Press release: American Red Cross to hold blood drive at Little Caesars Arena on August 8th, with free preseason tickets in the mix

I thought this might be a useful “community” category press release to note, per Ilitch Sports + Entertainment:

American Red Cross Partners with The District Detroit for 7th Annual Blood Drive at Little Caesars Arena

Presenting donors will receive Tigers tickets, pre-season Pistons and Red Wings tickets while supplies last

The American Red Cross, in partnership with The District Detroit, is inviting donors to give blood at its seventh annual blood drive at Little Caesars Arena to meet the needs of those who depend on lifesaving blood. All presenting donors will receive a voucher for tickets to a Detroit Tigers game and tickets to pre-season Detroit Pistons and Detroit Red Wings games.  

Blood and platelet donors are critically needed, and all blood types are in demand, especially those with type O.

While summer can be full of vacations and outdoor fun, it’s also recognized as a time of higher risk for car accidents, especially among teen drivers. A single car accident victim may require as many as 100 units of blood. More than a quarter of all blood products each year are used in critical care and emergency room situations, highlighting the importance of generous blood and platelet donors. 

The blood drive will be from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, on the Via Concourse at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward, in Detroit. Complimentary parking is available in the UWM Garage at 128 W. Fisher Service Drive, which is close to the arena’s Meijer entrance to the blood drive.

Continue reading Press release: American Red Cross to hold blood drive at Little Caesars Arena on August 8th, with free preseason tickets in the mix

Talking about Michael Brandsegg-Nygard’s pluses

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Monday-afternoon notebook article about Red Wings prospects Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Jakub Rychlovsky and Axel Sandin Pellikka. Kulfan notes that Brandsegg-Nygard had to adjust to new skates at the Red Wings’ Summer Development Camp, but when he got his own skates in baggage, he perked up:

“He was having trouble with his skates, falling down,” Cleary said. “I talked to him and said ‘Listen, I’m not here judging that, whether you can stand up or not. We’ve seen your body of work, and (amateur scouting director) Kris Draper has looked at him all year with our scouting staff.”

What stood out for the Wings was Brandsegg-Nygard’s frame, a sturdy 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, and the fact he knew how to use his body to an advantage.

“You can see he’s strong protecting the puck, and he can shoot it very well,” Cleary said. “Like every young kid, we look at their testing, and they have to get stronger, which they will as they get older and more mature. His skating, he knows he’s got to work on, and he’s driven to work on.”

Brandsegg-Nygard will play in Sweden next season, for Skelleftea, jumping from Sweden’s second division to the top men’s league. Brandsegg-Nygard will be a teammate of defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka, the Wings’ 2023 first-round pick.

“That’s a jump for sure,” Cleary said of moving up a division. “But with his size and his weight, he’ll be able to handle himself and protect himself in the corners, hang on to the puck a little better. The transition will be easier with him having a frame to him.”

Continued (paywall); we don’t technically know whether MBN is going to play in Sweden or whether he’s going to play for Grand Rapids, given that he’s going to attend the Red Wings’ training camp…

But it is highly, highly likely that he will remain with Skelleftea AIK on a loan (now that the Red Wings have signed him to an entry-level contract, they control his place of play).

Bally Sports Detroit returns to XFinity/Comcast…on a premium tier

The Detroit News’s Tony Paul reports that the Detroit Tigers will be on XFinity/Comcast again–as will the Detroit Red Wings this fall, presuming that Bally Sports Detroit still exists at that time:

Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of the Bally Sports regional sports networks, and Comcast, the parent company of cable giant Xfinity, announced they have reached a deal to reinstate the 15 RSNs, including Bally Sports Detroit, starting Thursday.

The deal ends a three-month stalemate, after the RSNs were booted from Xfinity’s offerings May 1.

Under the new deal, however, the RSNs only will be available on Xfinity’s “Ultimate TV” package, or an upper tier. That was Xfinity’s drawn line in the sand when negotiations originally broke down, with company officials arguing it was unfair for a hefty monthly carriage fee to be passed down to all basic-cable customers, the majority of whom don’t watch the RSNs.

Xfinity announced Monday it would offer its basic-cable subscribers access to the “Ultimate TV” package for three months at no additional cost.

“We appreciate Diamond Sports working with us to reach a solution that returns the Bally Sports RSNs to our Ultimate TV customers in a way that reflects the changing video marketplace for local sports,” Greg Rigdon, president of content acquisition for Comcast, said in a statement late Monday afternoon.

“We look forward to making these networks available on Aug. 1, so customers can enjoy watching their favorite teams again.”

Continued (paywall); here’s more from the Free Press’s Andrew Birkle:

Continue reading Bally Sports Detroit returns to XFinity/Comcast…on a premium tier

Tweet of note: Yzerman, Draper attend Lions camp

From WXYZ’s Jeanna Trotman:

Happy heavenly birthday, Ted Lindsay

Via Spector’s Hockey’s Lyle Richardson on Twitter, Vintage Hockey Showcase notes that today is a “terribly” important day:

Ted is also terribly missed. He was a Red Wings legend, he helped establish the NHLPA…

And his charitable work helping autism research and treatment was and remains first-class through the Ted Lindsay Foundation.

On occasion, the Red Wings’ reputation still draws players to Detroit

The Red Wings’ reputation as a popular team over the past three decades–despite their difficult times of late–has afforded the team a pair of free agent signings who are fans of the team while growing up.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses Vladimir Tarasenko and Erik Gustafsson’s status as Wings fans this morning:

Growing up in Yaroslavl, Russia, they were the childhood heroes of Detroit Red Wings forward Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian Five were iconic in his view.

“I think this is Detroit as a team,” [Vladimir] Tarasenko explained. “It’s one of the most famous, if not the most famous team in the world. Like, when you talk about how to give it a history and no offense to other teams, but we grew up in Russia. A lot of people follow Detroit because of the Russian Five.

“When I had my first PlayStation. I was playing for Detroit too, with my friend. So, yeah, this was the team all the kids in my neighborhood where I grow up, when we talk about hockey.”

In Scandinavia, a similar scenario was playing out inside the childhood home of Detroit defenseman Erik Gustafsson in Nynashamn, Sweden. He also worshipped at the altar of the Red Wings, but his iconic hero was a different winged wheel legend.

“The history of this club, my favorite defenseman growing up was Nicklas Lidstrom,” Gustafsson said. “It’s obviously a great organization.”

Continued; the Red Wings may find themselves amidst a substantial playoff drought, but the team’s still got fans around the world (they are definitely still huge in Sweden, for example);

We can only hope that the team reclaims its position as one of the NHL’s powerhouse franchises over the next half-decade.

Red Wings finish 6th in The Athletic’s ‘salary cap era’ franchise rankings

The Athletic’s Sean Gentille and Michael Russo ranked the NHL’s 32 franchises by their performances during the salary cap era, and the Red Wings, not surprisingly, are riding the coattails of their Stanley Cup win in 2008:

6 (tie). Detroit Red Wings

Total: 27 points
2023: 6th (tie), 27 points

The Wings came within a tiebreaker of ending their playoff drought and breaking a tie with the Ducks — but instead it’s now at eight seasons and counting. The fact that they’re here at all is a testament to how good they were for the first decade of the Cap Era. It’s fair to wonder whether general manager Steve Yzerman is building a true contender around Dylan Larkin, Moritz Seider and Co., but he’s finally assembled a group that’s capable of playing meaningful hockey. Is a roster without any glaring holes enough? It might be time to find out.

Total playoff years: 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 09SCF, 08SC, 07CF, 06

Playoff-only years: 8 | Conference finals: 1 | Cup finals: 1 | Cup wins: 1

Continued (paywall);

This is a lot higher than I thought the Wings would finish given their play over the past eight seasons, but some good news is welcome, even if it comes with the customary dig at both Yzerman and the Wings’ personnel (or lack thereof).

A pair of good reports about Max Plante at the WJSS

The World Junior Summer Showcase is taking place this week at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, and it’s taking place in the summer for a simple reason.

Most of the participants for the U.S. teams (USA White and USA Blue) are NCAA-committed athletes, so they can’t take part in a normal fall training camp as they’d be in school in September or October…

And in terms of the European players for Team Sweden and Team Finland, those players also have team commitments to leagues which usually start regular-season play in September as well, so, for both parties, there’s no other time to really “warm up” for the World Junior Championship.

As such, I’m pretty damn gloomy that our transportation issues persist here at TMR, preventing me from attending the WJSS at the only time of year when you can really interact with the players close to home base.

There’s some good news regarding Red Wings prospect and 2024 draft pick Max Plante, though, as Plante’s apparently doing something that the almost pure play-maker hasn’t done with authority as of yet in his young career.

According to Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis and FloHockey’s Chris Peters, Plante is finding his shot. He scored a goal for Team USA Blue today:

Per Ellis:

#14 Max Plante, LW (Detroit Red Wings): I wanted Plante to shoot the puck so much more than he did last year, so it felt good to see him score on his first shot of the game. He also nabbed an assist in a great first game against U-20 competition. I was higher on Plante than many others last year because of how well he passes the puck, but I’m glad we saw him get a few dangerous chances of his own, too.

And Peters:

Max Plante, LW (DET): Plante is being given some really good looks with this team, playing on USA Blue’s first power play unit with Hagens, Leonard, Perreault and Buium. He is a very smart player who makes good decisions with the puck and has some creativity. There’s also a good work ethic there and he showed off his speed at various points. I think he made a positive impression with the maturity of his game. 

Plante, who’s going to play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth this upcoming season, is never going to be huge at 5’11” and 176 pounds, and he’s never going to be a natural goal-scorer…

But, as a player who posts massive assist totals (he posted 46 assists among his 61 points with the U.S. Under-18 team this past season), it’s good to hear that he’s being placed in a position to succeed by coach David Carle.

Three things: No news too small

There are times that you forget that no bit of news is “too small” during the summertime for Red Wings fans.

So:

  1. I had seen the Tweet that Red Wings prospect and Grand Rapids Griffins forward Elmer Soderblom hit a hole-in-one the other day, but I passed on it. The Hockey News’s Connor Eargood did not:

Soderblom’s had a rough couple of seasons in Grand Rapids, battling an assortment of injuries, but he just turned 23, he posted 29 points in 61 games last season, and his size remains an intriguing intangible that he needs to utilize more regularly if he is to reestablish himself as a Red Wings prospect;

2. And, as Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen notes, you ought to keep your eye on the EliteProspects “transfers” page on the homepage, because you’ll see some familiar faces changing places all summer long:

Oscar Plandowski, a 2021 unsigned Detroit draft pick (155th), will play hockey at the University of New Brunswick next season. The school has won the past two Canadian university national titles. Also, former Red Wings player Tomas Jurco is switching teams in the KHL. He left Avangard Omsk as a free agent to sign with Kunlun Red Stars. He had 16 points in 21 games last season for Omsk.

It’s good to see Plandowski further his career and academic aspirations. His mom, Jill Plandowski, is a premier power skating coach;

I’m kind of cringe-y about players who are still choosing to take the money they can make in the KHL, but I guess it’s their choice. Grand Rapids Griffins alumnus Danny O’Reagan signed with the Kunlun Red Star today as well;

3. Finally, Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen followed up Bob Duff’s current “All-Michigan Team” with an all-time All-Michigan Red Wings Team, and I’m going to spotlight one of my favorite short-time Wings from Allen’s subscriber-only article in former Wing and former Wings director of pro scouting Mark Howe:

Mark Howe (Detroit, 1992-95): Gordie Howe’s son didn’t play for Detroit until the final three seasons of his career. But he was a Hall of Famer, and fans knew of his ability long before he played here. He played for the Detroit Junior Red Wings and was always around the rink when Howe played here.

At the now-defunct Olympia, Mark played floor hockey outside the Red Wings dressing room while waiting for his father to sign autographs after games.

Mark Howe felt like a Red Wings hometown hero even before he actually played here. After retiring as a player, he worked for many years as a Detroit professional scout.

I’d argue that Mark Howe, who played his best NHL years as a Philadelphia Flyer (as such, he lives in the Philadelphia area), may have been one of the more underrated NHL’ers of all time. His smooth-skating style and puck-handling were just so damn elegant that, even in his later years, you could see that Howe was something special in his own right.

Update: Make that four things: According to Hockey-News.info, Red Wings prospect Marco Kasper has taken an invite from HC Innsbruck to attend the team’s training camp, which begins on August 7th. Kasper’s father, Peter, was asked if he’d allow his son to participate, and Marco is apparently going to sign some autographs and take some fan photos after practice.

Update #2: Also: