Prospect Round-up North America: Red Savage scores 2 goals in Miami OT loss

I’ve got some good news and some bad news regarding the only game of the night which involved a Red Wings prospect.

In NCAA hockey, Red Savage scored 2 goals, finishing even with 4 shots and an 8-for-12 faceoff record, but his Miami of Ohio Redhawks lost a 5-4 overtime decision to Mercyhurst.

Here are Savage’s goals from the NCHC Athletic Conference’s Twitter account:

Red Wings-Sharks quick take: Shorthanded goals power Wings to first win of 2022

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap a 2-game losing streak against a similarly-struggling San Jose Sharks team on Tuesday night at Little Caesars Arena.

The San Jose Sharks were the ones who made dramatic changes, scratching Marc-Edouard Vlasic on defense, but that did not work for them; Detroit won 6-2 minus the scratched Filip Zadina. Givani Smith, his replacement, got into a fight the sparked the Wings, and then he got kicked out of the game for a 5-minute major on his fight partner, Jacob Middleton, who left the game, but that shorthanded period of time spurned the Wings to score a pair of shorthanded goals, leading Detroit to a wild and woolly 6-2 victory.

That broke the Wings’ 2-game post-holiday break losing streak, and afforded the Wings some momentum as they go out West to play the Ducks (Thursday), Kings (Saturday) and these same Sharks next Tuesday.

Continue reading Red Wings-Sharks quick take: Shorthanded goals power Wings to first win of 2022 →

Well-wishes for Mick and Ozzie

Bally Sports Detroit’s John Keating reported on tonight’s pre-game show that Mickey Redmond and Chris Osgood were out “in COVID protocols” for tonight’s game.

Keating reported that both gentlemen are feeling fine, and I’m especially certain that Mickey is double-vaxxed and boosted as he’s over 65 and only has one lung left after his battles with lung cancer, but…

You worry. Here’s hoping that both gentlemen recover quickly and recover to full health.

Monroe: Walleye and ECHL teams adapt to AHL COVID call-ups, Taxi Squads

The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with ECHL commissioner Ryan Crelin regarding the number of AHL call-ups from the ECHL due to both COVID issues and the NHL’s reestablishment of Taxi Squads:

Currently, the Walleye are playing without six of their top 11 scorers, including three of their top five point producers as well as one of their top goaltenders.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Crelin said. “We’ve been hit with a lot of call-ups, and we’re certainly dealing with COVID issues as well. You can’t plan for a lot of this stuff and, when it happens, you have to deal with it. It certainly makes for some difficult situations. But our teams have responded well.”

The most recent hurdle came in the form of the NHL’s decision to reintroduce taxi squads to prevent more virus postponements. More than 200 roster spots opened because of the move with NHL teams drawing players from their AHL affiliates and then those teams dipping down into the rosters of their ECHL affiliates.

Walleye coach Dan Watson is well-prepared to deal with promotions to the organization’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids — a common practice in minor league hockey. However, Watson said the unprecedented number of transactions has led to more opportunities.

“We just roll with it,” Watson said. “Guys are getting opportunities that they typically don’t have, and we want to see guys step up. We love to see guys who are in and out of the lineup or who don’t get a ton of ice time — to see what they are all about.”

Continued

Prospect round-up Europe: Rogle takes first of 2 playoff games vs. Frolunda

In a battle of Red Wings prospects, William Wallinder’s Rogle BK won a 3-2 decision over Frolunda HC in Champions Hockey League play. The two-game semifinal playoff will resume next Tuesday, January 11th, and the winner on aggregate goals will advance to the CHL final.

In terms of player statistics:

For Rogle, Wallinder finished at +1 in 16:25 played for Rogle;

For Frolunda, Simon Edvinsson (COVID) did not play;

Elmer Soderblom finished at -1 with 2 shots in 11:27 played;

And Theodor Niederbach finished even in only 1:14 played.

Tweet of note via the Wings: Carter Mazur named NCHC Rookie of the Month

Via the Red Wings on Twitter:

Kulfan’s game-day notebook: Veleno eyes opportunity on sputtering power play

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a game-day notebook in which he discusses Joe Veleno’s opportunity to help kick-start the Red Wings’ power play, where Veleno will work on the second unit instead of Filip Zadina:

“I’ve got to make the most of it with the opportunity they’re giving me,” Veleno said. “Take advantage of every situation, every game, every day that I get to come to the rink, and not give them a reason to not put me in the lineup or to send me back down. That’s up to me and my work ethic, my compete and my urgency. If I set my expectations high, and I do those things and I come to the rink every day and I apply those things, my chances of sticking around will be pretty good.”

Veleno has had power-play success in Grand Rapids. Six of the 15 goals Veleno scored in the American League were on the power play.  

With the Wings, Veleno’s first NHL goal last season was on the power play.

“We still have to make a decision on it,” coach Jeff Blashill said of using Veleno on the specialty team. “We’ll see if that is how it works out in a game or not. Joe is a guy, who ultimately, we would like to see get opportunities on the power play to see if he can be a good power-play player at the NHL level.”

A prolific offensive player in junior hockey, Veleno has played in a variety spots on the unit.

“I’ve played mostly everywhere on the power play the last couple of years,” Veleno said. “I’ve had some looks on the bumper, I’ve had some looks on the strong-side flank. My off-wing flank. Wherever (Blashill) puts me, I’m going to have to do the most with that position.”

Continued with discussions regarding the Wings’ need for a “shooting mentality,” and their tough schedule to come.

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