Here we go again: Sportsnet wonders whether Zadina should be disciplined for calling Conor Garland a ‘midget’

I posted this over the course of the recap as I figured that it was not a great idea to give this gratuitous quotation for clicks’ sake, but Sportsnet has made a big to-do, so:

Filip Zadina got hit very hard by Conor Garland in the Red Wings-Canucks game on Saturday night. After the game, Zadina called Garland a “midget,” which is not nice to people who are actually short and/or actually deal with dwarfism. And here we go again:

“I’m ok… I was just reaching for the puck and he just reversed me I guess, you know, like the midget like he is,” Zadina said. “It’s pretty normal, you know, that he reversed hit because I don’t think he’s strong enough to battle me in the corner one-on-one.”

It’s unclear if Zadina will be disciplined by the league for his choice of words. The word midget is widely viewed as a slur against people living with dwarfism. In 2019, Hockey Canada stopped using the word — as well as novice, peewee, atom and bantam — to name the different age groups in minor hockey, saying in a statement that “We believe everyone should feel welcome in the game…”

When asked about his role in the play, Garland shrugged it off, saying “it is what it is.”

“I kind of hit the brakes trying to create space. I know there’s a guy behind me,” Garland said. “He skated into my back… I grabbed the puck, I stopped and, like I said, I got a penalty for a hit to the head. I hope he’s doing well. I’ve taken plenty of hits to the head over my career. Some end up as nothing, some end up as something serious so I wish him nothing but the best.”

Garland is a 5’10,” 165-pound right wing, and he scored the Canucks’ only goal against the Red Wings, so I’m not about to suggest that he is anything but a good hockey player who unintentionally hit Zadina in the face/head while trying to stick his butt out to avoid getting rammed into the side boards.

You should also know the wider context of what Zadina said, per WXYZ’s Jeanna Trotaman:

Zadina on the Red Wings coming to his defense: “I appreciate what the boys did for me. They stood up for me & we got each other’s back, which makes them the best teammates & makes us a really good team. That’s why we won we were the better team & better teammates than Vancouver.” https://t.co/mhqKIpX91O— Jeanna Trotman (@JeannaTrotmanTV) October 17, 2021

So Zadina was angry, he was trying to find an expletive to use, and he did not go with a politically correct one. If you’re offended by his word choice, that’s okay–maybe there was a better word that Zadina could have used–but I think that a stern talking-to might be the worst punishment Zadina should have to face until Detroit heads out to Vancouver on March 17th.

We don’t need to be talking about a fine or a suspension here. It was the wrong word to use. He’ll learn to keep his temper better in the post-game remarks. The end.

Prospect round-up: Hanas 1A in WHL; Philips 1+1 for BU; Tuomisto, Buium post assists in Denver romp

Of prospect-related note in North America on Saturday night:

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher did not play in the Toledo Walleye’s 4-1 exhibition loss to Kamazoo;

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar served as the back-up in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 4-3 shootout loss to Moncton;

Oscar Plandowski finished even with 1 shot in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-0 loss to Shawinigan;

In the WHL, Cross Hanas had an assist and finished even with 4 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-3 win over Tri-City;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 6-3 loss to Langley;

In NCAA Hockey, Chase Bradley finished at -1 in the University of Connecticut Huskies’ 3-0 loss to Ohio State;

Continue reading Prospect round-up: Hanas 1A in WHL; Philips 1+1 for BU; Tuomisto, Buium post assists in Denver romp

Recap: Grand Rapids Griffins get 2 goals from Veleno, but lose 7-3 to Milwaukee

From a prospect development perspective, there’s good news and bad news in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 7-3 loss to the Milwaukee Admirals.

The good news is that Joe Veleno, who scored a goal in Friday’s home opener, followed his performance with 2 more goals on Saturday; Taro Hirose had 2 assists, as did key Griffins contributor Ryan Murphy, and Riley Barber scored as well.

The not-so-good news is that the Griffins were not able to follow up a 6-1 Friday night performance with anything less than 6 goals tagged on starter Victor Brattstrom (Milwaukee scored their seventh goal into an empty net)…And Veleno, Chase Pearson, Hirose, Barber and Jonatan Berggren all finished at -3, all on a night where 5 Griffins were not minus players.

The Grand Rapids Griffins’ website recapped the up-and-down affair:

Joe Veleno’s two-goal outing fell by the wayside as the Grand Rapids Griffins were upended 7-3 away from home at Panther Arena against the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday. This game marked the 193rd meeting between the two teams and the first since the 2019-20 season due to Milwaukee opting out of the shortened 2020-21 campaign.

Veleno now has three goals in two games to start the season, leading the Griffins in goal scoring.

Grand Rapids (1-1-0-0) drew first blood at the 2:40 mark of the opening period before it saw itself in a 5-1 hole heading into the final frame. The Griffins doubled their goal count in the third, but the Admirals (1-0-0-0) matched the tempo and held off the late push from Grand Rapids to take their first victory in 584 days.

Grand Rapids (1-1-0-0) takes on the Manitoba Moose (0-1-0-0) in a two-game road series beginning on Friday at 8 p.m. EDT inside Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Continue reading Recap: Grand Rapids Griffins get 2 goals from Veleno, but lose 7-3 to Milwaukee

Red Wings-Canucks wrap-up: Chippy, chirpy Wings make most of Greiss’s 40 saves, curse out Canucks

The Detroit Red Wings’ 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks was an odd one. Detroit was out-shot 41-21, out-attempted 71-39, Vancouver dangled and danced with the puck in the Red Wings’ zone for the majority of the game, and yet, the team with less possession, fewer chances and less seeming energy (than a team that was playing its 3rd game in 4 nights) managed to win the affair.

There was no doubt that Thomas Greiss’s 40-save performance aided the Red Wings’ effort significantly, but, for a team playing rope-a-dope hockey, Detroit managed to not only withstand the Canucks’ fury, but also raise their ire.

This game was mean, and Detroit was not always the victim of Vancouver’s derision, with an ornery Red Wings team often seeking out physical contact and after-the-whistle instigation against a Canucks team that was more than willing to help the game go off the rails.

What resulted was a wild, raucous affair that was fun to watch, a little terrifying to experience, and I suppose a little surprising to those who might have expected the Red Wings to ultimately roll over and play dead without captain Dylan Larkin in the lineup.

As the Vancouver Province’s Patrick Johnston noted, the Canucks weren’t exactly certain why they lost given their furious, 23-shot 3rd period…

Continue reading Red Wings-Canucks wrap-up: Chippy, chirpy Wings make most of Greiss’s 40 saves, curse out Canucks

Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Greiss stops 40 as Wings win a surprisingly mean game

The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, with the Red Wings hoping to earn their first home win opposite a Canucks team playing their 3rd game in 4 nights.

The Red Wings played a surprisingly energetic Canucks team, which out-shot Detroit 41-21, out-attempted Detroit 71-39, and played mean, nasty hockey, but Detroit withstood Vancouver’s attack, with Thomas Greiss pitching 40 saves en route to a 3-1 victory.

Robby Fabbri, Filip Zadina and Sam Gagner (empty net) scored the goals, Marc Staal, Gustav Lindstrom, Filip Hronek, Moritz Seider and Tyler Bertuzzi had the assists, and, in a wild affair, Detroit rope-a-doped their way to their first win.

Continue reading Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Greiss stops 40 as Wings win a surprisingly mean game

A bit of fantasy hockey talk about Moritz Seider

The Hockey News’s Jason Chen discusses several fantasy hockey players of importance today, including one Moritz Seider:

Moritz Seider, D, Red Wings: There’s a good chance Seider leads all rookies in ice time this season. He played 20:21 in his NHL debut, including a team-leading 5:26 on the power play, and finished with two assists and three hits. His usage makes him potentially a really good defenseman in roto leagues, which can be hard to find because they have to be good in other non-traditional categories, and it’s easy to jump on him now since he’s only rostered in 19 percent of Yahoo leagues. Seider’s already really good and he’s not backing down from anyone either; he showed that in the opener when he boldly took the puck away from Victor Hedman after a whistle and nearly sent Mikhail Sergachev tumbling with a shove. The Lightning-Red Wing rivalry is very underrated.

Continued