There are some rivalries that are best summarized with the city name. For me, on this Michigan vs. Michigan State Game Day, my focus is up Highway 401, toward the first sports rivalry I really embraced: Detroit vs. Toronto.

My first hockey game as a Red Wings fan took place 30 years ago vs. Toronto at Joe Louis Arena, and

The Red Wings open a 4-game road trip in Hogtown vs. the Maple Leafs tonight (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/CBC/97.1 FM), and an old friend will be in the nets for the Maple Leafs:

Petr Mrázek will make his blue pads debut tonight. pic.twitter.com/sdWTaDSxro— David Alter (@dalter) October 30, 2021

Petr Mrazek getting set for his Maple Leafs home debut … returns from groin injury tonight

4-2-1 in his career against the Red Wings pic.twitter.com/1eZCfkDODH— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 30, 2021

The Leafs “Took an Optional,” as Mike Babcock was wont to do before big games, per the Toronto Sun’s Terry Kohsan…

#Leafs optional this morning. Muzzin, Holl among those taking it.— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) October 30, 2021

And TSN’s Mark Masters:

Jake Muzzin among those taking part in the Leafs optional skate this morning

Others on the ice this AM: Spezza, Sandin, Kerfoot, Bunting, Kampf, Holl, Campbell, Hutchinson pic.twitter.com/KisY2qSniZ— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 30, 2021

There are already Red Wings-Maple Leafs game previews up this morning, and an article in which Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne questions whether the Maple Leafs are “playing slow hockey.” NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy also penned an article which is a kind-of-sort-of game preview from the Maple Leafs’ perspective, with none other than Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas demanding more from his team…

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs morning skate Tweets and articles: Leafs ‘hold an optional,’ start Mrazek vs. Detroit →

The Free Press’s Helene St. James and MLive’s Ansar Khan posted morning columns chronicling aspects of the Red Wings’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers last night.

St. James notes that the Red Wings are displaying level of resolve that the team hasn’t possessed in some time…

The Detroit Red Wings head off on a four-game road trip with a determination they haven’t had in several seasons.

They ride a three-game point streak into Saturday’s game in Toronto, buoyed by another example that sticking to their plan pays off. They had to settle for one point in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena, but considering the Wings trailed by a pair of goals after two periods, seeing Pius Suter tie the game with less than three minutes to go was a shot of confidence.

“We stuck with it, kept finding a way,” said goalie Alex Nedeljkovic after making 29 saves. “Suits got a great trip. It sucks like hell to lose like that. You give up a breakaway goal, it’s tough to swallow. But guys played awesome.”

The Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit to win in overtime Wednesday at Washington.

“We’ve got a great group of guys,” Nedeljkovic said. “We’re playing some great hockey. We have a good group in there and we believe in ourselves. We’re not just going to roll over.”

And MLive’s Ansar Khan focuses on the big shift by Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri and Danny DeKeyser, who blocked a fusillade of shots aimed at Nedeljkovic in the 3rd period:

Continue reading HSJ, Khan in the morning: Wings’ resolve is evident →

The Red Wings dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to the Florida Panthers on Friday, but the above-posted video from AWood40 on YouTube certainly illustrates a level of resilience in the Red Wings that we haven’t seen in years previous.

As The Athletic’s Max Bultman suggests, the road gets tougher for the Red Wings from here on out, with a back-to-back game vs. Toronto in Leaf Land kicking off a 4-games-in-8-nights road trip–and a November schedule in which the Red Wings play 11 times (in 8 different cities!) in 19 days–but, for one night, at least, the hockey team from Detroit looks like a team that’s willing to do the dirty, sometimes painful work necessary to compete:

[The shift] did not, in the end, lead to a win. It likely won’t bring any solace as the Red Wings fly to Toronto overnight, for another game Saturday. But that sequence of swallowed pucks and frantic battling was the latest, best indication of the identity the Red Wings seem to be developing early in the 2021-22 season.

“I think it’s a little bit telling of our team, the amount of sacrifice that you saw on that shift,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “Certainly that’s not the exact way we want to play D-zone, but when you have a big block and the guy’s down, all of the sudden you get a little frantic. And then another guy’s down, you get a little more frantic. So it was chaotic, but I also think, as you could tell from the crowd’s response, that was pretty awesome what those guys did.

“The way they laid it on the line — Erne was hurt on the first block, and he stayed in there and blocked another one. I think it’s a good example of what our team’s been about: We want to sacrifice more than other teams to win hockey games, and that’s what we’re going to have to do in order to be successful.”

In all, Detroit blocked 23 shots Friday. That’s not a solely positive stat, as it does also speak to the amount of shots the first-place Panthers were able to take to begin with. But there’s no question it illustrates a willingness to sacrifice on the Red Wings part, and Erne and Fabbri left no doubt on that shift that they’d keep doing so to win.

Continued (paywall); this year’s Wings team may not make the playoffs, but 8 games in, they’re in the games they’re playing, and that’s exciting.

In the ECHL, Kaden Fulcher stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Toledo Walleye’s 10-1 win over the Iowa Heartlanders;

In the QMJHL, Oscar Plandowski finished even with 2 shots in the Charlottetown Islanders’ 4-3 win over Saint John;

Jan Bednar was in the back-up in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 6-4 loss to Baie-Comeau;

In the WHL, Sebastian Cossa stopped 26 of 27 shots, earning second star honors as the Edmonton Oil Kings won 3-1 over the as-until-tonight unbeaten Winnipeg Ice;

Alex Cotton finished at +1 with 2 shots in the Lethbridge Hurricanes’ 4-3 win over Saskatoon;

Cross Hanas scored a goal and the game’s only shootout goal, finishing at +1 with 5 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 4-3 shootout win over Everett;

In the BCHL, Kienan Draper finished even with 2 penalties taken in the Chilliwack Chiefs’ 5-2 loss to Langley;

In NCAA Hockey, Kyle Aucoin finished even in the Harvard Crimson’s 9-3 win over Dartmouth;

Robert Mastrosimone finished even with 4 shots, and Ethan Phillips finished even in the Boston University Terriers’ 3-0 loss to UMass-Lowell;

Sam Stange had 2 assists, finishing at +2 with a 2-for-4 faceoff record as the University of Wisconsin Badgers won 4-2 over Michigan;

?️: This kid's got speed! Brown slips it past Portillo for a 1-0 lead!

?: Stange pic.twitter.com/rIKwkieDwz

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) October 29, 2021

Jack Adams finished even with 2 shots in the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s 4-1 loss to Minnesota;

Carter Gylander stopped 41 of 47 shots as the Colgate Raiders lost 6-5 to Western Michigan;

And Ryan O’Reilly finished even with 3 shots in the University of Arizona Sun Devils’ 5-2 win over St. Thomas.

The 4-2-and-2 Detroit Red Wings will play a classic Hockey Night in Canada match-up against the 3-4-and-1 Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night (7 PM EDT start on Bally Sports Detroit/CBC/97.1 FM).

The Red Wings are coming into Toronto having flown overnight into Lester B. Pearson Airport, having dropped a 3-2 OT loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday night;

Our friends from Toronto have been sitting and stewing in the sports talk radio vibes since their 4-3 OT win over the Chicago Blackhawks this past Wednesday–a win that snapped a 4-game losing streak–and the Leafs kick off a 5-game home stand after having made news on Friday for extending defenseman Morgan Rielly via an 8-year, $60 million contract extension.

None other than Leafs GM Kyle Dubas called upon his team to snap out of a cold start on Friday, as the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan noted:

“I don’t think anybody wants to hear any words about what the (antidote) is or what we’re going to be doing,” Dubas said on Friday. “It’s all in our actions and how we play — our focus, our work ethic, our attention to detail.”

The Leafs won their most recent outing, 3-2 in overtime in Chicago against the Blackhawks on Wednesday. But Dubas rightfully lumped that in with the three previous games. Each was a loss, and none featured much inspiring play by the Leafs. Having to come back to beat a winless Chicago team after falling behind 2-0 didn’t exactly have the Leafs yelling with pride from the rooftops.

“Everyone saw (the past four games), there’s no reason to run from it or hide from it,” Dubas said. “I think everyone’s tired of hearing from us about what we’re going to do.

“It’s about going out (Saturday) night and all through this home stand and getting back to work. The team has shown what they’re capable of going back to last season, the regular season, the beginning of this year.

“My hope is that we’re able to use this to go through and endure some difficulty and some question marks and some criticism and learn how to deal with that well and help propel us forward.”

The GM frames tonight’s game as follows:

Continue reading Red Wings-Maple Leafs set-up: pressure’s on Toronto to deliver (as per usual) →

The Detroit Red Wings will tangle with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/CBC/97.1 FM) after taking a bit of a punch to the gut in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

The Red Wings rallied valiantly from a 2-0 deficit to force overtime, but were victimized by standing still on their blueline in OT–affording a home-run pass from Jonathan Huberdeau to Aleksander Barkov, who made no mistake:

That being said, the Red Wings’ ability to battle through this sequence of Panthers shots was remarkable:

For the Panthers, the night’s result was both earned and appropriate, given that interim coach Andrew Brunette had to step in to relieve Joel Quenneville, as Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards noted:

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers wrap-up: Wings show progress in OT loss →

The Free Press’s Helene St. James reminds us that one of the Red Wings’ best players won’t play in the next two games, as Detroit heads to Toronto on Saturday and Montreal on Tuesday:

Tyler Bertuzzi’s decision not to get the COVID-19 vaccine means he cannot cross the border under current regulations. The Wings are at Toronto Saturday, and at Montreal Tuesday. During the four days they are in Canada, In addition to two games, Bertuzzi will miss a practice, and is responsible for arranging and paying for his own way to Boston, where the Wings play Nov. 4.

“It’s up to him if he wants to skate,” coach Jeff Blashill said Friday. “We have a plan in place that he will follow according to what he wants. He will be by himself.”

The Wings will not pay Bertuzzi, the NHL’s sole unvaccinated player, while he misses team activities in Canada. Bertuzzi is making $4.25 million this season. Divided over the 200-day pay schedule the NHL uses, that works out to $85,000 gross over four days. (That does not include escrow, taxes, and agent’s fee.)

Actions have consequences, and if Tyler is comfortable with losing $450,000 in gross pay to not take a shot, that’s his call.

This sequence of shot blocks by the Red Wings in their 3-2 OT loss to the Florida Panthers is so good that it’s worth its own entry:

Here’s a better version, from AWood40:

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to snap the 7-0-and-0 Florida Panthers’ winning streak as the Wings embarked upon a stretch of 2 games in 2 nights on Friday.

Detroit put together a valiant effort, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to tie the Panthers 2-2 and force overtime on goals by Sam Gagner and Moritz Seider–and 29 stops by an excellent Alex Nedeljkovic–but Alex Barkov snuck behind Bertuzzi, Fabbri and Leddy standing stationary at the Wings’ blueline, and he scored a backhand, top shelf game-winner.

The result was incredibly disappointing, but the process was damn fine.

Continue reading Red Wings-Panthers quick take: Wings robbed of a point by OT gods, but ‘the process’ was great →

Via IceHockeyGifs on Twitter…

https://t.co/U9SbdcQN4I— IcehockeyGifs (@IcehockeyG) October 29, 2021

SHL.se’s Sixen Funqvist has posted an English-language profile of Red Wings prospect Elmer Soderblom:

Frölunda HC has been a powerhouse in the SHL for all of Elmer Söderblom´s life. Since he was born, on July 5th 2001, Frölunda has reached the playoff finals five times, winning four titles in the process. After, by their standards, a mediocre season last year, things are looking up for the Gothenburg team. At the time of this interview, Frölunda have won eight out of their past ten games in the SHL, adding two CHL wins as well. Last Saturday they looked to be on their way to yet another win, but they lost their focus and ended up throwing away a 2-0 to what would be a 4-3 overtime loss to the Malmö Redhawks.

“Overall, we perform pretty well as a team. But we have to eliminate some mistakes and try not to give up the puck in bad areas. If we can simplify our game, things will be good.” Elmer Söderblom says, continuing: “We’re off to a great start here. I’d say our team is more in sync compared to last season.”

In charge of the Frölunda SHL team is coach Roger Rönnberg, currently the longest tenured coach in the SHL. Rönnberg has been the head coach of Frölunda since the start of the 2013-14 season. To outsiders, Rönnberg can come off as a hard styled coach, but Söderblom likes what his coach brings.

“Yeah, he can be like that to us as well. I like him. He’s got different sides, obviously. But he’s always pushing us to become better players and better as a team.”

Söderblom grew up in Gothenburg and growing up in Gothenburg in the 2000’s, Frölunda hockey was never far away. He went to his first games with his grandfather and his brother Arvid (currently the goalie of the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL). From being a supporter, he’s now a part of the team he grew up cheering for.

Continued, with a Q and A and short video profile…