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Red Wings-Sharks morning skate Tweets and articles: Howard vs. Jones, ‘no changes’

Updated 2x at 3:24 PM: The Detroit Red Wings face a difficult opponent in the San Jose Sharks this evening (10:30 PM on FSD/NBCS Bay Area/97.1 FM).

The Sharks sit in a tightly-packed Pacific Division and are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals this past Saturday.

The Red Wings find themselves 14 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Wings spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner regarding their status:

Continue reading Red Wings-Sharks morning skate Tweets and articles: Howard vs. Jones, ‘no changes’

The Athletic’s Scott on Wings’ ‘lack of push-back’

The Athletic’s Topher Scott weighs in on several Red Wings-related topics in this week’s “View From a Coach“:

It was a tough week for the Red Wings, losing all four games and extending their current drought to six. It’s their longest skid since they dropped seven straight that ended with a 10-1 drubbing from the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 2.

Up until this week, the season’s second half had been pretty even, without too many highs and lows in the record column. Since that dreadful night in Montreal, the Red Wings hadn’t gone more than three games without a win.

It is a testament to the team’s leadership that things haven’t deteriorated. I credit the coaching staff and older core for doing a solid job in the locker room in keeping everyone together and headed in the right direction. If they weren’t doing the job, we would be seeing a lot more losing streaks like the one they are on right now.

But this week, it just seemed … different.

I didn’t really see the pushback from the Red Wings that I have seen throughout the second half (aside from the Boston game, which I will get to later). The discipline wasn’t great either, and the work ethic was average, at best, in too many parts of the last four games.

Continued (paywall)…

Prospect round-up: McCollum shuts out Hershey; Walleye lose to Indy; Cholowski 1A, Rasmussen 1G

In the AHL, Matthew Ford and Ben Street (2) scored goals, Matt Puepel had 2 assists and Tom McCollum posted a 21-save shutout as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Hershey Bears 3-0. The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: McCollum shuts out Hershey; Walleye lose to Indy; Cholowski 1A, Rasmussen 1G

Red Wings-Sharks mini preview

The Detroit Red Wings face the San Jose Sharks this evening (10:30 PM EDT on FSD/NBCS Bay Area/97.1 FM), and this is going to be a difficult game for the Wings as the Sharks are facing some serious playoff pressure.

San Jose sits second in the Pacific Division with a 36-23-and-9 record and 81 points, but there are two wild card and three playoff-hopeful teams hot on their tail.

The Joe Thornton-less Sharks have gone 3-and-2 over their past 5 games, but have lost 2 of their past 3, with Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals representing the latest setback.

STATS’ game preview sets up tonight’s game from the Sharks’ perspective:

Continue reading Red Wings-Sharks mini preview

Regner: Wings have an uphill battle, try to ‘play the right way’ for today and tomorrow

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner spoke with the Red Wings’ players and coach regarding the team’s attempt to scale a near-vertical incline as the team insists it can still push for a playoff spot:

They trail Columbus for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by 14 points with 14 regular season games left on their schedule, but despite the near impossible odds, the Wings are approaching each game with a must-win mentality.

“I think it’s a process,” defenseman Mike Green said. “It’s a mindset right now, obviously this time of the season a big chunk of it is mental. We have to make sure we’re going into these games with the right process, right mind frame. Not only that, we’ve got to compete really hard every night to make sure we’re giving ourselves a chance. I think with that mentality we’ll get our wins here. It’s just unfortunate we have to make sure we win pretty much every night. There is a big task ahead of us.”

If Detroit cannot string together a plethora of wins in the coming weeks, the players vow they will continue to play hard with their sole purpose of winning hockey games and getting better.

“Regardless of where we are in the standings, it’s about coming in and doing it right every day,” alternate captain Niklas Kronwall said. “You work hard and you get rewarded for it. If you don’t work hard, it’s going to show right away.

“We haven’t been good enough here as of late. We need to get out of there as soon as possible. It just hasn’t been nearly good enough when it comes to all the small details of the game — the stick battles, the positioning. And when we do get our chances, we have to make the most of them.

“If you look at the bigger picture, this isn’t just now. What we’re doing right now is preparing ourselves, the young guys, for next year and for their careers, really. You (have to) learn to do it right and learn that you’re coming to work every day.”

Continued

Sunday practice stories on Monday morning

The Red Wings practiced on Sunday prior to flying out to San Jose for tonight’s game (10:30 PM on FSD/NBCSN Bay Area/97.1 FM), and here are some of the storylines from said practice:

1. According to Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff, Frans Nielsen skated with the team on Sunday, and Nielsen is hoping to return sometime during the Wings’ upcoming 4-game road trip:

“I don’t anticipate him ready tomorrow (at the San Jose Sharks),” Wings coach Jeff Blashill told Detroitredwings.com. “I anticipate him being ready for Thursday (at the Los Angeles Kings), but we’ll see. I think it’s good that he seems to be progressing fast here.”

Nielsen is also feeling confident that the end of his idling is near. He was able to skate with the team on Sunday and hopes to ramp up his on-ice participation during Monday’s morning skate.

Continue reading Sunday practice stories on Monday morning

City of Detroit trying to determine redevelopment plans for Joe Louis Arena

The Detroit News’s Louis Aguilar reports that the City of Detroit is trying to find ways to redevelop Joe Louis Arena, which isn’t easy given how isolated the site is from the rest of downtown Detroit:

A study done for the city and private land owners near the arena shows there are talks to find the money and create a consensus to tear down major structures, including a freeway exit, along with the vacant arena later this year. New pedestrian links to the West Riverfront area and possibly nearby streets would be created, according to a copy of the study obtained by The Detroit News.

“We are looking at the demolition of Joe Louis Arena as way of turning around the site, from what’s now considered the back door of everything, to the front door of the West Riverfront area,” said Maurice Cox, director of the city’s Planning and Development Department.

The city is in talks with major land owners — including the authority that controls the adjoining Cobo Center, the company that acquired the Joe Louis property during the city’s bankruptcy and DTE Energy — to come up with funding to “create a holistic development framework,” according to the study. The area being looked at is generally bounded by Cobo Center to the east, West Riverfront Park to the west, Lafayette Street to the north and the Detroit River to the south.

Joe Louis Arena is slated to be razed later this year. There also is an effort to get rid of some of the infrastructure around the 5.1 acres of land occupied by the arena.

Continued

 

Khan’s mailbag reveals Mike Green’s injury

MLive’s Ansar Khan reveals the reason why teams didn’t trade for Mike Green in a weekly mailbag feature:

New deal looming for Mike Green?

Two Things: A Griffins Game Day Preview video and one Tweet from Practice

Of Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins-related note this afternoon:

  1. Here’s the Griffins’ Game Day Preview ahead of this afternoon’s game against Hershey…

2. And it appears that the Red Wings did practice ahead of their flight out west to San Jose, though only one person caught it:

Morning news: “On the Forecheck,” a podcast of note, NCAA free agent talk and a spotlight on Hronek

Of brief Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Red Wings posted an “On the Forecheck” video in which Manny Legace and Carley Johnston discuss the Wings’ upcoming opponents:

 2. The Red Wings also posted their latest “Red and White Authority” podcast, in which Wings goaltender development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson speaks with Arthur J. Regner for over an hour:

 3. In the tangentially-Red Wings-related category, ESPN’s Chris Peters penned an Insider-only article discussing the top NCAA free agents and their possible “fits.”

4. On Twitter…

5. Also in the Grand Rapids Griffins category, GriffinsHockey.com’s Jason Pearson penned an article about Filip Hronek for TheAHL.com:

Hronek currently ranks in the league’s top-20 defensemen in points, goals, assists and plus-minus rating, and he’s on pace to post one of the top-three highest-scoring seasons by a Griffins first-year blueliner.

“I’ve been impressed with the way he’s learned the game, produced for us and how he’s progressed,” Griffins third-year head coach Todd Nelson said.

Hronek’s first full professional season and second year in North America began with its share of bumps. Scratched eight times in the team’s first 31 games, Hronek was filtered in and out of the lineup, partly due to inconsistent play and partly due to the Griffins’ roster; the team had eight rostered defensemen. Ryan Sproul was traded on Oct. 21 to bring the defensive lineup to a much more manageable number of seven, and as the season marched through its third month, Hronek developed a steadiness to his game play.

The 6-foot, 178-pound Hronek has been a mainstay in the lineup since Dec. 29, during which Grand Rapids’ 20-6-0-2 record has vaulted them into position for a sixth straight Calder Cup playoff bid. He’s spent considerable time throughout the year on the man-advantage, verified by 14 power play points, the most among team defensemen.

“After the trade for Sproul, he got an opportunity to get in the lineup on an everyday basis and he really took advantage of that,” assistant coach Bruce Ramsay said. “His work on the power play has become elite. He’s running the first unit right now and doing a great job. His defensive capabilities have grown.”

Hronek posted a particularly effective 17-game stretch from Jan. 12-Feb. 25, posting 15 points (5-10—15) and a team-best plus-14 rating.

“I try working hard every day,” Hronek said. “I think I’m getting better at things. Last couple of games, I’m getting better at everything.”

Continued