The Malik Report

Bad news for the “District Detroit,” per Crain’s Detroit Business’s Kirk Pinho and Jay Greene:

The Detroit Medical Center is scrapping its plan to build a Sports Medicine Institute in the Ilitch family’s District Detroit area.

The medical system confirmed in a Tuesday email to Crain’s that it “will not move forward with plans to lease space for a sports medicine institute” in a $70 million building that’s being constructed on Woodward Avenue between Little Caesars Arena and the Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business.

“Our decision allows us to reallocate resources appropriately in this changing environment,” the health system said in a release.

“The last several months have brought about unprecedented change for the health care industry. Stay-at-home orders and restrictions prohibiting elective procedures caused hospitals everywhere to reevaluate their core services,” DMC said.

Ron Staley, senior vice president of Southeast Michigan operations for Lansing-based contractor The Christman Co., one of the joint-venture partners on the project with Detroit-based Brinker Group, said the building’s core and shell still remain on track to be completed by the end of the year.

Grand Rapids-based law firm Warner Norcross + Judd and DMC were the two main tenants set to occupy the 127,000-square-foot building at 2715 Woodward Ave., the site of a former surface parking lot. Boston Consulting Group is also expected to take space in the building.

Continued; here’s more from the Free Press’s Darcie Moran…

Continue reading Crain’s: Detroit Medical Center won’t build sports medicine complex next to Little Caesars Arena; building will still be constructed

As part of today’s The Word on Wooward show, the Red Wings posted a short profile of 2020 draft prospects Jamie Drysdale and Yaroslav Askarov:

USA Hockey is holding an evaluation camp for 39 hopeful players looking to take part in the 2021 World Junior Championship. USA Hockey’s camp will take place from October 8th to 13th in Plymouth, MI–it will be closed to the public due to the coronavirus–and Red Wings prospect and Boston University forward Robert Mastrosimone was named to the team.

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji profiles Austrian forward Marco Rossi today:

Although born in Feldkirch, Austria, NHL Central Scouting listed him among the North American skaters in its final rankings because he played for the Ottawa 67’s in the Ontario Hockey League the past two seasons.

But Rossi didn’t just play in the OHL, he dominated it with 120 points (39-81-120) in 56 games and was named the league’s Most Outstanding Player. Rossi is only the second European import to win that award.

In its final rankings, released April 8, NHL Central Scouting had Rossi sixth among North American skaters, with only Lafrenière, Byfield, Jamie Drysdale, Jake Sanderson and Cole Perfetti ahead of him.

When the OHL and other Canadian Hockey League teams canceled the remaining regular-season games on March 12 and then the 2020 Memorial Cup on March 23, Rossi returned home to Austria.

With an extended offseason looming, Rossi decided to make the most of it.

“My main goal was getting more faster, more speed, more explosiveness. Just getting quicker,” Rossi said during an NHL prospects Zoom call last week. “I started to do that right away when I came back from Canada in mid-March. Me and my personal coach started to work on that right away, because that’s my goal, to be much quicker. He did a really good job. We’ve been working for 6-7 months. It’s going really good. You can see a big improvement off the ice, on the ice. I’ve never felt that good on the ice, especially my body. I got so much better with my body. It was really good before, and now it’s so much better.”

Continued

Via the Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa comes a reminisce on happier times, via TSN’s Gord Miller:

With the NHL draft coming, here is a common thread with the rosters of almost every Stanley Cup champion: at least one player they picked in the top five, and a large group either drafted after the first round or signed as undrafted free agents. The Lighting are no exception.— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) September 29, 2020

1st rd: Hedman, Stamkos (1st), Vasilevskiy
2nd: Kucherov, Stephens, Volkov
3rd: Cirelli, Killorn, Point
4th: Paquette
7th: Palat
Undrafted FA: Gourde, Johnson

10 players acquired after the first round of the draft.

(Players who dressed for at least one playoff game)— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) September 29, 2020

The last Stanley Cup champion that didn’t have a player they picked in the top 5 of the draft on the roster was Detroit in 2008. The Red Wings more than made up for that with 12 players they either drafted after the first round or signed as undrafted free agents. https://t.co/0e6hJ21Ke8— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) September 29, 2020

1st: Kronwall
2nd: Hudler, McCarty
3rd: Filppula, Franzen, Lidstrom, Osgood
5th: Helm
6th: Datsyuk, Drake
7th: Zetterberg
10th: Holmstrom
Undrafted FA: Lebda— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) September 29, 2020

If only the Wings could draft and develop like they did back in the day–even without a Datsyuk or Zetterberg–they’d be much better off.

Over to you, Mr. Yzerman and Mr. Draper…

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman has posted his Top 131 prospects for the 2020 NHL draft this morning, and Pronman’s 4th-overall-ranked player is Lucas Raymond:

4. Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda-SHL

March 28, 2002 | 5-foot-10 | 170 pounds

Skating: 55
Puck Skills: 70
Physical Game: 35
Hockey Sense: 65

Raymond didn’t have a great season, mostly due to the limited role he played on a high scoring Frolunda team, where he averaged less than 10 minutes of ice time but did get some power play time. He looked very good at the U20 level and in brief deployment at the junior level in Sweden, but he didn’t blow doors down this season. He remains a top prospect because of his incredible talent, hockey sense and his performance when he played versus his peers. As an underage he dominated Sweden’s junior league as a 16-year-old and helped carry Sweden’s U18 team to a gold medal. With the puck on his stick he’s incredibly dangerous. His hands are elite and his ability to beat defenders 1-on-1 clean in ways unlike other players can create a lot of highlight reel moments. He will be a true PP1 quarterback in the NHL because of the unique plays he can make. He has a unique way of navigating with the puck in the offensive zone, showing the patience and vision of a top NHL playmaker in how he picks apart defenses and find seams. Raymond isn’t the biggest guy and isn’t a guy you will tab to kill penalties, but he competes well and gets to the net. While he’s more of a passer, he does have a good shot when he looks to shoot. My one concern is his just average footspeed, particularly as a 5-foot-10 forward. He has good edgework and a powerful first step, with a wide stance he employs when trying to protect pucks but lacks an NHL caliber separation gear.

Draft-eligible prospect Alexander Holtz on Raymond: “He’s a special playmaker. His vision is great, but he can also shoot it and skates very well, too.”

Continued (paywall); those who follow include Cole Perfetti, Alexander Holtz, Jamie Drysdale, Yaroslav Askarov, Marco Rossi and then Jake Sanderson.

The Detroit News’s Mark Falkner took note of the ties between the Red Wings and the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning:

►[Steve] Yzerman’s former teammates Stacey Roest (the 17th ex-member of the Grand Rapids Griffins to win the Cup) and Jamie Pushor are assistant general managers and directors of player development.

►Head coach Jon Cooper was a Michigan attorney who also coached the high school hockey team at Lansing Catholic.

►Executive vice president of communications Bill Wickett is a graduate of the University of Michigan and handled public relations duties with the Detroit Pistons.

“Steve (Yzerman) laid the foundation, for sure,” Wickett said in a text while the team celebrated on the ice in Edmonton on Monday.

►Caley Chelios, who grew up in Detroit while her father Chris Chelios played for the Red Wings, is a Lightning radio color analyst and reporter.

►Pat Verbeek was Yzerman’s first hire in Detroit as assistant general manager after spending nine years as Tampa Bay’s assistant GM and director of player personnel.

Continued

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a dual profile of both Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson this morning. The article is a bit jumbled as it bounces back and forth between players, but it also reads well:

Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson are the top-ranked defenders in the 2020 NHL draft, both of them intriguing possibilities for Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, who picks fourth overall during the Oct. 6 virtual event. Yzerman chose a defenseman with his first pick in 2019, and may deem acquiring another blue-chip blue-line prospect to be the Wings’ biggest need — though they need help at every position. 

Drysdale is the third-ranked North American skater, and Sanderson is fourth. 

Both are excellent skaters and gifted offensively. Drysdale (5-foot-11, 175 pounds, shoots left) ranked 13th among Ontario Hockey League defensemen with nine goals and 38 assists in 49 games with the Erie Otters. Sanderson (6-2, 185, shoots left) led all defensemen in the U.S. U-18 National Team Development Program with seven goals and 22 assists in 47 games.

Each has spoken with the Wings in lieu of the in-person interviews that take place during the combine, which was canceled because of COVID-19. 

Continued;

NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale filed an article discussing the draft needs of each and every one of the NHL’s Atlantic Division teams this morning. Here’s what Morreale has to say about the Red Wings’ needs, which are many:

DETROIT RED WINGS

Top priority: Top-end talent

First pick: No. 4

The situation: The Red Wings have 10 selections in the draft, including six in the opening three rounds, so they’ll look to load up on potential top-six forwards and top-four defensemen. Detroit has failed to qualify for the playoffs the past four seasons after appearances in 25 straight. The last time it had the No. 4 pick, it chose Steve Yzerman in the 1983 NHL Draft. The Red Wings had the best odds (18.5 percent) to win the No. 1 pick in the First Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery on June 26 but fell to No. 4. Detroit has three picks in the second round, and likely will use one of those selections on a goalie.

Possible fits: Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda (SWE); Cole Perfetti, C, Saginaw (OHL); Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie (OHL)

Continued; the Red Wings do indeed need as much high-end talent as they can possibly add to the mix. This team has good secondary and tertiary players, but it needs more stars and players who can carry the mail themselves.

I can’t do this anymore. By “this,” I mean that I simply can no longer stand to fight with the eight-year-old toddler that is my current 2012 Toshiba laptop. This computer will be the death of me.

I don’t have anger issues–I have a therapist, I have a psychiatrist, I take antidepressants–but I’ve sworn at this computer so many times for stalling, hanging and crashing over the past three years that it’s ridiculous, and tonight, I punched the monitor so hard that I cracked the LCD screen. And if I didn’t have important memories of my damn mom on the hard drive, I would have followed it up by pouring a full liter of pop on the keyboard. I’m that fed up with my one co-worker.

I’ve asked for a lot of help over the years, and I was going to hold off on this one, but I have to ask for help, not just being able to pay the bills, but also in attempting to raise funds for a new coworker, a new stalwart, a newer laptop.

It doesn’t have to be perfect (my perfect laptop costs over $2,400). It doesn’t even have to be new (it can be refurbished). But I need something that doesn’t have scorch marks on its keyboard from my hands, isn’t working on its second keyboard (the first one broke) and isn’t dented and dinged from years of travel and plain old overuse.

I want to make this blog work. I want to get a podcast going. I want to be in this for the long haul. But I can’t do any of that without a reliable, modern-ish computer that won’t throw hissy fits when it doesn’t get its way.

How we get from here to “new laptop” is beyond me. I’m looking for advice as to what kinds of Windows laptops work best if you’re grinding out a 12-to-14-hour day, I’m looking for advice as to how to focus a fundraising effort (Gofundme? Paypal? Giftly? Venmo? I use Paypal for my bank…), I’m looking for moral support…

A year and six days after my mom died, overcome with emotion, I lashed out at the one thing I can’t not have access to to do my job, and now I feel incredibly frustrated, incredibly overwhelmed, and angry at myself.

I want to build a viable blog, one that will pay the bills and allow me to invest some of that damn money into my readers, too, but I can’t do it long-term with inferior hardware. And that’s what I’ve got.

My laptop is limping along like my 2006 Chrysler Pacifica was last week–with its muffler and tailpipe dragging on the pavement.

Aunt Annie was able to charge that $600 repair for the present moment. But this laptop is going to cost a lot more to replace, and I can’t afford a new one on my own. So I need to ask for help.

And, by the way, does anybody know how to repair a laptop monitor? I replaced a broken keyboard by myself, so replacing a LCD screen can’t be that much more difficult…

Did I mention that my phone’s old, too? 😉