HSJ on the Red vs. White Game

The Free Press’s Helene St. James offers a short set of observations regarding the Red vs. White Game, which the Red Team won 4-2, this afternoon:

Newcomer Dominik Kubalik was among the Detroit Red Wings players who entertained during Sunday’s scrimmage that broke up the monotony of training camp.

Kubalik’s Red squad bested the White squad, 4-2, before a sold-out , enthusiastic crowd at Centre Ice Arena, on the penultimate day before the Wings head to Detroit. Kubalik had a couple chances during two 25-minute running-clock periods, and scored in a shootout that was part of the halftime fun.

“He did have a good scrimmage, he was skating, pucks seemed to find him a lot,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “He had a good day and looked like he built some confident. he’s a shooter, someone who can skate.”

Lalonde sounded pleased overall with how a blend of NHLers and minors leaguers played after three days of practices. Tyler Bertuzzi didn’t play and remains-to-day with an undisclosed injury; Robert Hagg left the scrimmage after taking a puck to the side of his head. Lalonde did not have an update immediately after the game.

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Talking injuries after the Red vs. White Game

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Okay, here’s the scoop on the Red Wings’ injuries, per coach Derek Lalonde:

  1. Andrew Copp is still about 4 weeks into a 6-to-8-week recovery period from abdominal surgery, so while he and Jake Walman (shoulder, out till November) have been skating, Copp has to ride out the recovery process;
  2. Today, coach Lalonde told us that Tyler Bertuzzi (???) and Oskar Sundqvist (???) remain day-to-day with their issues, and that we should see them “at some point” in the exhibition season;
  3. Joe Veleno missed the Red vs. White Game with a “maintenance day” lower-body issue;
  4. And Robert Hagg, who took a puck to the head/ear off a shot from Simon Edvinsson and left Sunday’s game, had yet to be evaluated when the coach spoke with us.

DHN’s Allen discusses Jonatan Berggren’s progression

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen duly notes that Red Wings prospect Jonatan Berggren has grown into his role as a scorer in the AHL level, in more ways than one, but he still faces a difficult climb as he attempts to graduate from the Grand Rapids Griffins:

The 2018 33rd overall draft pick is one of the handful of Detroit prospects competing for jobs or an improved Red Wings’ roster. Last October, Berggren did drive to Grand Rapids, Ohio, instead of Grand Rapids, Michigan. But once he arrived in the right city, he put up 21 goals and 64 points in 70 games  It was one of the better seasons ever produced by a Griffins rookie. He hopes he’s ready for the move from Grand Rapids to Detroit.

“Skilled as advertised,” new Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said this week of Berggren. “Probably protects the puck a little better than I anticipated. Hockey sense. And he probably plays at a little better pace than I had anticipated, too. Actually, pretty impressed by him.”

Positive reinforcement from the coach is never a bad thing for a youngster trying to climb to the next level. But having a successful season in Grand Rapids probably helps him even more. Other top rookies, such as Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Elmer Soderblom, Cross Hanas and Eemil Viro, don’t have the AHL on their resume.

“Had a really good talk the other day in length here with (Grand Rapids Griffins coach) Ben Simon because of what I saw here with Berggren. He’s showing well, which doesn’t surprise. He’s got the year of pro hockey in North America under his belt. I think you can see some improvement in his game.”

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Prospect round-up, European version: Anton Johansson scores a goal in J20 action

In the Swedish J20 league:

2022 draft pick Anton Johansson scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 6 shots, in Leksands IF’s 4-2 win over Timra IK;

And fellow 2022 draft pick Maximilian Kilpinen played on the first line but did not register a point (and some two hours later, the stats STILL aren’t available here) in Orebro Hockey’s 4-1 win over Malmo.

Getting a few links out of the way early ahead of the Red vs. White Game

Today’s practice schedule at the Red Wings’ 2022 training camp is a little screwy, so in case I’m unable to update my blog with the YouTube link (present link goes to the Wings’ YouTube page), Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Kal confirmed that he’s going to be doing the play-by-play of today’s Red vs. White Game (12 PM EDT start) alongside DetroitRedWings.com’s Daniella Bruce, Carley Johnston and Art Regner:

Fans don’t forget the annual Red – White game takes place tomorrow at 12 noon. Join ⁦@daniellabruce_⁩ ⁦@carleykjohnston⁩ ⁦@ArthurJRegner⁩ and yours truly for all the action. Game will be streamed ⁦@DetroitRedWings⁩ web site. pic.twitter.com/j50zFKCg7M— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) September 24, 2022

If you want to follow along statistically as well, there will be a box score posted on this PointStreak page around the time the game starts.

Practice for the players not taking part in the Red vs. White Game begins at 9:30 AM this morning, and goes till 10:30; then both the Red and White teams will take to the ice from 11:05 till 11:45 AM to reinforce structures of play, and the main game starts at 12 PM EDT.

I believe that the Wings will experiment with a “running clock” with certain times including stoppages of play over the course of 2 periods played, as per past practice, but we’ll have to wait and see what coach surprises coach Lalonde and his staff have up their sleeves.

For what it’s worth, Monday’s practices will only involve the two game squads–Team Red and Team White (meaning that the first cuts are coming tonight or tomorrow)–and things get underway at 9:30 AM. Players will engage in the dreaded “skating test” toward the end of both practices.

A Red Wings blog