Category: Uncategorized

Tatar talks playoffs with Galli

As noted in the morning skate Tweets post, Tomas Tatar met with the Wings’ media corps after Vegas’ morning skate, and here he is speaking with WXYZ’s Brad Galli regarding his change in mindset as Vegas battles to earn a playoff spot:

David Backes weighs in on his suspension

From the Boston Herald’s Rich Thompson:

David Backes accepted his three-game suspension that was handed down on Wednesday by the NHL with a touch of remorse.

Backes felt the league’s wrath for delivering a blow to the head of Detroit Red Wings center Frans Nielsen in the first period of the Bruins’ 6-5 overtime victory on Tuesday. Nielsen left and the ice after the incident and could miss several games.

“I think first and foremost the fact that Frans Nielsen is hurt sucks,” said Backes after the team’s pregame skate for tonight’s clash with the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden.

“I wasn’t intending to hurt him and I hope he has a full recovery and is back on the ice soon. That’s certainly an unintended consequence to the play. The decision is the decision and that is how the process is in the collective bargaining agreement.

“We had a little hearing on the phone and the decision is the decision and you swallow it.”

 

The Athletic III: A bit about Keith Petruzzelli

The Athletic’s Cat Silverman weighs in on Red Wings prospect and goaltender Keith Petruzzelli’s up-and-down freshman season with the Quinnipiac Bobcats:

In his first three appearances of the year, the freshman allowed a combined 10 goals, including three on just eight shots in his third appearance on Nov. 10. On Nov. 25, he allowed five goals on 13 shots in 57 minutes of play.

Fast forward to this past weekend, and he started both games of a back-to-back series against Yale, winning both starts and allowing just two goals on a combined 41 shots. His second performance of the two earned the team a berth in the ECAC Quarterfinals, and he looked as confident as he did this time last year.

For the Red Wings, patience here will be key — but that’s nothing new. As InGoal’s Greg Balloch pointed out, it worked for Howard, and it worked for Mrazek. Getting that extra year, possibly two, in the AHL after making the jump from college — which shouldn’t happen this summer, perhaps not even next — will give him a chance to properly transition his game.

For now, though, there’s the World Juniors to look forward to next year. Petruzzelli is likely on the short list for Team USA. And in the immediate future, there’s a pair of games against No. 2 Cornell this weekend.

Petruzzelli is not an immediate fix, but he’s certainly the light at the end of the goaltending depth tunnel that Detroit sorely needs right now.

Continued (paywall)…

The Athletic II: James Mirtle weighs in on ‘GM’s potentially on the hot seat’

Among The Athletic’s James Mirtle’s “GM’s potentially on the hot seat“:

Ken Holland, Detroit. Only David Poile in Nashville has been around longer in his post than Holland’s 21 years with the Red Wings — and even then, he was hired only nine days before him back in 1997. Detroit is currently on pace for just 78 points, the franchise’s worst showing since 1991. Their cap situation is a mess, and their prospect pool is rather thin. It’s going to be a long road up. Holland has been connected to both Vancouver (before Jim Benning re-signed) and the new Seattle expansion team, both of which are close to his hometown of Vernon, B.C. He could also be bumped up to the president’s role in Detroit with someone like Kris Draper becoming GM. Or they could opt for the status quo, yet again. But the fan base is getting restless. And fixing this roster won’t be easy.

Continued (paywall)…

Red Wings-Golden Knights morning skate Tweets: Svechnikov dons #77, Howard starts, lines tweaked

Updated 7x at 12:16 PM:

The Detroit Red Wings host the struggling Vegas Golden Knights this evening (7:30 PM EST on FSD/ATT Sportsnet/97.1 FM; tonight is “NHL Green Night” at LCA), and the Red Wings will hope to add to the Golden Knights 1-3-and-1 stretch of late while Detroit attempts to snap a 3-game losing streak.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp was the first scribe to weigh in from the morning skate:

The Red Wings officially hit the ice at 10:30 for their morning skate, per the Red Wings and MLive’s Ansar Khan, with the latter scribe reporting that Evgeny Svechnikov has changed numbers:

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights morning skate Tweets: Svechnikov dons #77, Howard starts, lines tweaked

The Athletic’s Pronman talks Hronek as he goes ‘around the farms’

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman discussed several NHL teams’ AHL affiliates this morning, as reflected in the progress made by top prospects, and Pronman highlights the play of Filip Hronek:

Detroit: Filip Hronek, D

I went out to watch Grand Rapids to track the progress of Hronek, who has put up a ton of points for a 20-year-old in the AHL. Wings fans are in my inbox/mentions regularly begging for some hope, and while I can give them some, it’s with disclaimers. Hronek is a gifted offensive defenseman, probably the team’s No. 2 prospect, showing great confidence, skill and composure moving the puck and QBing Grand Rapids top power play unit. He does have things to work on, though. He can get a little too cute and turn pucks over, and he has to improve his defense. I’d also like to see him be a tad more explosive.

Portland Winterhawks’ GM praises Dennis Cholowski

Red Wings prospect Dennis Cholowski has had a very good season playing for both the WHL’s Prince George Cougars and the Portland Winterhawks. This morning, the Prince George Citizen’s Ted Clarke reports that Cholowski’s play has impressed Winterhawks GM Mike Johnston:

“Early in the year when I saw him play I thought he was a very mobile type of defenceman, jumps up ice, makes a good first pass, and I thought early in the year if we could ever get a player like that to help us out down the stretch that would be great and it turns out we were able to make that type of a deal,” said Johnston.

“But I didn’t realize how good he was. He’s a better player than I even though the was. He’s very good defensively and I compare him to (Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman) Seth Jones, who we had several years ago. Seth never ran over you physically, but he was strong, he used his body well, he had a good stick defensively, and then when he got the puck his transition pass or skating was really good and I think Dennis is a lot like that. He’s a better defensive player than I thought.”

The Detroit Red Wings obviously liked what they saw in Cholowski when they picked him in the first round, 20th overall in the 2016 draft. “He’s going to be a good pro, he’s well-suited to the game,” said Johnston. “He might be ready to step right in (to the Red Wings) next year. Some people say he might have to be a bit more physical or use his shot more. Well everybody still has to add something to the game.

“I think today’s defencemen, especially when you think of Detroit or Chicago, those types of teams that transition, they want their defence to skate and move the puck. I really think Detroit is craving a guy like that now, that can play that type of style. He was well schooled here (in Prince George) and I don’t know what happened at college, I don’t think he got the opportunity and the playing time (last season at St. Cloud State), but certainly coming back to our league has been good for him.

“We won’t get him back next year, there’s not a chance. We knew we would only have him for a short time but he’s a pro in everything he does and the guys in the room will learn from him and then he’ll move on.”

Continued

MLive posts video chronicling Svechnikov’s ‘journey to the NHL’

This is pretty cool:

 

Red Wings use roster emergency recall to bring Evgeny Svechnikov up

From the Red Wings:

And the Grand Rapids Griffins:

Here’s the press release:

Continue reading Red Wings use roster emergency recall to bring Evgeny Svechnikov up

Prospect round-up: Kadeikin helps Lokomotiv advance; Allsvenskan wraps up regular season play

In the KHL, Alexander Kadeikin registered an assist on the OT winner as Lokomotiv Yaroslavl won 3-2 in overtime over Torpedo Nizhny Novogorod, sweeping the teams’ first-round playoff series. Kadeikin finished at +1 with 1 shot in 15:37 played;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Malte Setkov took a penalty while playing on the 3rd defensive pairing in IK Pantern’s 4-1 loss to Sodertalje SK.

This was the last day of the Allsvenskan regular season, and IK Pantern qualified for the Allsvenskan playoffs;

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Kadeikin helps Lokomotiv advance; Allsvenskan wraps up regular season play