Author: George Malik

This is the right, but difficult, thing to do:

NHL announces that there will not be an Olympic break, NHL Players will not be able to participate in 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Full release: https://t.co/GkHDkNgZSo pic.twitter.com/ysBmWctzjw— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 22, 2021

Update: Here’s the PA’s release:

STATEMENT FROM NHLPA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DON FEHR ON OLYMPICS

TORONTO (Dec. 22, 2021) – National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) Executive Director Don Fehr issued the following statement today regarding the Olympics:

“Since the CBA extension was reached 17 months ago, NHL players have looked forward with great anticipation to once again participating in the Winter Olympics. Until very recently, we seemed to be on a clear path to go to Beijing. COVID-19 has unfortunately intervened, forcing dozens of games to be postponed this month alone. No matter how much we wish it were not the case, we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.

“Certainly, the players and hockey fans are quite disappointed. But playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important. We expect that NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2026.​”

NHL schedule-maker will ask all 32 clubs for updated building dates, particularly for that three-week gap in February. Some buildings had gone ahead and booked non-NHL events like concerts for that period but there’s still some dates to work with. 1/2— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 22, 2021

And it’s not just about re-scheduling postponed games in that three-week period but also moving other games around from teams that actually were not affected yet by cancellations so that those teams have games to play as well during that February period. 2/2— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 22, 2021

The aunt and I are doing as best as we can, gloom and doom of yet another pandemic Christmas in the offing, this morning. Neither she nor I are feeling particularly festive at this special time of year, but we are trying to be grateful and count our blessings, and the vast majority of our gratefulness comes from the fact that so many of you have stepped up to help us pay off AA’s tax bill so that we can keep living in the blog cave.

The bill is only partially paid, though the majority thereof has been submitted, and I still need to raise funds for a new phone–as well as a broken headlight and broken tail light on the Pacifica–so we’re going to keep fundraising for at least a couple more weeks.

I’d love to not do this at all to you, especially during a year when I know that we’re all feeling our budgetary squeezes, but this is the NPR of hockey blogs, and so you’re going to get some requests to keep TMR up and running on a fairly regular basis. I may not like doing this, but it’s a necessary part of the job.

All of that being said, the aunt and I are incredibly grateful for your help, and it might be the thing that gets us through a tough Christmas of not seeing the family and dealing with the second year and third Christmas without mom. I’m not sure if we’re going to have a “Wonderful Christmastime,” but we’re trying.

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.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed an article this morning discussing the expectations placed upon the Red Wings’ eight World Junior Championship-participating prospects–Jan Bednar (Czechia), Red Savage and Carter Mazur (USA), Sebastian Cossa and Donovan Sebrango (Canada), Eemil Viro (Finland) and Simon Edvinsson and Theodor Niederbach (Sweden):

Of course, having the most talent in the tournament does not guarantee anything. Especially in a single-elimination tournament, a team is only as good as its goaltender when it counts. And for Canada, there’s a very real chance that goaltender will be Detroit’s other 2021 first-round pick, Sebastian Cossa. Cossa will have to earn the net over Dylan Garand and Brett Brochu first, but if he does, it’s going to be a big opportunity for the Red Wings’ goalie of the future.

Where to set expectations for Cossa is a trick question. Panthers first-round pick Spencer Knight was 2-2 with a .913 save percentage in his draft-plus-one tournament. Predators first-rounder Yaroslav Askarov went 3-3 with a .914. Those seem like the most relevant comps, but both were 18 at the time of those tournaments, whereas Cossa is 19 — meaning despite this being his first World Juniors, it’s also his last. Asking Cossa to be as good as Knight was in his dominant 2021 tournament (when he had a .940 save percentage in six games) would be unfair. But if he’s Canada’s starter, the pressure will nonetheless be real to help the tournament’s best team get the job done.

Continued (paywall)

Via Francesca Fontana on Twitter, former Red Wings forward Bobby Ryan is practicing with Swiss team HC Ambri Piotta ahead of his participation in the Spengler Cup:

⚪️?Bobby Ryan si allena (ahimè da solo) alla Gottardo Arena in attesa della Coppa Spengler?? @spenglercup #bobbyryan #HCAP pic.twitter.com/hzWdDpX468

— HC Ambrì Piotta (@HCAP1937) December 22, 2021

I’m not suggesting that the Red Wings sign the guy–he’s too slow–but I wish him all the best at the Spengler Cup, and hope that he finds a way back into the NHL.

I can’t embed it, and it’s in Swedish, but SVT, the network which covers the Swedish World Junior team, has posted a 15:44 profile of Red Wings prospect and Frolunda HC prospect Simon Edvinsson ahead of the World Junior Championship on Sunday.

He’s a bit of a ham!

This note comes from USA Hockey’s World Junior Championship blog, which reports that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the U.S. WJC team on Monday night:

Jeff Blashill, head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, joined the team via Zoom after dinner Monday evening. Blashill, a Michigan native, is no stranger to coaching U.S. teams, coaching six teams as both a head coach and an assistant.

Now in his seventh season as the bench boss for the Red Wings, Blashill’s presence on screen demanded attention. He shared his first memories as a coach, putting on a blue USA Hockey blazer that at the time was mandatory for coaches to wear on the bench. It was his first opportunity to represent his country on the international stage, and something he’ll never forget.

“I’m jealous of you right now, I love wearing those colors.”

Players asked Blashill questions about how to handle the bubble, how to become a good team in international tournament, and what he thinks is important for winning the World Juniors. After the back-and-forth, Blashill shared his final thoughts of advice and encouragement.

One thing was clear: everyone at some point will be asked to lead.

Players slept on the call overnight, and woke up early for morning practice. It was apparent the advice from the call had been well-received. Practice found a new level of intensity, pushing the pace closer to game speed.

Continued

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted their weekly press release:

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Among the highlights of former Red Wing Bobby Ryan’s comments made to The Athletic’s “The Hockey Show,” per Sean Gentille and Craig Custance:

Where do you think the NHL lands [on the Olympics], if we don’t already know, and would you be like, “I’d jump at the chance to play for the American team?”

I don’t think they’re going. Now you’ve got 30-40 games to be rescheduled for one. Someone was like, “There’s going to be a lot of building dilemmas.” Is it really going to be that many? I mean, that stuff can be switched around in a day, if you have a basketball game that’s scheduled, they’ll flip that overnight. So I don’t think that schedule is going to be much of an issue. And (the NHL) already had a second schedule. Yeah, it was a contingency of schedule. Yeah. So you go to that contingency schedule and remove some games. I don’t know. It shouldn’t be hard. I just don’t think they’re going.

For me, I would definitely be interested. I would absolutely throw my name in the hat and see if there was interest from Team USA. If there was, I would have to do the same due diligence that the NHL guys are doing because I have two young kids at home.

I’m not in a rush to jump in and be told that a) you’re gonna have a five-week quarantine, and (that) if you test positive you’re already in 10-day quarantine, just to get there. So there’s a lot of moving parts. Ask me again in 10 days, I guess, and we’ll go from there

Continued (paywall)

Sportsnet’s Lauren Kelly posted a primer on the 2022 World Junior Championship, which will be held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta, discussing the strengths, weaknesses and “x-factors” for each of the participating teams. She suggests that Sweden’s “x-factor” is a Red Wings draft pick:

X-Factor: Simon Edvinsson (DET)

Emil Andrae (PHI) is the lone player who will return from Sweden’s deep 2021 defence corps, which means the blue line will be relatively inexperienced this time around. However, Detroit’s sixth overall pick in 2021, Simon Edvinsson, could help provide the necessary stability on the back end. The hulking 6-foot-5, 207-pound left-shot defender is a smooth-skating, physical player who has the ability to produce from the blue line as well.

Continued