Prospect news: Simon Edvinsson, responsible for getting hit in the head?

As noted in yesterday’s prospect round-up, Red Wings prospect Simon Edvinsson was shaken up by a hit from Farjestads BK’s Pontus Widerstrom yesterday, and Widerstrom got a 5-minute match penalty for the hit.

According to Expressen’s Mikaela Lindhal, Widerstrom’s hit was reviewed by the SHL and determined to be punished enough by the 5-minute major. Henrik Lehman, a.k.a. Rakapuckar, posted an extremely sarcastic response to the decision, suggesting that “hockey needs players like Pontus Widerstrom, and it’s honestly kind of hilarious to read his “my Sunday was saved by the Disciplinary Committee’s decision” response.

Long story long, it was a dirty hit, dirty enough that Frolunda HC’s coach, Roger Ronnberg, got into a shouting match with Farjestad’s coach, Johan Pennerborn, when the two did a press conference together after yesterday’s 4-1 Frolunda win.

Most importantly, as IceHockeyGifs reported, Edvinsson is okay, though he was shaken up by what I would argue is a head-hunting hit (even if it was an ill-timed one):

We live in a different hockey world than the one where it was the responsibility of a player to keep his head up when going for the puck, and, again, Widerstrom may not have intended to hit Edvinsson so high (Edvinsson is 6’5″ and Widerstrom is 6’3″)…

But you’re not supposed to target another guy’s shoulder/head in a hit any more, and if you hit someone in the head as the principal point of contact, you should be penalized at the very least, kicked out of the game most of the time, and, in this instance, probably suspended.

As Lehman says, in his, “Thank you, Disciplinary Committee” article, the concept that a “north-south hit” still means that the player getting hit is the one responsible for getting hit in the damn head is outdated at best and dangerous to the health of skilled players who are just trying to do their damn jobs most of the time.

I can’t adequately translate the level of sarcasm in Lehman’s post, but it really is classic in its level of smarm toward the SHL’s disciplinary committee for insisting that it was Edvinsson’s fault for getting hit in the head.

Khan, HSJ in the morning: Veleno joins Wings’ youngsters starring over course of first month of the season

The Detroit Red Wings lost a 5-4 decision to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, but Joe Veleno’s NHL debut was a bright spot as the youngster scored his first NHL goal and added an assist in the plucky Wings’ effort.

MLive’s Ansar Khan took note of the circumstances of Veleno’s trip to Toronto…

After being recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins late Friday night, Veleno got a lift to the game in Toronto from general manager Steve Yzerman.

“I had to wake up early in GR, head to LCA and get tested (for COVID-19) and then Steve was on his way (to Toronto),” Veleno said. “It just made sense to drive with him rather than going to the airport and taking a commercial flight and having to do the cross-border stuff.”

Following the four-hour drive with the boss, Veleno scored a goal and assisted on another in his team’s 5-4 loss to the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

“I wanted to work hard and show what I can bring at this level and how I can play, but at the same time I wanted to play with confidence and have some fun,” Veleno said. “I tried my best to do those things to be successful and I thought it went fairly well. It would have been nice to have a ‘W,’ but it was a good hockey game to be a part of.”

And the Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of the Red Wings youngsters’ performances thus far:

Continue reading Khan, HSJ in the morning: Veleno joins Wings’ youngsters starring over course of first month of the season

Prospect round-up, North America: Plandowski 1A in QMJHL, Mastrosimone 1A in NCAA

Of prospect-related note in North America on Saturday:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher was the back-up in the Toledo Walleye’s 5-2 win over the Iowa Heartlanders. Toledo swept its weekend series vs. Iowa;

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar stopped 37 of 43 shots in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 7-5 loss to Chicoutimi;

Oscar Plandowski had an assist, finishing at +1 with 2 shots in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-3 overtime loss to Moncton;

In the OHL, Pasquale Zito finished at -3 with 5 shots and an 11-for-18 faceoff record in the Windsor Spitfires’ 6-3 loss to Kitchener;

In the WHL, Alex Cotton finished at -2 with 2 shots in the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ 7-0 loss to Winnipeg;

Sebastian Cossa stopped 40 of 44 shots in the Edmonton Oil Kings’ 4-3 overtime loss to Red Deer;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 5-3 win over Surrey;

In NCAA Hockey, Kyle Aucoin finished even in the Harvard Crimson’s 7-3 win over Bentley;

Robert Mastrosimone, finishing even with 2 shots in the Boston University Terriers’ 2-1 loss to UMass-Lowell. Ethan Phillips finished even with 1 shot;

Jack Adams finished even in the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s 3-2 loss to Minnesota;

Carter Gylander was the back-up in the Colgate Raiders’ 2-1 overtime loss to Western Michigan;

Cooper Moore finished even with 1 shot in the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks’ 6-4 loss to Penn State;

Chase Bradley finished even with 4 shots in the University of Connecticut Huskies’ 4-1 win over Dartmouth;

And Ryan O’Reilly finished at +1 with 2 shots in the University of Arizona Sun Devils’ 4-2 win over St. Thomas.

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.