The Malik Report

It’s been about four weeks since the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp ended, and I have tried really, really hard to not burden you down with mid-summer fundraising.

Regrettably, the realities of having to pay a server bill, having to raise funds to get that $5,000 trip to Traverse City for training camp (with Aunt Annie in tow as I am her primary caregiver) covered, and having to do simple things like buy a printer and make money from working on my website, even if it’s a couple hundred bucks a month, all equal one simple solution staring me in the face:

It’s time to start fundraising again. I don’t like doing it, but without donations, TMR doesn’t exist.

Bluntly, I’ve been informed by Bluehost that I have to upgrade my server plan as we hover around the 5,000-entry mark because we need more server space, so it’s going to cost more like $400 than $300 to raise funds to renew Bluehost, Jetpack and the rest of what I use to provide this site to you.

Continue reading It’s time to get back to the fundraising grind

The road deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been completed, and the bridge crews from the U.S. and Canada celebrated the occasion today on the bridge. According to WXYZ’s Sarah Michals and Chad Britton, Gordie’s sons, Mark and Marty, were there to witness the celebration, as was grandson Dr. Murray Howe:

“They called when they first had the idea of doing this and they said ‘Would it be alright to use Gordie’s name?’ I said ‘Are you kidding me? Of course.'” Marty Howe told our team.

Murray Howe said, “Our dad would be so proud of this moment. It’s just so exciting to see.”

“It’s one thing looking at it from the road here, but when you look at it from the bridge here, it’s amazing,” Marty Howe said. “You look up and you have to keep going like that. I was almost scared I was going to pass out.”

The historic bridge will support movement of millions of people and goods for economic growth. And even more than that, it’s purposed to be a symbol of friendship between Detroit and Windsor, much like Gordie Howe himself.

When asked what he’d like drivers to feel as they cross the bridge for the first time, Murray Howe replied: “I would like to just have them feel the joy and freedom we have to cross over to these two countries and celebrate all that is the United States and all that is Canada.”

“I’ll be happy to get across and not wait so long to do it,” Marty Howe said.

May Matty Moroun be rolling over in his grave. And you can watch the video on YouTube here (no embedding allowed by WXYZ, sorry).

I’m a big fan of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ community initiatives, and, because it’s my blog, I’m going to post this video of the Griffins handing out bike helmets the other day.

When I was a kid some 40 years ago, you shook off your traumatic brain injuries suffered from bicycling, but we’re smarter now:

Per Red Wings Prospects on Twitter/X, who posted the following note regarding the Red Wings’ Hockey Operations staff web page:

New AGM just dropped. Aaron Kahn named AGM and Director of Hockey Operations. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/9nT1Z4XBmG

— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) July 25, 2024

Daily Faceoff’s Mike Gould, Scott Maxwell and Colton Davies ranked the NHL’s 32 home jerseys in a late-July piece for DailyFaceoff.com today, and here’s what they have to say about the Winged Wheel:

9. Detroit Red Wings

Mike: 9th
Scott: 11th
Colton: 11th

Colton: Detroit’s winged wheel has been around since the 1930s and has become a staple among Detroit fans with a logo I consider top-five. While there have been minor cosmetic changes to the jersey throughout history, the winged wheel has primarily stayed the same and for two whole decades the jersey stayed the same. Once again, it’s a nod to history and the roots of the Original Six.

Mike: I’ve always been a big fan of the arched player names on the back of every Red Wings jersey. It’s a subtle touch but it gives a pretty basic-looking uniform the perfect dose of character. No, there’s nothing flashy about Detroit’s uniforms, but they’re a great match for a Red Wings franchise with a rich history of being the class of the NHL.

Scott: I grew up surrounded by Red Wings fans, so I always enjoy the look of their jersey. It’s simple, but it’s iconic. Admittedly, it gives them no room for making other jerseys because they don’t have any other colors that they consistently use, so every jersey will be worse (although I do wonder what a black alternate jersey would look like). My only other note is that these jerseys drop much closer to the bottom during the preseason thanks to the weird nameplate font that they use then.

Continued; you know that I’m biased by now, but there’s nothing that says, “That’s where I’m from” to me like the Red Wings’ red “home sweater.”

It’s like the Detroit Tigers’ “Old English D” or the Detroit skyline as you ride the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor to Detroit. You just look at it and say, “Yeah, that represents where I am from, where I was born” (and I was born in Detroit).

The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye signed All-Star defenseman Jalen Smereck today, bolstering the Walleye’s attack going into the 2024-2025 season. According to the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe, the 27-year-old Smereck signed with the Walleye for two reasons–for winning’s sake, and for family:

The 27-year-old Detroit native played for one of Toledo’s rivals, the Cincinnati Cyclones, last season. Smereck led all ECHL defensemen in scoring with 70 points in 71 games. Smereck also had the second most assists (57) among all ECHL players.

Smereck also had the most shots on goal (216) and shorthanded points (4) among all ECHL defensemen.

The 6-foot and 190-pound defenseman led the Cyclones in scoring and also had 84 penalty minutes. Smereck earned a spot on the ECHL All-Star team and was named to the All-ECHL first team.

“I’m excited. It’s going to be great,” Smereck said. “Playing in the arena there, it gets loud and crazy, which is great. I can’t wait for that first home game and to get that first fish on the ice. I have night one marked on my calendar. I can’t wait to get going in the fish tank.”

…

Smereck said he has known Walleye star forward Brandon Hawkins since he was 9 and reunited with him when they both made the ECHL all-star team in January. He also played with Walleye forward Mitch Lewandowski and defenseman Grant Gabriele growing up in Michigan.

“With that connection there, they told me it’s an unreal organization,” Smereck said. “They treat you well. The city and the fans are great. The facilities are top-notch. They told me I’d love it here. Toledo is so close to home and I wanted to be closer to my kids and family,” said Smereck, who grew up and lives in east Detroit. “Family is everything to me.”

Continued

The World Junior Summer Showcase will take place at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan starting on Friday, and Team USA GM John Vanbiesbrouck sat down with Sean Shapiro to discuss the event for USAHockey.com:

The summer showcase will take place July 26 through Aug. 3, and the Americans will have two teams, a blue and white squad, that will play separate games the first two days before narrowing down the U.S. roster for games against Finland, Sweden, and Canada. All games will be available to watch on USAHockeyTV.com.

For the United States, the Showcase is also about building toward potential history. 

The U.S. will enter the 2025 World Juniors in Ottawa as the defending champion and no doubt a medal contender. The Americans, who along with 10 potential returning players as well as their entire coaching staff, have never won back-to-back titles.

“I would say we have a foundation that has to be tweaked over the next four or five months,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “I think we are blessed with such great depth that the people that help us, our scouts and our coaching staff, has a really good beat on the heartbeat of this team from this point on when we start the Summer Showcase.”

While Will Smith likely won’t be back to defend a medal after signing with the San Jose Sharks, the Americans could have a leadership core built around Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Gabe Perrault, Zeev Buium and Trey Augustine.

“We kind of want to see them grow as leaders. You aren’t going to learn much about them as players, we know all of that, but we get to see how this age group, the 2005s, steps in and leads the team,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “And then we get to see some of the other competitions coming up as well from the 2006s and 2007s.”

Continued

Red Wings assistant GM and director of amateur scouting Kris Draper spoke with Hockey Canada’s Jason LaRose regarding the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, which is taking place in Edmonton, Alberta this August:

HGC: Why is the Hlinka Gretzky Cup an important event for scouts?

KD: Every director of amateur scouting is there, tons of scouts, and there are a lot of general managers. When you go to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, it’s a great way to start the scouting season. You get to see the players, you get to see where they’re going to be playing [in the lineup] and you get an opportunity to know which prospects you’re going to be chasing in the upcoming season. It’s always a lot of fun to watch these kids.

It’s a great opportunity for Canada to send their best, because it’s different for Canada at the U18 Worlds [in the spring], because the CHL playoffs are going on. So that’s not always an opportunity to see Canada’s top, top players play in an international event, but at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup you do, and that’s something that you enjoy going to see [as a scout].

HGC: Most of these players are the best on their club teams, so how important is it to see how players fit in different roles and different situations?

KD: You get to see how these players respond moving up and down the lineup. And chances are some of these prospects will be playing different positions as well. They might be a natural centre, and with the depth of centre at international events, they might have to move to the wing. So you get to see the versatility of some of these prospects, which is great.

HGC: As a scout, how important to set a baseline for the upcoming season?

KD: It’s one tournament in August, so it’s certainly not going to make or break a prospect. But these players want to have a great showing. They know the Hlinka Gretzky Cup is watched by every single organization. They know that general managers are there, assistant general managers, amateur scouting directors, a lot of scouts. So, it’s a great opportunity for them right off the bat to show who they are and what they’re made of. For us, it’s just seeing what they’re all about, seeing how they play, how they compete. And then from there, you start tracking them come fall in September.

Continued; I know that TSN will cover the Hlinka Gretzky Cup starting on August 5th, and the NHL Network will air some of it.

It’s one of those long days for me as a caregiver today. My aunt’s been up since 4 AM with acid reflux and bad body aches. I’m not feeling spectacular myself. It’s a gloomy day outside and my progress in terms of getting stuff done, be that in terms of phone calls I have to make or blog content, is slow and unsteady at best.

So I’m cranky, and when Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offered this perfectly innocuous Tweet from the Hockey News’s Jacob Stoller, I all but audibly growled:

Hearing that the Toronto Marlies have re-signed Robert Mastrosimone to an AHL contract.

The 23-year-old recorded stellar underlying numbers in a bottom-six role as a rookie.

Mastrosimone was drafted 54th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2019. DET opted not to sign him. pic.twitter.com/nydLYa8dSZ

— Jacob Stoller (@JLStoller) July 23, 2024

With no disrespect involved toward Mr. Stoller, who I respect greatly…

Mastrosimone was the one who opted to hold out until the Red Wings’ rights to him expired on August 15th after his graduation year, not the other way around.

The Red Wings wanted to sign the 5’10,” 170-pound forward to an NHL contract and place the plucky little forward in Grand Rapids.

It was Mastrosimone and his advisor/agent who sent out smoke signals that they didn’t feel that the Red Wings were a good fit for him, and that they were going to test the open market, even as early as March of 2023. I remember the college hockey insiders writing columns and posting Tweets/X posts saying, “Yeah, he’s not going to sign with Detroit.”

Teams own the rights to drafted players who play in NCAA hockey until August 15th after their graduation year, and some players always hold out to test the marketplace as unrestricted free agents. The 23-year-old Mastrosimone was the one who chose to explore the market, not the other way around.

And it’s obviously annoyed this tired blogger on a Wednesday afternoon in late July.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills reports that Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde took part in a Q and A session with Ilitch Sports + Entertainment employees recently. Lalonde and Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels discussed the direction of the team:

“Coming to the arena late in the season, those butterflies, you could feel the tension in the room because it mattered,” Lalonde said. “We’re methodically going in the right direction. To see some of the growth in those guys, yes it translates to wins, but it’s very rewarding as a coach.”

In 2023-24, his second season behind Detroit’s bench, Lalonde guided the club to its most wins (41) and points (91) since the 2015-16 campaign. And for the Red Wings to build on that success, the 51-year-old head coach said every player must be more committed to team defense.

“We’re going to ask the group for a little more this year,” Lalonde said. “Those teams that end up at the very end, the experience I had winning Stanley Cups, there was still an emphasis about keeping it out of the net.”

The Red Wings will open their 2024-25 regular-season schedule on Oct. 10 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Little Caesars Arena. Lalonde said he’s excited about the potential of Detroit’s roster, expressing an eagerness to see how Patrick Kane performs after a full, healthy offseason.  

Kane recorded 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) in 50 games last season after signing a one-year contract with the Red Wings on Nov. 28, following hip resurfacing surgery on June 1, 2023.

“First and foremost, I think it says something about Patrick Kane that he wanted to be here,” Lalonde said about Kane signing a one-year contract extension. “I think he was very clear in the process that he probably had — and obviously I wasn’t involved in those meetings but talking with Patrick after — better opportunity, more term and probably more money (in NHL free agency), but he felt part of something here last year.”

Continued