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Khan: Red Wings endorse Austin Watson’s play and team toughness

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde isn’t alone in terms of being impressed with pro try-out forward Austin Watson’s physicality, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes:

“It’s amazing,” Lalonde said. “Just one guy with that mentality helps the group out a ton. Up to that point, Austin was good in his game. He kills (penalties). He had a beautiful Grade-A chance on the back door, five- on-five. He’s done some good things with his play also.”

Watson was ejected at 16:01 of the first period of the 4-3 overtime loss after roughing it up with Jan Jenik. He received 27 penalty minutes (instigator misconduct, aggressor, fighting, instigator minor). Players liked what they saw.

“You want a guy like that on your team,” Christian Fischer said. “He’s well-respected around the league. He protects his teammates, and he does a really good job at that. He’s made one hell of a career out of it. Mo Seider is an all-star defenseman. He’s not doing those things you shouldn’t. Not only Austin, I think there’s other guys.”

Said Olli Maatta: “It gets us to stick together. I think we did that. I think that’s the toughness you need. It’s not necessarily fighting anymore, but I think that’s a team spirit. Don’t back down and you support your teammates, your partner, your linemates. I think that’s the mindset we’ve had all three years I’ve been here and I think we’re going to keep doing that.”

Early in the third period, Cole Reinhardt took exception to a hit on a teammate from Simon Edvinsson. He tried to pick a fight with the 6-6 rookie, who essentially hauled him to the ice with one arm.

“Preseason, I think it’s good to get those emotions back,” Fischer said. “Starting on Thursday, there’s going to be 82 games of that type of emotion. I think it’s nice to kind of get a little feistiness in the game and show kind of just that fire. We’ve had quite a few spirited matchups with that team and I would assume some more coming. Obviously, nobody wants anybody to get hurt, but to get those juices flowing again. And I love our 23 guys vs. anybody else. That was fun to watch yesterday.”

Continued; the Leafs are dressing Ryan Reaves opposite Watson tonight, so we may see a scrap.

Tweet of note: Red Wings release roster for tonight’s game

The Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up their exhibition season with a preseason game tonight in Toronto (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/TSN4/ESPN+), and here are the teams’ respective rosters:

Update: Moritz Seider, fashonista:

Maple Leafs also posted pre-game videos of Max Pacioretty, Nick Robertson, Conor Timmins and coach Craig Berube.

Continuing to fundraise to pay the bills

Okay, we’re going to keep this going for a bit. Things are going well fundraising-wise, but we’re short of our goal.

As such:

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Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets and discussion: Toronto dresses its regulars tonight; Wings hold ‘late skate’

Updated at 11:39 AM: The 3-2-and-2 Detroit Red Wings will wrap up their exhibition season this evening, playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Hogtown (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/TSN4/ESPN+).

The Red Wings will start Ville Husso this evening (per coach Derek Lalonde), but they’re also going to bring a gaggle of AHL-level players to Toronto, hoping to avenge both Detroit’s 4-3 OT loss to Ottawa on Friday and Detroit’s 2-0 loss to Toronto on Thursday night. Toronto’s going to be dressing a star-studded lineup tonight, so the game will be an uphill climb for the Wings’ young talent.

You might notice that this will be a 3rd game played in 3 nights for the Red Wings, who are wrapping up their 8-game-in-11-night exhibition slate this evening. That’s a lot of games played over a short period of time.

If I may be honest, despite my status as a Wings partisan and as someone who hates it when the cursed Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings, I’ll be relatively happy with any result as long as the Wings don’t suffer any injuries other than sore bodies and mental fatigue from the compressed schedule.

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets and discussion: Toronto dresses its regulars tonight; Wings hold ‘late skate’

Tweet of note: Maple Leafs release roster for tonight’s game vs. the Red Wings

The Toronto Maple Leafs released their roster for tonight’s exhibition finale against the Detroit Red Wings (7 PM EDT start on DetroitRedWings.com/TSN5/ESPN+):

Tweet of note: Red Wings will stream tonight’s game vs. Toronto

Tonight’s exhibition finale against the Toronto Maple Leafs will air on TSN4 in Canada, and ESPN+ in the United States, but if you live in Michigan, you’ll be able to watch the game on DetroitRedWings.com: