Of miscellaneous Red Wings, Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye-related note, starting with a press release from the Grand Rapids Griffins:
The Athletic discusses Athanasiou front-or-center
The Athletic’s Evan Sporer takes a “deep dive” into stats and video to discuss whether Andreas Athanasiou is better-used as a winger or center, and in case you didn’t see Athanasiou on the fourth line last night (and I sure didn’t as he was all but invisible), Sporer spends a tremendous amount of energy to come to a sensible conclusion:
By no means does playing him at center mean Athanasiou can’t get out on the rush, or use his speed to his advantage. Playing lower in the defensive zone that foot speed can be a tool, like on that sequence against the Bruins where he was able to apply puck support and get a clear. He certainly can apply pressure and take away time and space in that area of the ice, another beneficial skill.
But up to this point, what seems to be Athanasiou’s biggest strength is at the other end of the ice, and more specifically, his combination of speed and finishing ability.
It seems like he gets more opportunities to flex those muscles on the wing.
Continued (paywall), and Sporer’s analysis is worth your time…
Friedman spitballs a Wings-Canes trade scenario
Among Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman’s “31 Thoughts“:
2. . Trade that might make sense only to me: something around Justin Faulk from Carolina to Detroit for Andreas Athanasiou.
It doesn’t make sense to me. Athanasiou’s ceiling is still high, and the Wings don’t appear to want to move him…yet, anyway.
Update: To make this work cap-wise, the Wings would have to send a defenseman to Carolina as well. Per CapFriendly, Faulk earns $4.83 million dollars per season through 20-21, while Athanasiou is a restricted free agent after this season, with a $1.387 million cap hit.
Late-breaking recaps from St. James, Khan
In the late-breaking recap department, the Free Press’s Helene St. James penned a Wings-Bruins recap that didn’t hit until 10 AM…
The Wings didn’t use their speed, didn’t forecheck, didn’t do much to bother Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask for two periods, beyond Martin Frk scoring a power-play goal early in the second period.
“We are not ready,” Frk said. “The whole game we are kind of sloppy. We didn’t show up here.”
Frustration simmers because when the Wings do show up — as they did last week against San Jose and in Carolina — they are often rewarded with points. And yet the Wings keep following up strong performances with soft ones. At the 52-game mark, the Wings are eight points from a playoff spot, but with four teams ahead of them.
“It’s frustrating and I really don’t have an answer,” Nielsen said. “Soon it is going to be too late if we don’t figure it out. If we play two good games again now and we stand here some time next week and you ask the same questions, it’s going to be too late. We have to figure it out now.”
And MLive’s Ansar Khan noted the coach’s frustration with his players in a 6 AM-filed piece:
“We had 20 guys going hard (the past three games) and tonight we had a handful of guys going hard,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We weren’t good enough. We didn’t have enough guys going hard.
“We got to be better than that. You got to be way more ready to compete. … It’s a learning process for sure, especially with some young guys. It’s an every-day league.”
Blashill didn’t single out anybody but clearly was referring to young players. Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha, in particular, have had exceptional performances but have also been no-shows too many times. On this night, when the Red Wings needed their best players to step up against the hottest team in the league, Athanasiou had no points, no shots on goal and was a minus-2 in 10:57 while Mantha had no points and two shots in 17:18.
“I want these young guys to grow, so I don’t want to hide them, but they got to play better than that,” Blashill said, without naming anybody.
Prospect round-up: Walleye win big over Nailers; Sulak scores a goal; Griffins weekly press release available
In the ECHL, the Toledo Walleye got 2 goals from Connor Crisp, 3 assists from David Obuchowski and 2 assists from Davis Vandane during a 6-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers. The Walleye’s website posted a recap:
The overnight report: Red Wings-Bruins wrap-up: Wings’ frustration evident after another loss to B’s
The Red Wings ran into a brick wall in the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, losing 3-2 over the course of a game that looked and felt closer than it really was.
Tuukka Rask stopped 15 of 16 3rd period shots as the Wings rallied from a 3-1 deficit over the course of a fast and furious second-half-of-the-period attempt to rally…
But the Wings dug a hole that was too deep to get out of against a Bruins team that has won 13 of the past 15 meetings against Detroit. Detroit came out flat, got worse, scored the game’s first goal, and then gave up 2 2nd period markers, which was really enough for the Bruins to build an unassailable lead that they added to in the third period.
Ultimately, as the Associated Press’s recap notes, Boston’s pulling away from the pack, and the Red Wings aren’t even good enough to be part of “the pack”:
Red Wings-Bruins quick take: Closer than it looked, but no cigar
The Red Wings attempted to snap the Bruins’ 12-1-and-1 hex over Detroit on Tuesday night. The Wings caught a bit of a break as Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand was serving the final game of his suspension, but Tuukka Rask started opposite Jimmy Howard on a 16-0-and-2 run.
The Red Wings were “run over” early by the Bruins, who took a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period, made it 3-1 and then got out-shot like nobody’s business as Detroit made it 3-2 late but could not tie the game.
Boston played a tremendous game for at least 40 minutes, while Detroit played for 4 or 5, and the Wings’ late flourish (a 16-7 shot advantage on a night when the Wings were out-shot 24-12 over the first 40 minutes) was frustrating because the, “Too little, too late” template has almost been trademarked by the Wings this season and the last.
Nick Jensen was arguably the Wings’ best player, and he was -3; Dylan Larkin had 3 of the Wings’ 16 giveaways, and he was the best forward; Howard was excellent in the Wings’ net, getting beaten by some gorgeous Bruins goals, but he wasn’t able to deliver an otherworldly performance–or one like Tuukka Rask, who is now 19-0-and-2 over his past 21 starts.
The Wings made a game closer than it was, as Darren Eliot suggested on FSD’s post-game show, and that’s frustrating, because the Wings were outclassed at times.
Continue reading Red Wings-Bruins quick take: Closer than it looked, but no cigar
Meet Kevin Gibson
From the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe comes a profile of 28-year-old Toledo Walleye defenseman Kevin Gibson, son of baseball legend Kirk Gibson:
Growing up in an ultra-competitive household, Toledo Walleye defenseman Kevin Gibson detested losing.
Gibson and his two brothers went at it in just about every sport, never yielding an inch. As the son of Detroit Tigers legend Kirk Gibson, Kevin Gibson saw first hand what it meant to be a fierce competitor.
“I don’t know if it’s something you inherit. Maybe that makes sense,” Gibson said. “I’m an extremely competitive person. I hate to lose.”
While his father made his name in baseball as a tough-as-nails outfielder, Kevin Gibson was drawn to hockey. Gibson and brothers Cam and Kirk loved athletic competition growing up Grosse Pointe, Mich.
“During the 1990s, the [Detroit Red] Wings came to be the powerhouse [they were] and I really got into hockey,” Gibson said. “We had a backyard rink and all that. My two brothers and I were always playing something. Mini sticks in the basement, baseball, football. We’re all competitive. Whoever lost, it would almost always end in some type of altercation.”
Praise for McCollum, the Griffins winningest goaltender
WOOD TV filed a report on Tom McCollum as the Grand Rapids Griffins goalie just set a franchise record as the winningest goaltender in team history, with 110 total wins as a Griffin.
Griffins coach Todd Nelson believes that McCollum is perfectly-suited to his role:
“He’s just the ultimate team guy,” Griffins head coach Todd Nelson said. “After a big penalty kill, he makes it known when he comes to the bench and tells the guys great job on the kill (and) great job on blocking shots. If guys are getting rattled, he’s the guy that is that calming presence especially when guys are playing.”
His professionalism has improved as his career has progressed since his AHL debut in 2009.
“No matter how you’re feeling, as a pro now, I know how to get myself ready even for those games where you don’t necessarily have the energy to play,” McCollum said. “I think I’ve calmed down a lot. When I first started, I was very emotional. I’ve kind of let that affect me at times whereas now I learned how to harness that and channel it into a positive for myself.”
Battling Rask
From DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner:
[Tuukka] Rask, who will start against the Red Wings, has not lost in regulation since November 26. He is 18-0-2 in his last 21 games and is on a personal point streak of 20 games.
He’s 21-8-4 this season with a 2.09 goals-against average, .925 save percentage with two shutouts.
“He must feel like he’s in the zone. He’s been playing really well, just like their whole team,” Gustav Nyquist said. “I can’t say I’ve watched too many games of them, but obviously he must have been playing real well to be on a points streak like that. He’s been a good goalie in this league for a long time now. He’s a tough goalie to beat.”
Continued