Former Detroit News scribe Cynthia Lambert discusses her time covering the Red Wings

Former Detroit News scribe Cynthia Lambert spoke with Michigan Radio’s Stateside program on Monday, taking part in a 17-minute interview that highlights her adventures covering the team:

On the wide range of personalities she worked with

Former head coach Scotty Bowman, she said, was complex.

“One minute you think that you’ve got a great relationship, and that he’s being honest, and you’re having a great dialogue, and you had a great interview,” she said. “And the next day, he won’t look at you. Or the next day he tells you ‘Oh, Chris Osgood’s gonna be in goal,’ and then Mike Vernon comes out as the goalie. So there was a constant off balance with Scotty.”

Steve Yzerman, former team captain, she said, was unusually pleasant to work with as a reporter.

“I never had a bad experience with Steve Yzerman,” she said. “Interviewing him, if he had an issue with something I wrote, he would walk up to me, look me in the eye, speak his piece very respectfully, open it up for dialogue. We could agree, we could disagree, he could persuade me, I could persuade him, but there was never any lingering animosity or passive aggressiveness. He was just complete class.”

She’s written a book called Power Play: My Life Inside the Red Wings’ Locker Room, and it’s out on Amazon.com now.

Chris Chelios discusses coaching, the Olympics and USA Hockey with the Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune’s Steve Rosenbloom engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with Red Wings ambassador Chris Chelios, who’s about to participate in the 2018 Olympics as an assistant coach for Team USA.

Rosenbloom’s conversation with Chelios reveals that the Red Wings and Blackhawks legend isn’t interested in full-time NHL coaching duty:

“I couldn’t imagine doing this in the NHL because it’s 82 games,’’ Chelios said. “That’s a grind. I don’t know if I’d want to do that. I’ve been offered NHL assistant jobs, but I just couldn’t commit to the 82 games and that kind of schedule right now. I like my free time. I like seeing my kids play – my daughter (Tara) plays lacrosse (for Northwestern), Jake plays for Charlotte in the AHL. I wish he’d get more of a chance. I have thought about coaching him. It’d be buses (in the minors), but I think he should get a chance.’’

As a player, Chelios was emotional. A facewash here, a two-hander across the ankles there — yes, Chelios the player would respond to seemingly every slight that Chelios the coach learned he cannot brook.

“You can’t get caught up in the game,’’ Chelios said of the biggest difference between lacing up Bauers and Cole Haans. “That’s what I did as a player. That’s the way I played. As a coach, you learn to keep calm and realize the decisions you have to make. You can’t get caught up in the emotional part of it.

“I’ve also learned you can’t treat everybody the same. I saw coaches do that. I don’t think you can. Every player’s different. It’s like your kids. You don’t treat your kids the same way.’’

Rosenbloom continues, and this is an excellent conversation…

Yeah yeah, we’re working on it (say the Wings, about their power play)

The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned a practice article which, in part, discusses the Wings’ power play issues:

Since operating at 22.7 percent through the first 34 games, their power play has gone into a deep freeze, with four goals on 48 opportunities (8.3 percent) since Dec. 23.

“It’s not good enough,” Blashill said. “I said at the beginning of the year our special teams need to be in the top 10 in order to be a playoff team, and I still think for us to be a playoff team, our specials teams are going to have to be in the top 10. Our PK has looked better the last little bit but our power play hasn’t been good enough.

“We have to eliminate unforced errors and have a better attack mentality. If you get a puck, you have to make sure you talk and you hold on to it until you know where that puck is going — we can’t throw the puck away.”

The Wings are 0-for-8 the past three games.

“We’re not getting what we want out of our power play,” Zetterberg said. “I think we got some momentum lately. It’s been a little bit better than it was a while ago, but we need some goals. We are creating shots and chaos in front of the net, now we just have to get the puck behind the goalie.”

St. James also addresses the frustration the Wings have with the goaltender interference rules, and she discusses Patrice Bergeron’s status as something of a league-wide role model.

Articles from practice: Wings address goaltender interference issues, prepare for B’s

The Detroit Red Wings practiced at Little Caesars Arena ahead of Tuesday’s match-up with the Boston Bruins, who are 12-1-and-1 of late against Detroit (via MLive’s Ansar Khan).

Neither Henrik Zetterberg (maintenance) nor Darren Helm (groin) practiced with the team, but coach Jeff Blashill told the attending media that the pair will most likely be ready for Tuesday’s game.

After practice, Zetterberg and Blashilll were still steamed about Saturday night’s controversial ruling against the team, as noted in video form by the Wings’ Twitter account:

Continue reading Articles from practice: Wings address goaltender interference issues, prepare for B’s

The Athletic’s Scott examines the Wings’ winning (and losing) ways

The Athletic’s Topher Scott offers his weekly “view from a coach” regarding the Red Wings‘ ups and downs over the past week:

1. Offense comes from good defense: Many of the Red Wings’ scoring chances came from good defensive play. I have written about how Detroit’s roster makeup requires the team to play a flawless defensive game to be able to win. Strong defensive play from the five-man unit on the ice creates turnovers, leading to transition offense going the other way. A lot of times, this comes from strong gaps, good backchecks and shot-blocking in the neutral and defensive zones.

…

2. Defense jumping in the play creates offense: Over the last three games, I saw the defensemen involved in the offense more than any other time during the first half of the season. It led to a lot of scoring chances and even a few goals. Maybe they saw how Brent Burns was playing and decided to emulate him?

Whatever it was, I loved it. Having the defense involved in the rush and even the cycle is where the NHL is heading today. You will see in the video below how the Red Wings’ defense jumped right into the play offensively, leading to scoring chances and goals.

Continued (paywall)

Wings’ frustration with inconsistent NHL rules persists

Henrik Zetterberg told the Free Press’s Helene St. James and the media attending Monday’s practice that the Wings are still frustrated with the NHL’s inconsistency of rule interpretation:

Most importantly, Zetterberg tells the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan that the team has to play better going forward…And coach Blashill agreed:

A polite request for my 40th birthday

Okay, so I turn 40 today. My birthday plans involve going out grocery shopping with the mom, working on the blog, taking a nap, and doing a Wings-Bruins set-up.

I would kindly ask for a self-serving favor: please let people know that The Malik Report exists (at https://themalikreport.com), and that I’m trying to crowdfund the blog instead of relying on commercials. Or if you don’t want to go that far, please add TMR to your bookmarks.

At this point, getting the word out is the best thing you can do to put a candle on the Zetterberg cake. 🙂

Toledo Walleye to hold ‘Pink in the Rink’ weekend on March 2-3

The Toledo Walleye are going hold a “Pink in the Rink Weekend” on March 2nd and 3rd. Here are some of the details thereof:

SUPPORT PINK IN THE RINK WEEKEND: MARCH 2-3

Pink ice is nice! The Toledo Walleye will host a special weekend to raise awareness about breast cancer and fundraising activities for Komen of NW Ohio, during Pink in the Rink presented by Hondros College of Nursing on Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3.

The Walleye will play both games on pink ice at the Huntington Center. Special recognitions will be made throughout both games in support of breast cancer survivors.

POMPOM GIVEAWAY

The first 1,500 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 2 and the first 2,000 fans entering the Huntington Center on March 3 will receive a pink pompom courtesy or Hondros College of Nursing.

JERSEY RAFFLES

The Walleye will hold a jersey raffle on March 2 and another raffle on March 3, with proceeds benefitting Komen of NW Ohio and the Walleye Wishing Well.  Look for the raffle table on the main concourse. For both raffles, tickets will be $5 each or 5 for $20, with winning numbers selected at the end of the second intermission.

Continued

 

 

 

Nichols: McKenzie talks Wing-ers on TSN 690

FanRag Sports’ Chris Nichols snagged a set of quotes from TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who spoke with Montreal’s TSN 690 this morning, and among McKenzie’s comments:

“I know Nashville – well, they’ve been watching a lot of teams and you don’t read too much into where guys go, but I think they’ve been checking the Detroit Red Wings out. Gustav Nyquist is a player who could become available. Tomas Tatar – I don’t think Detroit wants to trade Tatar; but again, they’re in a mode where they’re going to be rebuilding and they’re also looking to offload some contracts.

“So yeah, there’s a lot out there. Right now, I would say it’s a buyer’s market for those scoring wingers. But that can change in a hurry. And at the end of the day, whether you’re Montreal with Pacioretty or Hoffman with Ottawa, you’re not obliged to trade these guys so you’re not moving them unless you get top dollar on the return. And if the Preds aren’t going to pay top dollar for that, then maybe they’ll go a more bargain way with a rental or to get a guy like Nyquist out of Detroit.”

Nyquist has this season and next left on his contract at a $4.75 million hit, while Tatar has three more years beyond this one at $5.3 million.

Pacioretty has one more season after this one, and his cap hit is $4.5 million.

Nichols continues (as does McKenzie), and I wonder whether the Wings really are considering moving Nyquist and/or Tatar.