Recap: Grand Rapids Griffins defeat Milwaukee 4-1 as Berggren, Pearson make statements

The Grand Rapids Griffins snapped a 3-game winless streak in fine fashion on Saturday, defeating the Milwaukee Admirals 4-1.

Jonatan Berggren scored his first AHL goal, and added an assist; Chase Pearson scored 2 goals; both Riley Barber and Turner Elson had 2 assists, and Calvin Pickard stopped 30 of 31 shots in the win.

The Griffins’ website posted a game recap:

Continue reading Recap: Grand Rapids Griffins defeat Milwaukee 4-1 as Berggren, Pearson make statements

Red Wings-Maple Leafs wrap-up: resilient Wings come up short in Toronto, but the fight is there

The Detroit Red Wings rallied from multiple deficits en route to a 5-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night…

And while the 4-3-and-2 Red Wings were never in control of the game they played on Saturday night, it was damn good to see the Wings compete as hard as they did and attempt to rally as forcefully as they did.

Regrettably, the Red Wings could not complete the comeback–and they rallied from 1-0, 3-1, 4-2 and almost 5-4 deficits along the way–so all was finally as “normal” as “normal” gets for the 4-4-and-1 Maple Leafs after their win, as the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan suggested:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs wrap-up: resilient Wings come up short in Toronto, but the fight is there

Red carpet car service

FYI from The Athletic’s Max Bultman:

Joe Veleno did, indeed, drive with Steve Yzerman from Detroit tonight. Just thought it would be easier than going to the airport. They listened to UM-MSU football, talked a bit, and Veleno slept a bit, too.— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 31, 2021

“I was a bit shy & didn’t know what to talk about … Once I got to spend a bit of time with him in the car I was a little more comfortable.”

— #redwings F Joe Veleno, called up from AHL last night, on having GM Yzerman drive him from Det to Tor for gm vs #Leafs tonight— Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) October 31, 2021

Red Wings-Maple Leafs quick take: It was close, it was a learning experience, and it was a ‘fun loss’

The Detroit Red Wings turned around from Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers, boarded Red Bird III and headed to Toronto to play the up-and-down Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

With a Hockey Night in Canada level of hype surrounding the game, the Maple Leafs won, dropping Detroit to 4-3-and-2, but the Red Wings rallied from 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-2 and 5-3 deficits to make it 5-4 as the final score.

To the positive: Joe Veleno scored his first goal and had an assist;

Moritz Seider played 22:27 and was excellent;

Lucas Raymond played 18:26 and was understated;

And Detroit lost, but was hell to play for a Leafs team that had been sitting since Wednesday, waiting for a Wings team that had to fly overnight into Toronto.

Now the Wings head into Montreal to battle a Canadiens team struggling equally badly as compared to Toronto, and next time, maybe the Wings will find some killer instinct instead of playing from behind.

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs quick take: It was close, it was a learning experience, and it was a ‘fun loss’

Prospect round-up, Europe: Edvinsson ‘shaken up’ by nasty hit, Soderblom scores for Frolunda

Of prospect-related note in Europe on Saturday:

In the Finnish Liiga, Otto Kivenmaki finished even with 1 shot in 14:45 played during the Lahti Pelicans’ 3-1 win over Sport;

In the SHL, William Wallinder finished at -1 with 1 shot in 14:37 played as Rogle BK won 3-2 over Djurgarden;

And, in Frolunda HC’s 4-1 win over Farjestads BK:

Simon Edvinsson finished at +1 with 2 shots in 13:35 played, and he got shaken up, per IceHockeyGifs:

Theodor Niederbach finished even in 12:11 played;

Elmer Soderblom scored a goal, finishing even with 6 shots in 16:53 played:

And Liam Dower Nilsson finished even in 4:07 played;

Albert Johansson finished at -1 with 3 shots in 17:07 played for Farjestad.

In the Swedish Allsvenskan, Filip Larsson was the back-up in HV71 Jonkoping’s 1-0 win over Sodertalje SK;

In the Swedish J20 league, Liam Dower Nilsson was up with the big club during Frolunda HC’s J20 team’s 4-3 win over Karlskrona;

Rogle BK’s J20 team also won 8-5 over Malmo without William Nylander.

LeBrun: NHLPA to hold executive board call on Monday

I’m a big NHLPA supporter-I took their side in lockouts #2 and #3–and I’ve appreciated the work that Donald Fehr has done in terms of uniting the players’ union, but after the Kyle Beach revelations came to the surface, Fehr’s job is in question as the PA’s executive board prepares to meet on a conference call this Monday–and it should be:

The NHLPA has scheduled an executive board (32 player reps) call for Monday. Obviously players still have some unanswered questions. The Oilers’ players, as @rwesthead reported, met with Don Fehr last night as part of his fall tour.— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 30, 2021

Red Wings-Maple Leafs game-day videos: Leafs post clips of Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe speaking with the media

The Detroit Red Wings face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight on Bally Sports Detroit and Hockey Night in (as well as 97.1 the Ticket, with puck drop just after 7 PM EDT), and Sportsnet is hyping the game…

There’s nothing better than an Original Six matchup on a Saturday Night. ?

Tonight, the @DetroitRedWings head to Toronto to take on the @MapleLeafs. Who ya got? ? @NHL | #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/TWsNWzyWiF— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 30, 2021

The Red Wings didn’t hold a morning skate, but they did recall Joe Veleno from Grand Rapids. How he fits into the lineup will remain to be seen until closer to game time; as noted in the game preview post, there’s quite a bit of hype for the Leafs to deliver this evening, and Petr Mrazek will start for Toronto, probably opposite Thomas Greiss.

Also, from Ken Kal:

Stat: Tonight will be assistant equipment manager John Remejes’ 1,000th NHL game. Big salute to him for his great service to the team. Great guy and a really good 3rd baseman too! Congrats @staciburl— Ken Kal (@KenKalDRW) October 30, 2021

After the Leafs’ morning skate, Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs game-day videos: Leafs post clips of Rasmus Sandin, Ondrej Kase and coach Sheldon Keefe speaking with the media

Burchfield: LCA crowd getting back to the old (new?) days

97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield penned a column discussing the atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena during last night’s 3-2 OT loss to the Florida Panthers, which was downright Joe Louis Arena-like in it noise level:

In the inaugural season of Little Caesars Arena, the data said the Red Wings played in front of capacity crowds every night. It said they finished fourth in the NHL in total attendance. But your eyes knew better. So did your ears. If the Wings were selling tickets, they weren’t filling seats. And so the atmosphere was rather dull, more pizza parlor than hockey rink.

Are things beginning to change? LCA was rocking on opening night this year when the Wings went blow for blow with the Lightning in a 7-6 OT loss. And it was rowdy again two nights later when Detroit beat Vancouver for its first win of the season. With fans back in the building for the first time since the pandemic to watch a rising young team, maybe this is the year LCA finds it voice.

“The building just seems really loud,” Jeff Blashill said Tuesday morning before the Wings would host Columbus. “When we first came into this building, we didn’t have enough people in the seats. There were lots of people here, but they were either in the club level eating or checking out how beautiful the arena is. Now everybody’s in the seats and it just seems really, really loud. So it’s a great, great building with a great atmosphere.”

Continued