Articles from Locker Room Clean-Out Day: On Blashill’s return, Holland’s remarks and more

Updated 4x at 5:30 PM: Okay, thus far I’ve posted Tweets, videos and full pressers from the Red Wings’ locker room clean-out day, and now some articles are hitting the wires from the Wings’ media corps.

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burtchfield penned an article regarding coach Jeff Blashill’s return to fulfill the fourth and final season of his contract…

“I thought the team played hard to the finish. I’m hoping that two, three, four young players in our system make the team (next year). He did a good job with the young players in Grand Rapids when he was the coach there. This year you look at the impact of (Tyler) Bertuzzi and (Dylan) Larkin and the development and the importance they had on the team this year, they improved as players,” Holland said.

Bertuzzi, 23, grew into a reliable top-six forward as the season wore on, while Larkin, 21, set career highs in assists and points. 23-year-old Anthony Mantha also took significant strides, scoring 24 goals in his first full NHL season.

As a team the Red Wings took a step back in the standings, finishing fifth to last with 73 points, but they showed signs of progress in terms of dictating play. Moreover, Blashill’s coaching never seemed to wear on the players, who responded to him even when the going got tough.

“We lost nine in a row in March and the bottom fell out, but I felt even when we lost nine in a row, we lost a lot of games by a goal and we played hard,” said Holland. “I thought that the young kids that have been brought up improved. He played them, they were important, they got minutes. I think that with the experience of three years in the National Hockey League, (plus) he’s been a guy that’s had success along the way, there’s a reason for him to continue to be the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.”

 

Burtchfield continues, and the Free Press’s Helene St. James picks up the narrative from there…

Continue reading Articles from Locker Room Clean-Out Day: On Blashill’s return, Holland’s remarks and more

Fox 2 posts full Ken Holland, Jeff Blashill pressers (over an hour of video)

Updated 2x at 4:49 PM: Fox 2 Detroit posted the full 43:48 of Ken Holland’s post-season presser and all of coach Jeff Blashill’s 21:26 post-season wrap-up:

Update: Here’s a 39:22 clip of comments from Zetterberg, Howard, Kronwall, Abdelkader, Larkin, Nielsen, Nyquist, Bertuzzi and Athanasiou:

Update #2: The Wings are posting their locker room clean-out day Twitter videos:

Continue reading Fox 2 posts full Ken Holland, Jeff Blashill pressers (over an hour of video)

A sampling of videos from Locker Room Clean-Out Day

Of video-related note from the Red Wings’ Locker Room Clean-Out Day:

Michigan Hockey posted videos of Jeff Blashill discussing his return as the Red Wings’ coach and GM Ken Holland addressing the improvement necessary by the team’s younger players before touching upon Dylan Larkin’s contract negotiations…

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a video of Blashill addressing his return and a video of Holland speaking about his head coach…

WXYZ posted a video regarding Blashill’s return…

 And on Twitter, from Fox 2 Detroit and WXYZ’s Brad Galli:

Continue reading A sampling of videos from Locker Room Clean-Out Day

A trio of Walleye Tweets of note

Here are some Toledo Walleye-related Tweets of note from the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe and WTOL 11’s Jordan Strack, as the Walleye prepare for their first-round playoff series against Indy, which starts this Friday:

Machovsky’s North American return may be at an end

It appears that prospect goaltender Matej Machovsky’s return to North America was a short one, per WTOL 11’s Jordan Strack…

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe…

And the Walleye:

 

FYI: Blashill to return as Wings coach

Updated 2x at 3:58 PM: If you missed it in the Locker Room Clean-Out Day Twitter post, Red Wings GM Ken Holland has confirmed that Jeff Blashill will return as the Wings’ coach for the fourth and final year of Blashill’s contract:

Update: The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan penned an article about Blashill’s return…

Continue reading FYI: Blashill to return as Wings coach

Locker Room Clean-Out Day Tweets of note (in progress)

Updated with videos at 2:48 PM: The Detroit Red Wings posed for their 2017-18 team picture and cleaned out their lockers at Little Caesars Arena today, and after the team picture was taken, the players spoke with the media one final time:

Among the scribes taking part in the pressers and scrums were the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

MLive’s Ansar Khan…

Fox 2 Detroit…

#RedWings Larkin “I feel the progress…we battled hard.”

#RedWings Nielsen talks how Blashill is building a foundation defensively that they’ll need to win

The Athletic’s Craig Custance…

Continue reading Locker Room Clean-Out Day Tweets of note (in progress)

Walleye post playoff roster

From the Toledo Walleye:

Walleye announce playoff roster

(Toledo, OH) – The Toledo Walleye announced today its list of players that will be on the 2018 Kelly Cup Playoff Roster. Twenty two players are on the roster with the first day of playoffs starting Friday night against the Indy Fuel at the Huntington Center.

Goaltenders Pat Nagle and Angus Redmond will be joined by eight defensemen: Simon Denis, Kevin Lohan, Trevor Hamilton, Jared Wilson, Ryan Obuchowski, Kevin Tansey, Beau Schmitz and Patrick McCarron. The 12 forwards on Toledo’s roster include: Kyle Bonis, Connor Crisp, Austen Brassard, Tyler Barnes, Christian Hilbrich, Shane Berschbach, Dylan Sadowy, Colin Jacobs, Mike Borkowski, Charlie O’Connor, Mike Embach and A.J. Jenks.

Defenseman Parker Reno is on injured reserve and defenseman Kevin Gibson has been released.

Continue reading Walleye post playoff roster

Wallner: Griffins’ Matt Lorito to miss the rest of the regular season, post-season

Rough news for the Grand Rapids Griffins, from the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner:

The Grand Rapids Griffins didn’t get back Tyler Bertuzzi and will have to go the rest of the way without Matt Lorito as well.

Lorito, tied for fourth on the team in scoring (23-26-49), will not return from a knee injury and is out for the rest of the season, coach Todd Nelson said.

Nelson said Lorito will undergo surgery. He has not played the past six games since injured in a March 24 game against Iowa. The left winger is in the last season of a two-year, two-way contract.

“It’s unfortunate because, obviously, he’s a big part of our hockey team,” Nelson said. “We just have to get it done without him.”

Wallner reports that the Griffins are OK with Tyler Bertuzzi working on his off-season training…

“Tyler was asked about that option and he wanted to play. But that was a while ago,” Nelson said. “Since that time, he’s played important minutes and he really hasn’t had a summer the past two years to really develop his body. So, I think that’s why the decision was made to start training and get ready for next season. And I totally respect that. Once again, we’re here to facilitate the Detroit Red Wings.

“Are we going to miss him? Absolutely. But it will give other players an opportunity to step up.”

And yes, the Griffins are eying Michael Rasmussen as he plays tremendous hockey for the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. If the Americans are eliminated from the WHL playoffs, Rasmussen can join the Griffins:

“He’s a player we can certainly use,” Nelson said. “He’s a big body and he’s having a monster playoff. But we’ll have to see how that plays out.”

Continued