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!

Prospect round-up, Europe: Edvinsson ‘shaken up’ by nasty hit, Soderblom scores for Frolunda

Of prospect-related note in Europe on Saturday:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki finished even with 1 shot in 14:45 played during the Lahti Pelicans’ 3-1 win over Sport;

In the SHL, William Wallinder finished at -1 with 1 shot in 14:37 played as Rogle BK won 3-2 over Djurgarden;

And, in Frolunda HC’s 4-1 win over Farjestads BK:

Simon Edvinsson finished at +1 with 2 shots in 13:35 played, and he got shaken up, per IceHockeyGifs:

Theodor Niederbach finished even in 12:11 played;

Elmer Soderblom scored a goal, finishing even with 6 shots in 16:53 played:

And Liam Dower Nilsson finished even in 4:07 played;

Albert Johansson finished at -1 with 3 shots in 17:07 played for Farjestad.

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson was the back-up in HV71 Jonkoping’s 1-0 win over Sodertalje SK;

In the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson was up with the big club during Frolunda HC’s J20 team’s 4-3 win over Karlskrona;

Rogle BK’s J20 team also won 8-5 over Malmo without William Nylander.

LeBrun: NHLPA to hold executive board call on Monday

I’m a big NHLPA supporter-I took their side in lockouts #2 and #3–and I’ve appreciated the work that Donald Fehr has done in terms of uniting the players’ union, but after the Kyle Beach revelations came to the surface, Fehr’s job is in question as the PA’s executive board prepares to meet on a conference call this Monday–and it should be:

The NHLPA has scheduled an executive board (32 player reps) call for Monday. Obviously players still have some unanswered questions. The Oilers’ players, as @rwesthead reported, met with Don Fehr last night as part of his fall tour.— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 30, 2021

Red Wings-Maple Leafs game-day videos: Leafs post clips of Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe speaking with the media

The Detroit Red Wings face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight on Bally Sports Detroit and Hockey Night in (as well as 97.1 the Ticket, with puck drop just after 7 PM EDT), and Sportsnet is hyping the game…

There’s nothing better than an Original Six matchup on a Saturday Night. ?

Tonight, the @DetroitRedWings head to Toronto to take on the @MapleLeafs. Who ya got? ? @NHL | #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/TWsNWzyWiF— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 30, 2021

The Red Wings didn’t hold a morning skate, but they did recall Joe Veleno from Grand Rapids. How he fits into the lineup will remain to be seen until closer to game time; as noted in the game preview post, there’s quite a bit of hype for the Leafs to deliver this evening, and Petr Mrazek will start for Toronto, probably opposite Thomas Greiss.

Also, from Ken Kal:

Stat: Tonight will be assistant equipment manager John Remejes’ 1,000th NHL game. Big salute to him for his great service to the team. Great guy and a really good 3rd baseman too! Congrats @staciburl— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) October 30, 2021

After the Leafs’ morning skate, Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs game-day videos: Leafs post clips of Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe speaking with the media

Burchfield: LCA crowd getting back to the old (new?) days

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield penned a column discussing the atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena during last night’s 3-2 OT loss to the Florida Panthers, which was downright Joe Louis Arena-like in it noise level:

In the inaugural season of Little Caesars Arena, the data said the Red Wings played in front of capacity crowds every night. It said they finished fourth in the NHL in total attendance. But your eyes knew better. So did your ears. If the Wings were selling tickets, they weren’t filling seats. And so the atmosphere was rather dull, more pizza parlor than hockey rink.

Are things beginning to change? LCA was rocking on opening night this year when the Wings went blow for blow with the Lightning in a 7-6 OT loss. And it was rowdy again two nights later when Detroit beat Vancouver for its first win of the season. With fans back in the building for the first time since the pandemic to watch a rising young team, maybe this is the year LCA finds it voice.

“The building just seems really loud,” Jeff Blashill said Tuesday morning before the Wings would host Columbus. “When we first came into this building, we didn’t have enough people in the seats. There were lots of people here, but they were either in the club level eating or checking out how beautiful the arena is. Now everybody’s in the seats and it just seems really, really loud. So it’s a great, great building with a great atmosphere.”

Continued

Of course he did

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox reports that Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe illustrated a particular clip to his Maple Leafs charges this morning:

Sheldon Keefe showed this to the Maple Leafs this morning. https://t.co/8NU8zWgtxJ— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) October 30, 2021

Video per AWood40:

Also:

Keefe on what he wants to see from the D tonight: “Just try to keep the play in front of them. That’s a big piece for me is that we just had far too many guys getting behind us. This team (Detroit) is going to challenge us in that area.”— David Alter (@dalter) October 30, 2021

Tweet of note: Red Wings recall Joe Veleno

A little surprising given that Grand Rapids plays today and tomorrow:

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today recalled center Joe Veleno from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

Details: https://t.co/T1VW7x4V7H pic.twitter.com/o4ifi0j3Lp— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 30, 2021

Update: There’s no morning skate today, so we’re left to speculate as to how Veleno fits in:

Joe Veleno has been recalled by Red Wings for tonight’s game at Toronto. Tyler Bertuzzi not available because he cannot travel to Canada because he’s unvaccinated. Adam Erne was in pain last night after blocking shot.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) October 30, 2021

None of Adam Erne, Mitchell Stephens or Carter Rowney saw another shift after that epic block party we saw last night, but Erne took the worst of those shots. Wondering if that’s why Veleno is up rather than just going with Smith— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) October 30, 2021

Everybody else is Tweeting it, so I might as well:

Yep, Veleno is up while Bertuzzi is suspended, but one of Erne/Fabbri/etc. might have gotten hurt as well last night.

No morning skate = we won’t know until warm-ups.— George Malik (@georgemalik) October 30, 2021

Duff: When Mr. Hockey donned #9

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes the following this morning:

It was on October 29, 1947, in a game at Chicago Stadium when Gordie Howe first skated out on the ice for an NHL game wearing the No. 9 he’d make legendary on the back of his Red Wings jersey. The Red Wings won 5-2, although Howe was held off the scoresheet.

For the first four games of the 1947-48 campaign, sophomore Howe wore the No. 17 he’d donned during his NHL rookie season. The No. 9 was made available when it became apparent that contract holdout Roy Conacher, who’d worn No. 9, wouldn’t be back with the the team. Eventually, Conacher was dealt to the Blackhawks.

Offered No. 9, Howe originally resisted. He was finally convinced to make the switch after learning the players with single-digit uniform numbers were assigned the larger lower berths on the train during road trips.

For those keeping score at home, Mr. Hockey scored 779 of his club-record 786 goals as a Red Wing while wearing No. 9.

Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets and articles: Leafs ‘hold an optional,’ start Mrazek vs. Detroit

There are some rivalries that are best summarized with the city name. For me, on this Michigan vs. Michigan State Game Day, my focus is up Highway 401, toward the first sports rivalry I really embraced: Detroit vs. Toronto.

My first hockey game as a Red Wings fan took place 30 years ago vs. Toronto at Joe Louis Arena, and

The Red Wings open a 4-game road trip in Hogtown vs. the Maple Leafs tonight (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/CBC/97.1 FM), and an old friend will be in the nets for the Maple Leafs:

Petr Mrázek will make his blue pads debut tonight. pic.twitter.com/sdWTaDSxro— David Alter (@dalter) October 30, 2021

Petr Mrazek getting set for his Maple Leafs home debut … returns from groin injury tonight

4-2-1 in his career against the Red Wings pic.twitter.com/1eZCfkDODH— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 30, 2021

The Leafs “Took an Optional,” as Mike Babcock was wont to do before big games, per the Toronto Sun’s Terry Kohsan…

#Leafs optional this morning. Muzzin, Holl among those taking it.— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) October 30, 2021

And TSN’s Mark Masters:

Jake Muzzin among those taking part in the Leafs optional skate this morning

Others on the ice this AM: Spezza, Sandin, Kerfoot, Bunting, Kampf, Holl, Campbell, Hutchinson pic.twitter.com/KisY2qSniZ— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 30, 2021

There are already Red Wings-Maple Leafs game previews up this morning, and an article in which Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne questions whether the Maple Leafs are “playing slow hockey.” NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy also penned an article which is a kind-of-sort-of game preview from the Maple Leafs’ perspective, with none other than Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas demanding more from his team…

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets and articles: Leafs ‘hold an optional,’ start Mrazek vs. Detroit

HSJ, Khan in the morning: Wings’ resolve is evident

The Free Press’s Helene St. James and MLive’s Ansar Khan posted morning columns chronicling aspects of the Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers last night.

St. James notes that the Red Wings are displaying level of resolve that the team hasn’t possessed in some time…

The Detroit Red Wings head off on a four-game road trip with a determination they haven’t had in several seasons.

They ride a three-game point streak into Saturday’s game in Toronto, buoyed by another example that sticking to their plan pays off. They had to settle for one point in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena, but considering the Wings trailed by a pair of goals after two periods, seeing Pius Suter tie the game with less than three minutes to go was a shot of confidence.

“We stuck with it, kept finding a way,” said goalie Alex Nedeljkovic after making 29 saves. “Suits got a great trip. It sucks like hell to lose like that. You give up a breakaway goal, it’s tough to swallow. But guys played awesome.”

The Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit to win in overtime Wednesday at Washington.

“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Nedeljkovic said. “We’re playing some great hockey. We have a good group in there and we believe in ourselves. We’re not just going to roll over.”

And MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on the big shift by Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri and Danny DeKeyser, who blocked a fusillade of shots aimed at Nedeljkovic in the 3rd period:

Continue reading HSJ, Khan in the morning: Wings’ resolve is evident