Mrazek’s stylistic tweaks paying off

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke to the media prior to Sunday night’s game, and he praised Petr Mrazek’s stick-to-it-ive-ness in parlaying hard work tweaking his game into on-ice results, as noted by DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji:

 

Much as Howard did, Mrazek got to work in the offseason to rebuild his game and become even better.

This season with Howard as the primary starter, Mrazek has maintained the habits he established in the offseason and it is paying dividends now.

Wings coach Jeff Blashill, a former goaltender himself, saw it in the 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators Saturday night.

“He made a big save last night in the third on a one-timer in the slot,” Blashill said. “The first rebound got away from him but I thought the save was unreal in the sense that his feet were set, he had made a little shuffle over, his feet were set and then he just leaned into the puck, he didn’t have to reach for it because he had taken that little stutter-step with his feet. That’s a change in his game that he’s worked on over the course of the year so that’s a little goaltending thing that you wouldn’t necessarily notice but when I saw that, I was excited. It just said that he’s continuing to get better.”

Wakiji continues

Duff talks trades

Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff discusses possible trades involving the now-usual Red Wings subjects of trade rumors–Mike Green, Luke Glendening, Jimmy Howard, Petr Mrazek, Gustav Nyquist and Xavier Ouellet:

Mike Green: Headed for unrestricted free agency, it will be a shock if the Wings don’t move Green. Washington, his previous home, has long been rumored as a destination – Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has lobbied loudly for Green’s return to the U.S. capital – but there’s a new team on the horizon who look to be the front runners in the Green sweepstakes.

That would be the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s interesting that Green was scratched from Saturday’s 3-1 win at Nashville with what was reported as an upper-body injury, because according to NHL sources, Wings general manager Ken Holland and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman are well along the trail in talks to work out the details to make this move happen. Detroit’s price is high. The Wings would love to land a first-round draft pick, and with the Lightning entering the playoffs as favorites to cop the Stanley Cup, that could be a price they are prepared to pay.

Although he’s stated a desire to remain in Detroit, Green would be willing to waive his no-trade clause for an opportunity to go to a Cup contender.

Duff continues…

Sipple speaks with Ryan Martin regarding top draft picks

The Under-18 Five Nations Tournament just wrapped up in Plymouth, MI this past week, and Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin took in the tournament. Today, Martin spoke with the Free Press’s George Sipple regarding top prospects who participated in the tournament:

Forward Oliver Wahlstrom: Wahlstrom, 17, scored two goals and six assists for eight points in four games for USA. Committed to Harvard, he’s ranked seventh among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings.

“I thought he got better as the tournament went on,” Martin said. “At times, he was trying to be too individualistic.”

Forward Jack Hughes: Hughes, 16, had three goals and four assists in four games for USA. He could be the top pick in the 2019 draft. His brother, Quinn, plays at Michigan.

 “At times, (Hughes) was the best player on the ice, regardless of the competition,” Martin said. “I thought he was excellent. You wouldn’t have known he was a year younger than much of the competition there. To me, hands down he was one of the top two or three players in the tournament, for sure.”

Pre-game Blash, pre-game Babs and Game Day Preview videos

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock spoke with the media ahead of tonight’s game between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs.

First up, Blashill:

Then Babcock:

Continue reading Pre-game Blash, pre-game Babs and Game Day Preview videos

Red Wings-Maple Leafs no-morning-skate news round-up

The Detroit Red Wings host the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).

Toronto has won 9 of its past 11 games, but the Leafs dropped a 5-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday; the Red Wings defeated the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, but the Wings need to be aware of Auston Matthews (who Terry Koshan reports has a 40% shooting percentage against Detroit) and company as the Leafs will bring their speed game to Detroit.

Neither team held a morning skate (Toronto got into town around 1 AM and Detroit didn’t return home until 2 AM) so, to tide you over:

AWood40 posted a 10-minute, annotated clip of last night’s Wings-Preds game…

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs no-morning-skate news round-up

Prospect round-up: Turgeon scores hat trick in Griffins’ win; Walleye double up K-Zoo; Sulak 1+1+shootout winner, Larsson stops 41

In the AHL, Dominic Turgeon scored his first hat trick as the Grand Rapids Griffins swept the Manitoba Moose, winning 5-0.

Turgeon scored a “natural” hat trick (consecutive goals), Eric Tangradi had a goal and an assist and Jared Coreau pitched a 38-save shutout.

The Griffins’ website posted a recap:

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Turgeon scores hat trick in Griffins’ win; Walleye double up K-Zoo; Sulak 1+1+shootout winner, Larsson stops 41

Red Wings-Maple Leafs set-up: Wings hope to ding streaking Leafs

The Detroit Red Wings will attempt to build upon Saturday night’s win over Nashville when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).

The 35-20-and-5 Maple Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division standings. Toronto’s 6-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night, but the Leafs’ 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh was Toronto’s second regulation loss over the course of 11 games.

STATS’ game preview helps set up tonight’s game:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs set-up: Wings hope to ding streaking Leafs

Red Wings-Predators wrap-up: Wings beat an elite team, led by…Witkowski!

The Detroit Red Wings did a very good job of out-working the Nashville Predators en route to a 3-1 victory on Saturday night, and the Wings’ weekend gets harder as the team hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/Sportsnet/97.1 FM).

As posted by AWood40 on YouTube, the Red Wings’ first goal on Saturday came from an unlikely source in Luke Witkowski:

Gustav Nyquist ultimately scored the game-winner as Detroit took a 2-0 lead that the Wings held until 5:25 remained in the 3rd period, when Craig Smith scored on a power play breakaway; Petr Mrazek stopped 31 shots, and the Wings blocked another 26 Predators attempts as Detroit out-worked and out-ground the Preds over the course of one of Detroit’s rare 60-minute efforts this season.

Our friends from Nashville were still relatively satisfied with their effort, as they told NashvillePredators.com’s Brooks Bratten:

Continue reading Red Wings-Predators wrap-up: Wings beat an elite team, led by…Witkowski!

Red Wings-Predators quick take: Wings out-work, out-Wit the Preds

The Detroit Red Wings headed into Bridgestone Arena to tangle with the Nashville Predators on Saturday, with the Wings hoping to earn a rare win against the powerhouse Predators.

The Wings played an excellent 60 minutes’ worth of hockey, out-working, out-hustling and out-scoring the Predators, with Luke Witkowski scoring his first NHL goal, Gustav Nyquist scoring his 16th and Darren Helm scoring an empty-netter as Detroit emerged with a 3-1 victory.

Petr Mrazek stopped 31 of 32 shots and the Wings blocked a staggering 26 shot attempts in a superb effort.

Now the Wings head home to host the Maple Leafs, who lost 5-3 on the road to Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

Continue reading Red Wings-Predators quick take: Wings out-work, out-Wit the Preds