Author: George Malik

Aftonbladet’s Mattias Karlsson spoke with Red Wings legend Nicklas Lidstrom regarding the progress made by Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider over the course of the Red Wings’ first six games. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

On Lucas Raymond: “Steve Yzerman is happy”

Lucas Raymond got a lot of attention after his hat trick for the Red Wings.

Team legend Nicklas Lidstrom has been over in Michigan and followed the 19-year-old closely.

“Steve Yzerman thinks that Lucas Raymond shows the qualities that they drafted him for, and is very satisfied,” says “Lidas.”

Lucas Raymond scored a hat trick in the 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Illinois.

The right-handed forward from Gothenburg has registered a total of seven points in six games in the NHL, which leads the rookie points totals.

Now 51-year-old Nicklas Lidstrom was together with, among others, Henrik Zetterberg on site during the first three home games of the season.

The Swedes were out on the ice when Dylan Larkin was officially hailed as the new captain in front of the crowd.

“That hat trick was unbelievable, Lucas Raymond has showed his qualities by being able to both hit hard on the goal and to have a strong, direct shot. He has done incredibly well, and had played on the first line with Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi and gained confidence on the power play both 5 on 4 and in 5 on 3 play. He’s getting a lot of playing time and earning important minutes, 16-18 minutes per game, which is a lot for a 19-year-old. He’s really getting chances in the offensive zone, and he’s impressed me,” says “Lidas.”

“Very smart player”

Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond “had a night” vs. the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, scoring a hat trick and registering 4 points over the course of a 6-3 Red Wings victory…

And all of MLive’s Ansar Khan, the Free Press’s Helene St. James and The Athletic’s Max Bultman wrote columns about Raymond this morning.

Khan focuses on Raymond’s place in Red Wings history…

Gordie Howe, Steve Yzerman … Lucas Raymond? OK, nobody is comparing the Detroit Red Wings prized rookie to franchise legends, but for one memorable night, Raymond earned a place next to those names.

Raymond, in just his sixth NHL game, recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist for a four-point night Sunday in a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.

The 19-year-old is the first teenager to notch a hat trick for Detroit since Yzerman in 1985 and joined his current general manager (Dec. 23, 1983) and Howe (Dec. 17, 1947) as the only players in club history with four-point games before age 20.

“It’s tough to take in,” Raymond said. “Those are two of the greatest players who ever played in franchise history. I’m trying not to think about it that much. Just keep playing, keep working and try and develop. Actually, that’s a team and personal goal every day.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article which focuses on Raymond’s fearlessness…

The Swedish Ice Hockey Association named its team for the Four Nations Cup in November, which is the final warmup prior to the World Junior Championship, and:

Simon Edvinsson, William Wallinder (both defenders) and Theodor Niederbach were named to the team.

Alex Wood, a.k.a. AWood40 on YouTube, posted an 18-minute highlight clip of Ken Daniels and Mickey Redmond’s call of the Red Wings’ 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday:

Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri speaks with Bally Sports Detroit’s Brooke Fletcher via Zoom on this week’s episode of “The Third Half”:

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Sunday night, with Lucas Raymond scoring a hat trick on a 4-point night:

The Red Wings’ victory was a wild, up-and-down emotional affair, one in which Raymond wasn’t the only Red Wings player who displayed jaw-dropping athletic abilities…

And on a night that Nedeljkovic had 32 saves, Dylan Larkin had 3 assists, Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and 2 assists, Mitchell Stephens of all people had 2 assists, Vladislav Namestnikov and Carter Rowney scored and Filip Zadina, Michael Rasmussen and Moritz Seider all had assists, well…
*takes deep breath*

There weren’t many passengers in the Red Wings’ lineup as the now 3-2-and-1 team both attacked the hapless Hawks and stood tough as the still-dangerous denizens of Chicago made the game a little too close for comfort on several occasions.

The result was simple: Detroit snapped a 2-game losing streak, and salvaged a weekend of back-to-back games; for the Blackhawks, who are now 0-5-and-1, things got worse, and the team’s sellout streak ended on a night where the, “Let’s go Red Wings!” chants out-fought the derisive, “Detroit sucks!” chant.

The Hawks were clearly less than 100% without Patrick Kane, Jujhar Khaira and Riley Stillman, who were all in COVID protocols, but the Hawks weren’t about to use their absences as an excuse, as they told NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis:

What a save by Alex Nedeljkovic in the Red Wings’ 6-3 win over Chicago, via Sportsnet:

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to right their ship against the winless Blackhawks on Sunday, just 24 hours after delivering a dud of a performance in Montreal.

Things got very complicated for the Blackhawks on Sunday roster-wise: the Hawks got Ryan Carpenter and Erik Gustafsson back from COVID protocol, but Patrick Kane remained on the COVID list, and just before game time, Jujhar Khaira, Riley Stillman and assistant coach Marc Crawford were all placed on COVID protocol, so the Hawks recalled Ian Mitchell from Rockford of the AHL.

Long story long, the Hawks were without Kane, Khaira and Stillman (as well as coach Crawford) vs. the Wings on Sunday night–much to the distress of a Red Wings fan base that recalled last season’s COVID issues on Detroit’s own roster–but they still wanted to break an 0-4-and-1 stretch against a Red Wings team that Marc-Andre Fleury had beaten 9 of the last 12 times he’s met Detroit.

On Sunday night, Fleury led the Hawks out for warm-ups opposite Alex Nedeljkovic, and once the puck dropped, the Red Wings played sloppy hockey on a back-to-back night…

But Nedeljkovic was indeed great, stopping 32 of 35 shots, Lucas Raymond scored a hat trick on a 4-point night, Dylan Larkin had 3 assists, Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and 2 assists, and Detroit stuffed the struggling Hawks, winning a 6-3 decision (in which even coach Blashill got rewarded for a coach’s challenge!).

Lucas Raymond scored a hat trick for the Red Wings in Chicago on Sunday, per Sportsnet…

And TSN:

Youngest players at the time of recording a hat trick with the @DetroitRedWings franchise:
Steve Yzerman (18y-228d old on Dec 23, 1983 vs TOR)
Lucas Raymond (19y-210d old tonight vs CHI)
Steve Yzerman (19y-325d on Mar 30, 1985 vs TOR)
Lane Lambert (20y-40d on Dec 28, 1984 vs CGY) pic.twitter.com/TQo84qjflC

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) October 25, 2021

The Grand Rapids Griffins had a rough weekend in Manitoba. On Friday, they were shut out 1-0 by the Manitoba Moose, and on Sunday, the Griffins rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game on goals by Dennis Yan and Ryan Murphy, but they were ultimately defeated in a shootout 3-2.

Victor Brattstrom stopped 28 of 30 shots for the Griffins, but the Moose’s final shootout shooter scored, and, as a result, the Griffins headed home from Winnipeg with no points in 2 outings.

The Grand Rapids Griffins’ website posted a recap:

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 2 at Manitoba Moose 3 (SO)

Oct. 24, 2021

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Grand Rapids Griffins dropped their third consecutive road game on Sunday when they were upended 2-3 in a shootout against the Manitoba Moose at Canada Life Centre. This shootout loss halted the Griffins’ 34-game streak of road contests ending in regulation that dated back to Dec. 21, 2019 when Iowa defeated Grand Rapids 3-4 in overtime.

The first period started out fairly slow as Grand Rapids found itself down seven to one in shots through 9:47 of play. With 11:58 remaining, Manitoba got a power play chance and looked to capitalize on the opportunity. Declan Chisholm was on the right side of the ice when he made a pass to Cole Perfetti at the blueline. Perfetti skated to the left circle and sent a wrister over the right shoulder of Victor Brattstrom that kissed off the crossbar into the net at 9:01. The tally marked just the second power-play goal the Griffins have allowed this season in 11 tries.