Tweets of note: NHL Media Tour quips from captain Larkin

From the Red Wings’ captain, via The Score’s Jon Matisz and The Athletic’s Michael Russo:

Tweet of note: Bultman posts Wings, Stars’ lines ahead of tonight’s prospect tournament game

Here are the Red Wings and Dallas Stars’ lines for tonight’s 6:30 PM game between Detroit and Dallas, via The Athletic’s Max Bultman:

Mills: Marco Kasper’s ready to go as the prospect tournament begins

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills spoke with Marco Kasper ahead of tonight’s game between the Red Wings’ prospects and Dallas Stars’ prospects at the 2023 Prospect Tournament in Traverse City:

Kasper recorded 23 points in 52 Swedish Hockey League games with Rogle BK to start the 2022-23 season before making his NHL debut on April 2 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, the 6-foot-1, 183-pound forward sustained a season-ending lower-body injury in that game and was shut down for the remainder of the campaign.

While his brief NHL experience last season was beneficial, equally important to Kasper’s development has been his time in the club’s facilities in Detroit and forming close friendships with his fellow Red Wings prospects.

“It’s awesome,” Kasper said. “I’ve met a lot of guys at development camp the past two years. A couple new guys coming in this year. It’s just fun to be around those guys.”

Kasper was a full participant at Detroit’s Development Camp in July, and after putting in the offseason work, he said he feels “fully recovered” from his injury.

“I worked out hard this summer to get stronger, even working on the ice as well,” he said. “Really excited to get the season started.”

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Impressions from the morning skate ahead of the Red Wings’ prospect tournament game vs. the Dallas Stars

The Detroit Red Wings’ prospects held an hour-long morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Dallas Stars’ prospects (6:30 PM EDT on the Wings’ YouTube channel, Facebook and official website, and stats are available on PointStreak).

An hour is a little long for a “morning skate,” but the players usually get in a quick “getting to know you” skate on Wednesday, and Thursday’s morning skate is always about instruction–and structure.

Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson is in charge of the prospects, with Griffins assistant coaches Stephane Julien, Brian Lashoff and goaltending coach Roope Koistinen also working with the prospects today.

The drills the players engaged in this morning mostly focused on establishing structure in terms of puck retrievals, break-outs, speed through center ice, and power play-and-penalty-kill formations. The emphasis on speed and puck possession were evident from the get-go, as this year’s Red Wings prospects team moves the puck well up ice.

As I said on Twitter, or X, the power play formations were kind of exciting:

Continue reading Impressions from the morning skate ahead of the Red Wings’ prospect tournament game vs. the Dallas Stars

Here’s the ’embed code’ for tonight’s Red Wings-Stars prospect tournament game on YouTube

The Detroit Red Wings posted the YouTube link for tonight’s prospect tournament game between Detroit and the Dallas Stars’ prospects, scheduled for 6:30 PM from Centre ICE Arena.

The Wings will also stream the game on Facebook and their official website.

Update: Centre ICE Arena’s website also posted the Vimeo links for every prospect tournament game’s broadcast.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Regner profiles former Wings Swede Gustav Nyquist

DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner interviewed former Red Wing Gustav Nyquist regarding his status as one of the Red Wings’ more successful Swedish prospects, as a part of Regner’s “How Swede It Is” series:

As a young member of the Red Wings, Nyquist was mentored by Niklas Kronwall, whom he lived with at the start of his Wings career, and Henrik Zetterberg. He also formed a bond with Dan Cleary, the Red Wings’ current assistant director of player development.

“When I think of Gus Nyquist, I think of hockey sense,” Cleary said. “He’s got really, really good hockey sense. He’s got real good talent, like individual skill. He’s not a very big guy, maybe 5-11, 5-10, doesn’t weigh a lot but he’s strong, he’s in good shape, skates well.

“You know the one thing; he’s got a real sneaky shot. He’s got a good shot, he gets it on net quick, goalies are caught off-guard sometimes when he scores. And I think overall, I think he’s just a real smart player. He can kill penalties, he can play on the power play, he can play late in games. That’s who he is. He’s a good NHL player.”

Nyquist recorded 295 points (125 goals, 170 assists) in 481 games with Detroit from 2011-2019.

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Tweets of note: Wings post videos from Red Wings prospects’ morning skate, link to broadcast details

The Red Wings posted a set of videos from the Red Wings prospects’ morning skate ahead of tonight’s 6:30 PM game vs. Dallas (to be streamed on the Red Wings’ YouTube channel, Facebook page and official site).

I may have posted some pictures to “X” as well. Pardon the tip of my index finger:

Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins’ single-game tickets go on sale Friday

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS 2023-24 SINGLE-GAME TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Single-game tickets for each of the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 36 regular-season home games at Van Andel Arena will go on sale to the general public this Friday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at griffinshockey.com/tickets.

Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the Griffins will begin the home portion of their 72-game slate on Friday, Oct. 13 against the Colorado Eagles with Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank. The home schedule features 23 games on either Friday or Saturday nights. Click here to view this season’s promotions.

Griffins tickets can be purchased through the following methods (all purchases subject to a convenience charge):

Online through griffinshockey.com/tickets;

On the Griffins app, available for iPhone and Android;

In person at The Zone at Van Andel Arena, beginning TBD (open 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday);

By phone at (616) 774-4585 or (800) 2-HOCKEY.

Advance ticket prices start at $18 for upper level crease, $20 for upper level faceoff, $23 for upper level center ice, $24 for upper level preferred, $25 for upper level prime and $27 for upper level edge; and $26 for lower level faceoff, $30 for lower level center ice, and $35 for lower level preferred. (Additional $3 per ticket on day of game.)

On game night, tickets may be purchased without a convenience charge at the Van Andel Arena box office, beginning 90 minutes before puck drop. Fans who attend multiple games can avoid charges and receive a discount from the single-game price by purchasing a 10- or 20-game select season package. These plans, along with full-season,  FLEX ticket vouchers and group ticket packages, may be ordered by calling the Griffins’ office at (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visiting griffinshockey.com.

THN’s Stockton’s prospect tournament stories to watch include checking in on Big Elmer

The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton offers three prospect tournament storylines to watch over the upcoming weekend, including the following:

I. Soderblom’s Progress

At age 22 and entering his second season of North American pro hockey, Elmer Soderblom is still very much a prospect.

Nonetheless, as a 2019 draft pick (round six, pick 159 to be precise), he will be one of the most experience players at the event. With that seasoning and as an entry point to his 2023-24 season, it would be wonderful to see Soderblom dominate in Traverse City.

Soderblom has always been a unique prospect. There aren’t many 6-foot-8 people who play hockey, so there was never going to be a surplus of options as comparables. He has also been perceived as something of a “project” from the moment he was drafted, the expectation having always been that he would require some refinement to crack an NHL roster.

The towering Swede did just that after an outstanding training camp a year ago and played 21 games with the Wings in ’22-23, tallying five goals and three assists. However, after a combination of injuries and a dip in form sent him back to Grand Rapids, Soderblom managed the exact same output (five goals and three assists) in 20 games with the Griffins. It’s a perplexing combination, but scoring doesn’t come easily in the AHL and progress is seldom linear.

In Traverse City, you’d like to see something resembling domination out of Soderblom. Despite his stature, he profiles as more dependent on skill than brawn. As he looks to re-claim a place in the Wings’ line-up, he will need both. His stickhandling and finishing touch have been essential to his progress thus far as a player, and Detroit will benefit from their presence. Still, Soderblom realistically needs to be a player who wins battles and makes an impact on the cycle and forecheck to become an everyday NHL player. The prospect tournament will offer the first sample of his progress for the year.

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