Three Things: A Wings-Blue Jackets set-up; on poke-and-hope hockey and Tomas Tatar’s first game against the Wings

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. ColumbusBlueJackets.com’s Brian Hedger penned a fine Wings-Blue Jackets set-up ahead of tonight’s game between the teams (7:00 PM EST on FSD Plus/FS Ohio/Sportsnet/TVA Sports/97.1 FM):

Their 5-4 overtime victory Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche, a come-from-behind win, moved Columbus to 75 points and within one point of the New Jersey Devils (76 points) for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets, who hold the East’s second wild-card spot, are also within four points of the Philadelphia Flyers (79 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

“We’ve got to stop looking at who’s behind us and start looking at who’s in front of us, trying to catch them,” said defenseman Zach Werenski, who had a goal and assists against Colorado. “We’re playing some good hockey right now and we’re not that far off the teams in front of us, so hopefully we can catch one.”

It will help if the offense keeps scoring the way it has the past three games.

The Blue Jackets have scored four-or-more goals in each one, which is the first time all season they’ve scored that many in three consecutive games. After struggling to score goals most of the season, Columbus is starting to find the back of the net more at a great time of the year.

There are only 14 games left on the Jackets’ regular-season schedule and only four of their remaining opponents are currently holding playoff spots. The Devils, meanwhile, play 10 of their final 14 games against teams in playoff position and the Flyers play seven in their final 14 games.

The next two games for Columbus are against teams that aren’t even close to playoff contention, beginning with the Detroit Red Wings on Friday to conclude the Jackets’ 16th of 17 back-to-backs this season.

Hedger continues at considerable length;

2. On the less-than-cheery side of the news, CBS Detroit’s Will Burtchfield took note of Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg and coach Jeff Blashill’s comments regarding the mistakes made by their young players over the course of last night’s 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights:

Continue reading Three Things: A Wings-Blue Jackets set-up; on poke-and-hope hockey and Tomas Tatar’s first game against the Wings

Red Wings-Blue Jackets set-up: Wings face playoff-desperate Blue Jackets on back-to-back for both teams

The Detroit Red Wings face a stiff test in attempting to snap their 5-game losing streak opposite a playoff-desperate Columbus Blue Jackets team (7:00 PM on FSD Plus/FS Ohio/Sportsnet/TVA Sports/97.1 FM).

Columbus sits on the periphery of the playoff pack, in the Eastern Conference’s 2nd Wild Card spot, with the Florida Panthers hot on their trail (with 3 games in hand). The 35-28-and-5 Blue Jackets have won their past 3 games, including a 5-4 OT victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday evening.

As you might know by now, the 26-30-and-11 Red Wings dropped a 4-0 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday evening, and the Wings were quite vocal about their mistake-prone play after the game; our friends from Columbus had a very different Thursday night, rallying from a 2-0 deficit en route to an inspirational (for them) win.

NHL.com’s Craig Merz tells the Blue Jackets‘ tale…

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets set-up: Wings face playoff-desperate Blue Jackets on back-to-back for both teams

Red Wings-Golden Knights wrap-up: bad habits bite Wings in embarrassing loss

The Detroit Red Wings struggled through a 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night, and things won’t get any easier when the Wings play the playoff-desperate Columbus Blue Jackets this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD Plus/FS Ohio/Sportsnet/TVA Sports/97.1 FM).

For the Red Wings, Thursday night’s game was more than enough of a reason to stop and talk.

As Henrik Zetterberg and coach Jeff Blashill would suggest, the Wings’ younger players displayed the kind of bad defensive habits that the rebuilding Wings are trying to guard against.

I’m going to forego my usual opponent-talks-then-home-team-talks style of recap to get right to the nitty gritty, via the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights wrap-up: bad habits bite Wings in embarrassing loss

Free Press posts an excerpt from Keith Gave’s “The Russian Five”

The Detroit Free Press has posted an excerpt from former Free Press scribe Keith Gave’s new book, The Russian Five, and Gave tells the story of his clandestine meeting with Sergei Fedorov Vladimir Konstantinov in Helsinki, Finland:

A month or so after the annual National Hockey League entry draft, in mid-July 1989, a time when most folks involved in the league were enjoying some respite between seasons, my phone rang. Jim Lites was on the line inviting me to lunch. Strange timing, I thought, to hear from the executive vice president of the Detroit Red Wings, then the son-in-law of owners Mike and Marian Ilitch.

I had a good working relationship with Lites, but I usually only heard from him like this after I’d written something he didn’t like. He’d rant, I’d listen, we’d agree to disagree, and it was over.

The next day, we were sitting across from one another at the recently renovated Elwood Bar and Grill, which at the time was across Woodward Avenue from the Fox Theatre.

“Just let me say right up front that if I cross any lines here or make you uncomfortable in any way, I’ll stop and that will be the end of it,” he said.

I raised my eyebrows.

“We’re prepared to pay considerably — serious money,” he said. “We can assure you exclusivity to any stories, book rights, you name it.”

Continued, and here’s a one-minute clip discussing the Russians’ slow but steady trickle onto the Red Wings’ roster:

 

 

Prospect round-up: Sulak posts assist, Gallant has a rough night

In the Finnish Liiga, Libor Sulak had an assist and finished at +3 with 6 shots in 24:38 played during the Lahti Pelicans’ 3-1 win over KooKoo;

Julius Vahatalo finished even with 2 shots and a 16% faceoff record in 9:31 played during Jukurit’s 4-3 OT loss to Tappara;

In the SHL, Christoffer Ehn finished even with 1 shot and a 50% faceoff ranking in 17:34 played during the Frolunda Indians’ 5-3 win over Karlskrona HK;

In the OHL, Jordan Sambrook finished at -1 with 2 shots in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ 3-2 loss to Windsor;

And Cole Fraser finished at -2 and Zach Gallant returned from an injury with a rough outing, going -5 with 3 shots and an 11-for-29 faceoff rating in the Peterborough Petes’ 8-7 loss to Mississauga.

 

 

 

Fox Sports Detroit’s ‘Hockey Talk in the Hockey Shack’

Fox Sports Detroit assembled Mickey Redmond, Darren Eliot, Chris Osgood and Trevor Thompson for a little “talk in the hockey shack” (in Chris Osgood’s backyard) during Thursday night’s broadcast:

 

Griffins announcer Bob Kaser earns 9th Broadcast Excellence Award

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

KASER WINS NINTH BROADCAST EXCELLENCE AWARD
FROM MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Grand Rapids Griffins hockey on Newsradio WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM/ESPN 96.1 FM was honored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (MAB) during its 2017 Broadcast Excellence Awards, held Wednesday night in Lansing.

A montage of Bob Kaser’s calls from the Griffins’ “Journey to the Calder Cup” was awarded “Merit” in the Play-By-Play Sports category for Commercial Radio Market 2, which includes radio stations in Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Tri-Cities. The award is based on the criteria of presentation and production values.

For Kaser, the Griffins’ vice president of community relations and broadcasting, this marks the ninth time in the last 17 years that his broadcasts have been recognized by the MAB. Griffins hockey on WOOD won “best” awards for 2016, 2015, 2012, 2006, 2003, 2002 and 2001, along with a “merit” award for 2004.

During home games at Van Andel Arena, Kaser is alternately joined by color commentators Larry Figurski, sports anchor for WOOD TV8, and Lou Rabaut, a Grand Rapids attorney and longtime youth hockey coach and advocate.

Kaser, who has become one of most revered and honored broadcasters in hockey during his 39 seasons behind the microphone, also called 14 NHL games for the Detroit Red Wings last season, handling play-by-play duties for 13 games on the Red Wings’ radio network along with one telecast on Fox Sports Detroit.

“For those who weren’t able to witness our incredible run to the 2017 Calder Cup championship in person, Bob’s play-by-play made them feel as if they had a front-row seat at Van Andel Arena,” said Griffins president Tim Gortsema. “We think that Bob is the best in the business, and the goosebumps you get when listening to his playoff highlights testify to that.”

Now in his 18th season as the Griffins’ play-by-play voice, the Kalamazoo native received the American Hockey League’s 2009-10 James H. Ellery Memorial Award for excellence in radio broadcasting. During his tenure as director of communications and broadcasting for the International Hockey League’s Kansas City Blades (1990-2000), Kaser was awarded the Bob Chase Award as IHL Broadcaster of the Year for both 1993-94 and 1997-98.

Red Wings-Golden Knights quick take: not a disgrace…but not by much

The Detroit Red Wings hoped to upon the Vegas Golden Knights’ injury-induced losses of late, with Detroit looking to snap a 3-game winless streak in the process.

The Red Wings did not play a farce of a game, they did not respect the logo on the front of the jerseys or the names on the back, but they got very close to doing so over the course of a 4-0 loss to Vegas that was nothing less than embarrassing, humbling and humiliating. I’ll leave the rest of the critiques to you.

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights quick take: not a disgrace…but not by much

Red Wings pay tribute to Tomas Tatar + Vegas GM George McPhee on acquiring Tatar

Here’s the Red Wings’ tribute video to Tomas Tatar…

And Sportsnet’s Bob McCown spoke with Vegas GM George McPhee on Prime Time Sports, with McPhee addressing the acquisition of Tatar:

“Well, it wasn’t cheap,” McPhee said during a Prime Time Sports appearance on Thursday afternoon.

Vegas sent a first-round pick in 2018, a second-rounder in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2021 to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for the 27-year-old Tatar.

“It’s the one area where we’re deep — we have a lot of picks,” McPhee told hosts Bob McCown and Brad Fay on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “We spread it over four years. There are times when the decisions you make are all data driven and there are times when it’s market driven. That was the price. We either get the player we thought we needed to have and give up those assets or you don’t.

“And I wanted to help the club.”

The expansion franchise has been the NHL’s biggest surprise this season, currently sitting first place in the Pacific Division.

The acquisition of Tatar was particularly interesting given that the seven-year veteran has seen his production dip this season. His best totals came in 2014-15, when he scored 29 goals and 56 points. The Slovak scored 28 points in 62 games with Detroit this season and, since the trade, has registered one goal in four games. However, he is under team control through 2020-21, a key factor for McPhee.

“It was important to us that it wasn’t a rental,” said the GM. “It was someone we’re going to have for a while. I don’t think anything is inexpensive at the trade deadline.”

 

Red Wings and Golden Knights game-day articles: On Tatar, Svechnikov and the game at hand

Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

  1. Tomas Tatar returned to Detroit as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights today, and Tatar spoke with the media regarding his return. Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ Tatar article…

Tomas Tatar wasn’t sure what to pack, how much to pack, or what to do.  His Feb. 26 trade from the Detroit Red Wings to the Vegas Golden Knights was a jolt, a sudden, life-altering event.

“The first hour was pretty stressful,” Tatar said Thursday morning as he prepared to face his former teammates for the first time. “I didn’t really know what to do. It was my first time traded. Should I start packing? What should I pack and for how long? Then when you realize what kind of team you are joining, it was fun. I was really excited.”

Tatar was home watching TV when he saw the trade announced, simultaneously as Wings general manager Ken Holland called to inform Tatar he’d been moved. It came  seven months after the Wings signed Tatar for four years and $21.2 million. The Wings are in rebuild mode and Tatar was an opportunity to flip for a first-round pick in June, a second-round in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2021.

“When you sign this kind of deal, you are thinking you are going to be here,” Tatar said. “But I knew we had to start playing better. Unfortunately we didn’t so something had to change. I’d heard rumors teams were interested about me. I was a little ready for it.”

St. James continues, and she posted a video of Tatar speaking with the media:

Continue reading Red Wings and Golden Knights game-day articles: On Tatar, Svechnikov and the game at hand