The Malik Report

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRAND RAPIDS SIGNS TOLEDO’S JOSH DICKINSON TO PTO

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Tuesday signed center Josh Dickinson to a professional tryout.

The fourth-year pro has spent the majority of his career in the Colorado Eagles organization, splitting time between the AHL club and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. In 47 AHL games between Colorado and San Antonio since 2018, Dickinson has logged 14 points (2-12—14) and 16 penalty minutes, including two assists and six PIM in seven games during the Eagles’ 2020-21 campaign. The Georgetown, Ontario, native has also appeared in 82 ECHL contests with Utah and the Indy Fuel, totaling 70 points (26-44—70) and 47 PIM.

The 23-year-old spent just one season (2017-18) in the college ranks with Clarkson University in the ECAC, registering 26 points (15-11—26) and 12 PIM in 40 contests.

Updated at 11:29 AM with Columbus’ lines: The Detroit Red Wings held a brief morning skate ahead of tonight’s game vs. the unbeaten Columbus Blue Jackets (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports Ohio/ESPN+/97.1 the Ticket).

Thomas Greiss appears to be starting opposite Joonas Korpisalo in the Wings’ and Blue Jackets’ respective nets, and Columbus will play without Max Domi, who has a broken rib.

Greiss is 7-0-3 since April 4, with a 1.46 GAA and .953 save percentage. https://t.co/AmA6fzkTTl— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) October 19, 2021

After the morning skate, the Red Wings’ players and coach spoke with the media…

Puis Suter said he likes the team chemistry so far. As for his line with Zadina and Fabbri, he said there’s a lot of speed there. He thinks they can start to produce more offensively #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 19, 2021

Coach Blashill seconds Suter. Says the atmosphere has been great, games have been emotional and building has been loud #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 19, 2021

Marc Staal is available for tonight’s game #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 19, 2021

Jeff Blashill said as of right now, Marc Staal is available tonight. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 19, 2021

Me listening to Coach Blash explain their objective and subjective advanced stats and analytics #LGRW @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/dJxNKwu9BS— Carley Johnston (@carleykjohnston) October 19, 2021

Some really interesting stuff from Jeff Blashill this morning on the Red Wings’ use of analytics. A couple of nuggets: They use the NHL tracking data and Coaching Insights App, plus a third party. They still track scoring chances subjectively. (1)— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) October 19, 2021

What is the Red Wings’ subjective criteria for a scoring chance? Shot location is part of it. So is the distance the goalie had to travel to make the save. “The more the goalie has to move, the greater the likelihood of the puck going in.”— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) October 19, 2021

The Red Wings look beyond shots on goal and shot attempts. They look at Grade A scoring chances and zone time, in terms of actual game time elapsed. Again, they use NHL tracking data plus a third party.— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) October 19, 2021

Blashill, on defining scoring chances and tracking them objectively: “We’ve written algorithms that take a lot of those factors into play. This will all get improved greatly as we are able to really harness the puck tracking and the player tracking.”— Nick Cotsonika (@cotsonika) October 19, 2021

Jeff Blashill says Troy Stecher and Jordan Oesterle are both healthy. Blashill says that’s not an indictment on their play, thinks both have been good in practice, would be confident putting either one in games & that they could help DET win. Says he’ll get them in at some point.— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 19, 2021

As did the Columbus Blue Jackets’ coach…

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets post-morning skate Tweets: Greiss vs. Korpisalo in net; Staal available; Suter, Blashill speak with the media

FYI:

Tonight @ Little Caesars Arena! ?️‍?#HockeyIsForEveryone x #LGRW

? » https://t.co/Tx5ejyieqw pic.twitter.com/EpiOvP6Ry8— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 19, 2021

This event will take place on Bally Sports Detroit on Monday, November 22nd at 8 PM EDT:

The Jamie Daniels Foundation Celebrity Roast of Brett Hull is not only a night of laughter & entertainment, but a chance to raise funds & awareness for those struggling with Substance Use Disorder. Here, our Co-Founders, Ken Daniels & Lisa Daniels-Goldman with more information. pic.twitter.com/PzcuBLfBnC— Jamie Daniels Foundation (@JDanielsFund) October 19, 2021

The Detroit Red Wings host the 2-and-0 Columbus Blue Jackets this evening at Little Caesars Arena (7:30 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports Ohio/ESPN+/97.1 FM).

The 1-0-and-1 Red Wings hope to evade Columbus’ 11-3-and-2 record against Detroit over the past 16 games between the two teams. The good news here is that Columbus has never started the season 3-and-0…not yet, anyway.

Detroit’s players took to the ice at Little Caesars Arena just before 10:30 AM for their morning skate, and Blue Jackets announcer Bob McElligott was the first person to Tweet out a morning skate video:

View from the #CBJ bench pic.twitter.com/TkM1LzXOcj— Bob McElligott (@BobbyMacSports) October 19, 2021

The Wings’ beat writers soon followed:

Red wings lines and pairs at morning skate:

Bertuzzi-Larkin-Raymond
Zadina-Suter-Fabbri
Namestnikov-Rasmussen-Erne
Smith-Stephens-Gagner
Rowney

DeKeyser-Hronek
Leddy-Seider
Staal-Lindstrom
Oesterle-Stecher— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 19, 2021

FYI from Wining It In Motown’s Kyle McIlmurray:

It’s Pride Night at Little Caesars Arena tonight, which you’d only know by digging through this press release from before the season. Talk is cheap, @DetroitRedWings. What else ya got? pic.twitter.com/D0ldwNxJjF— Daniel Trainor (@dantrainor1) October 19, 2021

Meanwhile, in Grand Rapids:

The reigning AHL Defenseman of the Year heard about you ? #GoGRG

Join the fun next week, as we have 3 home games. Tickets >> https://t.co/YjJxKktFsa pic.twitter.com/07X28OkZaN— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) October 19, 2021

Update: FYI:

Thomas Greiss off the ice first this morning. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 19, 2021

Of brief Twitter-related note from behind a paywall: IceHockeyGifs shares some highlights of an article from GP.se (Goteborgs-Posten) in which Simon Edvinsson’s development is discussed by members of Frolunda HC:

Mikael Ström, GM of FHC Jrs., compares Simon Edvinsson’s development to that of previous FHC talents Erik Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin & John Klingberg:

“At the same ages, the other 3 did not get as much responsibility on the pro team as Simon is getting.”
https://t.co/ISDy8ZzRjz— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 19, 2021

FHC coach Röger Rönnberg on whether he’s surprised at Edvinsson’s progress:

” – That’s an understatement.”

He adds, regarding Edvinsson’s new opportunity on the powerplay:

“- We have to try it! He’s been that good. I’m not dumb enough not to try him there as well.”#LGRW— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 19, 2021

There’s also an article in which Hakan Andersson is asked about Edvinsson, but that one is behind a paywall as well.

The Detroit Red Wings begin a set of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights by hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (7:30 PM on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports Ohio/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, and have a 1-0-and-1 record, and will have Dylan Larkin in their lineup, but possibly not Marc Staal;

Columbus is 2-and-0, having most recently defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 in overtime on Saturday night, but they lost Max Domi today to a broken rib suffered in Saturday’s game. It’s believed that Yegor Chinakov will replace Domi in the Blue Jackets’ lineup.

The Blue Jackets didn’t practice on Monday, but the Blue Jackets’ PR Twitter account posted a couple of ugly stats regarding the Blue Jackets’ record against the Red Wings of late:

Columbus is 43-46-14 all-time vs. Detroit, including 18-26-6 on the road… Columbus is 11-3-2 in its last 16 at Detroit… The Jackets went 4-3-1 vs. the Wings in 2020-21.

Field Level Media set up tonight’s game by looking back at their performance on Saturday:

Continue reading Red Wings-Blue Jackets set-up: Unbeaten Blue Jackets face Wings without injured Domi

The Detroit Red Wings practiced on Monday with Dylan Larkin in the lineup and Marc Staal missing ahead of tomorrow’s game vs. Columbus (and a stretch of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights looming on the schedule).

After practice, Dylan Larkin took responsibility for his suspension for punching Mathieu Joseph, and coach Jeff Blashill told the media (via video) that Staal’s status is uncertain, that the Wings are attempting to improve their special teams play, and that Joe Veleno is in Grand Rapids to play the most important minutes he possibly can right now.

All three of the Red Wings’ beat writers took note of Larkin’s remarks regarding his suspension, and the play that led up to it, starting with MLive’s Ansar Khan…

“It was a tough 6-7 months (after the Benn hit), I had some tough nights and I wanted to do something about it so bad, there was so much anger. My buddies asked me to go golfing all summer and I couldn’t golf. I couldn’t go on boats. I don’t want to have a sob story (but) that went through my head quickly. Maybe I thought about if something happens, I’m going to do something about it, but I can’t lash out like that. The one-game suspension was warranted.”

Larkin received a match penalty at 11:40 of the second period, getting ejected from the game and putting the Lightning on a five-minute power play during which they scored twice before going on to win 7-6 in overtime.

“When hits like that happen, you got to do something different to try to fight him or whatever,” Larkin said. “I think I was too aggressive and kind of lost my cool for a split-second, but I was very much disappointed in myself after and disappointed for the team.

“But I also think enough is enough. I’ve been through some tough times. I felt a pain and immediately thought, ‘Here we go again,’ and I got up and reacted, and I dealt with the punishment and I’m very much ready to move on.”

And continuing with the Free Press’s Helene St. James…

Continue reading Monday practice notebooks: On Larkin’s suspension, frontier justice, and Staal’s absence

The Detroit Red Wings practiced for a fairly lengthy period of time on Monday, welcoming Dylan Larkin back from his one-game suspension, and both Larkin and coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media ahead of tomorrow night’s game vs. Columbus (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports Ohio/97.1 FM).

Larkin took responsibility for his suspension for punching Mathieu Joseph after Joseph checked Larkin into the boards head-first; Blashill addressed Larkin’s return, and addressed the status of Marc Staal, who did not practice on Monday.

Here are the Red Wings’ videos of their press conferences:

Updated with Blashill’s remarks at 12:47 PM: The Red Wings practiced ahead of tomorrow’s home game vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:30 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/Bally Sports Ohio/97.1 FM), kicking off a stretch of 4 games to be played over the course of 6 nights;

The Wings’ beat writers reported that captain Dylan Larkin returned to practicing regularly with the team, but Marc Staal was absent from practice.

After practice, the Red Wings’ captain, Dylan Larkin, and coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media:

Larkin says he feels his one-game suspension was warranted— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) October 18, 2021

Dylan Larkin to the media today about the hit from Joseph- “It was an unfortunate play. It wasn’t called. Thats Hockey, thats what we deal with. I don’t want to have a sob story and I can’t act like that. The one game suspension was warranted.” #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 18, 2021

Larkin adds he is ready to get back out there tomorrow night. Great news. #LGRW @DetroitRedWings— Daniella Bruce (@daniellabruce_) October 18, 2021

Continue reading Post-practice Tweets: Larkin takes responsibility for suspension; Staal being evaluated