VGK, Wings’ websites preview tonight’s game between Vegas and Detroit

I spent my “extra hour” of time as Daylight Saving Time shifted back to Eastern Standard Time here in Michigan writing a fairly comprehensive Red Wings-Golden Knights preview ahead of tonight’s game between the two teams (6 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/ATT Sportsnet Rocky Mountain/97.1 FM).

This morning, in lieu of a morning skate (Detroit won for the first time in 5 tries last night, defeating Buffalo 4-3 in overtime; Vegas won for the 5th time in 6 last night, defeating Montreal 5-2), both teams’ websites have posted their own game previews.

VegasGoldenKnights.com’s Gordon Weigers sets up tonight’s game as follows:

Continue reading VGK, Wings’ websites preview tonight’s game between Vegas and Detroit

The Mike Babcock rehabilitation tour continues

We knew this was going to happen, and it has come to pass.

Former Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is currently coaching the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta this season, and Sportsnet sent David Singh (with whom I have no beef) to check in on Babcock as he attempts to rehabilitate his reputation by re-starting his coaching career as a volunteer coach for Lethbridge

Babcock, who spent last spring analyzing playoff games on NBCSN, has of course “fallen from grace” after the Toronto Maple Leafs fired him more for not getting results and being the hire of former GM Lou Lamoriello instead of current GM Kyle Dubas much, much more than the Leafs fired Babcock for demeaning Toronto’s players.

By now, you already know that (during the period of time when I was busy managing my mom’s estate right after her death, and was away from the blog), Johan Franzen accused Babcock of bullying the crap out of him repeatedly. The fact that Ken Holland apparently told the Wings’ players that they could ask for a trade if they didn’t like Babcock’s tactics (and rumor has it that more than a few of them were pissed off during Babcock’s final years behind the Wings’ bench) doesn’t help…

But the bottom line here is that you and I both know that, long before Babcock’s 8-year, $50 million contract with the Maple Leafs ends in 2023, he’s going to earn a spot coaching in the NHL again.

So we come to the part of this story where I quote Sportsnet’s Singh’s article:

Continue reading The Mike Babcock rehabilitation tour continues

More Mo and a trio of Tweets of note

Subsequent to scoring the overtime winner in yesterday night’s 4-3 win over Buffalo, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider spoke with the media for six-and-a-half minutes, and WXYZ’s Brad Galli is the only person to have posted the entirety of Seider’s press conference…

If you missed it, Sportsnet posted Seider’s goal…and omitted the part of the MSG Buffalo coverage where Marty Biron complained (perhaps somewhat legitimately) that the Red Wings had too many men on the ice just before the goal…

And the Red Wings posted a trio of Tweets of historical note this morning:

Moritz Seider became the second player – and first defenseman – in @DetroitRedWings history to score his first career goal in overtime, joining Mud Bruneteau (Dec. 14, 1935).#NHLStats: https://t.co/nRsXGZgCRQ https://t.co/Fd5fHsdNb5— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2021

Tyler Bertuzzi (2-2—4) recorded his second four-point game with the @DetroitRedWings this season (also 4-0—4 on Oct. 14 vs. TBL). He Leon Draisaitl (2) as the second player with multiple such performances in 2021-22. #NHLStats: https://t.co/nRsXGZgCRQ https://t.co/QtzCuVolZF— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2021

Lucas Raymond collected three assists as the @DetroitRedWings rallied in Buffalo.#NHLStats: https://t.co/nRsXGZgCRQ pic.twitter.com/kqhx3p92hO— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2021

It’s only 12 games in, but Seider and Raymond have proven that they’re special players…And, for better or worse, Bertuzzi is the “Straw that Stirs the Drink” for the Red Wings. They need him in Canada is all I’m sayin.’

Roughly translated: Theodor Niederbach speaks with Hockeysverige.se

Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach won’t be playing in the Four Nations Cup with the Swedish World Junior Championship team due to an unfortunate hit suffered in yesterday’s Frolunda HC-Skelleftea AIK game…

And Niederbach spoke with Hockeysverige.se’s Leo Buttafuoco Ohlsson regarding the incident. What follows is roughly translated from Swedish:

Niederbach on the hit: “I remember everything”

Theodor Niederbach suffered a hit in the game against Skelleftea AIK yesterday, and he had to be carried from the ice while bleeding. This morning, the Junior Crowns announced that the 19-year-old will miss the last preparatory tournament before the World Junior Championship. Now he tells Hockeysverige.se about the hit, the injury and the offer.

“It is of course very boring and I had looked forward to taking a turn and playing with the national team,” he says.

During this season, Theodor Niederbach has broken into the SHL, and come to play in all of Frolunda’s games. Yesterday, he had an accident where he was hit and fell with his head hitting the ice. The blow was bad and the 19-year-old was helped off the ice after he tried to stand up on his own, and fell.

Despite the nasty pictures, Niederbach feels better than he himself had expected.

“It’s good considering the circumstances, and so on. I’m a little sore in my eyebrow area and have a slight headache, but otherwise it’s okay,” he says to Hockeysverige.se.

Continue reading Roughly translated: Theodor Niederbach speaks with Hockeysverige.se

Roughly translated: Niederbach to miss Four Nations Cup for Sweden; Edvinsson iffy

Red Wings prospect Theodor Niederbach took a hard (but legal) hit on Saturday while playing for Frolunda HC, as illustrated by IceHockeyGifs on Twitter…

This morning, Rakapuckar.com’s Henrik Lehman reports that Niederbach won’t take part in the Four Nations Cup as a result of his injury, and Simon Edvinsson (supposedly ill; some people believe he has a concussion) is iffy for the final pre-World Junior Championship warm-up for Team Sweden as well:

The message that Theodor Niederbach will not play for the junior national team next week came from the Swedish Ice Hockey Association today. Simon Edvinsson’s health will determine whether he goes to Angelholm [for training camp ahead of the tournament from November 12-14] or not. I maintain that a little mental rest for the 18-year-old wouldn’t hurt.

a) Frolunda has won 3 games without him;

b) But Frolunda’s offense has been worse without him.

Lehman is referring to the pause in SHL play between today and November 18th, which takes place in part because the Karjala Cup (for the men’s national team team) and the Four Nations Cup (for the national junior team) take place from November 10th-14th.

Update: For the record, I opened Rakapuckar.com and translated what Mr. Lehman had on his website long before I opened up Twitter to see this from Red Wings Prospects:

Niederbach won’t play at next weekend’s U20 tournament following his injury. Edvinsson is still on the roster but hasn’t yet returned to play with Frölunda, so Wallinder could end up being the only Red Wing on that team. https://t.co/jU0Q8uKQA6— Red Wings Prospects (@DRWProspects) November 7, 2021

Sometimes different sources find the same news on their own. If I find something from Red Wings Prospects, I make sure to cite him (it’s a him).

Morning news: Highlights + HSJ and Khan in the morning: Mo’s better, dudes

The Detroit Red Wings rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit to defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in overtime last night, and the Wings headed home from their 4-game road trip to host the Vegas Golden Knights this evening (6 PM EST on Bally Sports Detroit/ATT Sportsnet Rocky Mountain/97.1 FM).

Vegas has won 5 of its past 6 games, and they most recently defeated Montreal 5-2 on Saturday night.

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. AWood40 posted a 14-and-a-half-minute long highlight clip of last night’s game:

2. The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a subscriber-only article chronicling the Wings’ win over Buffalo, noting that Moritz Seider spoke of relief regarding his team winning (as they continue to play 11 times in 17 nights) instead of patting himself on the back for scoring his first NHL goal:

Continue reading Morning news: Highlights + HSJ and Khan in the morning: Mo’s better, dudes

Red Wings-Golden Knights preview

The Detroit Red Wings are coming off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres, and they will get right back at ‘er on Sunday, using that “extra hour” of time* to prepare for a home engagement against the Vegas Golden Knights (6 PM EST start on Bally Sports Detroit/ATT Sportsnet Rocky Mountain/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings now stand at 5-5-and-2 after 12 games of play, and Vegas enters tonight’s game at 6-and-5, having won 5 of their past 6 games. This will be the first meeting of the season between the teams, who will meet again on November 18th in Sin City.

Vegas rallied from a 2-0 deficit and a 20-to-1 shot deficit to win a 5-2 decision over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, and Laurent Broissoit is scheduled to start opposite Thomas Greiss tonight as Robin Lehner stopped 36 Montreal shots on Saturday.

Absent a morning skate for both teams, most likely, we’ll examine Vegas’s win over the Canadiens, which was a rematch of last Spring’s Stanley Cup Semifinal.

In terms of video highlights, for those of you who are visual learners, here are Sportsnet’s Vegas-Montreal highlights…

Continue reading Red Wings-Golden Knights preview

Red Wings-Sabres wrap-up: Red Wings drop lead, rally, and take OT victory over Buffalo

The Detroit Red Wings may or may not have earned their 4-3 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres, but they took it nonetheless, and coming into Saturday night’s tilt 0-3-and-1, sometimes you have to just take those “unearned” victories and run with them.

Detroit comes home for a 4-game home stand that begins tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights (6 PM EST on Bally Sports Detroit/ATT Sportsnet Rocky Mountain/97.1 FM). Vegas rallied from a 2-0 deficit and a 20-to-1 shot deficit in their first period vs. Montreal to take the Canadiens 5-2 on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see who comes out and takes Sunday’s affair.

As far as Saturday’s effort is concerned, Detroit rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit on the strength of a pair of Tyler Bertuzzi markers, and Moritz Seider’s game-winning OT goal was his first…

But if the Red Wings had not received fine goaltending from Alex Nedeljkovic, who stopped 29 shots, I’m not sure we would have seen the Wings recover after Pius Suter’s first-shift goal was buried by 2 2nd period goals scored in 1:04, and a 3rd period-marker by a man whose name is legally spelled Arttu Ruotsalainen.

Lucas Raymond had a game of his own, assisting on 3 of the Wings’ 4 goals; Bertuzzi added a helper for a 4-point night, and the pairing of Nick Leddy and Filip Hronek played close to (and over) 25 minutes, so Detroit may have found a 1A/1B pairing on defense…

And the Sabres, who were without several of their own marquee names, sounded quite a lot like the Red Wings in their assessments of Saturday night’s loss, as the Buffalo News’s Lance Lysowski noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Sabres wrap-up: Red Wings drop lead, rally, and take OT victory over Buffalo