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!

It’s time for fun fun fundraising

With the World Junior Championship coming to an end and the dog days of summer upon us for a couple of days (don’t worry, the news cycle will pick back up very soon), I’ll be leaving to head up to Traverse City for the Red Wings’ prospect tournament and training camp in three weeks, but I’m still not sure how I’m going to pay for it.

The same is true for fixing my 17-year-old Chrysler Pacifica, which needs a new headlight, a new tail light and an oil change…And I don’t have enough money to renew the website at the end of the month, either. Which is not ideal.

So, it’s time to do that fundraising dance again. I apologize in advance, but this is how I survive and hopefully thrive, and it’s all up to reader contributions.

I cranked out 12 days’ worth of World Junior Championship coverage sans a peep, perhaps to my own detriment, but now I’ve got to ask. So I’m asking for help getting up to Traverse City (the hotel alone is $2,000 this year) and renewing the website’s couple hundred bucks’ worth of subscriptions, too.

If you can assist the cause, I would greatly appreciate it. So:

If you’re willing to lend a hand, you can use PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

Khan profiles Red Wings 2022 draft pick Dylan James

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a profile of Red Wings 2022 draft (40th overall) pick Dylan James, who will be entering his freshman season with the University of North Dakota, after having won a Clark Cup with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers this past season:

James tallied 28 goals and 61 points in 62 games, including 13 goals and 25 points over the final 18 games [of the 2021-22 USHL Season]. Limited to seven games the previous season with Okotoks in the Alberta Junior Hockey League due to the pandemic, the Calgary native needed some time to get into a rhythm.

“I think I quarantined for like 50 days at three different times (in 2020-21),” James said. “That was tough, on and off. You didn’t know if you were going to practice that afternoon. Coming to the USHL, I was a little nervous. I hadn’t played in a season. After Christmas I feel like I played my best. I feel like I was getting comfortable with the city, the new teammates and the coaches, what they want out of me. Obviously, getting older you’re getting stronger, so that helped.”

James, 18, attended Red Wings development camp last month at Little Caesars Arena as he prepares for his freshman year at North Dakota.

“I was pretty young when I made that decision,” he said. “I loved the coaching staff. You see their history, winning national championships (eight, behind only Michigan and Denver with nine each). That was a big key in going. Their facility is unreal. I’m just going to go there and try to work really hard. Nothing’s given to you there. I’ll just go there and try to get better every day.”

Continued

DHN’s Duff discusses Anton Johansson’s early returns

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a profile of Red Wings prospect and 2022 draft pick Anton Johansson, who’s apparently having a solid preseason as he attempts to break into Leksands IF’s men’s team:

At 6-foot-4 and 172 pounds, he is lanky, with the potential to really fill out and grow into his body. He sizes up well in more areas than just as a physical specimen, however.

Anton Johansson displays an impressive offensive upside. He’s a strong skater, transports the puck effecitvely and is equipped with a booming shot.

“We like the size, the right shot, puck-moving defenseman that we were excited to get,” Red Wings director of amateur scouting Kris Draper said. “We really like the path that he’s on.”

Last season, Johansson started the campaign with Leksand J18. He moved up to the club’s J20 squad and even graduated to play four games for the Leksand senior squad in the SHL, Sweden’s top flight.

Due in part to a COVID-19 outbreak within the club, Johansson is being offered the chance to display his wares during the SHL preseason and it’s been going well for him.

Continued

Tweet of note: WXYZ’s Galli notes an Andrew Copp bobblehead night at USA Hockey Arena

I was going to post this last night, but WXYZ’s YouTube channel has disabled playback when you embed videos. So, per WXYZ’s Brad Galli…

Andrew Copp is getting a bobblehead night at @USAHockeyArena on January 7.@umichhockey @DetroitRedWings @USAHockeyNTDP @Copp94 pic.twitter.com/nV6bFPDdKx— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) August 24, 2022

Roughly translated: Jakub Vrana speaks with iSport.cz

Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana raised funds for his youth hockey team in Prague recently, and iSPort.cz’s Zdenek Janda spoke with Vrana regarding the upcoming NHL season in Detroit:

Vrana about returning to Letnany and the Czech group in Detroit: “We have potential”

He returned to the place where he grew up playing hockey, and sometimes even slept near the ice. Forward Jakub Vrana (26), winner of a Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018, played an exhibition game with Prague’s HC Letci team over the weekend as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the team. “Wonderful, I’ve never seen it so full here,” said the sniper from Detroit. After the game, he talked about the Red Wings and memories of his bronze medal In Tampere [Finland].

It was an emotional moment for him. In the place where he learned the secrets of hockey as a small boy, now the fans applauded him. As well as other members of the Letnany-based team, the challenging selection of All-Stars were led by Jakub Voracek and David Pastrnak this past Saturday. “We enjoyed it very much. I’m very happy with how many people came,” explained Jakub Vrana.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Jakub Vrana speaks with iSport.cz

Big Sky, Montana to build a rink honoring Red Wings alumnus Marty Pavelich

Former Red Wings forward Marty Pavelich retired to Big Sky, Montana 30 years ago, and “Explore Big Sky’s” Gabrielle Gasser reports that the community is going to build a rink named aver Pavelich:

Every Sunday for 10 years, Marty Pavelich, four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Detroit Red Wings, would attend church, eat breakfast and go skating at the ice rink in Big Sky’s Town Center. Pavelich, now 94, hung up his skates for good in 2020, but two local organizations are working to ensure his legacy lives on in perpetuity.

Big Sky Community Organization and the Big Sky Skating and Hockey Association are partnering on a campaign to raise $600,000 for the development of a permanent ice rink, one they’ll name after Pavelich. The rink, which found its permanent home as part of the BASE community center campus in 2021, has long been a gathering place for Big Sky residents during the dark winter months, offering opportunities after chairlifts stop spinning to skate, curl or play hockey.

The campaign started in July and the goal is to raise the funds as fast as possible to hold a ribbon cutting with Pavelich in attendance. Funds raised by the campaign will cover half of the cost to build the permanent rink, establish a rink maintenance fund and purchase more youth hockey gear among other things.

“We want Marty to see the appreciation that the community has for not only his Red Wings history and being a local but all he did to build the program, to build the rink, to get this group of people together in 2010 and to have him see the community’s support and appreciation,” said Kate Ketschek, BSCO board chair.

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DHN’s Allen discusses Moritz Seider’s potential to (eventually) win a Norris Trophy

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen spoke with several NHL analysts regarding the possibility of Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider contending for a Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman at some point in the future:

“I think Seider will have a place in the Norris conversation in 2022-23, and I think it’s entirely possible that he’ll win one or more as his career progresses,” said Hall of Fame hockey writer Dave Molinari, another long-time voter. “But in the short term, I believe the field of elite defensemen is simply too crowded to make him anything more than a long shot.”

NHL Network analyst Stu Grimson, a former Red Wings’ player, has a similar perspective. He has said on the air that Seider should win a Norris at some point in his career.

“(But) is he capable of a Norris next year?,” Grimson said. “I’d say likely not.”

Grimson sees two issues for Seider: Developmental trajectory and timing.

“Bigger bodies take longer to develop,” Grimson said. “Yes, Fox and Makar inserted themselves into Norris discussion very early in their careers. However, these are guys that compete with more modest sized frames and they tend to be somewhat more agile. And that agility translates to point per game seasons for them very early in their careers. Not to mention these guys are making 20 goals from the blueline look routine. I believe Seider can be that caliber of player. It may take him another couple years or so to get there. He’s not the same threat to score as the elite guys yet. But he could be in time.”

Continued