Author: George Malik

Updated with HSJ’s notebook at 3:02 PM: The Detroit Red Wings practiced ahead of tomorrow’s game opposite the Washington Capitals (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Washington Plus/97.1 FM), absent one Gustav Lindstrom, and, after practice, coach Jeff Blashill and captain Dylan Larkin spoke with the media.

The Red Wings’ media corps penned their off-day notebooks, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce led us off with a couple of Tweets of note from Larkin’s media availability:

In today’s media availability, Dylan Larkin talked about what it will be like to play against Anthony Mantha. He said it will be strange, but he expects Anthony to be “highly motivated & when we’ve seen that out of him we know he can be a dangerous player.” @DetroitRedWings #LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 26, 2021

Larkin also talked about Lucas Raymond. He said what he likes most about Raymond is his attitude. Said Raymond really believed in himself and believed he’d make an impact on this team. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 26, 2021

The Wings also weighed in:

Wings vs. Caps tomorrow night. #LGRW

? Larkin: https://t.co/BnuMMWfms3
? Blashill: https://t.co/HMaRp4jOgE pic.twitter.com/MKADkOSrJT— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 26, 2021

And MLive’s Ansar Khan kicks off our notebook roundup with this discussion of the “Anthony Mantha reunion game“:

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins’ PR department comes this notebook framing the Griffins’ 3-game home stand this week:

Welcome Home

October 26, 2021

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves // Wed., Oct. 27 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves // Sun., Oct. 31 // 4 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. Wed. and 3:35 p.m. Sun.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: First and second of 12 meetings overall, first and second of six at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 90-71-2-6-3 Overall, 44-32-2-4-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: The Griffins posted a 3-7-0-0 record against Chicago last season after going 22-16-1-1 in the previous five campaigns against their rival.

Okay. The Red Wings practiced on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s match-up with the 4-0-and-2 Washington Capitals on Wednesday (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Washington Plus/97.1 FM), and Gustav Lindstrom did not practice with the team, so Filip Hronek slotted back into the lineup. After practice, coach Jeff Blashill hinted that Lindstrom might not only be out for Wednesday’s game, but might miss some of the weekend’s affairs (Friday vs. Florida and Saturday @ Toronto).

After practice, the Red Wings posted clips of coach Jeff Blashill speaking with the media…

And captain Dylan Larkin addressing tomorrow’s reunion with Anthony Mantha:

The Detroit Red Wings practice on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s game vs. the 4-0-and-2 Washington Capitals on Wednesday (7 PM on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Washington Plus/97.1 FM), and MLive’s Ansar Khan reported that Filip Hronek took Gustav Lindstrom’s spot in the lineup based upon Tuesday’s line rushes.

After practice, coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media:

Coach Blashill said he does not expect Gustav Lindstrom to be available tomorrow. Gus did not skate at practice today.— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 26, 2021

Blashill said Lindstrom not available tomorrow at Washington, but doesn’t think it’s a long-term injury. So it looks like Hronek will return to lineup after being a healthy scratch for two games. #RedWings— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 26, 2021

Jeff Blashill says he does not expect Gustav Lindstrom to be available tomorrow against Washington. Doesn’t know past that — doesn’t expect it to be long-term — but not expected to be available tomorrow and not sure about the weekend— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 26, 2021

You may have noticed a Canadiens fan wearing a Panayio Tees “Retire 91” sweater to Saturday’s Red Wings-Habs game, and one Peter Andrianopoulos posted quite the video encouraging the “Retire 91” movement:

1179 Points.
3 Cups.
2 Selkes.
1 Hart.#Retire91 @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/M6tKjYkWMk

— Peter Andrianopoulos (@peterandri) October 26, 2021

McKeen’s Hockey’s Chapin Landvogt penned a column listing the top three NHL-affiliated prospects right now, as published on Yahoo Sports, and you’ve heard of #3:

3) Elmer Soderblom – Left Wing (Detroit Red Wings)

2020-21 Frölunda, SHL 28GP-3G-2A-5PTS

2020-21 Sweden U20, WJC 5GP-2G-1A-3PTS

2021-22 Frölunda, SHL 14GP-6G-3A-9PTS

At a monstrous 6’8”, 238 lbs., Swedish left winger Elmer Soderblom has the potential of being a huge part of the Detroit Red Wings’ future – in more ways than one. A sixth rounder in the 2019 NHL Draft, he was selected straight out of Sweden’s junior leagues where he didn’t have particularly impressive stats, but the team obviously saw something in him (well, he’s hard to miss) and look to have gotten a great value pick. Noticeable at last winter’s WJC thanks not only to his immense frame, but also his two goals and three points, Soderblom is now playing in his second full season of SHL hockey and has taken things to a whole new level. Getting time on the power play and plenty of top line minutes over the course of 14 games for league powerhouse Frölunda, his six goals and nine points are good for third on the team in scoring.

Again, I don’t think that Soderblom is the next Johan Franzen, but if he can be the next Michael Rasmussen, plus a little more goal-scoring, that would be wonderful.

Per MLive’s Ansar Khan, the Red Wings are practicing ahead of tomorrow’s game vs. the Washington Capitals (7 PM EDT on NBC Sports Washington Plus/Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM):

#RedWings lines, D pairs in practice before game at Washington tomorrow:
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Fabbri-Suter-Zadina
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Rowney/Smith-Stephens-Gagner
DeKeyser-Seider
Leddy-Hronek
Staal-Stecher
Oesterle
Lindstrom is not practicing. pic.twitter.com/OdtGm9RJGi— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 26, 2021

#RedWings power-play units:
1. Bertuzzi (net front), Fabbri (bumper), Larkin-Raymond (flanks), Seider (point).
2. Erne (net front), Suter (bumper), Hronek-Zadina (flanks), Leddy (point).— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 26, 2021

Two Tweets of note this morning:

1. Of historical note, from Hockey 365’s Mike Commito:

On this day in 1997, Steve Yzerman surpassed Alex Delvecchio as the longest-serving captain in @DetroitRedWings history #Hockey365 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/CQK9DWlaqW— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) October 26, 2021

2. And the Florida Panthers’ PR department reminds us that Friday night’s game vs. the Panthers is only on ESPN Plus and Hulu:

#FlaPanthers Friday night’s game in Detroit can be found exclusively on @ESPNPlus and @hulu.

More info: https://t.co/RdC5omMMTQ@ESPNPR pic.twitter.com/7D8sFPehAy— Florida Panthers PR (@FlaPanthersPR) October 26, 2021

I can only speak as a Comcast customer–I know many of you get cable from WOW, DirecTV, Dish, etc.–but I found out that Comcast *does* allow you to stream ESPN+ on your television if you ask the remote for “ESPN Plus” and pair your TV to your account through your cell phone.

I know that’s not going to help everybody, but I’d encourage any of you with a Smart TV to check and see whether you can stream ESPN Plus through your TV.

Rakapuckar’s Henrik Lehman posted a column about Lucas Raymond yesterday, offering his take on Raymond’s hat trick performance. Lehman discusses how Raymond may be better-suited to playing a more direct game on a smaller rink, and he also spoke with Red Wings player development specialist Niklas Kronwall regarding Raymond’s achievement in scoring a hat trick on Sunday:

“It’s been cool to see,” Kronwall said, and he continued: “I think of it this way, Raymond is a smart player, a competitive person and he has very cool ‘skills.’ He’s so fast in his brain, fast in the hands, can make quick decisions…The small rink can suit him better. Then come the inserts that don’t happen in the same way in the SHL. It is a different game in Sweden. His skills are unique.”

The translation of Lehman’s article is intriguing;

HockeyNews.se’s Henrik Sjoberg also asked Swedish national team GM Johan Garpenlov about the performances of Raymond, William Eklund and Jonathan Dahlen, who’ve all impressed early, and you can take this for what you will:

Garpenlov is not allowed to reveal which Swedes are on his list of 50 players and five goaltenders–but the competition is fierce at all positions. October 15th was the deadline for teams to submit their player lists [to the IIHF].

“I have to go on what I’ve presented and not what I may do. And if you look at a guy like Raymond, if he were to be on the list, he’d have to compete and play on the top lines and on the power play. If you look around the league, it’s quite a tough competition in a few spots there. I’m not saying that it’s impossible and that it couldn’t happen, but it’s probably pretty tough to settle in there,” says Garpenlov.

With the help of advisors Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg, Garpenlov has good inroads in Detroit when it comes to Raymond’s progress, both on and off the ice.

“We all understand how skilled and talented he is, and then we’ll see where he goes. No one would be happier than me if you get to see a young guy make the best impact, regardless of whether he’s on the 50-man list or not, but we have to be a little sane so far. We’re only five or seven games into the season.”

My take? Raymond probably didn’t make the Swedes’ 50-man Olympic reserve list, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise given how deep the Swedes are at the NHL level.

Via a Tweet from the U.S. National Team Development Program, a.k.a. the NTDP, Red Wings prospect Red Savage was named the rookie of the week in the NCAA’s NCHC conference yesterday afternoon:

SAVOOOOOO! ?? https://t.co/gmGXwNIXWc— USA Hockey’s NTDP (@USAHockeyNTDP) October 26, 2021

Here’s the press release from the Miami of Ohio Redhawks:

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference announced today that Miami freshman forward Red Savage has been named NCHC Rookie of the Week.
 
Savage, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., picked up the first point of his career Friday with an assist in MU’s home opener, following that up with two more assists Saturday night at Bowling Green. The Detroit draft pick combined with older brother Ryan Savage to assist on Alec Capstick’s second-period goal Friday, and then added a helper on his sibling’s second-period goal Saturday. The younger Savage also assisted on Chase Gresock’s goal 35 seconds into the game Saturday evening. Savage had a positive plus-minus both nights and won 13 of 24 faceoffs for Miami.

It’s the first time Savage has won NCHC Rookie of the Week and the first time a Miami player has earned the honor since Chase Pletzke won the award in January 2020.

Savage and the RedHawks are off this weekend, but return to action Friday, November 5 at Omaha to open conference play.