The Malik Report

Having watched Tomas Nosek lead the Grand Rapids Griffins in goals and points during last year’s Calder Cup Championship run, I could only smile and wonder what could have been as Nosek scored 2 goals in the Vegas Golden Knights’ 6-4 win over Washington last night.

Nosek was all but guaranteed to be the player plucked off the Wings’ roster during the expansion draft due to his age and contract (in hindsight, Petr Mrazek being exposed meant very little other than a symbolic wake-up call, and Riley Sheahan’s ups and downs were evident).

It was a little disappointing to see the Wings expose Nosek, not because he’s magically going to be a 1st line center at the NHL level, but because he could’ve stabilized the third and fourth lines as a support player who is willing to play a supporting role–and teams need those kinds of players to succeed.

As the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner noted, Nosek pulled off a bit of a statistical feat during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final:

Last year, on June 2, Nosek was playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins and delivered the game-winning goal with 13.9 seconds remaining in the third period of Game 1 of the Calder Cup Championship. The Griffins defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 and went on to win the series in six games.

The 25-year-old Nosek, playing on the fourth line, actually scored two goals for the Knights in third period. His game-winner came at the 9:44 mark off a feed in front from defenseman Shea Theodore. He also landed an empty-netter with three seconds remaining.

“This is another level, so it feels great,” Nosek said via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “We tried to keep the things simple and go hard to the net. I think that’s what made us good in the third period. We have to keep doing that. Just keep things simple and be hard on the forecheck and create some chaos in there.”

Wallner continues; again, I’m not suggesting that Nosek is a star in the making, but the Golden Knights’ version of a “Grind Line” (with Ryan Reaves of all people and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) is proving again that a strong checking line is an essential part of a winning machine.

I’m glad that Nosek is succeeding on the 4th line in Vegas, and it was neat to see him score two key goals last night.

 

The Red Wings’ amateur scouts and key members of the front office are spending this week in Buffalo, New York to interview and watch players taking part in the NHL’s draft combine. MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Wings assistant GM Ryan Martin regarding the team’s strategy for the week:

The Red Wings are scheduled to meet individually with about 70 players in 25-minute sessions that began Monday and run through Friday at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The event concludes on the weekend with strength and fitness testing.

General manager Ken Holland, assistant GM Ryan Martin, assistant Kris Draper, director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright, chief amateur scout Jeff Finley and area scouts are meeting with prospects.

“It’s a chance for us to see what makes them tick, sort of a job interview process,” Martin said. “It might cause us to shift the list a little bit in terms of what we’ve seen on the ice. By this point, we’ve been watching these players, in some cases 2-3 years, and over the course of that time you’re meeting with coaches, trainers, teammates, billet families, strength coaches, people that have had contact with these players throughout their lives, parents perhaps. You’re painting a picture. This is not something that is put together over one season, it’s typically multiple seasons. At this point of the year, most of these players, if not all, we will have already interviewed once or more throughout the year.”

Khan and Martin continue at length, and this is an intriguing read…

The Athletic’s Craig Custance engaged in a Q and A with The Russian Five’s director, Joshua Riehl:

Craig Custance: I saw the documentary at the world premiere and it was great. I’m not sure I’ve ever been part of a movie experience where the crowd kept breaking into loud cheers throughout the middle of the movie. What was it like to see that from your perspective?

Joshua Riehl: It was surreal. On the one hand, it kind of washed over me. Because I was like, ‘Is the aspect ratio good? How’s the sound here?’ Towards the second half of the film, and I was like, ‘This is playing well,’ I made it a point where I wanted to watch the brawl (vs. Avalanche) from the front of the theater, just so I could feel the crowd. It was really incredible. That is a rare experience for any filmmaker. My producers, who have done a lot of documentaries and a lot of films, are teasing me: ‘It’s your first feature doc, first premiere and it’ll never get any better the rest of your career. You started at the top of the mountain. Prepare for disappointment the rest of your life.’

Hopefully they’re wrong. The coolest thing is when Vladdy (Konstantinov) was acknowledged and the crowd gave him a cheer — ‘Vladdy! Vladdy!’ That’s kind of why I made the movie. That’s why I kept persevering over every obstacle, and there were so many of them. I had a vision of Vladdy at the premiere, the crowd chanting his name and him basking in the hometown love one more time. To realize that, it was the most amazing thing of the whole night.

Continued (paywall)…

 

MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke with Red Wings vice president Jimmy Devellano regarding the Stanley Cup Final, Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant’s playing and coaching career. Devellano tells Khan that Gallant’s persistence has paid off:

“In Columbus, he didn’t have a chance, the team was a real expansion team,” Devellano said. “In Florida, he got the team to perform above and beyond what anybody else had been able to do there. Then one bad start next season and they decide to push him out.

“A lot of young people in hockey will reach out to me and ask me questions when they’ve been fired, or something hasn’t worked out. This is what I tell them: Failure doesn’t have to be final. I’m living proof. I had bad times in my early years in Detroit. I got fired by the St. Louis Blues as a scout and here I am, 51 years later, 75 years old, and still in the game because I kept fighting. That’s Gerard Gallant. So it’s a nice story and we’re all happy for him.”

Continued

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Martin Frk’s 2017-18 season this morning:

25 – Frk finished the season with 11 goals and 14 assists. His 25 points tied him for 23rd among rookies. Calgary’s Mark Jankowski, New Jersey’s Blake Coleman, Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot and Los Angeles’ Alex Iafallo also had 25 points.

5 – Five of Frk’s 11 goals came on the power play, which tied him for seventh among rookies. Arizona’s Christian Fischer, Philadelphia’s Nolan Patrick, the New York Islanders’ Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal and Colorado’s Tyson Jost and Alexander Kerfoot all had five power-play goals. Only Anthony Mantha with nine and Tomas Tatar with eight had more man-advantage goals for Detroit.

Wakiji continues, and AWood40 posted a clip of Frk’s 9 2017-18 season goals:

 

According to the WHL’s website, while the Laval Titan captured the Memorial Cup on Sunday, but Red Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher was named the tournament’s best goaltender:

Kaden Fulcher of the Hamilton Bulldogs earned the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Goaltender. The prospect of the Detroit Red Wings went 2-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. In the alumni department, part 1: Via the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan on Twitter: Johan Franzen’s wife, Cissi, posted an article on her blog, “Franzen Residence,” in which she states that Franzen is undergoing treatment at the University of Colorado’s Marcus Brain Health Institute.

The institute treats military servicepeople with traumatic brain injuries, and Franzen’s never been able to kick his post-concussive issues, so Cissi says that Johan is the first athlete to be treated by the team at “The Marcus.”

Here’s wishing Johan better health. He’s probably never going to be symptom-free, but if he and his family can enjoy a better quality of life, that would be tremendous.

I’ve had my share of concussions and post-concussion issues, so this is something where I can relate to what Johan’s had to go through 🙁

2. Also in the alumni department, the Free Press had sportswriter Adam Candee check in with Tomas Tatar earlier on Sunday; on Sunday night, Helene St. James wrote up her Stanley Cup Final preview, and Candee spoke with Vegas coach Gerard Gallant regarding the Wings’ deep playoff runs in the late 80’s:

Led by four consecutive seasons of 34 goals or more from Gallant, those stellar Red Wings teams of the late-80’s advanced as far as the Western Conference finals. There, they ran into the Edmonton Oilers dynasty led by Wayne Gretzky.

“Gretzky was incredible and that team was incredible,” Gallant said. “As good as we were in Detroit, we knew we weren’t going to win. That was the sad part: You knew you were going to play your best and compete, but you weren’t going to win, so it didn’t matter what happened.”

The Great One ended Gallant’s dreams of winning a Stanley Cup as a player, but his chance to win as a coach starts Monday against Washington.

“It’s a dream come true, obviously,” Gallant said. “From the time you’re 6 years old watching Hockey Night in Canada back home to win the Stanley Cup. I haven’t won one yet. This is the closest I’ve ever been.”

Candee continues…

3. And finally, regarding the present-day Wings, AWood40 posted the 2017-18 season goals of Trevor Daley (all 9 of them), Mike Green (8) and Tyler Bertuzzi (7):

 

The Detroit Free Press asked sportswriter Adam Candee to ask Vegas Golden Knights forward Tomas Tatar about his trade from the Detroit Red Wings and what Tatar thinks about his team’s playoff run:

“The start was pretty hard,” Tatar said. “You don’t know much about Vegas from outside of Vegas. I didn’t really know where to go or what to do. It was my first trade, so it was a little stressful.”

The real culture shock for the former Red Wings forward was fitting into the locker room and lineup of a tight-knit Golden Knights team riding a fairy-dust train to the best expansion season in NHL history.

“A lot of guys are playing with a lot of confidence, that’s for sure,” Tatar said of the difference between Detroit and Vegas. “We have a really fast team here. I was really surprised — everybody’s a great skater. It’s just a good group of guys in the locker room as well. This team has everything that it takes to win and we are one step away from it.”

The Wings, meanwhile, have missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons and have not advanced beyond the first round since 2013. Those struggles led Detroit to deal Tatar and his $5.3 million salary to Vegas for three draft picks at the NHL trade deadline.

Tatar could not pinpoint how his old team might borrow from the Vegas formula, but noted the Golden Knights’ chemistry.

“Every team, every locker room is a little different. Every team needs something different (to) have that winning recipe,” Tatar said. “The only thing that I can say here is that everybody is just having fun and everybody is enjoying it, which I think is great. Nobody’s really worried about stuff outside.”

Candee continues, and he posted a video of Tatar’s remarks:

 

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. The Red Wings signed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom to a 3-year entry-level contract on Friday, but Lindstrom will remain in Sweden for at least another year or two as he’s signed with the SHL’s Frolunda Indians.

That being said, Lindstrom was playing hockey in the Swedish version of the AHL, the Allsvenskan, with Almtuna last season. As such, Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright told Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff that Lindstrom is a step ahead of the normal developmental curve:

What is Lindstrom, and what should Wings fans expect from him in the future? That’s hard to say at this point in his development, but he has spent the last two seasons, playing for Almtuna IS in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second division, and that could give him a leg up over North American prospects playing junior and college hockey. Lindstrom collected 14 points in 39 games this season, including six goals, which gave him a share of the team lead among defensemen.

“He’s playing against men already,” Red Wings director of amateur scouting Tyler Wright said. “As far as their development, they’re exposed an earlier age. You’re forced to grow up a little faster and forced to grow up a little more physically.”

As to his immediate future, the 6-2, 187-pound Lindstrom, 19, who is also a right-hand shot, always coveted along the blueline, will remain in his homeland. He will take a step up in competition, skating for Frolunda HC in the Swedish Elite League during the 2018-19 season.

“He’s just a real solid, steady, puck-moving guy,” Wright said. “A good heads-up player, who jumps into the play at times, and plays a 200-foot game. I think you just can’t have enough of those guys who can skate and move pucks.”

Duff continues, and Lindstrom posted a picture of himself on Twitter:

Dream come true to have signed my first NHL contract with @DetroitRedWings.

Thanks for all kind of words and to everyone who has helped me along the way. #lgrw pic.twitter.com/kgh8OEM3fn

— Gustav Lindström (@Glindstroom) May 26, 2018

2. Regarding drafts of the past couple seasons, the Free Press’s Helene St. James examines the Wings’ 2015 draft haul today, and she spotlights Evgeny Svechnikov:

Continue reading Three Things: On Gustav Lindstrom, Evgeny Svechnikov and Martin Frk’s 2017-18 goals

At the Mastercard Memorial Cup:

Red Wings prospect Kaden Fulcher stopped 20 of 23 shots, but his Hamilton Bulldogs fell to the host Regina Pats in the Memorial Cup semifinal, losing by a 4-2 score.

The Mastercard Memorial Cup’s website posted a highlight clip, post-game clip of Regina players speaking with the media, Sportsnet’s RJ Broadhead and Sam Cosentino’s takes and Jeff Marek, Colby Armstrong and Todd Warrener’s panel commentary.