The Malik Report

This notebook from yesterday slipped under the radar, but TSN’s Mark Masters spoke with Sebastian Cossa and his Team Canada teammates regarding the big netminder’s intimidating presence in the net, big mouth included:

Cossa, the first goalie picked in the 2021 NHL draft (15th overall to Detroit), is good and isn’t shy about [it].  

“I’m pretty loose before the game and during the game,” he said. “I like to have fun and chirping comes along with that so definitely not scared to throw around a chirp.”

What sort of thing will he say? 

“Just guaranteeing they won’t score on me,” he said. “Putting money on the line. I’ll bet money that they won’t score on me and when they don’t score, I let them know.”

He’s also not afraid to tell the coach that he wants to play. Cossa got into 19 of Edmonton’s 23 games last season. 

“He wants that net every night,” said Oil Kings coach Brad Lauer. “Last year was a shortened season and at the end of the season his numbers were outstanding, and he didn’t need to play. I said, ‘You’ve played enough. I can get you in one game and we’ll give another kid a game.’ He just said, ‘I want the net. I want to play. I want to finish this thing off right.'”

Continued; in Masters’ Thursday notebook, he reports that Cossa and Dylan Garand will split the net tonight vs. the Russians at 7 PM.

Update: There’s a video accompanying the story.

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff filed a notebook article which discusses Vladislav Namestnikov’s superb 2021-2022 season performance thus far:

He can’t put his finger on exactly what it is. All that Vladislav Namestnikov can assess with any semblance of accurate precision is that something was definitely off last season, his debut campaign with the Detroit Red Wings.

“Just last year was a weird year for me,” Namestnikov said. “The pandemic, a lot of posts. Sometimes that happens.”

So far this year, it’s fair to say that a lot is on in terms of Namestnikov’s game. He’s certainly been one of the pleasant developments for the club as the were entering the holiday break.

“I think I’m just more comfortable in the room,” said Namestnikov, the nephew of two-time Red Wings Stanley Cup winner Slava Kozlov. “I know the systems now. I’m out there and I’m just playing hockey.”

The stats sheet already shows him scoring nine goals in 31 games. That’s one more than Namestnikov’s production during 53 games of the 2021 campaign.

Continued

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which discusses Dylan Larkin’s offensive renaissance with the Red Wings this season, a season in which Larkin has persevered through adversity:

This season hasn’t gone completely smoothly, either. Larkin was suspended for a game after sucker-punching Tampa’s Mathieu Joseph — after Joseph had boarded Larkin — and Larkin missed a week in November for personal reasons. Larkin also was pulled from a game after two periods after testing positive for COVID-19 — only to find out it was a “false-positive” the next day. Through it all, Larkin has persevered.

“It’s not been easy,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It has been a lot of stops and starts in terms of games he’s been in and not been able to play. He’s done a really good job of staying focused on what he can control and that’s his effort level and his output in games.”

One thing last season did teach Larkin was controlling only what a person can control, and attempting to let go of the stuff you can’t. 

“The highs and lows of this league, they’re pretty dramatic at times,” Larkin said after the COVID scare. “Especially if you let them, and at times I feel like I’ve really let them get to me. This year I really worked on not letting that happen, whether it’s going well or it’s not. Whether things come into your life and take you out of the lineup for a week, or you can’t play a third period, I’m really just trying not to let it get to me and be grateful that I’m here.”

Continued

Pro Hockey Talk’s Adam Gretz offers a “holiday gift” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams, and despite the hype surrounding Anaheim Ducks rookie Trevor Zegras, Gretz still believes that the Calder Trophy for the NHL’s best rookie will go to a Red Wings player:

Detroit Red Wings. A Calder Trophy for one of their standout rookies. If this team gets into the playoffs (not out of the question) Lucas Raymond or Moritz Seider should be the runaway rookie of the year favorites.

Continued

Via the Red Wings on Twitter comes this great remembrance from the Winter Classic back in 2009:

Our countdown of the top-10 #WinterClassic plays continues today with Pavel Datsyuk and the @DetroitRedWings! pic.twitter.com/6cGuJE34j7

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) December 23, 2021

Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino posted a list of 3 watchable World Junior Championship players from each and every one of the teams participating in the WJC, and one Red Wings prospect made his list:

Simon Edvinsson, D, Frolunda (SHL): Won’t be long before he’s playing next to Moritz Seider on Detroit’s top pairing. Has been a force in the SHL and should be a dominant, all-situations minute eater for Swedish coach Tomas Monten. (Detroit, sixth overall pick in 2021)

Continued; the Wings have seven other players taking part in the WJC.

Via the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa on Twitter comes a story from Full Press Hockey’s Murray Pam:

Extremely thankful for this short back and forth with Bobby Ryan who’s prepping to play at the #spenglercup
this coming weekend. #goSENSgo #LGRW #FlyTogether @FullPressNHL @FP_Coveragehttps://t.co/hymu8LJiOi— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) December 23, 2021

The AHL’s website has posted a profile of Grand Rapids Griffins forward Turner Elson, posted by Griffinshockey.com’s Mark Newman:

In a quarter of a century of Griffins hockey, fewer than three dozen players have spent at least parts of five seasons in Grand Rapids.

If you reduce the ranks to those who have logged five seasons of at least 20 games and who came to the organization as undrafted free agents ― players who were discovered without the pedigree of being a prized prospect of any NHL team ― you can count those players on less than two hands.

Turner Elson is one of those rare examples.

Now in his fifth year with the Griffins, Elson joins Brian Lashoff, Dominik Shine, Joe Hicketts, Colin Campbell, Francis Pare, Joey MacDonald and Dave Van Drunen as the only players to claim that distinction. His longevity speaks to his value to the organization.

“He’s a hockey player ― he loves the game of hockey,” said Griffins head coach Ben Simon. “He’s a versatile guy that you can use on the wing, at center, on the power play or the penalty kill. He can play different styles. Whatever you need, he’ll do. He doesn’t ask questions. He doesn’t ask why. He just works and he works hard.

“He’s one of those guys you know what you’re going to get because he competes. And he cares. He cares if the team wins or loses, which is not to say that the other guys don’t care, but he’s a soldier. He’s the kind of guy you go into a foxhole with.”

Continued (at length)

Raising funds for the blog can be a complicated endeavor. One’s self-worth starts getting wrapped up in how much you raise depending on the day…And nothing makes you feel smaller or less “worthy” of support than a day where you don’t raise a thing.

Now it happens that these things happen, especially at this time of year. The holidays are stressing people out in more ways than one, we’ve all got financial pressures to deal with from said holidays, COVID is raging and it’s just not a good time of year for many folks.

Believe me, I can relate to all of the above-mentioned issues, as well as the general gloom that some of us seem to be wrapped in as the holidays approach. I’m not feeling “festive” this year, and that has very little to do with money.

But I’m still asking that, if you’re able to help put Christmas dinner on the table, that you drop a couple of bucks into the Paypal or Venmo accounts as Aunt Annie and I try to make ends meet. I am doing my best to battle through physical and mental illness to provide you a value-added product, and if you’re able to help, that’s great, and if you’re not, I understand, especially at this time of year.

If you’re willing to lend a hand, you can use PayPal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, Venmo at https://venmo.com/george-malik-2, Giftly by using my email, rtxg@yahoo.com, at https://www.giftly.com. And you can contact me via email if you want to send me a paper check.

Per the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday released center Josh Dickinson, left wing Max Humitz and defenseman Gordi Myer from their professional tryouts.

Dickinson joined Grand Rapids for the second time this season on Dec. 10 and logged one assist in three games. The fourth-year pro registered his first point as a Griffin on Dec. 10 against Manitoba. Dickinson has appeared in four contests this season with Grand Rapids, totaling one helper, four penalty minutes and a plus-one rating. A native of Georgetown, Ontario, the forward skated in his 150th game as a pro on Dec. 22 and has amassed 15 points (2-13—15) and 20 penalty minutes in 51 outings in the AHL. Dickinson will return to Toledo (ECHL) where he has recorded 25 points (9-16—25) in 16 games.

Humitz appeared in two outings with Grand Rapids from Dec. 11-22 during his fourth stint with the franchise this year. Throughout his two-year career, the left winger has competed in 16 AHL games, compiling six points (3-3—6), two penalty minutes and a plus-five rating. A native of Livonia, Mich., Humitz skated in eight contests with the Griffins a season ago, registering five points (3-2—5) and two penalty minutes. Humitz returns to Kalamazoo (ECHL) where he has competed in 12 games and places sixth on the roster with 11 points (8-3—11) and a plus-one rating.

Myer was called up the AHL for the first time in his career on Dec. 14 but did not see any game action. The Ohio State University product spent his rookie campaign with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits in 2020-21, logging 10 points (4-6—10) and two penalty minutes in 36 contests. Myer, now part of the Toledo Walleye, has recorded nine points (1-8—9) in 20 games this season in the ECHL.