Griffins post game-day preview video ahead of season opener vs. Texas

The Grand Rapids Griffins have posted a game-day preview video ahead of tonight’s season-opener vs. the Texas Stars (8 PM EDT on AHL.tv for free, WOOD Radio):

 

To get ‘half-iced’ is a bad thing

Updated at 4:07 PM: The Free Press’s David Gauruder spoke with the Red Wings regarding a major flaw in their game which may have cost them the 3-2 decision to Columbus last night:

Trapped in their zone most of the way, the Wings failed to generate many chances through forechecking. Dylan Larkin, who assisted on both goals, was the only forward to squeeze off more than two shots against Blue Jackets goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.

Coach Jeff Blashill invented a new word for his team’s predicament.

“It’s the chicken or the egg thing. We call it half-ice,” he said. “If you can half-ice the other team, meaning you forecheck, you stay on top of them, they barely get it out and boom, you jam it right back down their throats, you’re half-icing them. They half-iced us last night.”

A good way to prevent ‘half-icing’ is to win faceoffs, but the Wings were outplayed in that area as well, with Columbus winning 57 percent of them. The Blue Jackets also had twice as many power plays (6-3), in large part because the Wings were scrambling on defense.

“We couldn’t get anything going,” Vanek said. “We struggled on faceoffs, which is a big part because you’re not starting with the puck and then all of a sudden you’re chasing it. You don’t get those puck touches to get (yourself) into the game.”

Continued

Update: The Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa also discusses the issue:

“When you don’t break the puck out of your zone and you’ve played d-zone coverage, you can’t have a fore-check because you’re too tired,” coach Jeff Blashill said Friday, after the Red Wings worked out off the ice, and packed for California.

By the time they get the puck, players need to change lines, he said.

“You have one guy up the ice and two guys kind of lag behind because they’ve changed, or they are tired. They’re not able to create any fore-check pressure.”

Blashill called it “half icing” an opponent, when the fore-check creates so much difficulty, teams play mostly on their half of the ice.

On Thursday, the Blue Jackets half-iced the Red Wings. The Wings, especially as a lineup in transition, need that battle to go mostly the other way.

“I think our lack of fore-check last night had much more to do with our inability to get the puck out of our zone than it had anything to do with the fore-check,” Blashill said. “And, when you can’t fore-check, you can’t create as much. When you end up getting zoned to death, you end up not being able to do too much.”

Articles from practice: Khan speaks with Blashill regarding Hronek, Sulak’s pluck, plus off-day videos

Updated 2x at 4:09 PM: Prior to leaving for a two-game road trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim, the Red Wings updated their injury situation (Jonathan Ericsson won’t play on the road trip, but Niklas Kronwall is nearing a return), and coach Blashill discussed the pluck displayed by Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak with MLive’s Ansar Khan:

“If you’re a young player in this league, you better prove you can stand up for yourself,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “There’s not as much intimidation in the league as there was a number of years ago, but it’s like being on the playground, if you don’t stand up for yourself, you’re going to get picked on all the time.”

“I think Hronek’s got an edge to him big-time. I’ve seen it lots. I saw it in the American League (with the Grand Rapids Griffins). What I like about Sulak, he’s not afraid to throw (Chicago’s) Patrick Kane down like he did in the preseason to help you score a winning goal. You’d love to have as much of that out of your players as possible while maintaining your focus on winning the hockey game.”

Blashill said Dennis Cholowski, who scored a goal, and Hronek stood out among the four rookie defensemen in the game. They manned the points on the power play.

“I thought Hronek had a great game,” Blashill said. “He did a real good job jumping in the play, of making little breakout passes, good job of being hard (to play against). He was out there enough against that heavy line, (Brandon) Dubinsky’s line; it’s a hard line to play against and I thought he did a good job. I’d say all had moments of good and moments of not great.”

Blashill said Sulak, who logged 18:26, got tired.

“He’s got to make sure that he keeps his poise, even as you start to breathe through your eyelids a little bit, which happens when you’re stuck in your end,” Blashill said.

Khan continues, and he posted videos of Blashill and Christoffer Ehn’s off-day remarks, as well as comments from Thomas Vanek:

Continue reading Articles from practice: Khan speaks with Blashill regarding Hronek, Sulak’s pluck, plus off-day videos

Grand Rapids Griffins name Matthew Ford captain; Chris Terry, Wade Megan, Dylan McIlrath, Brian Lashoff to serve as alternate captains

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:


In text form:

FORD RETURNS AS CAPTAIN

The 12th captain in franchise history, Matthew Ford embarks on his second campaign wearing the “C.” The third-year Griffin will be joined by alternate captains Brian Lashoff, Dylan McIlrath, Wade Megan and Chris Terry.

Matthew Ford
Third season as a Griffin…11th year pro…Helped Grand Rapids win the Calder Cup in 2017 as an alternate captain…Compiled 73 points (36-37—73) in 123 games as a Griffin…12 power play goals in 2017-18 tied for the seventh most in franchise history in a single season…Grand Rapids’ active leader in goals…Totaled 379 points (185-194—379) in 603 career AHL contests.

Brian Lashoff
10th season as a Griffin…Ninth year pro…Won the 2013 and 2017 Calder Cups with Grand Rapids, one of only three players in franchise history to be a part of both championships (Mitch Callahan, Nathan Paetsch)…Places second on the Griffins in both Calder Cup Playoff games (73) and regular season games (400)…Became the 126th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted with Detroit and registered his first goal in the same game, 1/21/13 at CBJ…Appeared in 123 career NHL games with the Red Wings.

Dylan McIlrath
Third season as a Griffin…Seventh year pro…Helped Grand Rapids win the 2017 Calder Cup after being acquired via trade in March…2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids…Established a career high with seven goals while tying a career mark with 17 points in 2017-18…Led the Griffins with 119 PIM in 2017-18…10th overall selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers…Appeared in 43 NHL contests between New York and Florida.

Wade Megan
First season as a Griffin…Sixth year pro…In 2016-17 with Chicago, named to the AHL First All-Star Team and won the Willie Marshall Award as the league’s leading goal scorer (33)…Totaled one goal in four NHL appearances with St. Louis…Helped Cincinnati reach the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals in 2014 while playing under head coach Ben Simon.

Chris Terry
First season as a Griffin…10th year pro…Won the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s leading scorer with a career-high 71 points in 2017-18…Named to the 2017-18 AHL First All-Star Team…Selected to the 2016-17 AHL Second All-Star Team…Two-time selection to the AHL All-Star Game (2018, 2012)…Scored 60 or more points five times in his AHL career…Notched 30 or more goals three times in his AHL career…Tallied 38 points in 152 career NHL games between Carolina and Montreal.

Wings prospect Jack Adams discusses ‘moving on’ as he grieves his brother’s passing

Red Wings prospect Jack Adams lost his brother, Mark, recently, and Jack spoke with the Daily Gazette’s Mike MacAdam regarding his attempts to grieve his brother:

So you’re looking at Union College’s 2018-19 season opener at Messa Rink against Army on Saturday with the optimism and the self-assuredness of a 21-year-old pro hockey prospect prepared to show what all the behind-the-scenes offseason grind has produced.

Then your coach shows up at Fox Hall one morning, less than three weeks before the highly anticipated season opener, and says he has to drive you home to Boxford, Mass.

And Jack Adams doesn’t remember much of anything from that car ride, because his older brother, Mark “Roo” Adams Jr., the leading light of Jack’s life, is dead.

A week goes by before Jack picks up a stick or puts on a pair of skates again. He loses 15 pounds.

But Jack Adams will be in his Union Dutchmen uniform Saturday. While the aftermath of his brother’s death lingers, so does the afterglow of his life. It’s a measure of Roo’s enduring impact on his younger brother that Jack Adams is back on campus and raring to go for the Army game, even if he remains befuddled by life and in a deep state of grief.

“I don’t know, just being alone in my house was making me more upset, and I just knew that if I wanted to get ready for Army, then I needed to start skating again, because I was kind of out of shape,” Adams said before practice on Thursday afternoon, sitting on a bench in the Messa Rink lobby in front of a glittering trophy case.

“It was terrible, man. But there was never a thought in my mind that he wouldn’t want me to play. He was my biggest fan.”

Continued

 

It’s technically the ‘Red Wings’ birthday today

Per the NHL on Sirius XM radio:

Update: The Wings’ current players have the giggles, too:

On the empty seats at LCA (for home game 1 of 41, anyway)

Paul Kukla touched upon this issue this morning, and I want to talk about it as well:

According to NHL.com’s game sheet, the announced attendance at last night’s Red Wings-Blue Jackets game was 19,515, but The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline and the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa noted that the rink was…not full:


My understanding is that a significant number of full and partial season-ticket holders did not renew their seats for this season, which is why the Red Wings are aggressively pitching $20 seats and are working very hard to advertise that the product’s trending younger…

But it’s hard to pay X amount for tickets, then pay $15-25 for parking, and pay arena prices for concessions when you’re a single person or pair heading to the rink, never mind a family of 3 or 4.

It’s very, very early, but it appears that the fans don’t feel that the Wings provide enough bang for their buck, and they’re voting with their butts.

I certainly hope that the Wings can sell more tickets as the season progresses, and I hope that the fans feel that they’re getting a solid return on their investment, but I get the feeling that we will be seeing a lot more empty seats this season as the “new rink” excitement has worn off, and the reality of witnessing a mediocre team at top-dollar prices has hit the fan base.

What do you think about the situation?

 

Tweets of note: Griffins open their season tonight; Z on the red carpet and Wings-CBJ stuff; NTDP begins season this evening

Of disparate Twitter note this afternoon:

1. The Grand Rapids Griffins open their regular season in Texas this evening, and you can watch the game for free on AHL.tv:

2. Regarding last night’s game: Continue reading Tweets of note: Griffins open their season tonight; Z on the red carpet and Wings-CBJ stuff; NTDP begins season this evening

Pack-and-go injury updates: Ericsson out for Kings and Ducks games, Kronwall on track to return

The Detroit Red Wings held a team workout at Little Caesars Arena and packed their gear for a road trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim, and after their workout, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill updated the team’s injury situation, per the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa and MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Update: The Red Wings posted some player videos from the post-workout media availability, starting with Thomas Vanek, and continuing with Christoffer Ehn and Trevor Daley before coach Blashill weighed in:

Continue reading Pack-and-go injury updates: Ericsson out for Kings and Ducks games, Kronwall on track to return

Regarding Zach Gallant being named captain of the Peterborough Petes

The Peterborough Examiner’s Mike Davies spoke with Peterborough Petes coach Rob Wilson and Zach Gallant about Gallant’s new status as Peterborough’s captain:

“Ever since the summer Zach has shown that he wanted it,” Wilson said. “He plays a two-way style of game and that dictates a little bit of influence for coaches, guys who can play on both sides of the puck. I really like what he’s been doing with the guys. He’s taking control in the room and on different areas of the ice. We’re really happy with what we’ve seen from Zach.”

“It’s definitely something I was hoping to get,” Gallant said. “It’s a huge responsibility and I want to be able to set the example in the room this year. Especially with what happened last year with how badly things went.”

Gallant said he wants the team to be close.

“I want to make sure guys are getting together off the ice and doing the little things to make sure we have good team cohesion this year,” Gallant said. “I’m not saying we haven’t had it in the past but we just want to have a better year than we did last year.”

He also he sees his role as holding players accountable.

“Making sure we’re working hard on a daily basis and trying to eliminate the complaining and the complacency.”

Continued