Kulfan, Niyo interview Evan Bouchard, preview the draft

The NHL draft offers a rare opportunity to pursue an avenue of discussion that one simply can’t regarding free agents or trades–there is no “tampering,” so you can openly ask a player what they’d think about going to team X.

It’s no secret that the scuttlebutt around the Red Wings suggests that the team is leaning toward drafting London Knights defenseman Evan Bouchard 6th overall in Dallas next month, and so, the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took that idea to a we-can-actually-have-this-conversation conclusion;

Kulfan spoke with Bouchard about possibly being drafted by the Red Wings, he spoke with TSN’s Craig Button about Bouchard’s “fit” with the Wings, and Kulfan and fellow scribe John Niyo made Bouchard the focus of a pre-draft podcast, also bringing in NTDP players Oliver Wahlstrom, Joel Farabee and Mattias Samuelsson for interviews. It’s all very clever and very well-done.

Here’s what Bouchard had to say to Kulfan in text form:

“It would be very exciting to become a Red Wing,” said Bouchard, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-shot defenseman who had a familiarity with the Wings’ former rink. “I’ve been to a few games at Joe Louis Arena. When I was younger I was able to skate on it (on the ice). It was obviously special.”

Bouchard is generally considered a lock to be a top-10 selection in June’s draft — something that was no sure thing entering the season.

But in 67 games this season Bouchard had 25 goals and 62 assists, while averaging over 25 minutes per game.

In his third season of junior hockey Bouchard took advantage of a bigger role given to him by the coaching staff and thrived, going from a possible late-first round selection to being a lottery pick.

A committed, sweat-drenched summer working and preparing for this past season helped, too.

“I knew it was a big year for me,” Bouchard said. “I worked hard to get where I am now, and the confidence building into the third year, when guys (on London left for the NHL) there was a leadership role for me. The coaches and teammates supported me, and it helped me having the team we had and the teammates I had.”

Kulfan continues, speaking with Craig Button about Bouchard’s profile before wrapping things up with Bouchard…

And in audio/video form, Kulfan and Niyo speak about the draft for 45 minutes, starting with Bouchard and Button, and then moving on to the trio of U.S. NTDP program prospects:

Again, I’m impressed with both the effort and ingenuity involved in asking the probably-favored pick whether he’d like to come to Detroit and profiling him in-person. Smart stuff.

 

Toledo Walleye’s 18-19 season schedule released

The ECHL released its 2018-19 season schedule today, and the Toledo Walleye’s schedule is available for view.

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe offers some highlights thereof:

The Toledo Walleye will open their 10th season with five consecutive road games.

Toledo will begin the 2018-19 season at Greenville on Oct. 12-13, then have single games at Indy, Cincinnati, and Fort Wayne before hosting the rival Komets for the home opener Oct. 27.

Toledo plays just one home game in October but has 10 in March.

The Walleye will play Fort Wayne 11 times, with six games at the Huntington Center and five at Memorial Coliseum. The Komets knocked the Walleye out of the playoffs in six games in the Central Division final series earlier this month.

Toledo once again will be a member of the Central Division with the Komets. The bulk of the team’s games will come against Fort Wayne and fellow division foes Kalamazoo (12 games), Cincinnati (9), Indy (8), and Wheeling (8).

The Walleye also will play Brampton nine times.

Monroe continues…

Red Wings at the World Championship: Nyquist’s Swedes advance; Nielsen’s Danes bow out

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Gustav Nyquist had an assist, finishing even with 2 shots in 14:11 played during Sweden’s 3-1 win over Russia at the World Championship…

 

And Denmark bowed out as hosts of the World Championship, losing 1-0 to Latvia. Frans Nielsen finished at -1 with 2 shots in 19:36 played.


Here’s the upcoming schedule:

Sweden won Group A and will play Latvia on Thursday at 2:15 PM;

Team USA will play the Czech Republic at 10:15 AM;

Red Wings at the World Championship: Team USA loses to Finland, will face Czechs on Thursday

At the World Championship in Demark:

Team USA had a rough day, and it cost them a first-round bye in the World Championship’s playoff format.

Dylan Larkin finished at -3 with 2 shots in 20:33 played, and Nick Jensen finished at -1 in 10:58 played as Team USA lost 6-3 to Finland.

Here’s Team USA’s website’s recap:

Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Derek Ryan (Spokane, Wash.) both scored but the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team fell to Finland, 6-2, in its final preliminary round game of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship. With a goal and an assist tonight, Kane has now set U.S. records for both points (17) and assists (11) in a single Men’s World Championship.

“I thought we came out and played good hockey at the start of the game before a few bounces didn’t go our way and that was the real difference,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team. “We’ve said from the start that we want to learn and improve every game, and you can’t do that without facing some adversity. It’s important for us to learn from this and build as we turn our attention to Thursday and facing a real good Czech team.”

The United States (4-2-0-1/W-OTW-OTL-L), which finished second in Group B play, will meet the Czech Republic in Thursday’s (May 17) quarterfinals at a time yet to be determined. The game will be televised live on NHL Network.

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan also filed a recap…

“We came out and played good hockey at the start of the game before a few bounces didn’t go our way and that was the real difference,” Blashill told reporters afterward. “We’ve said from the start that we want to learn and improve every game, and you can’t do that without facing some adversity.”

Team USA finished second in Group B play and will face the Czech Republic (6-1-0, 3 shootout victories) Thursday in a quarterfinal game at a time to be determined (it will be televised live by NHL Network).

“It’s important for us to learn from this and build as we turn our attention to Thursday and facing a real good Czech team,” Blashill said.

As did the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

USA’s Detroit Red Wings will appear in the quarterfinals of the World Championship, though the final tuneup was something of a dud.

The squad fell, 6-2, to Finland on Tuesday, losing for the first time in seven round-robin games at the tournament in Herning and Copenhagen, Denmark. That comes after the Jeff Blashill-coached team began the event with a victory over fellow Group B member Canada.

The Finns secured first place in Group B, while the U.S. will finish second. That pits the U.S. against the Czech Republic on Thursday. The Czechs feature a pair of Wings defense prospects in Libor Sulak and Filip Hronek.

MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a recap, too, and the IIHF’s website posted a highlight clip…

 While Team USA’s website posted a post-game clip:

Joe Louis Arena’s seat sale precursor to liquidation of other assets

The Free Press’s Allie Gross spoke with the manager of the asset management company that’s taking Joe Louis Arena apart, discussing the company’s sale of seats and everything else that is and/or isn’t nailed down inside the Joe:

Miedema, an asset management company hired to decommission the arena, anticipates that it will net the city $1 million with the sale of the seats.  While the arena has 20,066 seats, not every chair is sellable.

“We’re essentially selling armchairs, not seats,” said Brennen Lubbers, operations Manager for Miedema, explaining that if everyone bought “pairs” of seats there would be a 20% loss. Because people are buying in an assortment of groupings, it’s something of a logistical puzzle figuring out how to deconstruct the arena. Especially with some individuals requesting specific seats.

Lubbers is liquidating the rink’s assets:

After the sale of the seats — of which Lubbers estimates that they will ultimately sell 14,000 — his company will move on to selling compressors, boilers, the HVAC unit, signs and the scoreboard.

A few items left in the building are marked with the Red Wings logo. Miedema hopes to be able to sell these, but they would need to get Olympia Development’s permission first.

Mike Ilitch purchased the Red Wings in 1982 from Bruce Norris, so while the city owns the stadium — built in the 1970s to stop Norris from moving the team to Pontiac — Olympia owns the logo.

According to Lubbers, Olympia “cannibalized” the building when it left, cutting out anything it could sell or repurpose, including a Red Wings logo in the carpet of the locker room. What is left belongs to the city and is up to Miedema to monetize.

“Anything that can be sold for the city, we will sell for the city,” he said.

Continued, and the Free Press posted a gallery of seat-buying fans….

Khan issues updates on the Wings’ goaltending prospects, Coreau and McCollum’s futures

MLive’s Ansar Khan both received an update on the progress made by the Red Wings’ top goaltending prospects and an update on the future of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ goaltenders. The latter half of the update might be of more interest:

The Red Wings will discuss the futures of Grand Rapids goaltenders Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum at their pro scouting meetings next month.

It’s highly unlikely both will return, since they want to move in at least one younger goalie, whether it’s Fulcher or a free agent. They might offer a contract to one of Coreau or McCollum, but chances are both will hit free agency July 1 to see what’s available.

“(McCollum) would like to find an organization where he can compete for the backup job or at least No. 3,” Martin said.

The Red Wings let him know he won’t get that opportunity in Detroit.

Coreau, despite his struggles when recalled (0-5-1, 4.26 GAA, .867 save percentage), could still be in the mix for a job in Grand Rapids, with the opportunity to be the organization’s No. 3 goalie.

Khan continues…

Shea on the Supreme Court’s sports betting decision

Crain’s Detroit Business’s Bill Shea attempts to “handicap” the Supreme Court’s decision to no longer federally ban sports betting as the decision applies to Detroit’s sports teams and owners:

PASPA is the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, better known as the Bradley Act. That’s the law the court struck down as unconstitutional on Monday. The law made just about every type of sports bet illegal except those made in licensed sports books in Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon, along with wagering at horse and dog tracks.

Monday’s decision returns the power to regulate sports wagering to the states, several of which already have legislation established in anticipation of the decision. Michigan is not one of them, but does have bills that were introduced last year.

How the court decision could affect MotorCity Casino Hotel and Greektown Casino-Hotel (to be rebranded Jack Detroit Casino-Hotel later this year) remains to be seen.

Because MotorCity is owned by Marian Ilitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings, and Greektown owner Dan Gilbert also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers, any sports wagering operation at those casino would be barred from allowing bets on those teams, for fear of undermining the integrity of the game.

Major League Baseball and the National Football League forbid team owners for having any stake in gambling operations of any sort. That’s why Ilitch isn’t an owner of the Detroit Tigers, which are owned by her late husband’s trust and run by her son, Chris Ilitch.

Continued

 

Custance on the shape of the Wings to come

The Athletic’s Craig Custance penned an article discussing which members of the Red Wings will return for certain for the 2018-19 season, which players could be traded for other assets, and which players will not return to the Wings’ roster:

The Detroit Red Wings’ roster is a mix of young players and veterans on questionable long-term contracts, which means there won’t be a ton of turnover. The rebuild will happen gradually, as bad contracts are burned off and young players are eased into their opportunities.

So next season will be very much like this one for Red Wings fans. It’s going to be measured on the growth of important young players rather than points in the standings. If a couple young defensemen establish themselves as NHL players, like Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha did this past season, that bodes well for where things are headed in Detroit.

Still, there’s going to be turnover. There’s going to be debate on who should be moved. There will be opportunity for trades. With that in mind, here’s a look at every player on the Red Wings’ roster and whether they’ll be back when training camp opens…

Custance continues at significant length, and I’d be interested to hear who your “untouchables,” trade bait and “farewells” are…

Team USA’s website notes that Dylan Larkin is climbing the U.S. scoring charts

Of note from Team USA’s website ahead of the Americans’ final game of round-robin play at the World Championship, tomorrow morning against Finland (6 AM EDT on the NHL Network):

LARKIN SETS U.S. RECORD, KANE TIES ANOTHER
With assists in last night’s 9-3 victory over Norway, alternate captain Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) set a new U.S. record and captain Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y.) tied a U.S. record in Men’s World Championship play. With two assists last night, Larkin set a new U.S. career record for most assists in Men’s World Championship play with 21. Right behind him is Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.), whose assist last night gives him 20 all-time now. Additionally, Kane’s assist gave him his 10th in the tournament, matching Max Pacioretty (2012) and Craig Smith (2013) for most assists by a U.S. player in a single men’s world championship.

GAUDREAU, LARKIN EYE JOHNSON’S ALL-TIME POINTS RECORD
All-time, forward Johnny Gaudreau (Salem, N.J.) has now tallied 29 career points (9-20) in 22 Men’s World Championship games, which is tied with Paul Coppo for fourth all-time. Just behind him is alternate captain Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.), who holds 28 points (7-11) and is tied with Dustin Brown and Bob Miller for fifth. The record for most career points by a U.S. player in Men’s World Championship history is Mark Johnson, 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team gold medalist, who tallied 33 (15-18) in 61 games.