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: Seider 2+1, Berggren 2A in Sweden

Of prospect-related note:

In the SHL, Moritz Seider put on a show, posting 2 goals and 1 assist for 3 points, finishing at +2 with 4 shots in 21:51 as Rogle BK beat Brynas 5-4 in a shootout:

Update: But not all was well:

Jonatan Berggren put on a show of his own, registering 2 assists in 12:40 played as Skelleftea AIK won 6-0 over Linkoping:

Continue reading Prospect Round-up: Seider 2+1, Berggren 2A in Sweden

HSJ’s game-day notebook: bumpy ride ahead for the Wings’ COVID reserve list

As the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes in her game-day notebook, the Red Wings’ five players on COVID reserve–Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Adam Erne, Jon Merrill and Fillip Zadina–have a hard road ahead of them:

Coach Jeff Blashill planned to spend part of Thursday afternoon sitting down with athletic trainer Piet VanZant to map out when players potentially will be available, and sketched something of a timeline.

“It’s a minimum of 14 days,” Blashill said. “They can’t exercise or exert themselves until those 14 days are up. That’s at a minimum. How many days after that is really hard to tell. But being off for 14 days, that’s a long time.

“Part of the process is getting them back into shape so they don’t injure themselves. That would be the No. 1 priority, so they don’t have soft-tissue issues. It will be very difficult to get them into as many game situations as you’d like because of the fact it’s just really, really hard to practice.”

After Sunday, the Wings have two days before their next game. At best, Fabbri and Erne may be able to practice by then. But the 14-day period of rest won’t be over for Zadina, Gagner and Merrill before the Wings depart for Tampa, and players have to quarantine 48 hours if they travel commercially.

Continued

Keating: Jimmy Howard will appear on ‘Red Wings Live’ tonight at 8

Per Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating:

Jimmy Howard will join Chris Osgood and me during Red Wings Live tonight at 8 on FSD… https://t.co/Eu6XSLyl6N— John Keating (@JohnKeatingFSD) January 28, 2021

Tonight’s game airs on Fox Sports Detroit Plus.

HSJ, Khan post Blashill, DeKeyser’s quotes regarding Jimmy Howard’s retirement

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted heartfelt comments made by Jeff Blashill and Danny DeKeyser regarding one Jimmy Howard, who retired today…

“When I was an assistant here he was an All-Star, and then he was an All-Star again later in his career,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It shows the competitiveness, and also the work ethic that showed in being great at his craft. Goaltending is one of those positions that you can continuously work on and make better, and he continually did that.

“When you look at his career in totality, it was a really, really wonderful career. He was a great competitor and a really great Red Wing.”

Howard ranks fourth in his draft class with 246 victories in 543 games, trailing Marc-Andre Fleury (467 in 848), Jaroslav Halak (272 in 521) and Corey Crawford (260 in 488).

…

“He was a great goalie for us for a long time,” veteran defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “He gave us a chance to win more nights than not. He loved playing hockey, loved competing. One thing that I think made him a good goalie was his ability to block out things that happened in the past – if he had a bad game, he could rinse it and go out the next night and have a good game.

“Another quality of his was not things too seriously all the time and being able to go out there and have fun, joke about things, even if they weren’t going the right way. He liked to have fun.”

Continued;

MLive’s Ansar Khan followed suit…

Continue reading HSJ, Khan post Blashill, DeKeyser’s quotes regarding Jimmy Howard’s retirement

Red Wings-Stars Game 2 morning skate Tweets and articles: Dallas to start Oettinger in goal, Hintz possible; Wings skating at 12:45 PM

Updated with somewhat positive news on Dylan Larkin at 12:53 PM: The Detroit Red Wings will face off against the Dallas Stars tonight for Game 2 of their home-and-still-at-home series (8:30 PM EST on FSD Plus/FS SW/97.1 FM). Detroit is seeking a split after losing the first game of the series 2-1 in overtime.

All of the Stars’ injured/sidelined players that were iffy for tonight’s game–Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Blake Comeau–hit the ice just before the Stars’ morning skate, which took place at 10 AM CST:

Continue reading Red Wings-Stars Game 2 morning skate Tweets and articles: Dallas to start Oettinger in goal, Hintz possible; Wings skating at 12:45 PM

Bowey latches on with the Blackhawks

Madison Bowey is on waivers because the #blackhawks signed him to a contract.— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 28, 2021

Welcome to ??????? ??., Madison!

Defenseman Madison Bowey has agreed to a 2-year deal that runs through the 2021-22 season ($725,000 salary cap hit).#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Ih4hp1aCC2— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 28, 2021

It’s #BellLetsTalk day

It’s #BellLetsTalk day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, a day in which Bell Canada donates 5 cents to mental health charities for every usage of the hashtag on social media.

Those of us who battle mental illnesses, and come forward today to share their stories (see: my depression and anxiety make everything difficult), are not looking for a pat on the back or some sort of validation by doing what we’re doing.

We’re trying to share our stories to let you know that mental illnesses affect more people than you could possibly imagine, and that mental illnesses are OKAY to have–they’re chronic illnesses, chemical imbalances in the brain, not “something wrong with people as persons.”

In the U.S., we don’t have an initiative like #BellLetsTalk, but there are resources for people who need mental health resources, from 1-800-273-TALK to highly localized public health organizations that help the uninsured with their mental health. As many of you who have health insurance know, it’s a rough go trying to advocate for yourself and your care…But the battles are worth it.

From one mentally ill person to whoever’s out there who needs to hear this, mental health is part of your overall health, and if you have a mental health issue, please reach out, be it to me or anyone else (see: rtxg@yahoo.com for me), because we are here to listen and try to help you find the resources you need.

If you have a mental health issue, you’re not alone. And you merit relief. #BellLetsTalk

Jimmy Howard makes his retirement official

It’s official, per the Red Wings and Jimmy Howard’s Instagram account:

Congrats on a great career, Howie! ?

?: https://t.co/JXG1Rw8yqP pic.twitter.com/nV7Cb5EQ4x— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 28, 2021

Congrats on a tremendous career with the @DetroitRedWings, Jimmy Howard! ?@NHLdotcom has more ➡️ https://t.co/k7a3FRpQ2T pic.twitter.com/ab9iJDWtuJ— NHL (@NHL) January 28, 2021

Jimmy Howard has officially announced his retirement following 14 years in the @NHL and 543 regular-season games with the @DetroitRedWings. Congratulations Jimmy on an incredible career and welcome to the #NHLAlumni Association! ?#LGRW pic.twitter.com/m8Hl6qJHvt— NHL Alumni (@NHLAlumni) January 28, 2021

Happy retirement to one of our Grandest Griffins, Jimmy Howard! pic.twitter.com/gs1P3Ybd7R— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 28, 2021

All the best in retirement to Jimmy Howard, who announced today he will be hanging up his skates after 543 games played with the @DetroitRedWings. pic.twitter.com/P8l2SJXAkY— NHLPA (@NHLPA) January 28, 2021