Red Wings-Penguins preseason wrap-up-type-thing

Of recap-related note after the Red Wings’ 6-2 win exhibition win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night:

MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a superb summary of the Red Wings‘ win…

Dominik Kubalik scored a pair of goals – one on the power play and one shorthanded – and the Detroit Red Wings whipped the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 Tuesday in their preseason opener at PPG Paints Arena.

It was the first exhibition as a Red Wing for many, including new head coach Derek Lalonde, whose team that consisted of only a handful of regular players defeated a Pittsburgh club that dressed stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang. Crosby, Guentzel and Letang each posted a minus-3 rating.

Filip Zadina had a goal and an assist and Michael Rasmussen picked up a pair of assists for Detroit, which was outshot 33-21.

Elmer Soderblom scored a goal in his first-ever NHL preseason game. Tyler Spezia and Steven Kampfer (power play) also scored for Detroit.

Victor Brattstrom started in goal and stopped 19-of-20 shots in 31 minutes before giving way to Sebastian Cossa, who turned aside 12-of-13 shots in 29 minutes in his NHL preseason debut.

The Free Press’s Kirkland Crawford also posted a recap from the Red Wings’ perspective; Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff posted a recap focusing on Dominik Kubalik’s training camp comments; the Free Press posted a 10-image photo gallery, and the Detroit News posted a 12-image photo gallery; DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills offered the following post-game quotes from coach Derek Lalonde (and one quip from Dominik Kubalik)…

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins preseason wrap-up-type-thing

Red Wings-Penguins preseason quick take: Wings’ ‘B Team’ wins 6-2 over loaded Penguins

This was about as strange a preseason result as you could possibly imagine. The Red Wings played their “B Team” against a Pittsburgh Penguins lineup in which Sidney Crosby, Eveni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust lined up for a total of nine power plays against Detroit, but the Red Wings prevailed 6-2.

Dominik Kubalik scored two goals, Filip Zadina scored a goal and had an assist, Elmer Soderblom scored his first North American goal, Jason Spezia and Steven Kampfer aided the cause, Michael Rasmussen had 2 assists, and Victor Brattstrom (19 of 20 stops) and Sebastian Cossa (12 of 13 stops) split the win.

Continue reading Red Wings-Penguins preseason quick take: Wings’ ‘B Team’ wins 6-2 over loaded Penguins

Family health issues intrude upon blog coverage

Friends,

I have to be honest with you. Without giving you too many details, my Aunt Annie has been in ill health since past Friday, and I’ve been trying to deal with the issue quietly over the past couple of days.

While AA was in the hospital, I was advised by my family to continue blogging to complete my training camp work. I did that.

Now AA has been discharged, and we are having trouble. She may have to come home from rehab care, and things are a big mess this evening.

I may have to step away from the blog for tonight’s game against Pittsburgh, and I am traveling home tomorrow during the mid-day hours, so I am definitely going to miss the morning skate and mid-day articles, if not more.

Tomorrow’s Wings-Blackhawks game is on Bally Sports Detroit Extra and WWJ Newsradio 950, but I may have to step away from the blog tomorrow, because it sounds like things…

Things are a mess right now. And I need to put my family first. And my family (Aunt Annie) is the biggest mess here. And if she’s going to be a pain in the butt, I’ve got to take care of my 80-year-old.

Prospect round-up, European version: Tuomisto’s 17:33 in TPS Turku win

Of Red Wings prospect-related note from Europe today:

In the Finnish Liiga, Antti Tuomisto played 17:33, finishing even with 2 shots in TPS Turku’s 2-1 win over the Lahti Pelicans;

And in the SHL, Liam Dower Nilsson finished even in 7:58 played as Frolunda HC won 3-1 over Vaxjo.

Pre-game catch-up post: From news about the coach’s family to Jonatan Berggren, Tyler Bertuzzi, the goaltending duo and the coach’s looks

Of Red Wings-related note after I took a very long pre-game nap on Tuesday afternoon:

  1. MLive’s Ansar Khan noted that Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde’s family has evacuated from the Tampa Bay area, which is about to get hit by Hurricane Ian…

Lalonde was relived his family landed in Detroit Tuesday morning after being evacuated from their home in Tampa due to Hurricane Ian.

“This time of year, it’s a reality living in Tampa,” Lalonde said. “We get these all the time and everyone always calls me ‘are you OK?’ and the worst we get is a broken branch up front. But to evacuate, this is real. This is kind of the way of life for them. My family is up north now, which I’m excited about but obviously very scary.”

After Lalonde was hired on July 1, his family decided it would be best to remain in the Tampa area for the season with his kids in school.

2. Khan also posted an article about Jonatan Berggren’s attempts to make the Red Wings’ roster…

Continue reading Pre-game catch-up post: From news about the coach’s family to Jonatan Berggren, Tyler Bertuzzi, the goaltending duo and the coach’s looks

AP’s Lage offers a Red Wings season preview

The Associated Press’s Larry Lage posted a Red Wings season preview, and in said preview, he discusses the Red Wings’ “sources for hope” for the upcoming season:

The Detroit Red Wings have faded from relevance in the NHL due to a lack of stars. Help appears to be on the way with Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond. Seider, a savvy defenseman, is the reigning rookie of the year. Raymond is a skilled forward coming off a 57-point debut season.

“They have tremenous potential,” general manager Steve Yzerman said. “You look at the top teams in the league, they have elite players.”

Seider and Raymond are probably not ready to lead the Red Wings to the playoffs this season, but both players should be able to help to push them in the right direction. Detroit drafted Seider out of Germany with the No. 6 pick overall in 2019. The next year, the Red Wings selected No. 4 overall.

“We talked a lot about the (draft) lottery and not having success, but we’ve been fortunate and lucky to have these kids come in,” Yzerman said.

The duo provides a jolt of talent on a roster that includes a trio of proven scorers in Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana.

In what has been a long rebuild in Detroit, the Red Wings have missed six straight playoffs after earning a spot in 25 straight postseasons and winning four Stanley Cup championships.

“We’re a long ways from where we want to be, but I think there’s some excitement, some optimistim and (Yzerman) feels that,” first-year coach Derek Lalonde said.

Continued