Author: George Malik

The Red Wings’ prospects dropped a 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars at the 2022 Prospect Tournament on Saturday evening, and the game was something of a complicated story.

The Red Wings took 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 leads over Dallas, despite being out-shot 14-3 in the 1st period, 25-13 after 2 periods and 35-24 overall…But Dallas kept answering Detroit’s goals with game-tying markers, and, in the 3rd period, Dallas scored a pair of goals 3:10 apart to break a 4-4 tie and win a game in which the Red Wings’ power play went 1-for-5.

Despite a 3-point game (1 goal + 2 assists) from Kirill Tyutyayev, a goal and an assist from Elmer Soderblom, a 2-assist game from Albert Johansson and goals from Cross Hanas and Trenton Bliss–as well as a half-game, 18-save shutout from Jan Bednar…

The Wings couldn’t overcome their tendency to shoot themselves in the skates defensively, and they couldn’t or wouldn’t seem to attack the Stars as directly and purposefully as Dallas pestered and peppered Andrew Oke and his defensemen.

So the Red Wings’ prospects, who are 1-and-1 after 2 games (they won 5-2 over Columbus on Friday afternoon), will practice at 11 AM on Sunday, choosing to eschew an “off day” for team continuity’s sake, and they’ll wrap up the round robin portion of their annual prospect tournament on Monday at 11 AM as they host the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects (to be streamed on the Wings’ social media channels).

If you missed it, the Red Wings archived their stream of the game…

Per the Red Wings’ Twitter account:

Hockeytown comes to soccertown!

We spotted @DetroitRedWings players at Keyworth Stadium tonight! #DCTID pic.twitter.com/yLPQWUehdj— Detroit City FC (@DetroitCityFC) September 18, 2022

And the @DetroitRedWings join the celebration! 🎉#DCTID pic.twitter.com/bOiCR5m53P— x – Detroit City FC (@DetroitCityFC) September 18, 2022

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects lost a 5-4 decision to the Dallas Stars on Saturday evening, but it was still an entertaining affair:

After the Red Wings’ prospects dropped a 5-4 decision to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, Amadeus Lombardi spoke with the media…

As did coach Ben Simon:

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects lost a 5-4 decision to the Dallas Stars at the 2022 Prospect Tournament.

Elmer Soderblom, Trenton Bliss, Kirill Tyutyayev and Cross Hanas scored for Detroit, but Dallas scored 3 of the final 5 goals and Jan Bednar’s 18-save first half shutout was not equaled by Andrew Oke, who gave up 5 goals on 17 shots.

Here were the game highlights:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted an article regarding one Elmer Soderblom. He may not be a physical presence, but the 6’8,” 249-pound forward certainly offers a unique skill set as a gigantic, superbly-talented forward:

Historically as he’s moving up the hockey ladder, Soderblom hits his stride in his second season at that level. It shouldn’t be concerning then, if he should originally be struggling through his North American transition.

“I think everything’s quicker,” Soderblom said of the game on the smaller ice. “You gotta do everything a little more quicker and it’s a little more physical I think. You’ve got to be able to take a hit and give a hit as well.

“Just be quick in your mind and your feet and your hands. Pretty much just do everything a little bit quicker.”

How rapidly he can be making this transition will got a long way in determining where Soderblom is playing during his first North American pro season.

“It’s going to be a little bit different for him,” Simon said. “Whether he’s in Detroit or Grand Rapids, it’s going to be a different culture, it’s going to be a different rink size. So a lot of first-time experiences for him. He’s got to get some traction and play consistently well. We’ve seen that before with other players who’ve come over. There is an acclimation period. And the shorter that acclimation period can be to get comfortable in North America, I think the quicker he’s gonna have success.”

Continued; I’m fairly certain that Soderblom will star the season in Grand Rapids, but you never know.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted an article which discusses Jeremie Biakabutuka’s perhaps somewhat surprising journey toward playing Major Junior hockey for the QMJHL’s Charlottetown Islanders:

Jeremie Biakabutuka’s [youth] football career was over quickly. He thinks he was nine or 10 when he decided to concentrate on hockey. But he certainly has memories.

“I was a quarterback and a safety and a kicker,” he said. “I was everything. My dad was the coach, too. It was pretty funny.”

But today, he is all hockey. He is a 6-foot-4, 210-pound defenseman for the Charlottetown Islanders in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He has gone undrafted, meaning he would be an overage player if he returns to junior hockey.

He’s playing in this tournament with the hope of signing with the Red Wings or getting noticed by other NHL teams. He didn’t get invited until a week before the tournament started.

The Red Wings have a collection of skilled young defensemen already in the pipeline, but they must see potential in him or he wouldn’t be here.

“I’m a big defenseman with good mobility an speed,” he said. “So obviously they want to see me play good defensively, see me finishing my check, be physical. Using my speed to join the rush. I have a good shot, too, so take shots on the net. I consider myself a two-way defenseman, so doing all that and not creating a turnover every shift. Just be hard to play against and join the rush when I have a chance to.”

Continued

Per the Red Wings’ YouTube channel, here’s the streaming link for tonight’s game between the Red Wings prospects and the Dallas Stars. The game starts at 6 PM and Daniella Bruce and Ken Kal will have the call:

If the embed code doesn’t work, head over to YouTube for the direct link.

Hoo boy:

“A floppy disk? Never heard of it.”#DRWPT pic.twitter.com/YjpFU0my4W— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 17, 2022

From the Red Wings comes this list of players participating in tonight’s game between Detroit and Dallas (6 PM EDT on the Wings’ social media channels):