Post-game audio from the Red Wings’ 7-3 loss in the prospect tournament championship game: Smith, Zadina, Rasmussen, Veleno and coach Simon

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects had a hellish third period in a championship game they led 3-2 1:35 into the period, surrendering 5 straight goals en route to a 7-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wings’ record in prospect tournament championships is now 1-and-2.

While Givani Smith scored 2 goals, Dennis Cholowski scored another, and Filip Zadina escaped serious injury when smoked in the head and stung in the wrist while cutting across the blueline…

Kaden Fulcher did not have a good night in goal, and his teammates in front of him were equally willing to surrender time, space and puck control to a Blue Jackets team that made the most of its 18 shots.

After the game, Givani Smith wasn’t quite sure where everything went wrong, though he was at least comforted by the fact that he gave his all…

Continue reading Post-game audio from the Red Wings’ 7-3 loss in the prospect tournament championship game: Smith, Zadina, Rasmussen, Veleno and coach Simon

Khan speaks with Jimmy Devellano regarding Yzerman’s decision to step down in Tampa Bay

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano regarding the news that Steve Yzerman is stepping down as the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning to spend more time with his Metro Detroit-based family:

“I had no heads up,” Devellano said. “I was told about it today.”

Yzerman was hired by Lightning owner Jeff Vinik in 2010 and has had tremendous success building the team into a championship contender. He was named GM of the year in 2014-15, when Tampa Bay lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Cup finals.

Many Red Wings fans have been clamoring for the captain to return home.

“I know how the fans feel and I can understand their feelings,” Devellano said. “They are questions we don’t have answers for and don’t have control over. What can I say, what can Kenny say? Other than (Yzerman) has done a heck of a job in Tampa and just as he was as a player he turned out to be a good GM.”

Devellano said there doesn’t appear to be anything imminent regarding Yzerman and the Red Wings.

“It’s not like something is going to happen when we open the season with Columbus (on Oct. 4),” Devellano said. “But what about next July 1, for instance? People will clamor and speculate. I understand that.”

Continued

 

Red Wings, Wakiji set up tonight’s prospect tournament championship game

As the Detroit Red Wings’ prospects prepare for tonight’s championship game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Red Wings posted a morning skate report on Twitter…


And DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji set up tonight’s game:

“It’s good, it means progress,” said Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development. “We felt coming in here we were going to have a good team on paper. I think guys, they’ve put a lot of hard work in over the summer and I think you’re starting to see that. (Dennis) Cholowski and Ras (Michael Rasmussen) and Gio (Givani Smith). I think a big difference for us is our 18-year-olds. Our young guys have come in and in a very hard tournament, done very well. You see (Joe) Veleno, (Jared) McIsaac, (Alec) Regula, and obviously (Filip) Zadina, speaks for himself.

“I’m happy. It’s a good step forward for us. But I’ll be even happier if we can win tonight.”

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Ben Simon, in his first year as the head coach of the team, knows that a victory would be significant.

“It’s great to be in the championship game to have a chance to win something,” Simon said. “No matter what it is, if you’re on the golf course and you’re playing a buddy, you want to beat him. You want to win. If you’re playing in your backyard, you want to win. If you’re playing pickup basketball, you want to beat the other guy you’re playing against. I don’t think the philosophy or the mentality changes. If we win this tournament, I think it’s great for the organization. All these young prospects that everyone’s excited to see have success and hopefully feed off that going into camp, I think is a great thing.”

Wakiji continues…

The Yzerman press conference call leaves room for speculation, but a family decision is made

FYI from the press conference in which Steve Yzerman announced that he’s stepping down as the Tampa Bay Lightning’s GM, and will stay on as an advisor:

Update: Here’s the full press conference, from Sportsnet. Watch and decide for yourself:

 

HSJ delivers a bombshell

Well, this changes things…


But does “going home” mean to spend time with his family, or something else?

Update: FYI:

Before we all go crazy about Yzerman…

On Twitter…

 

However, per the Athletic’s Craig Custance…


I’m one of those, “He’s never coming home” folks. As far as I’m concerned, it makes little sense for Yzerman to come back to a rebuilding Red Wings team and face a Joe Dumars-level of scrutiny for every damn little move he makes, from injury call-ups to Toledo Walleye signings, when Yzerman can continue to live in relative anonymity in Tampa Bay while working with a team that has a strong chance of winning a Cup over the next 5-8 years. I don’t see him coming back, but again, that’s just me.

Quick impressions from the Red Wings’ morning skate ahead of the championship game at the prospect tournament ’18

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects took part in an “optional” morning skate ahead of tonight’s prospect tournament championship game against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:00 PM on Fox Sports GO and DetroitRedWings.com), and 15 skaters and 3 goaltenders took part in the “optional.”

The mood was light-hearted and the players were “loose” in the good sense of the term, but the players and abundance of coaches made sure to get a good sweat on over the course of a half-hour skate.

I’ve already posted my audio from the morning skate, in which Zach Gallant, Filip Zadina, Alec Regula, Givani Smith and coach Ben Simon are interviewed, and here are some brief player impressions going into tonight’s game.

Continue reading Quick impressions from the Red Wings’ morning skate ahead of the championship game at the prospect tournament ’18

Wings practice firefighter training, make $3,500 donation as part of community tour

According to MLive’s Ryan Zuke, the Red Wings took part in a charitable outreach event with the Ann Arbor Fire Department this morning:

Detroit Red Wings Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi are professional hockey players, but they might have found a backup career on Tuesday.

On their way to training camp in Traverse City, the Red Wings forwards made a stop at the Ann Arbor Fire Department, visiting with firefighters and first responders.

After the fire department’s Sept. 11 memorial service, the Red Wings trio faced off against local firefighters in a friendly competition. Wearing full gear, they went through three basic components of a firefighter fitness test before ending with a hockey competition, attempting to shoot pucks into all four corners of the net.

Although the Red Wings’ time of 1 minute, 18 seconds was 2 seconds slower than the firefighters’, the Ann Arbor Fire Department took a 5-second penalty for not hitting any targets during the shooting competition.

“The Red Wings beat us, so I think if the hockey thing doesn’t work out, a couple of these guys could have a career in the fire service,” Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy said. “We could easily get them riding the truck this afternoon if they wanted to. It was really fun. We really appreciate it. I know on most evenings, our firefighters are watching the Red Wings, so it is really cool for them to be able to see some of the people that they watch.”

Zuke continues, noting that the Wings made a $3,500 donation to the Great Lakes Burn Camp, and he posted a video of the Wings engaging in firefighter training:

Continue reading Wings practice firefighter training, make $3,500 donation as part of community tour

Audio from the morning skate ahead of the championship game at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament ’18: Gallant, Zadina, Regula, Smith, coach Simon

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects were supposed to hold an optional skate ahead of tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Instead, 15 skaters took part, including starter Kaden Fulcher. Jared McIsaac won’t be available tonight due to a shoulder issue, so Marcus Crawford will step in on defense.

I believe that Michael Rasmussen, David Pope, Reilly Webb, Jordan Topping and the injured McIsaac and Lane Zablocki were the only players absent from the skate, and the Wings only skated for about half an hour, but their drills were crisp and intense.

After the skate, I spoke with Zach Gallant, albeit briefly, regarding his goal last night and his status as more of an offensive threat on the wing…
Continue reading Audio from the morning skate ahead of the championship game at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament ’18: Gallant, Zadina, Regula, Smith, coach Simon

Red Wings post press release regarding tonight’s prospect tournament championship game

From the Detroit Red Wings:

Wings battle Blue Jackets for 2018 NHL Prospect Tournament Championship

Fans can watch first-place matchup live on FOX Sports Go, DetroitRedWings.com and Facebook at 7:00 p.m.

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the championship game of the 2018 NHL Prospect Tournament tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich.

Fans can watch the Red Wings compete for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup courtesy of a live stream on the FOX Sports Go app (for fans in the United States), DetroitRedWings.com (geographic restrictions apply) and through the Red Wings’ Facebook page (no geographic restrictions). The game will feature the play-by-play commentary of Red Wings radio broadcaster Ken Kal.

The Red Wings are seeking their second tournament championship in the 20-year history of Traverse City’s NHL Prospect Tournament, with their lone championship coming in 2013; however, this game will mark Detroit’s fourth appearance in the championship game in the last six years (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018). The Blue Jackets are the tournament’s lone undefeated team (3-0-0) and are tied with St. Louis for the most championships in the history of the tournament with four (2005, 2006, 2015 and 2016).

Detroit has been led by the strong play of its four participating first-round picks: Joe Veleno (30th overall in 2018) ranks second in the tournament with six points (2-4-6) in three games; Dennis Cholowski (20th overall in 2016), who leads all tournament defensemen with five points (1-4-5) in three games; Michael Rasmussen (9th overall in 2017), who shared the tournament lead with three goals among his four points (3-1-4) in three games; and Filip Zadina (6th overall in 2018), who has produced three points (1-2-3) in three games for the Red Wings.

Veleno scored twice in last night’s 5-0 win over the New York Rangers, while Rasmussen, Axel Holmstrom and Zach Gallant lit the lamp for Detroit. In goal, Patrik Rybar has started two games with a 1-1 record, including 14 saves in a shutout victory last night. Kaden Fulcher also surrendered just one goal in a 3-1 win over Dallas on Saturday.