Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fischler on Jack Adams’ luck developing goaltenders

As NHL.com’s Stan Fischler notes this morning, former Red Wings coach and GM Jack Adams had one hell of a knack for finding NHL-caliber goaltenders during the Original Six era. If only he held onto them…

No NHL executive has had as good fortune at discovering elite goalies as former Detroit Red Wings boss Jack Adams. 

Adams had the uncanny ability to find the right goalie at the right time, beginning in 1934 when the Red Wings acquired Normie Smith from the Montreal Maroons. Smith helped Detroit win the Stanley Cup in 1936 and 1937 and led the League in wins each season. He starred in the longest game ever played in the NHL, when he made 92 saves in a 1-0 win against the Maroons that was decided at 16:30 of the sixth overtime on March 24, 1936. 

Smith merely was the first in Adams’ production line of quality goalies. His next ace arrived in 1940 when future Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy-winner Johnny Mowers signed with the Red Wings. Adams’ goalie magic lasted until the mid-1960’s when his final discovery, Roger Crozier, became the first player from a losing team to win a Conn Smythe Trophy voted as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Between the reigns of Mowers and Crozier, Detroit’s minor league farm teams produced such legendary goalies as Harry Lumley, Terry Sawchuk and Glenn Hall, each a Hall of Famer.

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TSN: Only four players are unvaccinated

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Per TSN’s Insider Trading:

NHL almost fully vaccinated

It was about a month ago that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly came out and said he anticipated by the time the puck dropped on the NHL regular season 98 per cent, maybe even 99 per cent of the players would be fully vaccinated, how did they do?

Johnston: They scored even better than that, which is not something any of us saw in our schooling careers of course, but as the NHL season started on Tuesday there were just four players on NHL active rosters that were considered unvaccinated. That is quite a contrast of what we’ve seen in the other leagues, you know on this day the Brooklyn Nets suspended, essentially, their star player Kyrie Irving saying he won’t play or practice while going through that. Two of the players that we know are unvaccinated in the NHL are Mackenzie Blackwood of the Devils, who told reporters over the weekend that he thinks he’ll likely get a shot at some point in the next few weeks. Another holdout is Tyler Bertuzzi of the Detroit Red Wings, it doesn’t remain clear if he’ll get it but needless to say we’re already very, very close to 100 per cent and there is a chance we get there before the end of this season.

Free Press: Bally Sports Detroit signs extension with Wings, Tigers

Per the Detroit Free Press’s Evan Petzold:

Bally Sports Detroit isn’t going anywhere.

The regional sports network, part of Sinclair Broadcast Group, has agreed to multi-year contract extensions with the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings to continue broadcasting games, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press on Tuesday night.

A formal announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.

Bally Sports Detroit does not anticipate changes in talent at this time and seems pleased with its group of on-air staffers, headlined by hosts and reporters John Keating, Mickey York, Johnny Kane and Trevor Thompson.

For the Tigers, Matt Shepard has been the play-by-play announcer since 2018. He works with analysts Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris and studio analysts Dan Petry and Craig Monroe. For the Red Wings, play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels and analyst Mickey Redmond have called games together since 1997. Chris Osgood and Larry Murphy provide analysis in the studio.

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Allen discusses Lucas Raymond’s status in a subscriber-only missive

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen penned a subscriber-only article regarding Lucas Raymond making the team, noting that Raymond will have to step into Jakub Vrana’s shoes to some extent, and Allen also discusses the parallels between Raymond and both Dylan Larkin and a certain Moritz Seider:

(Vrana) is a big player in this team and then of course when a player like him gets injured, it opens up a spot,” Raymond said. “And I think everyone during the training camp had a chance to get in that spot.”

But it was Raymond who took advantage of it. The Red Wings only had one real roster spot open up front. Veteran Bobby Ryan was released from his tryout contract Monday. Another promising rookie, Joe Veleno, was sent to Grand Rapids yesterday. He had played solidly in training camp, but doesn’t boast the offensive magic that Raymond commands.

Jonatan Berggren might have had a shot, but he was injured early in training camp and never really got going. He also ended up in Grand Rapids.

It’s interesting to note that Seider and Raymond, the only two prospects to make the team, were Yzerman’s first round picks over the previous two seasons. Raymond is moving in with Seider. Raymond said early in training camp that Veleno had been his “Uber Driver.” Seider just bought a new car. “So now he has that spot,” Raymond said.

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Duff discusses Kirill Tyutyayev, the ‘International Man of Mystery’

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff penned a prospect-centric article which focuses on one Kirill Tyutyayev, who Duff deems the Red Wings’ “International Man of Mystery”:

Tyutyayev led the Russian U18 league in scoring in 2017-18 with 114 points in just 31 games. Last season, he was tied for fifth in assists in the Belarus Extraliga playoffs with 10 in 13 games as Tyutyayev helped Yunost Minsk win the title. 

“He makes a lot of good plays,” Blashill said. “He’s got a pretty good mind offensively. He knows how to create space for himself, he’s really slippery and smart. If you really watch him play, he’s strong on the puck. There’s no aversion to traffic, no aversion to holding on to the puck, no aversion to playing extremely hard.

“He’s heavy on the puck for a smaller guy. He works his tail off. He’s done lots of things well. He’s been a real pleasant surprise.

“I like him. I think there’s stuff there. I’ll be interested to see how he does in Grand Rapids. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was able to have lots of success.”


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Prospect round-up: Johansson scores in SHL; Viro, Edvinsson crack 20-minute mark in Champions League

Of prospect-related note today in Europe:

In the SHL, Albert Johansson scored a goal, finishing at -1 with 2 shots in 14:54 played as Farjestads BK won 5-4 over Djurgarden:

In the Champions Hockey League, Eemil Viro finished at -1 in 20:15 played as TPS Turku lost 4-2 to the Vaxjo Lakers;

And, in the Frolunda Indians’ 4-1 win over IFK Helsinki:

Elmer Soderblom finished even in 10:12 played;

Simon Edvinsson finished at +1 with 4 shots in 20:24 played;

And Theodor Niederbach finished even with 1 shot in 9:42 played.

Tweets of note from the Red Wings: a mixture of promotions, video and ‘funny ha’ moments

Of Red Wings-related Twitter note this evening:

Ken Daniels appears on the latest episode of ‘The Red & White Authority’

Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels appears on the latest episode of “The Red and White Authority” podcast with Arthur J. Regner:

Press release: AHL TV to air opening weekend of AHL season free

Of Grand Rapids Griffins-related note this evening:

AHLTV OFFERING FREEVIEW FOR ALL OPENING WEEKEND GAMES

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that its AHLTV streaming platform will kick off the 2021-22 season with a free weekend of AHL games.

All 29 games on the league schedule this Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be free on AHLTV to anyone with an AHLTV account. No subscription or purchase is necessary to open an AHLTV account; visit AHLTV.com to sign up.

AHLTV features live streaming of every AHL game in high definition on desktop, laptop, tablet and mobile devices at AHLTV.com, as well as on over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. AHLTV is also available through the official AHL mobile app for iOS or Android.

More than simply a means to watch games, AHLTV uses HockeyTech’s leading technology to form a full digital ecosystem in which data and video are integrated to create an experience unique to each user. Game feeds are seamlessly combined with the AHL’s statistical database from LeagueStat to provide real-time scoring updates for fans as they watch. Viewers are also be able to capture and save their own highlight clips to share with other AHLTV users within the platform.

To register for a free AHLTV account and to purchase subscriptions for the 2021-22 season – including a season-long all-access pass (including the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs) for just $104.99 – visit AHLTV.com.