From the Graz99ers of the ICE HL:
Thanks to Michael Rasmussen who leaves us today as he returns to @DetroitRedWings to report for @NHL training camp. He was a great team mate and even better person, we wish him every success back in North America #BigRas— Graz99ers (@graz99ers) December 20, 2020
The Swedish World Junior Championship team has been hit hard by the coronavirus, and two positive tests by members of their front office mean that the Swedish team, in quarantine in Edmonton, presently, won’t be able to get in an exhibition game until December 24th.
As the Swedes await the “OK” from the IIHF health authorities, Red Wings prospect Lucas Raymond spoke with Aftonbladet’s Emilie Fredriksson regarding his situation. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Continue reading Roughly translated: Lucas Raymond chats with Aftonbladet from quarantine in Edmonton“I would be lying if I said it doesn’t affect us”
The Swedish World Junior Championship star longs for [an end to] his isolation
The star Lucas Raymond was the highest-drafted Swede at the NHL draft, and he will take a leading role at the WJC.
How has a week locked up in a hotel room in Edmonton affected him?
“The craving is huge. I haven’t been away from hockey for so long,” says the 18-year-old.
The Toronto Star’s Dave Feschuk wondered aloud what kind of pressure one LeBron James, Jr. would face if he were to make the NBA and play alongside his father, so he asked the son of the world’s most famous hockey player about the pros and cons of playing alongside one’s father:
“I tell people, the couple of negatives of being Gordie Howe’s son, they were harsh, they were hard,” Mark said. “But they’re mostly internal things.”
Speaking of internal things, Mark Howe said being the offspring of one of the great players in the game’s history — a mythical figure who owned a good portion of the NHL record book before an admirer named Wayne Gretzky arrived to rewrite things — could occasionally make you question your worthiness. There was only one Gordie Howe, sure, but both of his professional-playing sons had to wear a sweater bearing his surname.
“You’re always being compared,” Mark said. “I remember my mom sat me down and said, ‘The only person you need to measure yourself by is yourself. You set your own expectations.’ And that was my mindset for many years. I was bound and determined to make it to pro hockey whether my name was Smith, Jones, Howe, James, whatever the heck it was.”
There were undeniable upsides: “A billion of ’em,” Mark estimates. On weekends when the Red Wings were on the road, the staff at Detroit’s Olympia arena would allow Mark to skate on the Red Wings’ home ice by himself for most of the day; he’d take a break for a lunch of hot dogs and popcorn served by a concession-stand attendee named Jesse. At age 14, Mark was invited to participate in Red Wings training camp for a few days. As an unusually large kid, about five-foot-11 and 180 pounds at the time, the story goes that he held his own.
“Who else had those opportunities?” he said.
This morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted an article discussing two former first-round draft picks whose NHL futures are far from certain in Evgeny Svechnikov and Dennis Cholowski. Svechnikov, 24, is no longer waiver-exempt, and Cholowski, 22, has a year of waiver exemption left before the Red Wings have to make a firm decision as to whether to fish or cut bait.
Here’s her take on Cholowski’s status:
Cholowski, 22, seemed on a fast track when he made the Wings out of camp in 2018, emerging as a viable choice amid a slew of injuries.
The issue has been Cholowski’s assertiveness and decision-making with the puck. He was assigned to the Griffins in mid-February 2019 after racking up a team-worst minus-20 rating. He made the Wings again out of camp last season, but was sent to the minors in mid-December after posting just two assists and a minus-12 over the previous 12 games. Cholowski had eight points and a minus-26 rating in 36 games with the Wings last season, and 13 points in 30 games, with a minus-15 rating, with the Griffins.
In 88 career NHL games, Cholowski has nine goals, 15 assists, and a minus-46 rating.
Cholowski faces heavy competition for a job after Yzerman brought in defenseman Marc Staal, Jon Merrill and Troy Stecher, but the Wings need more offense from their back end. That’s where Cholowski can help — provided he has improved at making decisions with the puck.
“I’d love it if Dennis came to camp and had a great camp and made our team better,” Blashill said. “I know he’s worked hard at his game and put himself in a good position. He has to be dynamic offensive and be accountable defensively.
“I talk about this all the time — we don’t want players that are going to make our team, we want players that are going to make our team better. If Dennis can make our team better, then we’re a better hockey team and our organization is in a better place.”
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned a subscriber-only article this morning analyzing the Red Wings’ likely 2020-2021 season divisional opponents. Kulfan believes that a Detroit team bolstered by free agent additions, playing in a revised “Central Division” for the shortened 56-game regular season, should play better hockey than their 2019-2020 forbears:
General manager Steve Yzerman added defensemen Marc Staal, Troy Stetcher and Jon Merrill, forwards Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov and goaltender Thomas Greiss in the offseason, greatly strengthening the Wings’ roster.
After having the NHL’s worst record (by far) last season at 17-49-5, the Wings couldn’t be worse. And they will not be, when you combine the roster overhaul along with the prospective new division.
The Wings, for one year, get away from the powerhouses such as Boston, Toronto, an improved Montreal team, and Pittsburgh, which was rumored to join the Wings in many divisional models. Instead, the Wings are reportedly going to be in the same division with Tampa Bay, Florida, Columbus, Carolina, Chicago, Nashville and Dallas.
Any way you analyze it, the Wings should be more competitive while playing a 56 game schedule against these teams.
According to Hockeysverige.se’s Mans Karlsson, Uppsala Nya Tidning is reporting that Gustav Lindstrom and Filip Larsson have been recalled to North America by the Red Wings, ending their time with Almtuna IS of the Swedish Allsvenskan.
Team Sweden dropped their final game of the Channel One Cup today, losing 4-1 to the Czech Republic, but Hockeysverige.se’s Robin Olausson reports that Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren made a good impression upon Team Sweden coach Johan Garpenlov in an otherwise lackluster game. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:
Continue reading Roughly Translated: Jonatan Berggren earns praise despite Swedes’ Channel One Cup loss“They let me out of the fitness tests, so that was a bonus”
Jonatan Berggren was selected by the Tre Kronor because Skelleftea wasn’t going to play any SHL games this past week.
It ended with him scoring his first goal at the national team level.
“It is of course a milestone,” says Berggren after today’s game against the Czech Republic.
Sweden had a weak effort in the final game of the Channel One Cup and lost the Czech Republic 4-1.
Johan Garpenlov was dissatisfied with the team’s effort after the game, and forward Jonatan Berggren also believes that there’s a feeling of disappointment within the team after the loss.
“We had good control of the game but weren’t set in our positions. They got shots from their defensemen that bounced a little and got in some easy goals. It’s sour,” says the 20-year-old.
Via Expressen’s Jacob Johannesson, Red Wings free agent signing Mathias Brome has left Orebro Hockey for the Red Wings, per Orebro’s website:
Mathias Brome leaves for Detroit
Thursday’s game against Frolunda was the last for Mathias Brome. It’s now clear that Mathias is leaving Orebro Hockey for games in the NHL and Detroit.
“There’s been a lot of uncertainty lately, but now everything has become clear, and I’m going to Detroit already on Monday morning. I have had a fantastic time with the team and am very grateful to have been here. Now I look forward to a new adventure, where I will do everything I can to earn a spot with Detroit. Orebro will always have a special place in my heart, and I want to say a big thank you to everyone within the team, the business partners and especially the fans,” says Mathias Brome.
The National Hockey League and its players reached a tentative deal on Friday to hold a 56-game season in 2021 beginning Jan. 13, pending the approval of each side’s executive board and Canadian health officials.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the sides have an agreement, pending the approval of various executive boards.
Players on the NHL Players’ Association’s executive board call Friday night supported moving forward with the agreed-upon terms, a person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because players had yet to officially approve the agreement.
The league’s board of governors could vote on the plan as soon as this weekend. Approval from health officials in the five Canadian provinces that have teams is still needed before the NHL can go ahead with the season.
Training camps for the seven teams that did not participate in last season’s playoff bubbles would open Dec. 31, and camps would commence Jan. 3 for the other 24 teams. It’s unclear whether teams would play in their home arenas or in “hub” cities, though an all-divisional schedule is expected.
Exhibition games aren’t expected to be included in the lead-up to the new campaign. Sportsnet in Canada first reported the tentative agreement.
The Word on Woodward’s YouTube channel posted videos of yesterday’s interviews with former Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios and Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin: