost 20 of the last 24 trips to meet the Lightning on the road.

Detroit is riding a two-game losing streak at New Jersey. In Toronto, the Wings do show three wins in their last four visits, but just four victories in the last 14 road games facing the Maple Leafs.

Quite correctly, the Red Wings point out that since Todd McLellan took over as coach, they’ve slayed some mighty dragons. The Red Wings won against all four current division leaders. There was a home victory over Washington (Metropolitan) and road triumphs at Edmonton (Pacific), Winnipeg (Central) and Florida (Atlantic).

“I think that the way we look at it is we’ve been two different teams so far,” Detroit forward Andrew Copp said. “One before Christmas and one after Christmas, and the one after Christmas has played really good and beaten a lot of top teams in the league. Going to Winnipeg, you win that. Going to Edmonton, win that. Washington, we beat at home. So those are three of the top teams in the league that we beat.”

Detroit’s mettle has been tested and it’s shown no signs of fatigue. It will be tested again over the final 27 games of the season, and certainly down that final five-game stretch.

Continued

HSJ in the morning: Red Wings are preparing for a difficult post-Four Nations schedule

The Free Press’s Helene St. James weighs in on the Red Wings’ preparations for a daunting 27-game stretch run schedule this morning.

As St. James notes, the Red Wings will embark upon a set of back-to-back games against Minnesota and Anaheim on Saturday and Sunday, and then they head to Minnesota for a rematch on Tuesday the 25th…

Then the Wings host the Blue Jackets on Thursday the 27th, and the Stadium Series beckons on Saturday, March 1st, so Detroit has an incredibly busy schedule over the first week of post-Four Nations Face-Off play.

Andrew Copp told St. James that the Wings want to learn from their 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay on February 8th, and go from there:

“We were playing really good before the break, and in that one game [against Tampa Bay], I don’t think we played bad in totality. But we had some mental mistakes, game management mistakes,” Andrew Copp said. “We’re eager to get that bad feeling out of our system and get going again. Todd’s been barking and trying to make sure we’re paying attention to detail. We’re staying in shifts, kind of long, to make sure that not only are we physically ready but our minds are ready to be at tip-top for games that last three hours.”

The Wings (28-22-5) have climbed into the East’s second wild-card spot on the strength of going 15-5-1 since [Todd] McLellan was named coach Dec. 26. The team talked about identity Wednesday, about togetherness and resiliency and handling adversity.

“That has really improved since Christmas,” [Andrew] Copp said. “I feel like we are really jelling as a team in togetherness, and that will be really important to keep as we head down the stretch here with so many games.”

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: Red Wings are preparing for a difficult post-Four Nations schedule

Videos: Dylan Larkin speaks with DK Pittsburgh Sports, NHL.com about the Four Nations Face-Off final

DK Pittsburgh Sports posted a video of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin speaking with the media at Boston’s TD Garden on Wednesday, ahead of tonight’s Four Nations Face-Off final between the U.S. and Canada (8 PM EST start on ESPN/Sportsnet/TVA Sports)…

And Larkin gave a 5:51 interview to NHL.com about the game and the U.S.-Canada rivalry as well. I can’t embed it, but here it is for your viewing pleasure in link form.

Evening news: Red Wings’ ‘mini camp’ prepares them for a daunting stretch run schedule

The Red Wings are happy to have gotten back to work at Little Caesars Arena ahead of a daunting stretch run schedule, as Andrew Copp told DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills…

“Ten days is a long time to be away from the rink no matter if you’re skating, working out or doing nothing,” Andrew Copp said. “You need these four days. It’s been pretty upbeat and energetic so far. I think guys are excited to get back.”

Detroit went into the 4 Nations Face-Off break with plenty of momentum, going 15-4-1 from Dec. 29 – Feb. 8. Now, according to Copp, it’s about improving and carrying that momentum over into the club’s final 27 games of the regular season.

“[Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan] has been trying to make sure we’re paying attention to the details,” Copp said. “We’re staying in shifts kind of long to make sure that we’re not only physically ready, but our minds are ready to be at tip-top [shape] for games that last three hours. You can replicate as much as you want in practice, but we’re only out there for an hour. It’s hard to have that mental stamina to stay in a game for 2.5 – 3 hours after two weeks off.”

The players know mentality matters, especially as the team continues forming its identity under McLellan.

“We talked a little bit about identity again today and all the parts of the actual hockey game, but something that we talked about at the end was our togetherness, resiliency and the team that we have, in terms of handling adversity, but sticking together,” Copp said. “That has really improved since Christmas. Obviously, winning helps with that but I feel like we’re really gelling as a team.”

But the Red Wings have an incredibly difficult schedule between this weekend and the end of the regular season, as MLive’s Ansar Khan noted:

Continue reading Evening news: Red Wings’ ‘mini camp’ prepares them for a daunting stretch run schedule

Tweets of note: Dylan Larkin on SportsCenter ahead of the Four Nations Final

From the Detroit Red Wings on Twitter:

Gloomily fundraising

Having a rough week, on the blog and away from the blog. Life’s challenges and caregiving’s relentless schedule have me a bit down today. But the bills continue to need to be paid, so here we are:

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Seider, Copp dig their Stadium Series gear

MLive’s Ansar Khan asked several Red Wings to weigh in on their unique winged helmets and Stadium Series jerseys:

“Pretty cool,” Moritz Seider said. “I was fortunate enough to see the whole look already and looks really sweet. Had a chance trying it on firsthand and it feels pretty good. I think the excitement is starting to grow here.”

Andrew Copp, who went to Michigan and was a prolific high school quarterback at Ann Arbor Skyline High School, noted the similarity in colors to U-M’s bitter rival.

“There’s a little tribute, colors are opposite though, so can’t get too close or else we’ll look like Ohio State,” Copp said. “It’s pretty good, I guess. Took a little to get used to it, seeing it on the ice. Definitely different than seeing it on a picture. But the jerseys should look good.”

It will be the Red Wings’ fifth outdoor game and first since Jan. 1, 2017, against Toronto at BMO Field.

Seider is among the players who haven’t played an outdoor NHL game but has at a lower level.

“In juniors back home (in Germany) we played before the men’s team played,” Seider said. “Probably like 35, 40 (thousand fans), and they sold-out I think with 55 (thousand) for the men’s game. Pretty cool atmosphere. It’s really special being on the ice and everything is so far away.”

Continued