The Malik Report

Of Red Wings prospect-related note on Tuesday:

In the Finnish Liiga, TPS Turku lost 5-3 to Ilves without Eemil Viro;

Otto Kivenmaki finished at -1 with 3 shots in 12:17 played as the Lahti Pelicans lost 2-1 in a shootout to JYP;

In the SHL, Rogle BK lost 5-2 to Leksands IF without William Wallinder, who’s injured;

Albert Johansson finished at -1 with 2 shots on goal in 16:31 played, and Gustav Berglund finished at -2 with 1 shot in 7:19 played as Farjestads BK lost 8-0 to Lulea;

In the HockeyEttan, Jesper Eliasson wasn’t on Vasby IK’s roster during their 2-0 win over Vimmerby HC;

At the World Junior Championship, Donovan Sebrango finished at +2 with 2 shots in 16:03 played during Canada’s 11-0 win over Austria;

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito scored the game’s first goal, finishing at +1 with 3 shots and a 3-for-6 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 6-3 loss to Kitchener;

In the WHL, Sebastian Cossa’s Edmonton Oil Kings lost 7-5 to Moose Jaw;

Cross Hanas did not play in the Portland Winterhawks’ 9-2 win over Tri-City;

And in NCAA Hockey, Sam Stange finished even in the University of Wisconsin Badgers’ 3-2 overtime win over Vermont at the Holiday Faceoff in Milwaukee.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen offers 5 storylines to watch for the Red Wings during the upcoming calendar year:

2. Cleaning Up Defensive End

To stay in playoff contention, or just to remain competitive, the Red Wings must be better defensively in their own zone.

“One thing, through the course of the rest of the season that will have to be better for us to improve our record or even maintain our record is give up less chances,” Blashill said.

Blashill said the team needs to learn when they can make a play and when they can’t make a play.

“And also how to push pucks up the wall with slash support so you can keep possession without making hope plays in the middle of the ice,” Blashill said.

The Detroit Red Wings have been sloppy defensively, particularly on the road. They have won at home because they have overcome their defensive shortcomings. But to win on the road, they have to be better defensively.

“Another area would be just continue to work on D-zone coverage and become great at it,” Blashill said. “Making sure we’re not giving up Grade A chances in D zone coverage. That’s a big area.”

Continued

Here’s another plug for my appearance on the Jablam Sports podcast on Monday. Again, many thanks to Peter Bojarinov and everybody at Jablam for having me:

Why is Moritz Seider on Santa’s nice list? @georgemalik details his game and possibilities, listen to more on #JablamSports #NHL #hockey #RedWings #LGRW (2:10)

Full Podcast at: https://t.co/2a1D1hpGIG pic.twitter.com/U1qzPIWkYR— Jablam Sports (@jablamsports) December 29, 2021

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins comes an important community announcement:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – With the need of blood on the rise during the holiday season, the Grand Rapids Griffins and Versiti Blood Center of Michigan will once again host a blood drive at Van Andel Arena, on Saturday, Jan. 8 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Versiti will be taking appointments and walk-ins on Jan. 8 in the B, C, and D banquet rooms at Van Andel Arena. Please click here to schedule an appointment or call 866-642-5663. Versiti is looking to collect 54 pints of blood and has openings for 100 registered donors.

As a reprise of their highly successful blood drive at the arena last January, the Griffins and Versiti are offering everyone who registers and attempts to donate a Griffins swag bag, along with an entry into the Drive to Save Lives Sweepstakes to win a brand-new car. Participants must be 18 years or older.

With coronavirus safety measures in place, all donors must wear a face covering. Please visit the Versiti website to view the most up-to-date COVID-19 guidelines.

ABOUT VERSITI BLOOD CENTER OF MICHIGAN

Versiti Blood Center of Michigan is a non-profit blood center headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich. Founded in 1955, it is the sole blood provider to all of Kent County and over 70 other hospitals across Michigan. Versiti collects more than 120,000 units of blood each year throughout the state at eight permanent donation sites and more than 3,400 community blood drives. For more information, visit versiti.org/Michigan.

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Good news:

UPDATE: Forwards Sam Gagner and Joe Veleno have been removed from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 29, 2021

This leaves Erne, Oesterle, Raymond and Leddy in protocol. Erne and Oesterle might exit tomorrow. https://t.co/t8hRE61nMR— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) December 29, 2021

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski posted an Insider-only article which ranks the 14 Winter Classics based upon their “venue, hype and style,” and the 2014 Winter Classic comes out on top:

1. 2014: Michigan Stadium, Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Detroit Red Wings 2 (37 points)

Environment: 10
Hype: 10
Game: 8
Style: 9

This was a special kind of cold. The seat cushions handed to the 105,491 hockey fans at the Big House — an NHL record — could barely protect their posteriors from the numbing metal benches. The balls inside the linesmen’s whistles froze in place during the game. Snow fell, winds whipped. It was truly hockey vs. the elements that day in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

All of it helped create a legendary environment for the outdoor game. So did the split loyalties in the crowd, which was dotted with blue Maple Leafs jerseys and contrasting with Red Wings jerseys. On the ice, the teams’ throwback jerseys — both wore full-color uniforms — were among the best looking in the event’s history.

Impossible as it might seem, the game was actually good! Jonathan Bernier saw 43 Red Wings shots sail his way, and Detroit needed a late third-period goal to force overtime. Toronto won in a shootout on a Tyler Bozak tally, sending tens of thousands back over the border happy.

An entertaining game, in many ways, is the cherry on top for a Winter Classic. There are other aspects more central to the event’s success. Like having a compelling matchup, challenging winter conditions and a memorable venue with a personality of its own. But a great Winter Classic should also be a celebration of hockey: To that end, the Leafs and Wings played an alumni game doubleheader at Comerica Park in Detroit because they had so many darn great players who wanted in, and so many fans who wanted to watch them.

The Winter Classic at the Big House satisfied all these obligations. Which is why it’s the classic among Classics.

Continued (paywall)

The Grand Rapids Griffins have posted their weekly notebook, which discusses the team’s first 3-games-in-3-nights stretch of the season:

Continue reading Press release: Grand Rapids Griffins post weekly notebook

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a practice notebook article discussing the Red Wings’ postponed games as the Wings face the challenge of trying to stay sharp after not having played for 11 days now:

[Detroit] scheduled a mid-afternoon practice Tuesday in anticipation of getting further COVID testing results and possibly getting a few more players cleared. They had a scheduled 5 p.m. flight to New York in hopes of getting to the hotel, then playing Wednesday.

But the Islanders had more positive COVID tests Tuesday, on top of five players Monday. Now the Wings have four games to make up this season — a home game against Colorado, and road games against the Islanders, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.

“I was disappointed,” Blashill said of the postponement. “I’m happy for the guys who would have missed the game so they now don’t have to miss the game, but I want to play and get going. We’re all anxious to play again. (But) we all understand these are tough times and we just have to work through them.”

By Friday, the Wings could have most of their roster cleared to play — except for forward Lucas Raymond and defenseman Nick Leddy. Both will be near the end of their time on the protocol list. Nedeljkovic and forward FIlip Zadina rejoined the Wings on Tuesday.  Defenseman Jordan Oesterle and forwards Adam Erne, Sam Gagner and Joe Veleno will be eligible to practice in the next two days.

Blashill said Tuesday’s practice was a step ahead of Monday’s session, with more bodies able to skate and the fact players are regaining their timing. Nedeljkovic believes teammates are simply want to return to game action.

“It felt good on the ice,” Nedeljkovic said. “The pace was pretty good for being a little bit short staffed. Everybody is itching to kind of get into a rhythm and play games.”

Continued

Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen discusses several players which the Red Wings might be willing to trade closer to this year’s trade deadline (on March 21st), including Filip Zadina, Thomas Greiss, Marc Staal and a couple of obvious candidates in Nick Leddy and Vladislav Namestnikov:

Defenseman Nick Leddy, 30: Contenders are always looking for veteran defenseman who can defend one-on-one and help on the transition game. Leddy has played 807 games and knows how to get the puck out of his zone. He’s still a quality skater.

Depending on how many defensemen are in the marketplace, Leddy could fetch  a second- or first-round pick, or perhaps a second-round pick with a prospect Detroit likes.

Keep in mind, Leddy can be an unrestricted free agent. Some have written Leddy could end up back on Long Island, although the Islanders’ struggles might alter the plans.

The Detroit Red Wings will want to have a veteran defenseman to help tutor Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson next season, but Yzerman could be targeting other veteran blue liners. Leddy has been fine this season, doing what has been asked of him, but he hasn’t been over-the-moon incredible.

Continued (paywall)

College Hockey News’s Jashvina Shah wrote an article discussing the Great Lakes Invitational, which isn’t being played at Little Caesars Arena this year, instead splitting time between Yost Arena in Ann Arbor and Munn Arena in Lansing:

For the first time in its history, the Great Lakes Invitational (GLI) was canceled last year. Now the tournament has returned, but instead of being held at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena (LCA), it was organized as a showcase that will be played at Michigan and Michigan State.

The question is whether this is the beginning of the end, or just a temporary blip.

To further throw a monkey wrench into things, Michigan canceled its second game this week, against Western Michigan, saying it has issues with players and COVID protocols. Again, is that another death blow to the GLI, or a blip?

The Great Lakes Invitational started in 1965 and has remained, or had remained, a staple of the the Michigan hockey scene. It was born with the blessing of the Red Wings and is features Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan Tech as well as another team from Michigan that changes yearly. 

The tournament was canceled last year when the Big Ten decided no non-league games would be played. The plan was to return to LCA this year, but it was difficult to find dates where the arena was free. (Although with the new COVID variant Omicron causing cases to spike, the GLI at LCA may not have happened regardless.)

“There’s interest and we’d love to keep it going,” Michigan State coach Danton Cole said. “COVID made everything really weird last couple years. Now, we’ll see where it goes, but hopefully we’ll be back.”

Continued