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Good morning. I’m still dealing with a bit of depression and anxiety, and my therapist’s appointment was cancelled due to my therapist being ill today, so I’m not doing spectacular by any stretch of the imagination…But I’m going to try and gut it out and grind out some game day coverage.

I can’t promise that I’ll be consistent in every facet of the coverage, but I will do my best to push through this depression and anxiety and give you whatever I possibly can give.

I’m just trying my best here. Mental illness has no schedule and doesn’t flare up when it’s convenient. It tends to flare when you need to be working the most, and that’s what happened here.

I’m not going to apologize for dealing with the stuff I deal with, but I will ask for your patience as I work through it.

The 18-18-and-4 Detroit Red Wings host the 14-25-and-2 Chicago Blackhawks this evening (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/CHSN/NHL Network/97.1 FM).

While the Blackhawks have had a difficult season, they’re feeling good about themselves after winning 2 of their last 3 games, having most recently defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Wednesday, and all is well in Chicago: Connor Bedard and the resurgent Tyler Bertuzzi have found a connection, Petr Mrazek is healthy, and the Hawks’ “kids” are also contributing to the cause.

There’s also this, per the Blackhawks’ website:

The Blackhawks are 15-9-1 in their last 25 games against Detroit since the 2015-16 season. Chicago is also 4-3-0 in their last seven games at Little Caesars Arena. Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev has seven points (2G, 5A) in nine career games against the Red Wings while Tyler Bertuzzi appeared in 305 games with Detroit from 2016-23, posting 202 points (88G, 114A), including a 30-goal season in 2021-22.

As this is an NHL Network game out-of-market in the U.S. (sorry, streamers), the NHL is hyping tonight’s game as the “game of the day”…

Continue reading Red Wings-Blackhawks preview and morning skate Tweets: Gotta get while the gettin’s good

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, via Red Wings Prospects on Twitter:

Friedman on Dylan Cozens and the Red Wings believes it was close at one point.

🎥 32 Thoughts #LGRW pic.twitter.com/q7rcG70F7s

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) January 10, 2025

From the Hockey News’s Michael DeRosa:

“There’s definitely not a lot that gets out of Detroit, and there’s not very much that gets out of Buffalo, but finally, it got coughed up to me that they believe the Red Wings were looking at Cozens. And it fits, I think there’s a lot of people looking at Cozens. And I will say this, there was a time that a couple people said to me they thought it was close.”

Friedman also clarified that he is unsure where trade talks between the Sabres and Red Wings are right now. 

“Now, I don’t know where it stands. I don’t know where it’s going to go. One thing I do believe is that Cozens is a guy, like everybody is looking for right-hand centers. So, at the very least, I’m sure Buffalo’s had even more of a stretch of people calling them and saying, What exactly are you thinking here, and what are we looking at?'”

This is undoubtedly a big update from Friedman, and it will be fascinating to see if the Red Wings continue to push for Cozens. It is no secret that they need help down the middle, and Cozens would provide them with that. However, the Sabres would need to ensure they get enough for the young center in a potential move, especially with Detroit being a division rival. 

Cozens, 23, has appeared in 42 games this season with the Sabres, posting nine goals, 21 points, 86 hits, and a minus-13 rating. 

This one was fun to record. Evan Sabourin, the Hockey Writers’ Tony Wolak and Devin Little and myself discussed the Red Wings’ winning record of late, the Dylan Cozens rumors, Marco Kasper’s superb play and more:

The Athletic asked its NHL writers which players have surprised in a positive way at the halfway point of the NHL season, and Max Bultman made an obvious choice regarding the Detroit Red Wings’ roster:

Detroit Red Wings

Simon Edvinsson: This is always what the Red Wings had hoped and envisioned for Edvinsson — but the surprise is how quickly he’s been able to reach this level. He spent most of the first half playing on Detroit’s top defense pairing, and even now that new coach Todd McLellan has split up Edvinsson and Moritz Seider, the 21-year-old blueliner is having a great season. Despite having just 25 games of NHL experience coming into the season, he’s been a very good defender right away, and he’s added 15 points in 36 games through Wednesday despite not getting any power-play time. Edvinsson looks like a top-pairing caliber defender for a long time to come. — Max Bultman

Continued (paywall)

As Red Wings coach Todd McLellan attempts to establish a rapport with the Wings’ players, the coach has asked several players to come to his office to meet, as Jonatan Berggren and Marco Kasper told the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

“It’s always a little scary when the coach brings you in,” Berggren said. “So I was a little bit nervous, but it was a good meeting. He just wanted me to let loose a little bit and play my game. Don’t think about mistakes. He knows I’m an offensive player and he wants me to make plays, and don’t be afraid to make them. It was nice things to hear when you’re an offensive guy.”

Berggren had four goals, three assists and a minus-6 rating in 32 games under former coach Derek Lalonde. Berggren recently scored breakaway goals, including a game winner, in back-to-back games and also has an assist and a plus-1 rating under McLellan, who has increased Berggren’s ice time by about two minutes.

“He’s done a lot of really good things to increase our confidence level in him,” McLellan said. “You’re never in the same place twice, so you’re giving it back or you’re gaining it, and he’s done a good job at this point of gaining it in our eyes. That’s always a good thing for him and others if they approach it that way.”

It’s certainly Kasper’s approach, too. When McLellan wanted to send a message to players that their second-period performance against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday wasn’t good enough, he put Kasper on the line with Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, and moved Joe Veleno to center the fourth line. (McLellan made sure Veleno understood it was not a demotion.)

“It’s a first for me to have a coaching change midseason,” Kasper said. “You just try to go on with what you’re doing. You try to play really well, practice really well. Work hard and show him what you can do on the ice. Right now, vibes are really good in the locker room.”

Continued; St. James also posted a video of Berggren, Kasper and coach McLellan’s remarks:

My apologies for not covering last night’s game. My anxiety continues to persist, and I’m dealing with depression as well this week.

I tried to grind through things from last Friday on through the weekend and early this week, but things came to a head on Tuesday, and I was unable to do my blogging duties.

I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’m in a lot of pain and discomfort right now, and my medications aren’t helping at all.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills posted a game-day notebook which focuses on Patrick Kane’s resurgence…

Kane is currently enjoying a four-game point streak after he recorded two assists against the Jets, which marked his second consecutive multi-point game and seventh multi-point performance of the season.

In his last 10 games, Kane has notched 11 points (five goals, six assists).

“I think I could kind of feel it coming, even when I was struggling a little bit,” Kane said about his recent production. “I could kind of feel chances starting to come and create a little bit more. I felt a little bit unlucky at the start of the year, but at the same time you’re still not playing as well as you should have.”

As well as coach McLellan’s take on the challenges which the Senators present:

Fifth in the Atlantic Division, the Senators have gone 4-4-0 on their current nine-game road trip and are coming off a 4-0 shutout loss to the St. Louis Blues last Friday. Leading Ottawa in scoring with 40 points (12 goals, 28 points) is Tim Stutzle, who is just three points ahead of captain Brady Tkachuk (37 points) and four in front of Drake Batherson (36 points).

Netminder Linus Ullmark is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and hasn’t played since Dec. 22 for the Senators, who have since divided the starting duties between goalies Leevi Merilainen, Anton Forsberg and Mads Sogaard.

Detroit and Ottawa most recently met on Dec. 5, when the Red Wings fell short on the road, 2-1.

“They’re obviously a great team,” McLellan said about the Senators. “They’ve turned the corner, in my opinion. [Head coach Travis Green] has done a really good job. The test will be to play against them, but more importantly, it’ll be how do we respond to some, not adversity, some feel good time now? Are we prepared to build on it? Are we prepared to just sit on it? Are we going to give it back? One of those three things is going to happen, and I’d like to think the built part will show up. But until we take the test, we don’t know.”

The Red Wings held their morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. Ottawa (7 PM EST start on FanDuel SportsNet Detroit/TSN5/97.1 FM), and afterward, coach Todd McLellan confirmed that Alex Lyon will start tonight, and that Jeff Petry remains out after suffering an upper-body injury during Saturday night’s win vs. Winnipeg.

The Senators also skipped their morning skate in lieu of team meetings at their hotel, per TSN 1200.

After the morning skate, Moritz Seider, Alex DeBrincat and coach Todd McLellan spoke with the media at Little Caesars Arena:

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff wonders aloud whether the Red Wings should bring Axel Sandin Pellikka over to North America as soon as Skelleftea AIK’s season is over, all while referring to an article in Expressen in which Red Wings VP of hockey operations Nicklas Lidstrom spoke about Sandin Pellikka’s potential:

Now, of course we are all aware that rushing a kid into action isn’t the style the Red Wings prefer to implement with their prospects.

“It is very elaborate and very careful,” was how Red Wings legend and the club’s vice-president of hockey oeprations Nicklas Lidstrom was describing the method the club prefers with young players to Swedish website Expressen.

Here’s the thing, though. We’re not suggesting that Detroit should put Sandin Pellikka into a top-four role like Edvinsson. Heck, he doesn’t even need to play in the top three pairings to contribute effectively.

The Red Wings could opt to go with an 11-7 lineup, because really, is anyone going to miss the presence of Christian Fischer or Tyler Motte? Give the kid some spot shifts, but mostly, let Sandin Pellikka make the power play cook.

After all, it’s what he does best. Just ask Lidstrom.

“We see his skill with the puck in the power play,” Lidstrom said. “It’s the kind of role we’d see him in Detroit as well.”

The potpourri of skills and hockey IQ that ASP brings to the ice can even wow the greatest Swedish defenseman of them all.