Even as the vacant Joe Louis Arena is dismantled, the plan to figure out what happens next at the riverfront site has taken another unexpected turn.
The bond insurer that gained the property as compensation for losing $1.1 billion in Detroit’s bankruptcy no longer wants the property. Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., or FGIC, is in talks with an unnamed local development group that wants to buy the arena site and an adjacent parking garage and find a new use for the site.
FGIC “would like to remove themselves from the city of Detroit and sell their interests,” said Matthew Walters, the city’s deputy group executive for jobs and the economy.
Under the current deal with the city, FGIC needs to find a development partner for the site. The potential new arrangement would mean FGIC exits the deal, said Walters, who briefed an economic committee of city council on the plan for the site last week.
It’s not yet a done deal and the development group was not named. FGIC has been in talks with the development group for several weeks, Walters said.
Below, you’ll find the best collection of Pure Michigan hockey talent that can be assembled. It runs from coast to coast, from Holland to Port Huron — but not an inch farther. This team plans to lead the league in Michigan per 60, and to do so, it means every last one of these guys needs to be a full-on Michigander (at least as far as eliteprospects.com is concerned).
Listed below, then, are seven Michigan Wolverines, three Michigan State Spartans and two Western Michigan Broncos. Five of them are actually Detroit Red Wings (or were last season). They add up to the best blue line to take the ice in this state in years, and, while it still probably could have probably used another star young center and another scoring wing … it’s a pretty dang impressive lineup.
Continued (paywall), and here’s what he says about Dylan Larkin:
Center: Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Waterford Township, Mich.
2018-19 stats: 32 goals, 73 points in 76 games
Wearing the “C” for this bunch, Larkin’s been in Michigan for the long haul: from growing up in Waterford, to playing for the U.S. NTDP, to Ann Arbor for college and then onto stardom with the Red Wings. He’s also in the prime of his career, a bona fide top-line center who can play the toughest minutes out there. And on this team, he’s gonna have to.
Forward Joe Veleno: The 18th overall pick of the Detroit Red Wings in 2018 finished fourth in scoring in the QMJHL last season with 104 points (42 goals, 62 assists). The 6-foot-1, 191-pound center is expected to compete for a roster spot with the Red Wings this fall.
Team Sweden
Goalie Jesper Eliasson: Eliasson was a third-round pick of the Red Wings in 2018. The 6-foot-3 19-year-old played in the Swedish Hockey League last season.
Forward Jonatan Berggren: The 5-foot-11 center was selected by the Red Wings at No. 33 overall in 2018. He played in the Swedish Hockey League last season.
Team Finland
Forward Otto Kivenmaki: Kivenmaki is undersized at 5-foot-8, 137 pounds, but has a high offensive upside. He was drafted by the Red Wings in the seventh round in 2018.
Last season, Kivenmaki had two goals and 14 assists in 34 games in the Finnish Elite League.
I’m not going to be able to make the event due to my family vacation, but I strongly suggest that you take the trip to Plymouth to watch some of the best drafted and draft-eligible prospects playing for Canada, Team USA, Sweden and Finland.
The hockey’s great, the tickets are cheap, and the event is teeming with NHL scouts, GM’s and player agents.
The following players will represent the Red Wings at the event:
“I believe I’m working as hard as I possibly can, and also resting, which is a huge part of the summer, and taking care of my body,” the Detroit Red Wings center said on Tuesday. “It’s just stuff you learn. After four years, your body, you feel things, and you understand if you want to play big minutes in the NHL, the big minutes matter in February, March, April and May. That’s what you have to prepare for.”
The Red Wings haven’t made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2015-16, Larkin’s rookie season, when they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in the Eastern Conference First Round. They finished 28th in the NHL last season.
But they have a new general manager, Steve Yzerman, the Red Wings icon who was GM of the Lightning from 2010-18. They signed forward Valtteri Filppula and defenseman Patrik Nemeth as unrestricted free agents July 1. And led by Larkin, who turns 23 on Tuesday, they have young talent on the roster and in the system.
“I think it’s all excitement,” Larkin said. “I think a long summer like we’ve had, you can’t forget the young guys that we have.”
AWood40 on YouTube, a.k.a. Alex Wood, provides his latest installment of Henrik Zetterberg’s career highlights this evening, focusing on 2009 and 2010:
The Gordie Howe-Wayne Gretzky exhibit at @HockeyHallFame is as wonderful as you’d imagine it would be. Don’t miss it. Great job by the shrine team as always. pic.twitter.com/icQr5Moc3q— Dave Stubbs (@Dave_Stubbs) July 24, 2019
The city of Detroit was founded 318 years to this day.
Toledo, OH– Defenseman Mark Auk has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2019-20 season.
Auk, the native of Grosse Point Park, Michigan, has a year professional under his belt after spending this past season with Lukko Rauma in Finland. The 24-year-old appeared in 47 games with one goal and nine assists with 12 penalty minutes. Prior to turning professional, Auk spent four years at Michigan Tech, skating in 150 games with 21 goals, 63 assists, 49 penalty minutes while playing as a plus 54.
“Mark brings one year of experience with him from the top Finnish League,” said Head Coach Dan Watson. “He had a great college career and we look forward to helping his development in Toledo.”
As a senior in the 2017-18 season, Auk set career bests with nine goals and 22 assists. The 6’0”, 194-pound defenseman was a plus player in all four years for the Huskies and was part of the 2015-16 WCHA regular season championship team.
Didn’t take long for the video to blow up, that’s for sure.
MiHockey had a GoPro on the helmet of Dan Oleksy, one of the referees filming the Eastside Elite All-Star Challenge last night at the Mt. Clemens Ice Arena. That’s where Oleksy, brother of Eastside Elite Hockey League founder and commissioner Steven Oleksy, captured a remarkable shootout goal by Plymouth native Antonio Stranges.
Before we could get the GoPro footage shared, another video went viral of the moment. What that video isn’t sharing, however, is what the event is, and why it takes place.
The Eastside Elite Hockey League brings together some of the top players in the state of Michigan and beyond for a summer hockey league. There, Oleksy and his wide-ranging group of friends keep in shape, meet other hockey players and help lead the younger generations of elite hockey players in the area.
The All-Star Challenge is there to both celebrate the league and support charitable causes in the area. This year, they were raising funds for the Cassie Hines Shoes Cancer Foundation, which has a mission “to guide young adults with cancer, to social support programs and services that can help them manage their mental healing as well as their physical battle.”
Drake MacKenzie thinks hockey culture stinks throughout Michigan. So the brash 24-year-old Hadley native is trying build it from the ground up.
“We have to build that foundation,” MacKenzie said. “Minnesota didn’t wake up one day and have 1,000 hockey rinks, people filling the barn every day. It started from somewhere and we have to figure out where that somewhere is and we have to start that here.”
If MacKenzie has his way, it starts with his 12-team, single-A, semi-pro Interstate Hockey League starting this fall throughout Michigan. It’s an owner-free league with players earning a revenue share.
The word is getting out to minor league hockey players across the region, a group used to driving long miles across several states, often for disappointment.
“You’ve got a lot of players and you have limited spots,” said Josh Cicurillo, 36, who drove 10 hours from New Jersey for the tryouts. “What’s great about what they’re doing is putting a show together, and leaving the (stuff) to the side. Hopefully these guys will prosper.”
3. And the Red Wings posted a Tweet in which Anthony Mantha dekes and dangles while playing “summer hockey.” The commentary is less than scintillating:
