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!

Former Griffin Matthew Ford retires

Per the AHL:

Matthew Ford announced his retirement on Thursday after a 12-year pro career spent almost entirely in the American Hockey League.

Ford, 37, skated in 716 AHL games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Lake Erie Monsters, Hershey Bears, Adirondack Phantoms, Springfield Falcons, Oklahoma City Barons, Bakersfield Condors and Grand Rapids Griffins, totaling 206 goals and 224 assists for 430 points.

He also played 31 games with the Charlotte Checkers when they were members of the ECHL.

A Los Angeles native, Ford won a Calder Cup championship with Grand Rapids in 2017, and served as the Western Conference team captain at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, Calif.

Pre-game notebooks: on Larkin, Suter and Bertuzzi

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of Dylan Larkin’s continued absence from the team:

Dylan Larkin’s absence from the Detroit Red Wings lineup is stretching toward a week as they continue their road trip without their captain. 

Coach Jeff Blashill said Thursday morning Larkin “is away for personal reasons, and I’ll leave it at that.” The Wings face their third game of the trip with an evening match against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.

Pressed whether Larkin, who has not been seen on the ice with teammates since the Oct. 30 game at Toronto, has been skating, Blashill repeated his answer: “It’s the same exact comment that I had the other day. Right now he’s away for personal reasons and I’ll leave it at that.”

The Wings had a day off Sunday in Montreal. On Monday, Blashill said Larkin did not practice because it was a “maintenance day.” The Wings played the Canadiens Tuesday.

2. The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Pius Suter’s underwhelming start:

Continue reading Pre-game notebooks: on Larkin, Suter and Bertuzzi

Prospect Round-up Europe: Wallinder 1+1, Johansson 1A in SHL

Of Red Wings-related note in Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki finished even with 2 shots in 15:07 played as the Lahti Pelicans lost 2-1 to HPK;

William Wallinder had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots on goal in 14:51 played as Rogle BK won 5-4 over Oskarshamn:

Albert Johansson had an assist, finishing even with 1 shot in 20:11 played as Farjestads BK lost 5-2 to Linkoping:

And, in Frolunda HC’s 1-0 win over Malmo:

Liam Dower Nilsson finished even in 4:41 played;

Theodor Niederbach finished even with a shot in 14:48 played;

And Elmer Soderblom finished even with 2 shots in 19:16 played.

Simon Edvinsson remains out of the lineup with a non-COVID illness.

Game-day videos: Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Neither the Red Wings nor Bruins’ morning skates offered much information as to who will play tonight in the Wings’ battle vs. Boston (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NESN/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet Pacific/Sportsnet 360/97.1 FM), but we do know that Jeremy Swayman will start in goal for Boston, and that Dylan Larkin (personal issue) is still out due to a personal issue.

Coach Blashill spoke with the media for about 10 minutes this morning…

Update: Here’s Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy as well:

Red Wings-Bruins morning skate Tweets and articles: Larkin out + game previews

The 4-4-and-2 Detroit Red Wings battle the 4-and-3 Boston Bruins this evening (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NESN/Sportsnet East/Sportsnet Ontario/Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 360/97.1 FM). DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter posted a game preview…

The Bruins come into Thursday’s game at 4-3-0 this season, fresh off handing the first-place Florida Panthers their first loss on Saturday.

13-year veteran winger Brad Marchand leads Boston in goals (4), assists (4) and points (8). The Bruins have featured a balanced offensive attack early this season, with six players earning at least three points in their first seven games.

Boston has platooned goaltenders Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman so far this season, with Ullmark seeing the most success at 3-1-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. The 22-year-old Swayman comes in at 1-2-0 with a 2.71 GAA and .893 save percentage.

Seider said one of the biggest aspects of Thursday’s game will be to re-invigorate Detroit’s power play, which excelled during the preseason and early in the regular season, but has struggled in the last five games, converting just 2-for-17 on the man advantage during that span.

“If I hit the net (Tuesday), I think we score, and then (Filip Zadina) hits the crossbar right after,” Seider said. “Getting better puck retrievals, I think it’s going to be key for us. I think sooner rather than later, we’ll get our chances, and we’ll look really good.”

Thursday’s matchup against Boston will be Detroit’s first game against their Original Six rival since Feb. 15, 2020, after being in separate divisions last season due to COVID-19. The Red Wings have gone 5-2-0 in their last seven games against the Bruins, but Detroit hasn’t won at TD Garden since Dec. 1, 2018.

The Bruins either “took an optional” or their press corps was distracted by the Jack Eichel trade, because we didn’t get a morning skate Tweet from the B’s until 11:10 AM, at the Warrior Ice Arena in Boston:

Skipper Sway.#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/cazVwKVbEA— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2021

Boston Hockey Now’s Joe Haggerty offers a morning column on the Perfection Line’s early-season hiccups…

Continue reading Red Wings-Bruins morning skate Tweets and articles: Larkin out + game previews

Prospect round-up, North America: Fulcher back-stops Walleye to win; Plandowski scores for Charlottetown

Of prospect-related note, from North America on Wednesday:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher stopped 25 of 26 shots in the Toledo Walleye’s 4-1 win over the Indy Fuel;

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 1 shot in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-1 win over Drummondville (and you can watch the game highlights by clicking on the score);

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito finished even with a shot and a 5-for-8 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 6-2 win over Flint;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas finished at -1 with 4 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 7-1 loss to Kamloops;

And in the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 2-1 loss to Surrey.

Red Wings-Bruins set-up: Rested B’s play 8th game vs. 0-2-and-1-of-late Red Wings, who are busy as busy can be

The 4-4-and-2 Detroit Red Wings will face a well-rested 4-3-and-0 Boston Bruins team on Thursday night (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NESN/Sportsnet 360/97.1 FM) with the Red Wings on an 0-2-and-1 streak as Detroit opens up a stretch of 3 games in 4 nights (and 10 in 17 nights overall).

The Bruins are on the other end of the spectrum, having not played since Saturday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers, and the Bruins have been talking about watching the Kyle Beach interview as a team more than they’ve been talking about playing hockey of late–which is good, because that’s the kind of thing that teams should be focusing on when they’re not playing hockey right now.

You’d expect that from a team that’s had 5 days off between games, so the Bruins won’t really focus in on Thursday’s game until later this morning.

That being said, The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa offered Wednesday’s practice lines, which included Patrice Bergeron, who took a “maintenance day” on Tuesday…

Continue reading Red Wings-Bruins set-up: Rested B’s play 8th game vs. 0-2-and-1-of-late Red Wings, who are busy as busy can be