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Triple Gold for Datsyuk

From USA Today’s Kevin Allen…

Pavel Datsyuk made it clear his two Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings now rank second on his list of accomplishments.

“You play for your country — it is more important,” Datsyuk said after captaining the Olympic Athletes from Russia to an Olympic gold medal with a 4-3 overtime win against Germany.

It was the first Olympic win by the Russians since the Unified Team won the gold medal at the 1992 Games in France.

“It feels good to have accomplished my dream,” Datsyuk said. “Now I have no dream.”

Datsyuk, at 39 years, 220 days, becomes the oldest male to win an Olympic hockey gold, replacing Carl Erhardt (39 years, one day), who helped Great Britain win in 1936.

And IIHF.com’s Andrew Podnieks:

By virtue of winning gold in PyeongChang, Russian forward Pavel Datsyuk is the newest member of the IIHF’s Triple Gold Club. He is the 28th player so honoured.

Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and 2008, and he won World Championship gold with Russia in 2012. And now he won Olympic gold with the Olympic Athletes from Russia in an overtime win in the final against Germany.

“I’ve not even thought about the Triple Gold Club yet,” he said after the game. “But when it sinks in, I guess I’ll need a new dream to shoot for because all my dreams have come true.”

Additionally, Datsyuk has won Olympic bronze (2002), World Championship silver (2010) and bronze (2005, 2016) and played in the World Cup twice (2004, 2016).

Update: Here’s more from the AP’s Stephen Whyno:

Continue reading Triple Gold for Datsyuk

Red Wings-Rangers mini preview: one point separates Team We Can Do It from Team Gloom

The Detroit Red Wings face the New York Rangers this evening (7:30 PM EST start on FSD/MSG/NHL Network U.S./97.1 FM), and this is going to be a weird one.

The Rangers are going to retire Jean Ratelle’s #19 (the ceremony starts at 6 PM EST, so we’ll see whether the game starts on time) on Sunday night…

But the 27-30-and-5 Rangers, who sit one point behind the Red Wings in the Eastern Conference standings, are “officially rebuilding.” They’ve traded Michal Grabner, they won’t play Rick Nash, they won’t play Ryan McDonagh (who also happens to be injured), and who knows who else might sit.

Continue reading Red Wings-Rangers mini preview: one point separates Team We Can Do It from Team Gloom

Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye win; Cholowski 3A; NCAA regular season winds down

In the AHL, Matthew Ford and Matt Lorito scored goals and Tom McCollum stopped 22 of 23 shots as the Grand Rapids Griffins won 2-1 over the Iowa Wild.

The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye win; Cholowski 3A; NCAA regular season winds down

Red Wings-Hurricanes wrap-up: nice one, Z

The Detroit Red Wings out-battled the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night, winning 3-1, and after snapping a 3-game losing streak, the Wings will try to keep the good times rolling against the New York Rangers on Sunday night (7:30 PM on FSD/MSG/NHL Network U.S./97.1 FM)

On Saturday night, the Red Wings played a tremendously solid final 40 minutes against the Hurricanes, with the Wings generating offense and withstanding a tremendous number of Hurricanes shot attempts–to the tune of a staggering 31 shots blocked (Danny DeKeyser blocked 7 shots alone).

Henrik Zetterberg also hit a milestone marker on Saturday:

Our friends from Carolina were disappointed that their superb start didn’t result in any offensive output, as they told CarolinaHurricanes.com’s Michael Smith:

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes wrap-up: nice one, Z

Griffins celebrate ‘Toy Night’ with LEGO stop-motion videos

The Grand Rapids Griffins celebrated “toy night” with a set of LEGO stop-motion videos, and they’re really cool:

Continue reading Griffins celebrate ‘Toy Night’ with LEGO stop-motion videos

Two Things: Mike Green to travel with Wings for NYR game; Holland briefly addresses the deadline

Of trade deadline-related note:

1. The Free Press’s Helene St. James confirmed that Mike Green (sore neck) will travel with the team as the Wings play the New York Rangers on Sunday…

2. And I was really surprised to find this in a recap, but the Associated Press’s Larry Lage spoke with Ken Holland regarding the deadline:

With a slim shot to make the playoffs for the second straight year, the franchise is trying to trade players for draft picks. Detroit defenseman Mike Green, a top candidate to be dealt in part because his contract is expiring, missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury.

“This time of the year, this is the free agent rental market for the most part,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “We’re going to entertain anything that we think that will help us be better in the future.”

Red Wings-Hurricanes quick take: Wings out-work and out-block the Canes

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap a 3-game losing streak while hosting the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. The Red Wings trailed the Hurricanes by 6 points in the Wild Card standings, and Detroit needed to make up some ground.

The Wings’ first period wasn’t pretty, but Detroit played a tremendous final 2 periods’ worth of hockey, out-working, out-hustling, out-grinding and especially out-blocking the Carolina Hurricanes, winning 3-1.

Detroit blocked 31 Carolina Hurricanes attempts, with Danny DeKeyser blocking 7 shots alone, and 6 players blocking 3 shots apiece…

When shots got through to Jimmy Howard, Howard was excellent, stopping 28 of 29 shots, and at the other end of the ice, DeKeyser, Zetterberg and Daley scored goals on Scott Darling.

Continue reading Red Wings-Hurricanes quick take: Wings out-work and out-block the Canes

Pre-game Blash, pre-game Peters and a Game Day Preview

Of pre-game related note from the Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes (game begins at 7:00 PM EST on FSD/FS Carolinas/97.1 FM):

Update:

While we’re at it, here’s the Red Wings’ Game Day Preview video:

And, from the Carolina Hurricanes:

Continue reading Pre-game Blash, pre-game Peters and a Game Day Preview

Griffins go LEGO for Game Day Preview

Ahead of tonight’s “Toy Night” in Grand Rapids, the Griffins posted a LEGO stop-motion Game Day Preview video:

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