The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects will battle the St. Louis Blues’ prospects at 3:30 PM EDT this afternoon, with both teams hoping to secure their first win at the Wings’ prospect tournament 2019.
If you wish to watch the game, you have two options. The Red Wings will be streaming their broadcast on YouTube…
And Fox Sports GO will be airing the game at this web address.
You can follow along statistically on PointStreak, too. Enjoy the game!
As noted this morning, Red Wings prospect netminder Filip Larsson won’t be participating in the Red Wings’ prospect tournament for precautionary reasons after feeling soreness in his groin. Larsson spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji regarding his situation:
“I had groin issues last year,” Larsson said after the team’s optional morning skate at Centre Ice Arena. “I went pretty hard this summer. The last three weeks for almost two hours a day. It got a little bit sore. So because of what happened last year, I’m taking it easy so nothing happens again. But as you can see out there, I can go 100 percent so it’s nothing big. We’re just taking it easy.”
Larsson worked extensively with goaltending coach Jeff Salajko Saturday morning and has been on the ice every day.
Of course, most players prefer games to practice but Larsson is keeping the big picture in mind.
“Yeah, it’s unlucky,” Larsson said. “I’ve been over here for a month now, training with all the guys. It’s sucks to miss it. I came here to prepare for this tournament, so it sucks not being here. I’d rather be 100 percent when the season starts. I think I’ll be practicing with the team in a few days. It feels good.”
The Detroit Red Wings will face a heavy road this afternoon, hoping to rebound from a 5-4 OT loss to Chicago against a St. Louis Blues team that was embarrassed 7-2 by Toronto last night. Today’s game takes place at 3:30 PM, and will air on Fox Sports GO and the Red Wings’ YouTube channel.
Three forwards, three defensemen and three goaltenders took part in today’s optional practice at Centre ICE Arena, though goalie coaches Jeff Salajko and Brian Mahoney-Wilson, skill development coach Brandon Narauto and Grand Rapids Griffins assistant coaches Matt McDonald and Todd Krygier oversaw their charges.
It’s highly likely that Chad Yetman, Thomas Casey, Troy Loggins, Gustav Berglund and Alec McCrea will be today’s scratches; Jared McIsaac is a ways away due to a shoulder injury; in goal, Kaden Fulcher will start, Anthony Popovich will back him up, and Filip Larsson’s being held out of the tournament due to lingering groin soreness.
I still owe you some assessments, so, bearing in mind that we’re talking about an optional morning skate, here’s what I saw:
Continue reading Impressions from the morning skate ahead of the Red Wings-Blues game at the prospect tournament ’19The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects took a very optional morning skate ahead of today’s game against the St. Louis Blues (3:30 PM on Fox Sports GO), who lost 7-2 to Toronto last night.
Thomas Casey, Chad Yetman and Troy Loggins represented the forwards, Alec McCrea, Gustav Berglund and Jared McIsaac (limited action) represented the Wings’ defense, and probable starter Kaden Fulcher, try-out Anthony Popovich and the injured Filip Larsson (groin) represented the goaltenders.
The players were still put through their paces by no less than 6 Red Wings skill development coaches, and the pace and skill levels evident in the drills was impressive by regular practice standards, never mind an “optional.”
The good news injury-wise is that Filip Larsson is only shut down for precautionary reasons after experiencing tightness in his groin. Larsson spoke with the media after working on his butterfly, his skating and his puckhandling under the guidance of coach Jeff Salajko;
While he was slightly winded, Larsson told us that he came to Detroit early to work with Jimmy Howard for a month, and he’s learning to alter his style slightly in terms of his stance, glove, blocker and stick, understanding that he can’t reach for pucks at the pro level:
Gustav Berglund gave a superb interview, discussing his experiences at the prospect tournament thus far, his adjustment to North American ice and North American pace of play, and he spoke about his status as a “talker” out on the ice:
Finally, Jared McIsaac gave us an update as to how his shoulder is progressing. He can shoot and stickhandle after having reconstructive surgery this past summer for a nagging right shoulder injury, but he’s limited to practicing right now, and he hopes to get back to work in time for the World Junior Championship in December:
Update: The Wings posted partial video interviews with Berglund…
2019 sixth round pick @gustavberglund5 on his first Prospect Tournament with the #RedWings. pic.twitter.com/07Xrph9lP3— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019
Larsson…
.@FilipLarsson30 updates us on his health and summer work outs. #DRWPT pic.twitter.com/MPF3gtPwYU— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019
And McIsaac:
“I’m really happy with how I’m moving along.”
More from @McisaacJared on his shoulder rehab. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/W9F2YySPai— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 7, 2019
The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie the Chicago Blackhawks’ prospects on Friday night, but the Wings weren’t quite able to close the deal, and they lost 5-4 to Chicago in overtime.
If you’ve got two-and-a-half hours, you can watch the game yourself as the Wings made it available on YouTube:
Otherwise, without a statistical site to track player stats any more (I’m not sure what happened in terms of the coverage of the tournament by PointStreak) [edit: there IS a box score up on Pointstreak /end edit], you’ll have to settle for the summaries of the Traverse City Record-Eagle’s James Cook…
The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Jake Atnip spoke with Moritz Seider after the Red Wings prospects‘ morning skate today, and both Atnip and I found that the Red Wings’ 6th overall draft pick this past June is, to say the least, an outgoing, free-spirited fellow:
“I just want to show my skills and my personality,” Seider said. “On one side is being a great guy on the ice but on the other side you have to have great character. I hope I can combine both and accept my role and maybe even lead the way while I am here.
“You want to be one of the best and that is why I am here, I want to perform.”
His performance in Germany was good enough to earn that ROY honor despite appearing in only 29 games due to a shoulder injury. Although this is his first time playing with these teammates and on the smaller NHL rink, Seider isn’t focused on the changes or the pressure.
“First of all you have to be clam and relaxed, there is no pressure,” he said. “I just want to enjoy the time with the boys, I think it is a great group with great chemistry here. I am just here to get better everyday and we just want to win games. I think there is no pressure at all.
“But in the end it’s hockey, you have your abilities to make plays and nothing changes. I should be fine and it will be fun.”
The Red Wings have made the entirety of their broadcast of tonight’s 5-4 OT loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at the prospect tournament 2019 available via YouTube:
The Red Wings’ prospects rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie the Chicago Blackhawks 4-4 during Friday’s prospect tournament game, forcing overtime, where they ultimately lost via a 5-4 decision.
The Wings’ comeback was stirring, with Joe Veleno scoring two gorgeous goals, and Moritz Seider played as advertised (damn well).
After the game, the media spoke with Joe Veleno, who discussed a host of topics regarding his performance, his linemates, Dylan Larkin’s status as a mentor and perhaps a future in politics…
Moritz Seider gave an animated post-game interview, assessing his performance, that of his team, his take on skating among his peers after playing last season in the DEL, and even his dislike for Kirby Dach (kudos to Art Regner for bringing that up)…
And coach Ben Simon assessed the team’s highs and lows, looked toward a quick turnaround as the Wings practice at 9:30 and play St. Louis at 3:30 PM, and the coach pointed out that there may be lineup changes as well:
Via DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji on Twitter, Elite Prospects’ “EP Rinkside” website posted a profile of Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom, and the usually paywall-locked article by Christoffer Hedlund is available for your perusal:
Elmer Söderblom, of the 6-foot-7, 220-pound frame, was among the largest players to hear their name called at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft when the Detroit Red Wings drafted him 159th overall, in the sixth-round.
What Söderblom wasn’t is one of the draft’s most talked-about players, in spite of lurking in the Swedish junior circuits for the last handful of seasons. At the beginning of this year, that meant a plunge from the U18 to U20 SuperElit league in Frölunda’s system.
The Frölunda J20 SuperElit team didn’t offer Söderblom an offensive role, but the towering winger still contributed 17 points (nine goals and eight assists) in 44 regular-season games. In the playoffs, Söderblom kicked it up a notch, scoring four times in six contests.
Söderblom was one of several players on the J20-team that also played for Frölunda’s J18 team during the playoffs — that group had a substantial impact and helped Frölunda’s J18 team capture gold. After the club season, Söderblom joined the Swedish national team for the U18 World Championship, as they won the country’s first gold medal in tournament history, on home turf.
Here is the Red Wings’ “Rink Report” ahead of tonight’s game vs. Chicago (7 PM, streamed here on Fox Sports GO; Fox Sports Detroit posted its master list of links, too)…
And, from DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji’s notebook:
When the Wings take on the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game of the tournament, the top line of Taro Hirose-Joe Veleno-Filip Zadina will already have some familiarity with each other.
“They’re unbelievable players, so I’m really excited to get out there,” Hirose said after Friday’s morning skate at Centre Ice Arena. “We’re been skating together all summer and we’ve talked about playing together and what it would be like so it will be fun tonight to see what it’ll be like.”
The three are also together on one of the power-play units.
“I think it’s good for us because we’ve been practicing together since June or something,” Zadina said. “We know each other really well. It can help us during the game, even during the PP when we actually feel pretty good on the ice right now. It’s very good.”
Wakiji continues, and here are both teams’ lineups, per Wakiji…
Continue reading Red Wings pregame video, Wakiji’s notes, and tonight’s Wings-Hawks lineups