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Two things: A Game Day Preview and Larkin and Mantha, reunited

Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:

1. Here’s the Wings’ Game Day Preview video ahead of tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild:

2. And the Free Press’s Helene St. James penned an article in which she discusses the Wings’ forward lines shifting via Anthony Mantha discussing what it takes to play on Dylan Larkin’s wing:

Entering Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild at XCel Energy Center, the Wings had averaged 2.58 goals-per-game, fifth lowest in the NHL. Larkin had a team-leading 47 points in 64 games (including a team-high 38 assists) while Mantha had a team-leading 21 goals). Mantha has played most of the season with Henrik Zetterberg, who excels at using his body to protect the puck. Larkin demands a faster pace from his wingers.

“It’s a different game than playing with Z,” Mantha said. “Dylan is going to take the puck north right away, as quick as he can. You need to get on the horse and try to follow. He creates a lot offensively — I mean, he has those skills to bring the puck to the net and there’s going to be rebounds laying around, so I just need to be net-front and do a couple plays with him.”

Mantha, 6-foot-5 and 220-odd pounds, is at his most effective when he really skates.

“The focus, number one, is to get moving, skate as much as I can, get open,” Mantha said. “We have Abby also that likes to be around the net. So put a lot of shots on net and try to get those rebounds in there.”

St. James also posted a video of Larkin and Mantha discussing each other’s assets:

Quick update: Make it “three things”:

 

Grand Rapids Griffins talk to Tom McCollum about becoming the Griffins’ winningest goaltender

Griffinshockey.com’s Mark Newman spoke with Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Tom McCollum about his new-found status as the Griffins winningest goaltender:

Goaltender Tom McCollum has earned his place in Griffins history.

Now in his eighth season with the organization, he can proudly stand tall, having collected more regular season victories than any other netminder who has ever played in Grand Rapids.

“It’s a huge honor, especially knowing all the great goalies who have played here,” McCollum said. “When you walk through our locker room and you see all the names on the wall of guys who have gone on to play in the NHL, it’s crazy to think about.

“At the same time, it’s taken a little longer than I would have liked.”

That last statement says everything about McCollum, a friendly, self-effacing goaltender who has spent nearly his entire career proving that the Red Wings didn’t make a mistake when they drafted him in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

Continued

Red Wings-Wild game-day updates: Wings tweak lines; Wild press sets up tonight’s game

Updated 3x at 1:50 PM: The Detroit Red Wings battle the Minnesota Wild this evening, and the morning skate revealed that Jimmy Howard will face Devan Dubnyk, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji revealed that the Wings are going to make some tweaks to their forward lines:

in morning skate: Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Nyquist

Abdelkader-Larkin-Mantha

Athanasiou-Nielsen-Helm

Witkowski-Glendening-Booth (Frk working in)

Ericsson-Daley

DeKeyser-Jensen

Kronwall-Green

The Wild’s media have already filed game-day articles, with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Sarah McLellan focusing on the Wild’s 2-game losing streak vs. Detroit…

Continue reading Red Wings-Wild game-day updates: Wings tweak lines; Wild press sets up tonight’s game

Red Wings-Wild morning skate Tweets and articles: Howard starts, Ericsson to play, lines tweaked

The Detroit Red Wings face a stiff task in battling the Minnesota Wild this evening (7:00 PM EST on NBCSN/97.1 FM). Both teams are coming off a pair of losses, and the Wild are in a fight for their playoff lives.

Minnesota took to the ice at the Xcel Energy Center before the Wings did, as noted by the Wild’s Twitter account…


Continue reading Red Wings-Wild morning skate Tweets and articles: Howard starts, Ericsson to play, lines tweaked

Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye lose; Fulcher, Petruzzelli post wins; Cholowski 2A

In the AHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins had a rough Saturday night, with Joe Hicketts scoring the game’s only goal as the Griffins lost 4-1 to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Griffins, Walleye lose; Fulcher, Petruzzelli post wins; Cholowski 2A

Red Wings-Wild set-up: Wild bring playoff urgency to meeting with Wings

The Detroit Red Wings battle the Minnesota Wild this evening (7:00 PM EST on NBCSN/97.1 FM) with the Red Wings hoping to snap a 2-game losing streak.

The 36-22-and-7 Wild aren’t going to make it easy on the Wings; Minnesota sits in the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot, and very precariously so; Minnesota has also lost its past two games, with its most recent loss coming in the form of a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.

Minnesota didn’t practice Saturday because they played back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday; the Wings also chose not to practice, having gotten in late from Winnipeg, so we must examine the Wild and Wings’ previous game to set up tonight’s affair.

The Wild told the Pioneer Press’s Dave Mitzutani that they would move on quickly from Friday’s loss as their playoff spot is on the line:

Continue reading Red Wings-Wild set-up: Wild bring playoff urgency to meeting with Wings

Via KK: Jim Nill returning to the Wings about as likely as Yzerman returning (see: highly improbable)

Via KK, I can’t help but dismiss this rumor from the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons out-of-hand. Jim Nill wants to do with the Dallas Stars what Steve Yzerman does with the Tampa Bay Lightning–win the Stanley Cup–and until that happens, Nill isn’t going anywhere.

Ken Holland shooed off questions regarding possibly leaving Detroit to run the Seattle franchise on Tuesday’s Jamie and Stoney Show, too:

If you’re crazy enough to pay $650 million for an NHL expansion franchise in Seattle, does that make you crazy enough to consider hiring John Ferguson Jr. as your general manager? Fergie is pushing hard to get back in the big chair somewhere and rehabilitate his reputation post-Leafs. Detroit’s Ken Holland and Vegas assistant Kelly McCrimmon are morning line favourites for the Seattle job. Should Holland leave the Red Wings, some expect GM Jim Nill to leave the Dallas Stars for the opening in Detroit.

Nill, like Yzerman, has worked his butt off to build a Red Wings-like system of scouting, drafting and player development in Dallas, and Nill is comfortable in his present position. I don’t see him bringing his amateur scouts back with him to Detroit while the Stars are still building…

And I believe that Holland wants to and will be given the opportunity to “see the rebuild through.”

Simmons continues, mentioning Luke Glendening and the possibility that Jeff Blashill may have little job security…

HSJ’s mailbag and Tweets of note

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed a mailbag feature, and among her Q and A’s answers:

As someone who is in the locker room daily, it’s clear how much it bothers veterans like Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall and Jimmy Howard to keep having to explain one-goal losses. The team plays hard, but they just do not have the talent it takes to win regularly.

Ultimately, I maintain the best scenario for them is to come up a goal short most games and miss the playoffs. Beyond franchise defense prospect Rasmus Dahlin, the 2018 draft is heavy on high-end defensemen and high-scoring forwards. The Wings will only regain competitiveness via drafting and developing, as they did to emerge from the “Dead Wings” era – they drafted Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov, the three core building blocks for the resurgence. At the same time, players and the coaching staff should want to make the playoffs. It’s important especially for the development of the young players that good habits are maintained, that the Wings continue to push.

That efforts will go unrewarded is pretty clear. The Wings haven’t been able to string together more than one four-game winning streak all season, and they’re off to an 0-2 start as they’ve embarked on a stretch of playing 11 road games in March. They’re not gaining any ground, and there are four teams between the Wings and a wild-card spot. Points-wise, the picture is bleak. Last season, Nashville got into the playoffs as an eighth seed with 94 points. The Wings have 62 points with 18 games remaining. Even if 90 points gets a team into the playoffs this spring, that would require the Wings to bank 28 points over 18 games. Cue Vizzini exclaiming “inconceivable” – this time the word means what he thinks it means.

St. James continues:

Also of Red Wings, Griffins and Walleye-related note:

Continue reading HSJ’s mailbag and Tweets of note