The Malik Report

DetroitRedWings.com’s Jonathan Mills examines the Red Wings’ events of importance over the course of the 2021 calendar year this morning:

January 13 – Dylan Larkin named 37th captain in franchise history

One day before the 2020-21 season kicked off, Red Wings center Dylan Larkin was named team captain, becoming the first Michigander and native metro Detroiter to wear the ‘C’ for the club. A native of Waterford, Mich., Larkin had served as an alternate captain for the Red Wings since 2018-19. He became the franchise’s first captain since Henrik Zetterberg, who retired on Sept. 14, 2018.

…

October 24 – Lucas Raymond’s first career hat trick leads Detroit past Chicago

Detroit recorded its first road win of the 2021-22 season and Raymond celebrated his first career hat trick as the Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3, at the United Center. Raymond became the first Detroit skater age 19 or younger to score a hat trick since Yzerman did it on April 30, 1985.

Continued

FYI:

UPDATE: Lucas Raymond, Adam Erne and Jordan Oesterle have been removed from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 30, 2021

Believe this leaves only Nick Leddy in protocol https://t.co/gF2txW3lVf— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 30, 2021

FYI:

JUST ADDED: Former @DetroitRedWings defenseman Jiří Fischer will play in the #Winterfest2021 Alumni Game TONIGHT. ?

?️: https://t.co/AOu31vz1gL pic.twitter.com/7H1SIxdx4b— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) December 30, 2021

The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted a “dump all the notes out of the notebook” article this morning–my favorite kind of article–and in said article, he offers this note regarding Red Wings prospect and TPS Turku defenseman Eemil Viro:

D Eemil Viro (Detroit Red Wings): I asked TPS head coach Jussi Ahokas about Viro on a recent phone call, and his answer was great. Apparently, the Red Wings check in often with Ahokas’ defence coach Sami Salo for updates on Viro (like more than is typical from an NHL club). Here’s Ahokas:

“Woah. Well first of all as a person, he’s a great guy. He’s a positive, talkative kid who is all-around a great person who works hard. As a person, I’ve got nothing bad to say about him. And then on top of that as a hockey player, he’s a really good skater, he’s good defensively, he can hit well, he gets pucks back and gets free, and he’s just an excellent all-around D. His skating has been the biggest thing, though. That’s what has allowed him to progress up levels early. He can play gaps well. He’s a smart 19-year-old kid, that’s for sure. I think the biggest thing he still has to improve is how he can carry the puck. That’s the big thing he has to work on.”

Also of note from WHeeler:

D Donovan Sebrango (Detroit Red Wings): Played physical, step-up style from his first shift of the tournament against Czechia. Nice to see him involving himself off the line and in transition offensively, too, because he’s a better player on that side of the puck than his production in the AHL has indicated to date. Struggled when under pressure with the puck in the defensive zone, forcing some plays. A couple of excellent stretch passes.

…

D Simon Edvinsson (Detroit Red Wings): Looked the part of one of the top prospects in the tournament and nice to see the points continuing to fall. Quickly becoming more than just a transition guy and that much-needed finishing element inside the offensive zone (as a shooter and play-ending passer) is finally beginning to blossom.

Continued with many, many more notes (paywall)…

Friday’s game between the Red Wings and Washington Capitals (7:30 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/NBCS Washington/97.1 FM) is over 24 hours away, but the Associated Press has already posted a bare-bones game preview of tomorrow night’s affair:

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals visit Detroit after Dylan Larkin scored three goals in the Red Wings’ 5-2 win against the Devils.

The Red Wings are 9-7-2 in conference matchups. Detroit ranks ninth in the Eastern Conference recording 7.7 points per game, averaging 2.8 goals and 4.9 assists.

The Capitals are 12-4-3 in Eastern Conference play. Washington leads the Eastern Conference with five shorthanded goals, led by Evgeny Kuznetsov with two.

In their last meeting on Nov. 11, Washington won 2-0.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Bertuzzi leads the Red Wings with a plus-12 in 23 games this season. Moritz Seider has seven assists over the last 10 games for Detroit.

Nick Jensen leads the Capitals with a plus-20 in 31 games this season. Alex Ovechkin has three goals and eight assists over the last 10 games for Washington.

LAST 10 GAMES: Red Wings: 6-4-0, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.8 assists, 2.8 penalties and 6.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game with a .903 save percentage.

Capitals: 5-3-2, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up three goals per game with a .903 save percentage.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James had some very good conversations with coach Jeff Blashill and forward Sam Gagner regarding the ways in which the Red Wings can improve their defensive games during yesterday’s media availabilities.

Today, the result of said conversations comes in the form of a subscriber-only article in which St. James discusses the comments that Blashill and Gagner made regarding eliminating “hope” plays and establishing a work ethic where it’s okay when nothing happens on a shift–to the good!

“One of the things we talk about is eliminating hope plays,” Blashill said. “If you are in pressure, you either eat it, you lay it up the wall, but you don’t ‘hope’ it to spots.”

It’s what former captain Henrik Zetterberg used to preach: Sometimes nothing may happen for 59 minutes, but to try to force a play won’t help. 

“It’s a maturity process for sure,” Blashill said. “When you have players that can make plays you want to make a difference in the game and so you’re trying to make plays, and you just have to know when to make a play and when to live another day. What factors into that? How much time you have, how much pressure you’re under. Where you are on the ice — there are certain areas that turnovers crush you. What’s the score in the game? What line are you playing against?

“This is the thing that most players need to learn as they come into the NHL: How to produce offense efficiently. It doesn’t probably get talked about enough, but it’s critical. That’s why great young forwards, it takes time for them to learn to lead a team to winning a Stanley Cup. If you look across the league, almost every team that wins has seasoned players because of that, because it a takes a process to learn how to create offense efficiently, meaning you create a bunch of chances for without giving up a whole bunch.”

Continued (paywall)

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Wednesday:

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Albin Grewe remains sidelined with a concussion, so he missed Mora IK’s 3-2 loss to Almtuna IS;

Filip Larsson was the back-up in HV71’s 2-0 win over Troja-Ljungby;

In the WHL, Alex Cotton finished at -2 with a rather astonishing 9 shots (as a defenseman) in the Vancouver Giants’ 2-0 loss to Victoria;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper scored a goal and added an assist in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 8-3 win over Langley;

And in NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange finished at -1 with 1 shot in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 2-2 tie with Providence.

This is excellent stuff from Bob McKenzie on top of excellent reporting from the entire TSN crew surrounding the 2022 World Junior Championship’s cancellation today:

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses the Red Wings’ defensive structure, the new COVID guidelines adopted by the NHL, and the state of the Red Wings’ roster at present:

Gagner and forward Joe Veleno came off the protocol list Wednesday, and several more are likely to become eligible to play Thursday, which means forward Lucas Raymond and defense Nick Leddy would be the two regulars unlikely to be ready to play Friday against Washington.

In all, the Wings appear to be getting healthier and escaping the worst of the situation.

“You cross your fingers knowing just the way this has gone, you think you’re out of the woods and someone tests positive,” Blashill said. “But it seems to have, in the last couple of days, subsided a little bit. You don’t know, it’s almost an hour by hour kind of approach. You have to be ready to adjust as needed and confront the obstacles.”

…

The Wings reversed course from planning a full scale practice Wednesday to an optional skate, what with players still coming off the protocol list and different players at various stages of conditioning.

“We’re in a real weird spot where there are guys who haven’t skated at all, and certain guys who’ve skated (three straight days),” said Blashill, adding there are practices and games scheduled through Monday. “It’s more about looking forward than just today.”

Continued

Awful news from Sportsnet:

The International Ice Hockey Federation has cancelled the remainder of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship because of rising cases of COVID-19, according to multiple reports.

Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters was first to report the cancellation.

The tournament, being held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., has seen a recent increase in infections that have led to game forfeitures caused by positive test results on the Russia, Czechia and United States teams.

After the Czechia-Finland game was forfeited, the IIHF announced that referees and linesmen would have to wear masks during games until further notice.

The cancellation comes on the heels of the IIHF’s decision late last week to cancel all events that started in January, including the women’s under-18 world championship, a decision that was heavily criticized.

The U18 championship was scheduled to take place Jan. 8-15 in Linkoping and Mjolby, Sweden. It’s the second straight year the tournament has been cancelled after the 2021 event, also scheduled for Linkoping and Mjolby, was scrapped due to the pandemic.

The IIHF said the tournaments were cancelled because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

Update: Here it is:

Official Announcement: The 2022 #WorldJuniors have been cancelled due to Covid-19.

Full statement at https://t.co/TNNT2FHecn pic.twitter.com/xnPs9nDWli— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 29, 2021