Okay, so I turn 40 today. My birthday plans involve going out grocery shopping with the mom, working on the blog, taking a nap, and doing a Wings-Bruins set-up.
I would kindly ask for a self-serving favor: please let people know that The Malik Report exists (at https://themalikreport.com), and that I’m trying to crowdfund the blog instead of relying on commercials. Or if you don’t want to go that far, please add TMR to your bookmarks.
At this point, getting the word out is the best thing you can do to put a candle on the Zetterberg cake. 🙂
Pink ice is nice! The Toledo Walleye will host a special weekend to raise awareness about breast cancer and fundraising activities for Komen of NW Ohio, during Pink in the Rink presented by Hondros College of Nursing on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3.
The Walleye will play both games on pink ice at the Huntington Center. Special recognitions will be made throughout both games in support of breast cancer survivors.
POMPOM GIVEAWAY
The first 1,500 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 2 and the first 2,000 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 3 will receive a pink pompom courtesy or Hondros College of Nursing.
JERSEY RAFFLES
The Walleye will hold a jersey raffle on March 2 and another raffle on March 3, with proceeds benefitting Komen of NW Ohio and the Walleye Wishing Well. Look for the raffle table on the main concourse. For both raffles, tickets will be $5 each or 5 for $20, with winning numbers selected at the end of the second intermission.
“I know Nashville – well, they’ve been watching a lot of teams and you don’t read too much into where guys go, but I think they’ve been checking the Detroit Red Wings out. Gustav Nyquist is a player who could become available. Tomas Tatar – I don’t think Detroit wants to trade Tatar; but again, they’re in a mode where they’re going to be rebuilding and they’re also looking to offload some contracts.
“So yeah, there’s a lot out there. Right now, I would say it’s a buyer’s market for those scoring wingers. But that can change in a hurry. And at the end of the day, whether you’re Montreal with Pacioretty or Hoffman with Ottawa, you’re not obliged to trade these guys so you’re not moving them unless you get top dollar on the return. And if the Preds aren’t going to pay top dollar for that, then maybe they’ll go a more bargain way with a rental or to get a guy like Nyquist out of Detroit.”
Nyquist has this season and next left on his contract at a $4.75 million hit, while Tatar has three more years beyond this one at $5.3 million.
Pacioretty has one more season after this one, and his cap hit is $4.5 million.
The Red Wings will look to move one of their goaltenders — Jimmy Howard or Mrazek, whoever garners the better return – but that might not be possible with few playoff-contending clubs seeking help in net.
Mrazek is 4-1-1 in his past six starts and has a 1.30 goals-against average and .958 save percentage over his past seven appearances. Howard has played better than Mrazek most of the season, but suddenly, Mrazek (2.75 GAA, .914 save percentage) has better overall numbers than Howard (2.82 GAA, .911 save percentage).
If Mrazek continues to play well, he’ll not only get the bulk of the starts, he’ll likely get qualified. If the Red Wings aren’t able to move either goalie between now and training camp, they could start 2018-19 with the Howard-Mrazek tandem again.
Khan continues, discussing the Bruins’ dominance over the Wings, as well as possible trades with the Islanders and Capitals.
The evening after the Detroit Red Wings lost 3-2 to the Florida Panthers thanks to a heavily-disputed goal, I don’t want to poke the wound, per se, but:
“It’s frustrating because we battled our tails off to get at least a point in this game and to get that ripped away from us, at this stage of the season, it’s probably the most frustrated I’ve been,” Abdelkader said.
Especially when the rule is so hazy.
“Losing a game like this, with the points so important, on a call that yesterday could have been goalie interference and tonight it’s not,” Zetterberg said, “that’s what’s frustrating.”
The Wings are still only 7 points behind the Flyers with a game in hand, but they’d have to climb over the Islanders, Hurricanes, Rangers and now the Panthers to swipe the Flyers’ Wild Card spot.
Worse, the Wings have only 17 regulation-or-overtime wins, which is 3rd-worst in the Eastern Conference, so Detroit would have to earn more points than their opponents to break any ties in the standings.
The loss to Florida isn’t going to be what kicks the Wings out of the playoffs, but it will serve as a moment that makes Wings fans go, “Damn, if we could’ve had that one…”
NHL.com photo of Mrazek and the goal in question.
The Grand Rapids Griffins did an excellent job of “tackling” a 3-game road stint in Cleveland, taking 2 of 3 games from the Cleveland Monsters.
Grand Rapids lost 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday, the Griffins won 4-2 on Friday, and on Sunday, Eric Tangradi scored 2 goals, Matt Puempel had a goal and 2 assists, Filip Hronek had 2 assists (finishing at a stunning +5) and Jared Coreau stopped 25 of 28 shots as the Griffins won a 6-3 decision.
The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a late-breaking Game-Day Preview video in which Bob Kaser profiles the Griffins ahead of their 1 PM EST game against the Cleveland Monsters:
The Red Wings have posted a video called “The Forecheck,” in which Carly Johnston and Chris Chelios discuss the Red Wings’ games this week–Detroit hosts Boston on Tuesday, February 6th and will play in Brooklyn against the Islanders on Friday the 9th:
According to Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho, a “conceptual” map from Olympia Development, obtained by Crain’s, shows as-yet-unannounced plans for the District Detroit:
Two high-rise buildings are planned to flank Comerica Park.
The towers, overlooking the home of the Detroit Tigers, are just a few of the developments in the Ilitch family’s District Detroit project revealed in an aerial map that shows the latest vision for what surrounds the 41,299-seat baseball stadium.
In addition, a new hotel where Hockeytown Cafe now stands and retail flanking both sides of Woodward Avenue’s passage over I-75 are planned, according to the map, which Crain’s obtained last week.
All told, it includes nearly 200,000 square feet of new retail space, plus the previously undisclosed hotel, a “tech store” and a market, in addition to the two high-rise buildings referred to as Montcalm Tower and Adams Tower.
