Hello. I’m sorry for the interruption in service over the past two days, but I’ve been suffering from a severe and sustained anxiety attack. I’ve taken extra medication to no avail, and am going to see my therapist today to try to “talk it out.” I hope to return today but will see how things play out. At present I’m in a lot of pain and feel severe fatigue, as is predictable with these attacks.
Free Press’s Samuelssen suggests that the Wings’ rebuild is underway
The Free Press’s Jamie Samuelssen (who also hosts the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 the Ticket) wrote a very long column this morning, discussing his expectations for the Red Wings as the rebuild progresses this season:
You look at the Detroit Red Wings. You look at the division. You look at the conference. And you realize this season may bear a strong resemblance to last season. There will be pain. There will be losses. And barring a ton of things going right, there will be a third consecutive year without making it to the postseason.
And that’s fine. The Red Wings need players, and a first-round exit in the playoffs would benefit this team less than adding another top prospect. The motto “Lose for Hughes” (Michigan product Jack Hughes) has gained steam already among Red Wings fans. When we interviewed Holland on the radio Thursday morning, he understood the sentiment, but wasn’t about to talk about anything other than his team winning as many games as they possibly can.
Holland is also doing his job this year under the shadow of Steve Yzerman who stepped down as the Lightning GM last month and will essentially be a free agent after the season. Nobody knows what he wants to do next. Nobody knows what the Red Wings want to do next. But the facts are Yzerman’s family lives in Michigan, and his track record has been much better than Holland’s over the past five years.
Whatever off-ice drama takes place behind the scenes should have little effect on what happens on the ice. The Red Wings have a talented, young team which should delight us on certain nights and frustrate us on others. Did I mention they were young?
Here’s the good thing about watching the Red Wings this season: When we watch them on the ice, we know we are watching the future right here in Detroit. Sure, there are some holdovers from the past like Darren Helm, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson. But for the most part, you know whenever the Red Wings are a playoff team again, you are watching a core group of players that will get them there.
An ‘urban legend’ about Henrik Zetterberg
Among Sportsnet’s Luke Fox’s weekly notes:
There is an urban legend about Henrik Zetterberg, and it goes like this: Whenever the Red Wings were offered a day off in a fun road city if they won that night, Zetterberg would absolutely explode on the score sheet.
Last fall in Vegas — when no one could beat the Knights at home — Zetterberg scored four points in Sin City with a bad back for a bad team. That’s captain material.
Detroit had two days off afterwards. Must’ve been fun. The Wings followed that victory on The Strip with six straight losses.
Nice touch by the Wings, bringing Zetterberg over from Sweden to drop the puck at Thursday’s home opener in Detroit.
“They’re looking to pass the torch to other guys,” long-serving former coach Babcock said. “I know when Stevie and Shanny left that year, they passed it on to Z and Pav and Nick, and they did just fine with it. So I imagine that, as a storied franchise, that they’ll retool and they’ll be ready to go.”
Continued with mostly Leafs stuff…
Wakiji chronicles the family reactions to debuts of Cholowski, Ehn and Rasmussen
DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji spoke with the families of Dennis Cholowski, Christoffer Ehn and Michael Rasmussen on Thursday, chronicling the in-the-stands reaction to the trio of players’ NHL debuts:
Playing in your first National Hockey League game is a special event for any player, but when you get to share it with the ones who made it possible, it makes a fantastic experience an absolutely unreal one.
At 7:46 of the second period in Thursday night’s home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Red Wings rookie defenseman Dennis Cholowski scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, setting off a raucous celebration in section 117 of Little Caesars Arena.
Cholowski’s parents, John and Natalie, his older brother, Fred, his aunt, Carrie Light, and his girlfriend, Brooke Kudirka were all high-fiving and hugging everyone in range.
“Absolutely over the moon,” Fred Cholowski said. “I mean, it’s surreal alone having him play his first NHL game and being here. The goal is just the icing on the cake. He was in the perfect position, it was the perfect shot and I’m so glad I was here to see it.”
Prospect round-up: Griffins drop opener to Texas; Walleye win preseason game vs. K-Zoo
Of prospect-related note:
In the AHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins opened their regular season with a 3-1 loss to the Texas Stars. Matthew Ford scored the Griffins’ only goal, and Harri Sateri stopped 18 of 20 shots.
I watched some of the game on AHL TV (they’ve got a free preview going this weekend), and as I said on Twitter:
THN’s Kennedy posts ‘Top 75’ NCAA prospect list, and 5 Red Wings prospects made his cut
The Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy posted a list of his top 75 NCAA-playing prospects, and five Red Wings picks made Kennedy’s list:
20. Filip Larsson, Denver: Starts the season on the shelf, but once he’s healthy, the Detroit Red Wings pick will give the Pioneers great protection in the crease. Larsson was a beast in the USHL last year.
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45. Jack Adams, Union: The 6-foot-5 right winger will get more dangerous as his college career progresses and his frame fills out. Big-time scorer in the USHL is a Dutchmen sophomore and Detroit Red Wings pick.
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56. Chase Pearson, Maine: Named captain as a sophomore, the Detroit Red Wings prospect returns as junior with the ‘C’ on his jersey. Pearson blends size and skill to make things happen for the Black Bears.
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68. Keith Petruzzelli, Quinnipiac: Last year was a bit of a nightmare for the skyscraper goalie, but he was just a freshman. Now the Detroit Red Wings pick returns with a chance to make amends.
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73. Seth Barton, UMass-Lowell: A two-way defenseman with nice size, Barton joins the RiverHawks from the BCHL. He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings after getting passed over in 2017.
Wings’ youth movement requires some ‘talking’ by the veterans
The Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa reports that Red Wings veteran Thomas Vanek feels that the increased presence of young players on the team requires some clarification in terms of systems and plays:
Vanek, a 14-year veteran, can improve teammates with his playmaking and knowledge. Wings coach Jeff Blashill said that Vanek came into the coaches’ offices recently to fetch a pad of paper with ice diagrams to draw up some face-off situations for his young teammates.
“For us to win, they’ve got to be good,” Vanek said. “There’s going to be a learning curve, for sure. But, at the same time, they are all smart hockey players.”
But, clearly, he had anticipated a problem. The Red Wings were 29 percent on the draw in the first, and only 43 percent by the end. Andreas Athanasiou and Dylan Larkin were a combined 13-for-21.
“If you’re losing face-offs constantly and you are chasing the puck and, slowly, you get frustrated,” Vanek said. “And, I think we saw that in our game last night. But I think those are things you can address pretty simply. It’s nothing too major that we cannot correct. We’ll get better.”
One remedy is communicating on the bench.
“The one big thing is we have to constantly talk after every shift, to say, ‘Where were you at?’ to get that chemistry. But, last night, there wasn’t much talking because we barely had the puck,” Vanek said. “It starts with the face-off, but it’s our forecheck and how we break the puck out.”
’70 years of 7′: Brad Galli talks about covering the Red Wings
WXYZ Channel 7 is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, and part of their countdown to their anniversary celebration includes a 3-minute clip of sports broadcaster Brad Galli discussing his job covering the team he watched growing up in Metro Detroit:
Long walks on the beach? Road trip = bonding time
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner filed a notebook article in which the Wings discussed the benefits of road trips for team bonding…2018 style:
With so many new faces on the Red Wings, perhaps it’s a good thing Detroit is headed on the road to play back-to-back games against the Kings and Ducks.
Though it’s an odd early season trip out west, Blashill does see the benefits the trip could have in helping his younger team bond.
“I would say, guys would tell you throughout the history of sports, when you get to go on the road together, especially in today’s sports where everybody has their own room, it’s just a different animal maybe than it was a number of years ago where you’d go to the bar after practice and hang out. You don’t do that,” Blashill said. “So, the fact you can get on the road a little bit and hang out, it can create a bond. I don’t know that they’re going to go to the bar. Seriously, getting on the road gives yourself a chance to have some bonding.
“The fact we have a whole bunch of new guys, I think it can only help to spend some time together. You got a long flight, you got time out to dinner, not at the bar. It should be good there on the beach, taking walks.”
Detroit defenseman Trevor Daley is looking forward to getting on the road with his teammates; though bonding is an important element on road trips, the veteran blueliner also likes the Wings’ destination.
“I’ve been on the West coast most of my career, so I’m kind of used to it,” Daley said. “It’s a chance for the boys to get out on the road and do some team bonding and get together. It’s not a bad thing, we’re out in California, it’s not the worst place to be.”
Regner continues, and I’m pretty sure guys go out to dinner together, still, but late nights at the bar are rarities these days.
? Los Angeles, CA #LGRW pic.twitter.com/7YR0sljeOH
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 6, 2018
Jonathan Bernier’s 2018-19 mask is spotlighted by DaveArt
DaveArt, a.k.a. David Gunnarsson, posted a picture of Jonathan Bernier’s 2018-19 season mask: