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Videos from practice: Wings talk about shooting the puck

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a 5:22 video in which she spoke with both Red Wings’ players (Gustav Nyquist and Andreas Athanasiou) and their coach regarding their need to shoot pucks more regularly…

And MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a clip of Blashill discussing the team’s attempt to instill a “shooting mentality” in their shooters:

 

Saturday’s Red Wings-Bruins game will start at 3 PM EDT to accommodate MLB playoffs

FYI:

Blashill scouts the Leafs

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan regarding Thursday’s opponent, the Toronto Maple Leafs:

Update: MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a pair of videos from Blashill and Niklas Kronwall post-practice:

 

Sportsnet’s Boylen praises Cholowski among ‘9 NHL rookie standouts’

Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen praises Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski in an article discussing 9 NHL rookie standouts:

Dennis Cholowski, DET: With an average of 22:10 per game, Cholowski leads all rookies in average ice time. The 20th-overall pick from 2016 racked up a point per game in the pre-season and an injury to Mike Green opened up a spot for some youngster to take advantage — and Cholowski hasn’t missed.

He never made any Canadian WJC squads in junior even after moving from the NCAA to the WHL last season and becoming a major contributor. A great skater with a nose for offence, the 6-foot Cholowski is the kind of defenceman who thrives in today’s NHL and he leads all Detroit defencemen in power-play ice time. When Mike Green eventually returns some of that will be shaved off, but if Cholowski keeps up this level of play, he’ll be hard to turn away from.

Boylen continues, and I’ve been impressed with Libor Sulak, Filip Hronek, Christoffer Ehn, Joe Hicketts and Michael Rasmussen as well, but I’m biased!

 

Post-practice media availabilities: Cholowski out 1-2 games with upper-body injury; Kronwall to return

The Detroit Red Wings practiced at the BELFOR Training Center ahead of tomorrow’s game vs. Toronto, and they did so without defenseman Dennis Cholowski, who is “day-to-day” with an “undisclosed injury.”

After a practice in which Justin Abdelkader graduated to the top line, and Niklas Kronwall skated with Nick Jensen, the Red Wings spoke with the media, per the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Continue reading Post-practice media availabilities: Cholowski out 1-2 games with upper-body injury; Kronwall to return

Toledo Walleye make trade to bolster their blueline

From the Toledo Walleye:

WALLEYE ADD A DEFENSEMAN IN TRADE WITH WICHITA
(Toledo, OH) – The Walleye have acquired defenseman Sam Thibault from the Wichita Thunder in exchange for forward Hayden Hodgson.

Thibault joins Toledo after appearing in 43 games last year with the Thunder, collecting nine assists, 29 penalty minutes and a plus 10. The 22-year-old also got into a pair of games with the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL without a point. He also skated in four playoff contests last season for the Thunder with a pair of assists.

Prior to last season, Thibault spent the three previous years in the QMJHL with Baie-Comeau Drakkar. In the 2016-17 season, the Ste. Martine, PQ native posted 21 points (6G, 15A) with 81 penalty minutes while skating as a plus ten. That season he was team captain. The 6’1”, 201 pound defenseman had 134 penalty minutes in the 2015-16 season. In total, Thibault skated in 207 games with 10 goals, 40 assists, 50 points and 284 penalty minutes in his QMJHL career.

 

The Athletic on Michael Rasmussen and Juuso Valimaki

From The Athletic’s Scott Cruickshank:

Thrown together as billet-mates three years ago, the lively blueliner [and Calgary Flames prospect Juuso Valimaki] and the mammoth centreman [Michael Rasmussen] became the closest of pals. Now, even as their hockey fortunes have carried them to opposite sides of continent, they keep daily tabs on each other’s progress, offering bursts of encouragement.

When Valimaki made his debut last week at Vancouver, Rasmussen reached out with good luck messages.

“He texted me before the game and told me he’s really proud of me,” Valimaki said. “He said we’ve come a long way from the first year together. Now we’re both here (in the NHL), what we’ve talked about for a long time.”

The day of the Red Wings’ season-opener, Valimaki returned the favour, sending a batch of pep texts in Rasmussen’s direction.

In other words, despite two time zones and 3,000 kilometres separating them, despite new addresses – Valimaki is stationed in the Flames’ dressing room between goalies Mike Smith and David Rittich, while Rasmussen perches between Frans Nielsen and Anthony Mantha at Red Wings headquarters – they remain close.

Rasmussen is fully abreast of Valimaki’s accomplishment of barging his way onto Calgary’s blueline as a newcomer.

“Yeah, it was unreal,” he told The Athletic‘s Max Bultman in Detroit. “He had a lot of competition. It’s pretty cool to see him there. It was a tough situation for him. He really battled hard, played really good hockey.

Continued (paywall)

Tweets from Red Wings practice: Kronwall skates (and Cholowski does not) as Wings prepare for Toronto

The Detroit Red Wings are preparing for a busy schedule which begins with a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, and MLive’s Ansar Khan reports that one member of the Wings’ injured defense made an appearance at Wednesday’s practice:

Big update from Khan at 11:30 AM:

The Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa said, “Hello”…

Continue reading Tweets from Red Wings practice: Kronwall skates (and Cholowski does not) as Wings prepare for Toronto