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: Berggren, Wallinder, Niederbach score in Sweden

In the SHL, Jonatan Berggren scored a goal on 3 shots, finishing at +1 in 16:16 played as Skelleftea AIK won 4-1 over Lulea Hockey:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, William Wallinder scored a goal, finishing at -1 with 3 shots in 16:37 played, and Theodor Niederbach assisted on Wallinder’s goal, scored a goal of his own and finished at +1 with 2 shots in 16:37 played as MODO Hockey lost 4-2 to Tingsryds IF:

Malte Setkov had an assist, finishing at -1 in 23:43 played as AIK Stockholm won 3-2 over Vasteras IK. Gustav Berglund finished even in 15:29 played for Vasteras;

And in the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson served as the back-up in Red Bulls Salzburg’s 4-2 win over the Vienna Capitals.

Taxi squad moves: Givani Smith recalled, Chase Pearson assigned to taxi squad

Per the Red Wings:

Link: Jimmy Howard spoke with the NHL on Sirius XM Radio on Friday

I can’t embed this, but the NHL on Sirius XM Radio posted this Tweet this morning…

ICYM the full interview with Jimmy Howard or want to listen to

Jarmo Kekalainen #CBJ
Pierre-Luc Dubois #GoJetsGo
Kevin Cheveldayoff #GoJetsGo
Jack Roslovic #CBJ
Brian Burke #NHL

Click?- https://t.co/lUJSmv69vC https://t.co/2ZJpgkaCgr— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) January 30, 2021

And you can go to this webpage and listen to Howard’s interview…

Sometimes you have to know when you’re trying to eat an elephant

HockeySverige.se’s Ronnie Ronnqvist posted a massive, several-chapters-long interview with former Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg this morning.

Normally, I’d try to translate it, even though it’s a good 10 pages long, but I’m a French fried potato this morning, trying to cover the Wings and Griffins this morning, and I’m facing walls of fatigue and anxiety this morning (I may very well take Monday off as the Wings aren’t going to practice tomorrow), so:

For the moment, I’m going to encourage you to head over to Google Translate and read the interview or chunks thereof at your leisure. The truth of the matter is that this is several interviews stitched into one “Old School Hockey” article, and there’s some new stuff, some old stuff, and a mix of the two in the interview, and not all of it might be very interesting to you as a Red Wings fan because Ronnqvist asks Zetterberg to share stories about people involved in his development as a hockey player.

I’ll try to tackle chunks of the article over the next couple of days, but I’m not in any shape to translate ten pages of Swedish right now, and there’s nothing earth-shattering about the interview or its content, so I’m going to leave reading it up to you for now. Sometimes you have to know when your body and brain are about to break down, and that’s where I’m at this morning.

We can only eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Panthers’ website posts strong Wings-Panthers Game 2 preview

FloridaPanthers.com’s Jameson Olive posted an excellent preview of today’s rematch between the Detroit Red Wings and the Florida Panthers (5 PM EST on FSD/FS Florida/97.1 FM):

With no [Panthers] skate this morning, it’s unlikely we will know tonight’s starter until we get closer to puck drop. If Bobrovsky doesn’t get the nod again, look for backup Chris Driedger to man the crease. Starting two games this season, the 26-year-old has gone 1-0-1 behind a .934 save percentage.

“He makes tough saves look really easy,” Yandle said of Bobrovsky. “He’s been great, Driegs [Driedger] has been great. It’s kind of one of those things where you need that. Goaltending is obviously the biggest thing in this league, and we’ve got two great ones.”

As for the Red Wings, they’re looking to snap out of a five-game losing streak. In that stretch, they’ve been outscored 22-9 to fall to last place in the Central Division. Recently, the Panthers had no shortage of success against Detroit, going a stellar 7-0-0 over their last seven meetings.

Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings in goals (5) and is tied with Dylan Larkin for the most points (7). After scoring in Saturday’s loss, Bertuzzi but left the game after two periods with an upper-body injury. As of right now, he’s considered questionable to compete against Florida tonight.

After stopping 23 of 26 shots on Saturday, Thomas Greiss could be back between the pipes for Detroit tonight if Jonathan Bernier is still unable to play. Owning a 2-1-0 record with a .881 save percentage this season, Bernier left Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Stars with an upper-body injury.

Over their last seven matchups, the Panthers have outscored the Red Wings 27-12.

Continued

Grand Rapids Griffins Tweet out training camp roster

For your information, as the Grand Rapids Griffins begin training camp at 10:30 AM this morning @ Van Andel Arena in anticipation of a February 5th regular-season start:

Hitting the ice today for the start of Training Camp!

Learn more about each player ➡️ https://t.co/yqNZmTxQe1 pic.twitter.com/VkAH70N4GU— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 31, 2021

A minor point of contention

The Free Press’s Helene St. James spends a significant amount of time and space discussing the reasons why Steve Yzerman is unlikely to fire coach Jeff Blashill this season, and while I agree with St. James’ sentiment–I happen to believe that Blashill will ride out the rest of his contract this season before Yzerman reevaluates whether it’s time to make a change–this part of St. James’ argument is…off…

Another factor to consider is the fiscal side of things. The Wings are losing money because of the pandemic, playing before only a few hundred people (many of whom are family or friends of team personnel, and not ticket buyers) at Little Caesars Arena. Blashill makes $1.6 million, on the lower end for NHL coaches. If Yzerman were to release Blashill and, for example, turn the bench over to assistant coach Dan Bylsma for the rest of the season, Bylsma would require a raise. Even if it it’s $250,000, that’s not an insignificant sum when revenue has taken such a hit. If Yzerman chooses, for example, to bring in his longtime friend Gerard Gallant, he’s a former NHL head coach who would command considerably north of Blashill’s salary. And that’s presuming Gallant, or any higher-profile candidate, wants to coach the Wings. They are in a rebuild, and they’re not coming out of it in the near future.

Continued; I agree with St. James’ suggestions that Yzerman’s patience with the roster, probable contentment with the development of the team’s young players and understanding that the shortened season has been marred by COVID-related absences, yielding diminished team performance, are indeed all factors as to why Blashill is still coaching.

But the concept that the Detroit Red Wings are too financially strapped to invest in a new coach? I’m not feelin’ it, even during a pandemic-shortened, revenue-depleted season. The Ilitches are worth over $1-and-a-half billion dollars. If they want a new coach, they’re not going to sweat signing the checks.

Otherwise, yes, yes, yes, but this part confuses me a bit.

Khan’s post-game notebook: No worries about Mo worries

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a post-game notebook article in which he noted that, after the Red Wings dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Florida Panthers, both captain Dylan Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill were asked questions about Anthony Mantha’s early-season struggles to find the back of the net. Here’s what Larkin and Blashill had to say about #39:

“I think he’s working hard, he’s trying to get his game going,” Blashill said. “I think he’s played better the last couple of games.

“Anthony cares, he wants to be a good player. He’s just got to keep grinding. The biggest thing with any of our guys is to make sure you’re proactive with your work ethic ahead of time so then you’re in good positions to check, get pucks and attack better the other way, and Anthony has done a better job at that.”

Mantha has two goals and three assists in nine games, along with a minus-9 rating that is among the worst in the league.

“With Mo, he knows he has to take a step,” Larkin said. “He’s working, he’s trying to find his game.

“I thought (Saturday) was one of his best games. He was moving his feet. He’s got such long range and a great shot that if he moves his feet, he’s such a dangerous player, breaks up plays and ends up going the other way on offense. He wants to do better, and we got to do a good job getting him going and pumping him up and making sure he’s playing his game.”

Continued