The Malik Report

Of prospect-related note in Europe:

In the ICE Hockey League, Jesper Eliasson out-dueled old friend Jared Coreau, stopping 37 of 39 shots as the Red Bulls Salzburg won 3-2 over the Bratislava Capitals;

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Gustav Berglund finished even with 3 shots in 15:02 played as Vasteras IK defeated AIK Stockholm 5-4. Malte Setkov had 2 assists for AIK, finishing at +2 with 1 shot in 27:29 played;

In the Finnish Liiga, Victor Brattstrom stopped 16 of 20 shots in KooKoo’s 4-1 loss to SaiPa;

Eemil Viro finished even with 1 shot in 21:38 played as TPS Turku defeated Assat Pori 3-0. Kasper Kotkansalo finished at -1 with 2 shots in 21:57 played for Assat, which did not have Otto Kivenmaki’s services;

FYI:

UPDATE: Forward Filip Zadina has been removed from non-roster (COVID protocol). Additionally, Givani Smith has been recalled from the #RedWings taxi squad. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/sfEW7a6Exq

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 5, 2021

Ahead of tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, MLive’s Ansar Khan asked Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill about the state of one Thomas Greiss, who will be starting this evening as an 0-6-and-2 goaltender during the 2020-2021 season:

“I’m not worried about Greisser at all,” Blashill said. “He’s mentally in a great spot. He’s been through the rigors of the NHL. He’s an even-keeled person. He knows games like (Wednesday) happen and he’s going to move on. I think said he it to our goalie coach (Jeff Salajko), he’s been in those games before and he’ll be in them again. That’s just the reality of playing goal. I think he has a good demeanor about him. We just all have to grind together and find ways to play better hockey and find ways to win.”

The Red Wings (2-7-2) face the Lightning (6-1-1) again tonight at Amalie Arena (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit), when Greiss, in all likelihood, will get another chance for his first win. He will need more support from a team that is winless in seven (0-5-2) and is averaging only 1.91 goals per game (30th in the NHL).

“He started off playing real good, he just didn’t get much offensive support,” Blashill said. “He should have wins on the board. He certainly played good enough to win. Like the rest of our team, all our games have slipped a bit. I think confidence is a factor in that.

“We have to find a way to grind through and get our confidence back. The only way is to grind your way to some wins. I think Greisser is in the same boat. We certainly don’t want to give up the kind of chances we gave up (Wednesday) at the start of the game. We want to make the game easy on him, and I think for the early part of the year enough times we did that.”

Continued

Yes, this Tweet is worth its own post, because it spells out the stark differences between the Lightning and Red Wings over the course of Tampa Bay’s 17-0-and-1 record over the Red Wings of late:

A look at how we stack up tonight! ? #DETvsTBL pic.twitter.com/rg3U0B3n4W

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) February 5, 2021

Ugly, ugly numbers.

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the Detroit media for approximately 11 minutes after today’s morning skate in Tampa Bay, ahead of tonight’s game against the Lightning (7:00 PM EST on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM):

Update: If you wish to watch Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper or forward Blake Coleman, here are their Zoom calls from the Bolts’ website:

Continue reading Post-morning skate Zoom calls: Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, Lightning coach Jon Cooper

Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach is currently on loan to MODO Hockey of the Swedish Allsvenskan from the SHL’s Frolunda Indians, and the promising (if undersized) center spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Leo Buttafoco Ohlsson regarding his lessons learned at the World Junior Championship, as well as his temporary homecoming to Ornskoldsvik.

What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Returned to O-vik after World Junior Championship: “Hopefully [they’re] happy to see me again.”

He has been drafted by the Swedish team the Detroit Red Wings, scored his first NHL goal, played at the WJC and been loaned to Modo. Theodor Niederbach has had an eventful year when Hockeysverige.se talks about the Swedish prospect who has now temporarily returned home to Ornskoldsvik.

“Hopefully they were happy to see me when I got home,” says Theodor Niederbach, jokingly.

Continue reading Roughly Translated: Theodor Niederbach speaks with Hockeysverige.se

The Detroit Red Wings wrap up a two-game series against the unbeaten Tampa Bay Lightning this evening (7:00 PM EST on FSD/FS Sun/97.1 FM), with the Red Wings both attempting to rebound from a 5-1 loss on Wednesday while facing a team that possesses a 17-0-and-1 record against the Wings of late.

They’ve surely got a win in them for my 43rd birthday, right? Maybe? Okay, maybe not, but it would be damn good to see the team show up and show more competitive play, especially with Filip Zadina likely to return to the lineup this evening.

Our friends from Tampa Bay took to the ice first at Amalie Arena, just before 10:30 AM, for their morning skate:

If you had Gourde or Sergachev as the first players on the ice for #MorningSkate today, you WIN!!! #GoBolts #LGRW #DETvsTBL @953WDAE @BecklesRecher pic.twitter.com/IXFXDSLbu9— Jay Recher (@jayRecher) February 5, 2021

It looks like the Bolts “took an optional” morning skate, so we’re going to lean on TampaBayLightning.com’s Bryan Burns’ game preview for a estimated Lightning lineup:

Lines from Wednesday’s game (subject to change)
Forwards
Ondrej Palat – Brayden Point – Steven Stamkos
Alex Killorn – Anthony Cirelli – Tyler Johnson
Blake Coleman – Yanni Gourde – Barclay Goodrow
Pat Maroon – Mathieu Joseph

Defensemen
Victor Hedman – Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev – Luke Schenn
Cal Foote

Goaltenders
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Curtis McElhinney

You would figure that both the Lightning and Panthers wouldn’t be playing on a Superbowl Sunday on which the game’s taking place in Florida, but the Red Wings play the Panthers in a Sunday matinee (3 PM EST start). The Lightning are off on Sunday, and Blake Coleman told Recher that they’ll find a way to watch the game:

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning Game 2 morning skate Tweets: Bolts ‘hold an optional,’ go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen; Wings, uh, skate…

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted an excellent article this morning, discussing Michael Rasmussen and Dennis Cholowski’s respectively lengthy paths toward gainful NHL employment via a longer developmental curve with the Grand Rapids Griffins (who open their regular season tonight vs. the Chicago Wolves at 8 PM EST):

On Oct. 4, 2018, Dennis Cholowski and Michael Rasmussen made their NHL debuts together in a Red Wings overtime loss to Columbus. It was opening night, and Detroit’s 2016 and 2017 first-round picks had made their way into the lineup. Cholowski even scored Detroit’s first goal, the start of a torrid month to begin his pro career.

At the time, it looked like it could be the start of Detroit’s next generation. All this rebuilding? Simple enough.

As it turned out, not so much. Two seasons later, both Rasmussen and Cholowski will be in the opening-night lineup together again, this time for AHL Grand Rapids, which begins play Friday against the Chicago Wolves.

It’s certainly a striking difference from that NHL opener in 2018, albeit not an inexplicable one. Rasmussen, Detroit coach Jeff Blashill freely admits, would have been better served in the AHL that year, had it been allowed by the NHL-CHL agreement. Accordingly, Rasmussen went on to spend his entire 2019-20 season in Grand Rapids. For Cholowski, meanwhile, his eye-catching start in 2018 cooled off after that first month, and the team’s discomfort with his defensive game eventually landed him in Grand Rapids, too. Then it happened again in 2019-20, despite breaking camp with the Red Wings again.

And now, both former first-rounders are facing the same question as the Griffins’ season gets set to begin: What will it take to make it back?

Continued

The Grand Rapids Griffins posted a Tweet this morning directing fans toward their new online game program (ahead of tonight’s season-opener vs. Chicago @ 8:00 PM EST). “The Beacon” is very good stuff, offering a pair of stories profiling Kyle Criscuolo and Riley Barber:

? ? Extra, extra, read all about the 2020-21 Griffins in the debut issue of The Beacon, our new bite-sized program that’s digital, clickable and printable! #GoGRG

GET IT HERE ➡️ https://t.co/4AN0FaDj6A pic.twitter.com/MYCpHBPnYJ— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) February 5, 2021

We’ve been waiting 331 days to say this….It’s Game Day! #GoGRG

?: https://t.co/eaXIyjUSnT (FREE this weekend)
?: https://t.co/EIEzgItQDD
?: https://t.co/QIz5YsPhcf pic.twitter.com/xu7cT5H9QM— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) February 5, 2021

Red Wings prospect Albert Johansson was the only Red Wings prospect named to Team Sweden’s roster for the Beijer Hockey Games, the next step of the Euro Hockey Tour, but it’s good news for Johansson, who’s never played for the Swedish national team before.

On Monday, Johansson spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Rasmus Kagstrom regarding his good news, and what follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

“A shock—I did not think it was true”

When the unknown number appeared on his cell phone, Albert Johansson chose not to answer it. Then a text message from Marcus Ragnarsson appeared in his inbox—and the 19-year-old called and received the message that he had been selected for the Tre Kronor.

“I was a bit shocked and didn’t think it was true, to be honest,” Johansson says to Hockeysverige.se.

Taking part in Tre Kronor games was not something that Albert Johansson had expected this season. When assistant national team GM Marcus Ragnarsson tried to get a hold of Farjestad BK’s teenage defensemen, the 19-year-old didn’t answer when the unknown number appeared on his cell phone’s display.

It was only when he received an SMS [text message] signed by Ragnarsson that Johansson understood what it could all be about.

“No, I actually didn’t answer when he called me at first,” Johansson chuckles. “When I saw the ‘signature,’ it was obvious to call. It was a great conversation. I was a little shocked and didn’t believe it was true, to be honest.”

Continue reading Albert Johansson speaks with Hockeysverige.se’s Kagstrom regarding his selection for the Beijer Hockey Games