If you’re interested…
Don’t forget to join us tonight at Little Caesars Arena for another fun-filled NHL Draft Party! Limited (free) tickets still remain!
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?: https://t.co/0Twb1jlR8s pic.twitter.com/Qpblhjvqi6— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 7, 2022
I’m sitting behind my laptop’s keyboard as a hockey blogger for the first time in seven months this morning.
It’s taken a long time to get here, and a lot of hard work. I battled through one of the worst depressive episodes I’ve had, and it involved seven months of recovery.
I worked with a psychiatrist to alter my medication regimen, slowly boosting one mood stabilizer from 100 milligrams to 300 milligrams, and I’ve dropped my “sleeper” medication down from 300 milligrams to 200 milligrams. In addition, I’ve got a new therapist, and instead of being seen once a month, I’m seeing my new therapist every other week, which has been incredibly helpful in terms of the healing process…
But it’s taken time. More time than I would have liked. As my psychiatrist said, “This may take more time than you’re anticipating,” and that’s exactly what it did.
I’m still not at 100% yet, but if I can get to 75-80% for the draft, development camp and free agency, that will be enough to “fake it ’till I make it” and get by.
Mentally and emotionally speaking, I’m a lot better, and I have at least been able to continue caring for my Aunt Annie over this time, but I was basically sleeping through the rest of the day and rest of the night as my body healed, and that wasn’t fun. I managed to follow the Wings fairly closely, but there’s nothing like being “on the blog.”
Financially, I must be honest here: we’re in debt. There is no AFLAC for sick bloggers, and we’re a bit “banged up” financially, so yes, you’re gonna see that PayPal button soon, first for development camp, and then to pay the dang bills.
For better or worse, making a modest living off this job is important, but so is doing it to begin with.
I’m not sure how things are going to go in the upcoming days. I’ll do my best to be here and will work my hardest to balance a little bit of self care, a lot of working for you and a lot of taking care of the aunt. I’m better-equipped to do so pharmacologically speaking, and I’m better-equipped to do so in terms of coping skills, but I have a ways to go yet.
Here’s hoping that by fall, TMR will be running on all cylinders. In the interim, I’ll give you everything I’ve got, and take it day by day and take my health day-to-day.
I’m grateful to be back. It’s time for the draft, two of the busiest days in the NHL; then we hit a 5-day development camp (Ken Kal let it slip during Yzerman’s pre-draft presser that the camp will be held at the BELFOR Training Center from Sunday-Thursday), and free agency hits on the 13th.
Let’s try to go through those things together, and see what happens as I try to rebuild the blog…Again.
The Hockey News’s Tony Ferrari examines the Atlantic Division’s “weak spots” in terms of prospects this morning, and if you didn’t already know by now, the Detroit Red Wings need to shore up their center position:
Detroit Red Wings: Center
First Draft Choice: Round 1, 8th Overall
Steve Yzerman has come into Detroit and really begun to turn things around and build up their prospect pool. His drafting has been spot on and he seems to trust his scouts who happen to be some of the best in the game, especially in Europe. They just had Moritz Seider win the Calder Trophy and fellow rookie Lucas Raymond finish fourth in the voting. They have Simon Edvinsson headlining their loaded defensive pool and Jonatan Berggren has been improving year-over-year to lead the forward pack. The one glaring need is their hole down the middle. Captain Dylan Larkin is a good center but he can’t do it alone. With no other top-six option presenting itself at the moment, the eighth overall pick looks poised to net them a center to fill that void. They could play it safe with a Marco Kasper or take a swing on Matthew Savoie. Could they go against consensus yet again by taking Brad Lambert in the top 10?
Continued; I’m expecting the Wings to be active in free agency to build depth at center as well.
I spoke with YouTuber Anthony Guzzardo yesterday, and you can watch our conversation on Anthony’s YouTube channel:
The Detroit Red Wings released their 2022-2023 regular season schedule yesterday afternoon…
Our full 2022-23 regular season schedule!
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 6, 2022
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And if you’re interested in the “ins and outs” thereof, Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff took note of some of the special dates on the ’22-23 sked:
The Montreal Canadiens had already been in the NHL for a decade when the Detroit Red Wings – as the Detroit Cougars – came aboard for the 1926-27 season.
In the 95 NHL seasons. the Canadiens and Red Wings have faced off against each other 600 times in regular-season play. However, when they take the ice to open the 2022-23 NHL campaign, it will mark the first time that Detroit will be at home playing the Canadiens in the Red Wings season opener.
Unveiling of he NHL schedule took place on Wednesday. Detroit’s 82-game regular-season slate gets underway Oct. 14 at Little Caesars Arena against the 2021 Stanley Cup finalist Canadiens.
The 2022 NHL Draft begins this evening at 7 PM EDT in Montreal, and ESPN’s going to air coverage of the 1st round tonight; tomorrow morning at 11 AM, rounds 2 through 7 take place, and coverage will shift over to Sportsnet, the NHL Network and ESPN+.
The Red Wings will pick 8th overall this evening, and then 40th, 52nd, 73rd, 105th, 113rd, 129th, 137th, 201st and 212th on Friday.
This morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan notes that the in-person event feels like a return to what passes for “normal” for much of the league, as Wings GM Steve Yzerman noted in his pre-draft address:
“Certainly, [this year we have] a little bit more familiarity with all the players,” Yzerman said. “Two years ago, we’re all excited about the U-18s and watching these kids in the playoffs throughout all the junior leagues, and then everybody is shut down, so we missed an important part of the season. Last year some of the kids didn’t even play. It was really challenging.
“This year it was somewhat a return to normalcy. Russian players were hard to assess and evaluate because it was difficult to get in there early in the season and then you really weren’t getting in there at all. Apart from that, it’s been for the most part a much more normal season.”
Yzerman said there is some concern about drafting Russians due to the war with Ukraine.
“The usual concerns are there and throw in the uncertainty of what’s going on in Russia and there’s a little bit of uncertainty of what players can and can’t do,” he said. “Will they be available now or anytime in the future? It’s just another level of uncertainty to the drafting of Russian players.”
Khan notes the names running through the rumor mill at present…
Continue reading Talkin’ about the draft ahead of tonight’s first roundHey, everybody, it’s been a while since the last update.
I wanted to let you know what’s going on as we approach the offseason and the draft and free agency. My tentative plans are to attempt to return for said events…
But, right now, I’m still dealing with extensive physical fatigue, which hasn’t lessened since my depressive episode began in January.
As a result, I am working both my psychiatrist and my primary care physician to address my issues.
My psychiatrist has been super supportive, and genuinely listened to my concerned, so we’ve already increased one key antidepressant significantly, which helped my mood, and we’re decreasing my “sleeper” sedative, which has been difficult, but is supposed to knock down the fatigue;
On the primary care physician side of things, I’ve been diagnosed with a severe case of anemia, which helps explain some of the fatigue, but not all of it. I’m taking Vitamin B-12 and an iron supplement to boost my red blood cell count, and I see my physician on Monday, so we’re going to update my blood work and see how I’m doing in the battle to decrease my anemia.
Throughout the last couple of months, I’ve been breaking in a new therapist, too, but she’s been great, so I’m getting the psychiatric support I need to get past the tendrils of depression that are still trying to hold me back. I feel so much better than I did in January that it’s remarkable. I have a little bit to go, but I’m not feeling like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill any more.
Overall, I’m not quite ready to return to work, but I’m maximizing the usage of my psychiatric, physical and psychological care options to ensure that TMR will not be going on any sort of permanent hiatus. I desperately miss working and talking hockey with you, and I just want to get healthier and get back to doing the job I love so much.
Hi, everybody. I wanted to post a short update to let you know how my depressive episode is going.
At present, there’s some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that, thanks to a combination of psychiatry, therapy and an increase in one of my antidepressants, I’m starting to come out of the fog, and while I don’t feel quite like myself yet, I’m getting there. The world is a lot brighter, and my desire to come back to work is that much stronger.
The bad news is that physical fatigue is still chasing me down and knocking me over. I’ve been able to get on Twitter and post during most games, but on the “off days,” my body’s forcing me to spend the vast majority of my time in bed, exhausted. I’m sure that being diagnosed as severely anemic is playing into the situation, but I also feel like my depressive fatigue hasn’t let go of me yet.
Most days, I feel like I’m getting closer to functional again (I don’t need to be at 100% to work!), but I’m still not quite out of the funk mentally, and physically, my depression is still kicking my butt.
I’m working said butt off to try and function when I am able, and the discipline of caring for my aunt helps significantly there, but I’m really struggling energy-wise.
As previously stated, despite having missed three months’ worth of the Red Wings’ season, I have every intent of coming back to work and covering both whatever of the season or offseason I can, and we’re going to have quite a few Wings and prospects playing at the World Championship in Finland, so there’s going to be a significant amount of Red Wings news for long into the late spring.
Long story short, I’ve made significant progress mentally, but the physical process of recovering from my depression is still an ongoing issue. That being said, I’m still coming back when I’m able. TMR is not dead yet; it’s hibernating, due to wake back up sooner than later.
I miss all of you (yes, all of you) and I hope that I’ll be able to talk hockey with you again soon.
Hey everyone,
I know it’s been a long time since I posted a health update. I’m still dealing with what has become a major depressive episode.
It might be the worst one I’ve had in a couple of years as I’m dealing with both severe mental distress and significant physical discomfort.
This one has been rough for the past two-and-a-half months. During that time, I’ve been pretty bloody useless and in some pretty damn gloomy places, but I’m trying to fight every day to get better.
I’ve worked with my psychiatrist to increase my medication, and I’ve been speaking regularly with my therapist. Aunt Annie has been wonderfully supportive as well, and I know that there are many people who I only know through the internet who are rooting for me, and that keeps me from bottoming out.
I have been trying to follow the Wings as best I can during this time, but when one is really depressed, one’s concentration goes down, so I’ve not pored over every syllable. There are times that I’ve been too gloomy to even watch games, too, and those days have been particularly dark.
As the trade deadline approaches, not being able to talk hockey with you is really difficult and very disappointing.
I can’t promise that I’ll be back on Monday, here or on Twitter, but I will keep working to break through this depression and get back to working for you.
I miss my work. I miss my hockey friends. I miss talking about “my” Red Wings. I am working very hard to battle through a severe depressive episode. I hope to see you soon.
Everybody,
I’ve been dealing with a depressive episode for the past three weeks, and I’m finally starting to see some slow and steady improvement, but I’m still really struggling with energy and enthusiasm to do tasks, and as hard as I’m trying to at least be on Twitter during games, I’m aiming to return during the middle to end of this week, energy level permitting.
It’s been a rough go and I appreciate your kind words and support over the course of the past three weeks. I’m very grateful for your patience as I work through this pain in the butt.
