Author: George Malik

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted that Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill suggested that the Red Wings have a particularly competitive training camp roster this season:

“There are certain non-negotiables on our hockey team,” Blashill said Thursday. “You have to make sure to work, compete and execute. Execute can show itself in practice and how you drill. We’re trying to be as perfect as possible out there. 

“That was the message we talked about yesterday, and let’s go and let’s get’s after it on day one and keep getting better every day.”

As he begins his seventh season as Wings coach, Blashill has a revamped roster that is getting younger, and possibly more talented.

The fight for playing time is expected to be intense, with more depth throughout the lineup.

“We’ll see which guys, over the next few weeks, grab spots,” Blashill said. “I’m interested to watch and see.”

Continued, and, if you missed it:

Blashill expects forward Jakub Vrana to arrive in Michigan on Friday, as visa issues continue to be ironed out.Vrana is stuck in Europe waiting for clearance.

“He has to go through some process to get cleared to be able to participate,” Blashill said. “We’re hoping he gets here on a flight (Friday).”

The Free Press’s Helene St. James wraps something of a bow on the Tyler Bertuzzi situation by offering some quotes from his friend and teammate, Dylan Larkin, as well as Bertuzzi’s coach:

“It’s his choice,” captain and close friend Dylan Larkin said. “Tyler has looked into it, weighed all of his options. It was his choice not to get it. Tyler’s very popular in our room, he’s a very big part of our locker room. We’re going to miss him on the ice, we’re going to miss him in the locker room when he’s not able to play, but he has our support, I guess you could say. We are just going to miss him when he’s not there. We are going to have to find a way, you can’t think about it too much. You have to find ways to move on and be ready to play.”

Larkin said he and Bertuzzi talked about the situation over the summer. “He’s explained it to me. Tyler has thought a lot about it. I know that there’s a lot of support for him making his own decision, but there is also a part that everybody knows we are going to miss him when he can’t play.”

Bertuzzi is the team’s grittiest player and one of their most effective. He appeared in only nine games last season before being sidelined by a back injury, and recorded five goals and two assists. The first game he’ll miss because of border restrictions for unvaccinated people is Oct. 23 at Montreal, the Wings’ first road game of the season.

“Tyler is a player I love as a person, love as a player,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I’m a big fan of Tyler. He’s a great teammate. The NHL allowed our players to make decisions on this, and that’s the decision Tyler made and we respect it. Obviously we’d love to have everybody vaccinated because then you don’t lose anybody, but I certainly respect the decision. How will I handle it? Other guys will get opportunity when he cannot play. There’s not a whole lot more to the story than that.”

Continued; in a game where blood and spit are shared between players, I’m sticking by my guns here in suggesting that Bertuzzi’s fear of the needle is simply a case of not doing his job as a teammate, and, as the coach says, other people will earn opportunities because of it.

As stated above, the Red Wings have posted a 1-minute video chronicling the sights and sounds from Day 1 of their 2021 training camp:

Grand Rapids Griffins announcer and vice-president Bob Kaser spoke with long-time Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan regarding the retirement of his #10 jersey on April 2nd:

Of prospect-related note in Europe:

In the Finnish Liiga, Eemil Viro had an assist and 2 shots in 17:05 played as TPS Turku won 2-1 over IFK Helsinki, as illustrated by Red Wings Prospects on Twitter:

#Liiga
– Viro 0+1, +1, 2 SOG, 17:05 ice time in a 3-1 win#LGRW https://t.co/3OvuvfTzIj— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) September 23, 2021

In the SHL, Albert Johansson had 2 assists, finishing at +2 in 18:15 played, and Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up in Farjestads BK’s 4-0 win over Linkoping. As you might expect, IceHockeyGifs has some clips to show us:

The Red Wings and Bally Sports Detroit posted clips of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, forward Tyler Bertuzzi and coach Jeff Blashill speaking with the media, with the Blashill video encompassing an interview with John Keating:

Update: Here’s Michael Rasmussen speaking with the media…

As well as coach Blashill:

I’ll post the video when it becomes available:

Larkin excited for this training camp. “These guys are fighting for spots on the team.”— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) September 23, 2021

Larkin on Moritz Seider: “He’s a special player.”— Ethan Sears (@ethan_sears) September 23, 2021

Larkin addressing the media regarding his injury: “I feel great. I haven’t thought about it much today which is a good sign. I just think for myself, why take a risk right now? I want to go into the season healthy like I am right now.” @DetroitRedWings
#LGRW— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) September 23, 2021

FYI:

Forward lines today (keep in mind Vrana isn’t here, and order is mine):
Bertuzzi-Larkin-Zadina
Fabbri-Suter-Ryan
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Gagner-Rowney-Smith
Hirose-Stephens-Raymond
Tyutyayev-Veleno-Barber
Shine-Verbeek/Criscuolo-Elson
Yan-Pearson-Spezia https://t.co/pnzJ5QV2GL— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) September 23, 2021

Red Wings defense pairs today (again, order mine)
DeKeyser-Hronek
Leddy-Seider
Staal-Stecher
Oesterle-Lindstrom
Lashoff-Newpower
Brubacher-Witkowski
Renouf-Cotton
Plandowski-Sebrango https://t.co/TCo3tNHKK8— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) September 23, 2021

As you might imagine…

Red Wings F Tyler Bertuzzi called it a “life choice” to refuse COVID-19 vaccine. Said he knows it means he can’t play in Canada (9 games) but reiterated it’s personal choice.— Helene St. James (@HeleneStJames) September 23, 2021

Bertuzzi says the choice to not get vaccinated a personal decision; talked about it with family #RedWings— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) September 23, 2021

Tyler Bertuzzi says he feels about 95 percent healthy, with the other five percent being getting back into game shape— Ethan Sears (@ethan_sears) September 23, 2021

Bert says he’s about 95% there physically. The other 5% is getting game ready. @DetroitRedWings #DRWTC— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) September 23, 2021

I’ll post the video as soon as it’s available.

Update: Here’s more from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

“It went fine, it was good,” Bertuzzi said of his chat with general manager Steve Yzerman about his decision not to get vaccinated. ”It’s a life choice, a personal choice. Personal choice.”

Bertuzzi said he’s talked with teammates about his decision.

“Everything is good, same as normal,” Bertuzzi said.

Bertuzzi didn’t think twice about his decision to not get vaccinated.

“It was pretty set in stone,” Bertuzzi said.

Update: The Free Press posted a clip of the Bertuzzi presser:

The Detroit Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez took note of Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman’s remarks regarding following the best examples in sports as he tries to rebuild his own team:

Yzerman is searching on pitches in England and diamonds in America, on gridiron and courts and rinks. Anywhere he can extract some knowledge, like from his favorite soccer team.

“Partly because I’m a big fan of the sport and the team,” he said, “Liverpool soccer club, what they’ve done over the course of the last 10 or 15 years and how they’ve built a kind of culture, a style of play, (that’s) one that comes to mind for me.”

Because the Wings and Tigers are both owned by the Ilitch family, Yzerman has been able to speak with Avila, exchange ideas and has enjoyed learning about how and why some personnel decisions have been made. Even within the NHL, Yzerman is constantly educating himself about the process of building a winning team.

“I talk a lot to other general managers and pick their brain on where they’re going, what they’re doing, why they make the moves they make,” he said. “I learn a lot from that. It’s probably a sin to say, but with Bill Belichick and what he’s done in the NFL with the Patriots, how he’s made and run that franchise has been very, very interesting for me.”

Continued