Author: George Malik

I don’t know if Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff caught the Bally Sports Detroit broadcast last night, because Trevor Thompson explained that Troy Stecher was in the lineup instead of Filip Hronek for Saturday’s loss to Montreal only; Thompson said that coach Jeff Blashill would be giving Jordan Oesterle a chance to play today vs. Chicago.

In any case, Duff wrote a very good article discussing Filip Hronek’s absence from the lineup due to a “coach’s decision,” and, as Duff suggests, it’s hard to believe that the Red Wings’ coach was doing anything less than sending a message by scratching the team’s #1 defenseman:

“Coach’s decision,”Blashill said of Hronek’s absence from the lineup. “Just a decision. I said we got 8 D that I think are NHL defensemen. I made the decision to put Stech (Troy Stecher) in. Somebody has to come out.”

That the somebody who came out was a clear message from the that what Hronek has been offering the team through the fist four games of the 2021-22 NHL season wasn’t good enough.

Last year, Hronek led the Wings in scored with 26 points. He joined Paul Coffey as the only defensemen to lead the team in scoring in a single season in franchise history. For his performance, the Czech defender, a restricted free agent, was rewarded with a new contract. He signed a three-year deal worth $4.4 million.

However, with that kind of pact comes an increase in expectations and it’s evident that Hronek wasn’t delivering the goods. Through four games, his stats ledger was showing a solitary assist, even though he was logging a team-high 23:03 in ice time per game. Hronek’s Corsi of 37.1 rates the worst among Red Wings blueliners.

Minus Hronek, Blashill shuffled two of his three defense pairings against Montreal. Marc Staal played with Stecher. Gustav Lindstrom, who was skating in tandem with Staal, slid into Hronek’s vacated spot alongside Danny DeKeyser.

If I may be honest, I’d argue that Staal, Lindstrom and Moritz Seider have been the Wings’ best defensmen thus far. Staal has had some bad luck in terms of pucks going off him into the goal (see: two of last night’s six goals), but he’s at least been working hard;

Lindstrom has been a bit of a revelation as someone who finally looks ready for “prime time,” despite the occasional hiccup, and Seider has obviously been very good.

DeKeyser’s been downright Hronek-level shaky thus far, Stecher didn’t look good vs. Vancouver (though he had company in that department), and Nick Leddy has been good overall, but he had a particularly bad night vs. the Habs.

Of prospect-related note in North America on Saturday:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher stopped 14 of 14 shots in relief duty as the Toledo Walleye lost 5-2 to the Kalamazoo K-Wings;

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski finished at +1 with 2 shots in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 7-1 win over Rouyn-Noranda;

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito scored his team’s only goal, finishing even with 8 shots and a 4-for-8 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 5-1 loss to Owen Sound;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas finished even with 6 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 1-0 loss to Everett;

Sebastian Cossa was the back-up in the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 5-4 win over Medicine Hat;

Alex Cotton had an assist, finishing at +1 with 10 shots in the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ 5-3 win over Prince Albert;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 4-1 loss to Vernon;

And in NCAA Hockey, Robert Mastrosimone had a goal and an assist, finishing at +1 with 4 shots in the Boston University Terriers’ 8-6 win over Merrimack. Ethan Phillips finished at +1 with 1 shot;

Sam Stange finished even with 2 shots and a 3-for-6 faceoff record in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 4-1 loss to St. Cloud State;

Carter Gylander stopped 34 of 38 shots in the Colgate Raiders’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona State University Sun Devils. Ryan O’Reilly finished even with 3 shots for Arizona State;

Antti Tuomisto finished even in the University of Denver Pioneers’ 5-1 loss to Boston College.

Also for Denver: Shai Buium finished at -1 with 3 shots, and Carter Mazur finished at -1;

Red Savage had 2 assists, finishing at +1 with a 6-and-6 faceoff record in the Miami of Ohio Redhawks’ 6-4 loss to Bowling Green;

And Cooper Moore finished at -1 in the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 3-1 win over Quinnipiac.

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 6-1 decision to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, and their weekend gets no easier as they face the 0-4-and-1 Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday evening (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Chicago/Sportsnet One/NHL Network/97.1 FM).

Chicago may not have yet won a game over the course of the 2021-2022 season thus far, but they haven’t played since dropping a 4-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, so they’ll be well-rested…

Though their personnel is in flux. The Blackhawks may or may not have Patrick Kane, Ryan Carpenter and Eric Gustafsson in their lineup on Sunday as all three were “placed in COVID protocol,” which is a fancy way of saying that, well, to spare you the legalese, they could:

1. Have tested positive for COVID;
2. Been in close contact with or contract traced back to someone who tested positive for COVID;
3. Gotten an inconclusive test back;
4. Or some other stuff that’s kind of complicated.

The Hawks recalled Reese Johnson from their AHL affiliate in Rockford just in case, but it’s entirely possible that Kane, Carpenter and Gustafsson might be in Chicago’s lineup tonight, as NBC Sports Chicago’s Charlie Roumeliotis noted:

The Detroit Red Wings dropped an ugly, ugly 6-1 decision to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night…

And things do not get easier for the 2-2-and-1 Red Wings as they play against the 0-4-and-1 Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago on Sunday (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Chicago/Sportsnet One/NHL Network/97.1 FM)

With Tyler Bertuzzi absent, and Filip Hronek a healthy scratch, the Red Wings lacked energy, intensity, speed through the neutral zone and general attention to detail, and as a result, the Red Wings really, really struggled against a quality Canadiens team that was just looking for an opportunity to break out.

The Blackhawks are in a similar situation to Montreal, so, while it’s still entirely possible to look at Saturday night’s game as an aberration, should the Red Wings lay another egg in Chicago, then there’s some room for legitimate concern.

On Saturday night, as the Montreal Gazette’s Pat Hickey notes, the Habs “got the monkey off their back” via scoring 5 goals in 15:44 of 2nd period action…

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Detroit Red Wings’ Tyler Bertuzzi will be the only unvaccinated player in the NHL.

No, Canada…

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to make history on Saturday night, kicking off a back-to-back set of road games opposite the 0-and-5 Montreal Canadiens.

No Stanley Cup Finalist had ever opened the season 0-and-6, so the Red Wings had the opportunity to push their historic rival to a new low before turning tail and heading to Chicago to play the Blackhawks.

On Saturday night, without Tyler Bertuzzi or Filip Hronek in the lineup, the Red Wings very disappointingly fell into the Canadiens’ trap, scoring the game’s first goal, and then surrendering 5 markers in only 15:44 of ice time as Montreal broke its winless streak at Detroit’s expense, ultimately winning 6-1.

This one was truly ugly, and it was truly infuriating, too, because, Bertuzzi or no Bertuzzi, Hronek or no Hronek, the Red Wings should have seen it coming, and for whatever reason, they could not or would not imagine that the Canadiens could rout them so very easily. It was a failure of imagination as much as a failure of execution (which is on the team more than the coaching staff), and…

It’s not time to panic–Detroit is now 2-2-and-1 on a very young season–but this game is a matter of concern, to be certain.

MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s take on forward Givani Smith’s penalty-prone nature:

The Red Wings rely on abrasive forward Givani Smith to provide toughness, physicality and energy, but his aggression has led to some bad penalties that have left the team shorthanded. Smith has been called for hooking, cross-checking and slashing so far.

“Certainly, hooking penalties add zero value unless you’re hooking somebody because they’re about to get a scoring chance,” Blashill said. “It’s not like you’re bringing a level of compete or toughness on a hooking penalty. So those to me are a little bit different than (a penalty) on a net-front battle that he got in one of the games, (but) ultimately, he again needs to be smarter than that and not take a cross-checking penalty.

“Givani is learning that balance. He has to be the guy who’s playing hard, playing physical, bringing us momentum, potentially getting underneath the skin of the other player without taking penalties. He’s a young player and I have confidence he’ll keep getting better at it, but in the meantime, we all need to stay out of the box. He’s certainly not alone. We’re taking too many penalties.”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of the reason why Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider wears #53…

One of the many reasons the Detroit Red Wings are so impressed with defenseman Moritz Seider is how good he is at thinking on his feet.

He did get caught though, a few years back, when he was with Mannheim in his native Germany — and that’s why he wears No. 53. It turns out he had watched the 1968 movie “Herbie the Love Bug” about a Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie that sports the number.

“I had a chance playing pro when I was 16 in Mannheim, and they were asking me and they caught me off guard,” Seider said Saturday. “I watched a movie the day before and it stuck in my head somehow. That’s why I’m wearing 53.”

The Detroit Red Wings play 3 of their next 6 games in Canada, so they’ll be missing Tyler Bertuzzi for a significant period of time due to his decision to not be vaccinated against COVID-19, and Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill discussed how the team will adjust to the absence of #59 while speaking with the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan…

“In game 2 (against Vancouver) we were missing Larks (Dylan Larkin for a suspension),” said coach Jeff Blashill, using the Larkin example. “You make your line adjustments and certainly Tyler is a big part of our team and of who we are. He’s a real good player, but the extent you miss Tyler depends how the guys who fill some of those responsibilities play. If they play great, then the loss is less then if they don’t play great. Certainly we’ll be excited to get Tyler back tomorrow (Sunday in Chicago) but tonight we’ll have 20 guys dressed good enough to win the hockey game and we have to go out and execute at a high level.”

Blashill elected to slide Robby Fabbri into Bertuzzi’s spot on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond, while Carter Rowney drew into the lineup.

“Fabbs, for me, has been outstanding from day one of training camp in terms of his competitiveness, he has a high compete level, he’s got skill and has some of the attributes that Bert brings to the table in terms of going to get pucks and ability to score,” Blashill said. “We think it’s the most natural guy going to that line. He and Raymond have played together and played well, and Fabs centered that line when Larks was out.  We think it gives us a good piece up there.”

Bertuzzi’s decision to not get the shots, said Blashill, doesn’t bring any hard feelings among teammates.

“Our guys love Tyler Bertuzzi, he’s a great teammate, and as a coaching staff I’ve loved coaching him,” Blashill said. “He’s somebody that comes to work every day. He has great character. Players were allowed to make a decision and that’s the decision he’s made and we’ll accept that and treat it as when a player is missing and a player could be missing for a multitude of reasons. For us, it’s not a big story. We’ll play a hockey game and try to win with the 20 (players) we have.”

And the Free Press’s Helene St. James….

The NHL and the Players Association agreed not to have a vaccine mandate, but teams can suspend without pay players cannot participate in club activities because they are not vaccinated. Coach Jeff Blashill said the Wings “would keep it internally” whether Bertuzzi has been suspended.

Blashill did answer what Bertuzzi is doing while he cannot practice with his teammates. They had a morning skate Saturday at Bell Centre.

“He skated (Friday) and he chose to skate today on his own,” Blashill said. “That’s up to him.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman said before the season began there are only four players who have chosen not to get the vaccine. 

Bertuzzi is a top-line player, power play guy, and has a team-leading four goals after four games.

“Certainly Tyler is a big part of our team, he’s a big part of who we are,” Blashill said. “He’s a real good player. The extent to which we miss Tyler depends on the guys who fill the responsibilities play. We’ll be excited to get Tyler back.”

Ahead of tonight’s game vs. Montreal (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/TVA Sports/City TV/ESPN+/97.1 FM), coach Jeff Blashill and defenseman Moritz Seider spoke with the media: