Enjoy:
The NHL’s 32nd franchise makes its FIRST visit to Detroit. The voice of the team is Detroit native, Everett Fitzhugh, who was named the first Black NHL team broadcaster, by the expansion club. Hear how the hockey trailblazer earned his start at 31. pic.twitter.com/yPHL4BOrLI— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) December 2, 2021
Swell.
UPDATE: The #RedWings
have placed forward Tyler Bertuzzi in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 1, 2021
Darren McCarty discussed the Red Wings’ 3-game winning streak and road win over the Boston Bruins last night on the Woodward Sports Network today:
The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a video showing their top 5 plays from the calendar month of November:
Of prospect-related note in Europe on Wednesday:
In the Finnish Liiga, if I’m reading the stats right, Eemil Viro finished even with 8 shots in 19:20 played as TPS Turku won 2-1 over Assat Pori;
In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson stopped 22 of 24 shots as HV71 Jonkoping lost 3-1 to Mora IK. Albin Grewe did not play for Mora as he has a concussion;
And in the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson didn’t post a point in Frolunda HC’s 3-1 win over Oskarshamn.
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a game-day notebook article discussing the Red Wings’ improved defensive play on the road:
The Wings’ 2-1 victory was a testament to a different-looking Wings team.
“A week ago, I don’t think we played as mature as we did tonight,” said coach Jeff Blashill after the victory. “Again, some of it stems from the fact that we had a chance to practice, got a chance to get our habits back and get our structure back.
“But also, we’ve got a lot of young players in important roles, and I even as a team sometimes, veteran players have to kind of remind themselves what it takes to be a winning-type hockey team. We took steps forward that way.”
Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic continued his recent hot streak with 41 saves, but Blashill didn’t feel many of those Bruins shots were quality scoring chances.
After a brief defensive dip on the trip through Columbus, Dallas, Vegas and Arizona — the Wings didn’t win any of those games — Detroit has rediscovered its defensive structure with some time to practice and rededicate itself to that part of the game.
“From a defensive standpoint, with the exception of a little bit in the second period when we left the puck in our zone when we should’ve got it out, we did a much better job of playing good defensively, of managing the puck at our line, and overall being pretty disciplined,” Blashill said.
The Red Wings posted their usual home game pre-scouting show, “The Forecheck,” earlier this afternoon…
As well as an interview with Joe Veleno:
Of note from the Denver University Pioneers’ website:
Carter Mazur Named NCHC Rookie of the Month for November
DENVER – Freshman Carter Mazur of the Denver Pioneers hockey team has been named the NCHC Rookie of the Month for November, the conference announced on Wednesday.
Mazur, 19, led all first-year players in the league in scoring during the month, registering five goals and two assists in six games. He tied for Denver’s overall scoring lead in November with sophomore Carter Savoie (5g/2a) and is currently on a four-game goal streak. The four-game stretch with a marker is the longest of Mazur’s career and the longest of the season by a Pioneer.
The Jackson, Michigan, native tallied a career-high three points (1g/2a) on Nov. 12 vs. Western Michigan, which included recording his first collegiate game-winning goal. He scored again the next night and went on to earn NCHC Rookie of the Week honors for Nov. 8-14—the first conference honor of his career.
After tallying on Nov. 19 vs. Miami, Mazur picked up his second multi-goal game of the season the following day as the Pioneers defeated the RedHawks 7-1 at Magness Arena to stretch the team’s winning streak to four games. The forward closed the month by posting a plus-7 rating in the final four games.
Mazur’s seven goals on the year are tied for the national lead by a freshman and ranks tied for second on the team in the category with fellow frosh Massimo Rizzo, as only Savoie has tallied more times (11).
This is the Pioneers’ second NCHC monthly honor of the season after Rizzo was named Rookie of the Month for October. This is the first time that Denver has picked up consecutive NCHC Rookie of the Month awards.
Mazur is now eligible for the Hockey Commissioners’ Association (HCA) National Rookie of the Month, which will be announced on Thursday.
Selected by his hometown Detroit Red Wings in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft (70th overall), Mazur was named to Team USA’s preliminary roster for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship on Tuesday. He’ll be one of 31 players looking to make the 25-man squad when USA Hockey’s training camp begins on Dec. 12 in Plymouth, Michigan.
Western Michigan’s Ethen Frank was named the NCHC Player of the Month, while Ryan Fanti of Minnesota Duluth earned conference honors as the Goaltender of the Month.
Of Twitter-to-video note this afternoon: TSN’s Craig Button (at the 1:45 mark of the attached video, which is available for viewing in the U.S. as well as Canada) discusses the goaltending situation for Team Canada, which has invited Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa to its World Junior Selection Camp.
From @CraigJButton: Who is expected to emerge as the starting goalie for Canada ?? at the #WorldJuniors? https://t.co/XfeZlxrD1z#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/9Lr8OAy40F— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) December 1, 2021
Button believes that “it’s presumptuous to say” who will be named the starter, but he feels that Dylan Garand has an edge, despite Cossa’s size and economy of movement (starting at 3:25).
FYI from the Grand Rapids Griffins:
First ? at the Red Kettle jersey the boys will be wearing on Friday night for our annual Red Kettle Game, presented by the Salvation Army ? ?
Tickets >> https://t.co/YopaFiLj1S pic.twitter.com/dkd7RXxHwK— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) December 1, 2021
