A few afternoon Tweets of note

Of Twitter-related note this afternoon:

Griffins sign forward Bryan Moore

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

BRYAN MOORE SIGNED BY GRIFFINS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday signed forward Bryan Moore to a one-year contract.

During his three-year professional career, Moore, 24, has totaled 122 points (56-66—122), a plus-33 rating and 400 penalty minutes in 126 ECHL games between Utah (2015-16), Orlando (2016-17) and Allen (2016-18). He shows 15 points (6-9—15) and 48 PIM in 21 Kelly Cup Playoff appearances. Moore has also tallied nine points (3-6—9) and 53 PIM in 40 career AHL contests with San Diego (2015-16), Manitoba (2016-17) and San Jose (2016-18).

In 2017-18, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound winger played in 57 games with the ECHL’s Allen Americans and placed among the team’s leaders with 48 points (6th), 21 goals (2nd) and a career-best 27 assists (6th). His career-high 218 PIM paced the team and ranked fifth in the ECHL. Moore tallied two points (1-1—2) and 11 PIM in seven Kelly Cup Playoff games.

Moore also skated in seven games with the San Jose Barracuda last season and recorded six PIM.

A native of Indian Trail, N.C., Moore played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League and two in the United States Hockey League prior to turning pro. In 181 games from 2012-14 between Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie in the OHL, he posted 143 points (59-84—143), a plus-33 rating and 255 PIM. Moore skated in 92 games with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede from 2010-12 and recorded 36 points (17-19—36) and 101 PIM.

With the release of the Griffins’ 2018-19 schedule, group tickets for all home dates at Van Andel Arena are now on sale, along with 2018-19 season ticket packages. Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public on Sept. 14. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.

Three things: Wings and Tigers partner to avoid sensory overload; Walleye sign a scorer; on friendship

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Red Wings and Tigers have partnered with a company called KultureCity to avoid creating sensory overload at their facilities:

You can read more about the partnership here;

2. The Toledo Walleye have made a player signing today, hoping to bolster their scoring with forward Greg Wolfe. From the ECHL:

Forward Greg Wolfe has agreed to terms with the Toledo Walleye for the 2018-19 season.

The Walleye are the ECHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

A native of Canton, Michigan, Wolfe joins the Walleye following a year in Norway in which he collected 33 points (16g-17a) in 26 contests for Sparta Sarpsborg. Since finishing his college career at Michigan State University, Wolfe bounced between the AHL and the ECHL for three seasons. In 23 AHL contests, the 28-year-old tallied two assists playing in 23 games with Iowa and Albany. In 174 career ECHL games with Adirondack, Alaska and Reading, he has produced 139 points (55g-84a).

The biggest point production for Wolfe came in his rookie season with the Alaska Aces when he landed 60 points (22g-38a) in 59 games. In both 2015-16 and 2016-17 with Adirondack, he finished with 40 points and 36 points respectively. A captain in both his junior and senior seasons at Michigan State, Wolfe appeared in 147 games with 89 points (35g-54a). As a senior in 2013-14, he picked up a college best 31 points (13g-18a) in 36 contests. Wolfe was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor on June 6, 2014 after graduating with a 3.6 grade-point average.

3. This is tangentially Red Wings-related, but The Athletic’s Joe Smith penned an article discussing the friendship between Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, now-Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde and Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill:

They​ call it​ the “Champion’s League.”

There’s​ no​ big-money​ purse for​ this informal golf outing​​ each summer in Michigan, but plenty of bragging rights. And bruised egos.

“You’ve got to have a really thick skin,” said Bob Daniels, long-time Ferris State University hockey coach.

The members you may know. Lightning coach Jon Cooper, 50, and Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, 44, are the headliners, along with Daniels, who is dubbed “The Godfather” after his three decades on the Big Rapids, Michigan, campus.

Blashill’s brother, Tim, who works at Ferris with Daniels, plays, as does Lightning video coach Brian Garlock, a former Ferris student.

Another regular is Derek Lalonde, 45, who was recently added to Cooper’s Lightning staff as an assistant.

The story continues (paywall)

Eric Tangradi bids farewell to Grand Rapids

Eric Tangradi signed a 1-year, 2-way contract with the New Jersey Devils today, and the former Grand Rapids Griffins forward bade farewell to Grand Rapids this evening:

Wyshynski not optimistic about Wings’ rebuilding (or lack thereof)

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski offered a set of “rebuild rankings” today, and he doesn’t feel very good about what the Red Wings are doing:

8. Detroit Red Wings

…

The strategy: Let us know when you locate one.

The Red Wings missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1983. That futility ended the following season when Steve Yzerman arrived in Motown, but there isn’t anything resembling that kind of transformative player on the Red Wings’ roster or in their system. The Gustav Nyqvist generation has yielded to the Dylan Larkin generation, which will yield to the Rasmussen and Zadina generation up front.

But the foundational defenseman the Red Wings have been seeking since the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom still eludes them. At the very least, coach Jeff Blashill has stated he will defer to younger players when it comes to ice time if a roster spot is between a newbie and a veteran. “I say that because we need different results, and part of having different results is improving internally, and that can come with new guys being in spots,” he told the Detroit Free Press.

Is it working? It’s a roster with more players older than 34 (six) than under the age of 24 (five), so to call this a team in transition would putting it mildly. It’s also a team that currently has $2.828 million in cap space, and has entrusted the general manager who got them in this pickle (Ken Holland) with getting them out of it.

Estimated return to relevance: This is a team that needs to get worse before it gets better, purging the roster of veterans and cap space, and then hoping a combination of the draft and shrewd veteran acquisitions can position them as a contender. But the current management hasn’t inspired much confidence to that end. There’s way too much loyalty to veterans past their expiration date or, failing that, an overvaluing of them.

Wyshynski continues…

Was Chris Chelios’s return to the Blackhawks a case of bad timing?

The Free Press’s Carlos Monarrez wrote a column suggesting that Chris Chelios’s decision to return to the employ of the Chicago Blackhawks feels a little “too soon”:

Just four days after announcing he was leaving the Wings and planned on visiting Detroit whenever he could, Chelios took a job Monday as a Blackhawks ambassador.

Really, Cheli? Four days? Couldn’t wait just a little longer for the tears in Detroit to dry? I assumed he would take a job with the Blackhawks eventually. But four days?

This feels like it was orchestrated from the start. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe the timing was just an incredible coincidence.

But if Chelios’ job with the Hawks was already in the works last week, he should have waited to announce his move and his new job at the same time. I could understand a beloved player saying he’s leaving Detroit to be closer to family and also taking a job with his hometown team, even if it is a hated rival. It would make sense. The dude’s moving and he needs a job.

Instead, the delayed announcement feels like a calculated manipulation. And Chelios never acted that way when I covered him over the years. He was always a go-to guy and a straight shooter in the Wings’ dressing room. He was honest – probably too honest if you ask NHL commissioner Gary Bettman – and he didn’t pander.

Monarrez continues…

Roughly translated: Henrik Zetterberg’s agent tells Hockeybladet that his client hasn’t decided whether to continue playing

Via Expressen and the Swedish news agency TT, Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svensson, spoke with Hockeybladet.nu regarding his client’s health. What follows is roughly translated:

AGENT: “Zetterberg has not decided”

Henrik Zetterberg has a contract until the 2020-21 season with the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit has not heard anything about the Swede’s future with the team, however. Zetterberg has simply not decided whether or not he will continue to play.

“He has not decided whether he will continue or not,” says Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svensson, to Hockeybladet.

Henrik Zetterberg has played 15 seasons in the NHL, and for the last six, he’s been the captain of his team. There is uncertainty regarding Zetterberg’s future with the team. Detroit has not heard anything from him, but it believes that he will continue to play. Hockeybladet reached out to Zetterberg’s agent, Gunnar Svenson, who is careful when discussing the future of the Swede.

“I just don’t think he’s decided yet. There have been some injury problems for his back. It’s impossible to answer how he’ll get along, one can’t know as it is presently. He simply hasn’t decided.”
Closes door to the SHL
A couple of years ago, speculation began that Zetterberg was on his way back to the SHL. Zetterberg and his wife bought a house in Angelholm. A comeback in the SHL won’t happen if Zetterberg chooses to continue his career.
“If Henrik Zetterberg chooses to continue playing in Detroit, there’s nothing else going on,” says Svensson to Hockeybladet.

Three things: on Michael Rasmussen, Mattias Elfstrom and ‘rookie season’ highlights of Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Dub Network’s Brandon Rivers examined the cases of several WHL players who may play NHL hockey this fall, including Wings prospect Michael Rasmussen:

One big reason we could see Ramsussen get a shot in the regular season is his ability to produce on the power play. This skill is something that should transfer over to the next level and will help him earn at the very least a taste of the NHL.

If he does not produce, we could see him get sent back for one more junior season and a likely roster spot with Canada’s U20 World Juniors team.

Detroit’s training camp goes September 14th-18th and their first preseason game is September 19th. They have seven preseason games that go through September 29th.

Due to the later start of Detroit’s camp, Rasmussen could end up participating in the Tri-City preseason tournament which runs the 6th through the 8th, though he will not play in the game on Saturday the 15th against the Chiefs in Kennewick.

If Rasmussen get a nine-game stint, he will be out through October 22nd. That would mean him missing 10 or possibly 11 Americans regular season games.

2. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examined forward Mattias Elfstrom’s 2017-18 campaign. Elfstrom had a difficult season playing for Vasterviks IK:

Quotable: “Mattias didn’t have his best season last year but, to his credit, realized that and has refocused this summer. He’s been putting in the work to make sure that’s not the case this year. I’m looking forward to seeing his development next season.” – Shawn Horcoff, Red Wings director of player development

Elfstrom signed with IK Oskarshamn recently, and the new start may mean a better season for the 6’3″ forward.

3. AWood40, a.k.a. Alex Wood, has been very busy on YouTube, posting highlights of the Red Wings’ playoff series (plural) vs. Toronto in the late 80’s, and over the past two days, he posted highlight clips spotlighting the rookie seasons of Sergei Fedorov and Nicklas Lidstrom:

St. James talks player development in her latest mailbag

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed a mailbag article this morning. St. James answered a question about the pesky issue of player development (among others):

HSJ: When he was asked about the state of the team as he announced general manager Ken Holland’s two-year extension in April, team owner Chris Ilitch said “we are all going to need patience. …. We are going to be as aggressive as possible in building a team that can qualify for the playoffs and ultimately compete for a Stanley Cup championship.”

In March, I interviewed Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman and Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill about forging their respective teams into Stanley Cup contenders. This was Yzerman’s perspective: “To build a team, it takes years. Our approach has been that we try to hang on to our draft picks and develop players. It’s my eighth year and I was fortunate to come in when we had our first-overall and second-overall picks in Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, so I got a running start. Eight years later we have a contender, but we haven’t won a Cup.”

Nill said, “It’s not going to happen overnight. And you have to get a little bit lucky. … People want overnight change and it doesn’t happen that way.”

The Wings have held onto their first-round draft picks since 2013, which has netted Anthony Mantha, Dylan Larkin, Evgeny Svechnikov, Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, plus Joe Veleno (via Vegas). All those are key pieces as the Wings rebuild. None are considered generational players, like Edmonton landed in 2015 in Connor McDavid, Toronto landed in 2016 in Auston Matthews, and Buffalo landed in 2018 in Rasmus Dahlin.

The Oilers, in fact, also drafted first overall in 2010, 2011 and 2012, drafted seventh overall in 2013, and third overall in 2014. They’ve missed the playoffs  11 times the past 12 seasons. The Maple Leafs have missed the playoffs 10 of the past 13 seasons, and haven’t won a playoff series since 2004. In addition to Dahlin at first overall, the Sabres have, over the past six years, drafted second overall twice, and eighth overall three times. They haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2011.

Then there’s the Coyotes franchise: They have drafted inside the top 10 six times since 2004-05, and have missed the playoffs 10 times, including the past six years.

I know it’s frustrating watching the Wings try to regain competitiveness, but as is shown around the league, it takes time.

St. James continues…

 

Joe Louis Arena’s redeveloper gets extension regarding plan to develop JLA site

Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho reports that the organization responsible for Joe Louis Arena’s redevelopment has received an extension as to when it must submit a plan for redeveloping the Joe Louis Arena site:

The Detroit City Council has agreed to give a holdout creditor from the city’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy another 18 months to submit a redevelopment plan for the vacated Joe Louis Arena property.

Gotham Motown Recovery LLC, a subsidiary of New York City-based Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp., now has until January 2020 for the plan; under terms of the settlement forged in bankruptcy court in 2014, it had until Nov. 21, 2017, to submit it.

Gotham Motown sued the city in February for more time. The entity said it had requested a 24-month extension on July 20, 2017, but the city agreed to just a 180-day extension, even though the settlement approved in bankruptcy court allows for a two-year extension.

In April, Gotham Motown asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Thomas Tucker to appoint a mediator to resolve the dispute. Law Offices of Barry L. Howard PC in Bloomfield Hills was appointed as mediator the following month, and after two mediation sessions on June 8 and July 16, a settlement was reached, according to court documents.

Mayor Mike Duggan has to sign off on the settlement, which does not include any monetary damages. Representatives from Gotham Motown declined comment; a message was left with Duggan’s office seeking comment.

The complex nature of the 9-acre site and the city’s changing real estate market have made it difficult to submit a redevelopment proposal, Gotham argues. One city official has called what surrounds the arena “an absolutely wicked entanglement of infrastructure” that makes redevelopment difficult.

Continued