As WOOD TV8 notes, the news that Little Caesars Arena will be replacing its red seats with black ones isn’t all bad news:

A Grand Rapids company will be replacing over 18,000 seats in the home of the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings.

Little Caesars Arena announced Monday that it will begin swapping out its 18,600 red seats with black ones in December.

Crain’s Detroit reported Tuesday that Irwin Seating Co. will be the company doing the job. Irwin also installed the original red seating.

The venue began using black seat covers last season after the empty red seats drew attention on telecasts. Covers will remain on the seats until the changeover process begins.

Of Twitter-related note this morning:

Join former @DetroitRedWings Defenseman @jason15woolley & friends for a night of support for the Dyer Family! Lineup to be announced soon! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/cx6SmdXGYa

— DetroitRedWingAlumni (@RedWingAlumni) October 9, 2018

Student & Military rush is ON for Thursday Night’s battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena! Grab your seats now! ? #LGRW

Student: https://t.co/fsz6bBNzJu
Military: https://t.co/LqOPMm3aLd pic.twitter.com/R3BCfIAvea

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 9, 2018

Inside Hockeytown tonight 9 til 11. @patcaputo98 and @KenKalDRW Questions and opinions about start of Red Wings and NHL season. Free pair of tickets, too. https://t.co/er1CG7OsN4

— 97.1 The Ticket (@971theticketxyt) October 9, 2018

Continue reading Tuesday morning Tweets of note: An alumni game set-up, Wings and Walleye stuff and an ironic birthday →

Of prospect-related note from the time in which I was sidelined:

On Saturday, in the AHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins were shut out 4-0 by the San Antonio Rampage. The Griffins’ website posted a recap and photo gallery from the game; the Rampage’s website posted a recap.

In the ECHL, the Toledo Walleye beat the Kalmazoo K-Wings 8-5 in an exhibition game held at the Huntington Center. The Walleye’s website posted a recap, as did the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe; Toledo and Grand Rapids both open their regular seasons on Friday, October 12th. Continue reading Prospect round-up: Catching up with a busy weekend →

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

1. Fox Sports Detroit posted its inside-the-locker-room video from the 1st intermission of Monday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim:

2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James wrote a recap discussing the state of the Red Wings as the team returns home for a single game, and then heads on the road for four:

 Three close games, three losses, lots of learning.

The Detroit Red Wings return home still in search of their first victory of the season, but while they stagnate in the standings their young players are enriched. Rookie defensemen Dennis Cholowski, Libor Sulak and Filip Hronek are playing big minutes to offset the absence of veterans. Rookie forward Michael Rasmussen made a nice pass to earn his first NHL point. Second-year forward Tyler Bertuzzi already has two goals. Rookie Christoffer Ehn looks like a solid grinder-type.

That’s what needs to be the focus as the Wings nurse an 0-1-2 record despite playing well in back-to-back games at Los Angeles and Anaheim.

“We know where we are at in terms of having a young team, and we are looking towards a number of these guys to be the future of the Detroit Red Wings,” coach Jeff Blashill said after Monday’s 3-2 shootout loss at Honda Center. “I think as they continue to show improvement, that’s a positive for the organization. In the meantime, we’re working like crazy to win games and there are areas where we can be a little bit better.”

Continued

The Detroit Red Wings dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night, and the Wings return home for a single game (vs. Toronto on Thursday) before heading back on the road for 4 games (@Boston, @Montreal, @Tampa Bay, @Florida) spanning the middle of the month.

We should know much more about the now 0-1-and-2 Red Wings come October 22nd (when the Wings host Carolina) than we do now, but initial impressions suggest that this young-by-necessity Red Wings team is fleet of foot, smart with the puck, but prone to the kinds of mistakes and “teachable moments” that result in goals against.

Detroit will get no sympathy from the Ducks, either, as Anaheim celebrated its 25th anniversary with 6 rookies to Detroit’s 6, as the Orange County Register’s Elliott Teaford noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Ducks wrap-up: shootout loss leaves Wings winless during young season →

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn their first win of the 2018-19 season in Anaheim, hoping to spoil the Ducks’ 25th anniversary home opener.

There were some positives and some negatives to the Red Wings’ 3-2 shootout loss to Anaheim. The positives included Jimmy Howard’s 25-save effort–Howard made a couple of highlight-reel stops–the play of Tyler Bertuzzi (goal), Michael Rasmussen (assist) and most of the Wings’ defense (especially Libor Sulak and Dennis Cholowski)…

But the negatives included mistake-making by that same young defense, inattention to detail by the “kids” up front (the Mantha-Larkin-Nyquist line had a significant number of “almosts” because they didn’t bear down, and they weren’t alone), and some general sloppiness when playing special teams hockey (Detroit went 0-for-2 on the PP and stopped 3 Ducks PK’s), combined with a loss of energy level as the 3rd period ticked on down, was enough for Anaheim to get back into things with a 3rd period GTG (game-tying goal) and then nurse the game toward overtime.

Blashill made another bizarre challenge on a goal against as well (Silfverberg’s game-tying marker), and that timeout could have come in handy late in regulation.

So the Wings head home 0-1-and-2 ahead of a home game against Toronto before a road trip spanning a week-and-a-half and road games against Boston, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Florida.

Continue reading Red Wings-Ducks quick take: Wings flag late, quack up a shootout loss →

From Crain’s Detroit Business’s Bill Shea:

Little Caesars Arena’s red seats to be swapped for black

The red seats at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena will be swapped for black seats over several months beginning in December.
All of the red seats at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena — which show up starkly on TV when they’re not filled during games — will be swapped for black seats over several months beginning in December, the venue’s operator said Monday evening.

The announcement comes 13 months after the building opened and its two primary tenants, the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons, were the subject of commentary about the unfilled bright red seats during games.

Seats in the entire lower bowl will be covered with temporary black fabric covers for all events during the replacement process, something that was done earlier this year during the 2017-18 Detroit Pistons season.

Olympia Entertainment, which manages the building, said in a statement that games and events won’t be affected because the seat replacement will be done in phases when there are no events at the arena.

“We evaluated every aspect of arena operations during the inaugural year, and after numerous discussions with the Pistons and other stakeholders, we have made the decision to install black seats at Little Caesars Arena,” said Chris Granger, group president for sports and entertainment at Ilitch Holdings Inc., in a statement. Ilitch Holdings is the umbrella company for the entities that built and operate the arena.

The original seat installation was a $3.5 million project contracted with Grand Rapids-based Irwin Seating Co., one of the country’s major manufacturers of stadium, arena and theater seating. The contract was for 18,600 seats.

Irwin will do the replacement job, Olympia confirmed to Crain’s. It wasn’t immediately clear what will happen with the current seats.

Continued

From the Toledo Walleye:

Former NHL forward Hensick joins Walleye

(Toledo, OH) – He has skated in 112 games in the National Hockey League and now forward TJ Hensick brings his skills to the Walleye agreeing to terms for the 2018-19 season.

Hensick was drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft (#88 overall) by the Colorado Avalanche out of the University of Michigan. The native of Howell, Michigan appeared in 60 games last year for the Ontario Reign of the AHL with 11 goals and 34 assists. In his career, Hensick has skated in 630 games at the AHL level since turning pro in 2007 with an outstanding 568 points (166G, 402A) while making the AHL All-Star Game four times.

His NHL career begun in his pro season when he skated in 31 contests for Colorado with six goals and five assists. In 2008-09, Hensick skated in 61 games for the Avalanche with 17 assists and 21 points. Thirteen more games went on his total in 2010-11 with the St. Louis Blues. In total, the 32 year old has 112 games at the NHL level with 12 goals, 26 assists, 38 points and 18 penalty minutes.

Hensick spent four years at Michigan that saw the 5’10”, 190 pound forward skated in 164 contests with an amazing 222 points (75G, 147A) for a 1.35 point per game average. One of his best college seasons came as a sophomore in the 2004-05 season with 55 points (23G, 32A) while helping the Wolverines become NCAA Champions. As a senior, Hensick dominated the college ranks with 66 points (23G, 46A) over just 41 games finishing as a Hobey Baker Award Finalist. The 69 points and 46 assists in 2006-07 led all NCAA players.

From the Bangor Daily News’s Larry Mahoney:

Junior Patrick Holway, the second-leading scorer among the University of Maine’s defensemen last year with 19 points on six goals and 13 assists, has decided to leave the men’s hockey program.

“I need to get back closer to home. It’s a personal matter and that’s all I can say about it,” said Holway. “We’ll see how things work out. It wasn’t an easy decision.”

Holway, a native of Cohasset, Mass., played in all situations and was a key contributor on the point on the power play.

The possessor of an NHL-caliber shot, Holway had a two goals and three assists on the power play. He also notched five game-winning assists last season.

He was the Hockey East Player of the Month for December.

The 6-foot-4, 201-pound Holway, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Detroit Red Wings (170th overall) in 2015, said he wasn’t sure what is on the horizon for him.

“I’m not sure yet. I haven’t thought about it. I’m going to keep all of my options open for now,” said Holway. “I’m just going to focus on taking things one step at a time.”

Continued

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.