HSJ’s game-day notebook: bumpy ride ahead for the Wings’ COVID reserve list

As the Free Press’s Helene St. James notes in her game-day notebook, the Red Wings’ five players on COVID reserve–Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner, Adam Erne, Jon Merrill and Fillip Zadina–have a hard road ahead of them:

Coach Jeff Blashill planned to spend part of Thursday afternoon sitting down with athletic trainer Piet VanZant to map out when players potentially will be available, and sketched something of a timeline.

“It’s a minimum of 14 days,” Blashill said. “They can’t exercise or exert themselves until those 14 days are up. That’s at a minimum. How many days after that is really hard to tell. But being off for 14 days, that’s a long time.

“Part of the process is getting them back into shape so they don’t injure themselves. That would be the No. 1 priority, so they don’t have soft-tissue issues. It will be very difficult to get them into as many game situations as you’d like because of the fact it’s just really, really hard to practice.”

After Sunday, the Wings have two days before their next game. At best, Fabbri and Erne may be able to practice by then. But the 14-day period of rest won’t be over for Zadina, Gagner and Merrill before the Wings depart for Tampa, and players have to quarantine 48 hours if they travel commercially.

Continued

Keating: Jimmy Howard will appear on ‘Red Wings Live’ tonight at 8

Per Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating:

Jimmy Howard will join Chris Osgood and me during Red Wings Live tonight at 8 on FSD… https://t.co/Eu6XSLyl6N— John Keating (@JohnKeatingFSD) January 28, 2021

Tonight’s game airs on Fox Sports Detroit Plus.

HSJ, Khan post Blashill, DeKeyser’s quotes regarding Jimmy Howard’s retirement

The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted heartfelt comments made by Jeff Blashill and Danny DeKeyser regarding one Jimmy Howard, who retired today…

“When I was an assistant here he was an All-Star, and then he was an All-Star again later in his career,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “It shows the competitiveness, and also the work ethic that showed in being great at his craft. Goaltending is one of those positions that you can continuously work on and make better, and he continually did that.

“When you look at his career in totality, it was a really, really wonderful career. He was a great competitor and a really great Red Wing.”

Howard ranks fourth in his draft class with 246 victories in 543 games, trailing Marc-Andre Fleury (467 in 848), Jaroslav Halak (272 in 521) and Corey Crawford (260 in 488).

…

“He was a great goalie for us for a long time,” veteran defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “He gave us a chance to win more nights than not. He loved playing hockey, loved competing. One thing that I think made him a good goalie was his ability to block out things that happened in the past – if he had a bad game, he could rinse it and go out the next night and have a good game.

“Another quality of his was not things too seriously all the time and being able to go out there and have fun, joke about things, even if they weren’t going the right way. He liked to have fun.”

Continued;

MLive’s Ansar Khan followed suit…

Continue reading HSJ, Khan post Blashill, DeKeyser’s quotes regarding Jimmy Howard’s retirement

Red Wings-Stars Game 2 morning skate Tweets and articles: Dallas to start Oettinger in goal, Hintz possible; Wings skating at 12:45 PM

Updated with somewhat positive news on Dylan Larkin at 12:53 PM: The Detroit Red Wings will face off against the Dallas Stars tonight for Game 2 of their home-and-still-at-home series (8:30 PM EST on FSD Plus/FS SW/97.1 FM). Detroit is seeking a split after losing the first game of the series 2-1 in overtime.

All of the Stars’ injured/sidelined players that were iffy for tonight’s game–Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz and Blake Comeau–hit the ice just before the Stars’ morning skate, which took place at 10 AM CST:

Continue reading Red Wings-Stars Game 2 morning skate Tweets and articles: Dallas to start Oettinger in goal, Hintz possible; Wings skating at 12:45 PM

Bowey latches on with the Blackhawks

Madison Bowey is on waivers because the #blackhawks signed him to a contract.— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 28, 2021

Welcome to ??????? ??., Madison!

Defenseman Madison Bowey has agreed to a 2-year deal that runs through the 2021-22 season ($725,000 salary cap hit).#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Ih4hp1aCC2— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 28, 2021

It’s #BellLetsTalk day

It’s #BellLetsTalk day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, a day in which Bell Canada donates 5 cents to mental health charities for every usage of the hashtag on social media.

Those of us who battle mental illnesses, and come forward today to share their stories (see: my depression and anxiety make everything difficult), are not looking for a pat on the back or some sort of validation by doing what we’re doing.

We’re trying to share our stories to let you know that mental illnesses affect more people than you could possibly imagine, and that mental illnesses are OKAY to have–they’re chronic illnesses, chemical imbalances in the brain, not “something wrong with people as persons.”

In the U.S., we don’t have an initiative like #BellLetsTalk, but there are resources for people who need mental health resources, from 1-800-273-TALK to highly localized public health organizations that help the uninsured with their mental health. As many of you who have health insurance know, it’s a rough go trying to advocate for yourself and your care…But the battles are worth it.

From one mentally ill person to whoever’s out there who needs to hear this, mental health is part of your overall health, and if you have a mental health issue, please reach out, be it to me or anyone else (see: rtxg@yahoo.com for me), because we are here to listen and try to help you find the resources you need.

If you have a mental health issue, you’re not alone. And you merit relief. #BellLetsTalk

Jimmy Howard makes his retirement official

It’s official, per the Red Wings and Jimmy Howard’s Instagram account:

Congrats on a great career, Howie! ?

?: https://t.co/JXG1Rw8yqP pic.twitter.com/nV7Cb5EQ4x— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 28, 2021

Congrats on a tremendous career with the @DetroitRedWings, Jimmy Howard! ?@NHLdotcom has more ➡️ https://t.co/k7a3FRpQ2T pic.twitter.com/ab9iJDWtuJ— NHL (@NHL) January 28, 2021

Jimmy Howard has officially announced his retirement following 14 years in the @NHL and 543 regular-season games with the @DetroitRedWings. Congratulations Jimmy on an incredible career and welcome to the #NHLAlumni Association! ?#LGRW pic.twitter.com/m8Hl6qJHvt— NHL Alumni (@NHLAlumni) January 28, 2021

Happy retirement to one of our Grandest Griffins, Jimmy Howard! pic.twitter.com/gs1P3Ybd7R— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) January 28, 2021

All the best in retirement to Jimmy Howard, who announced today he will be hanging up his skates after 543 games played with the @DetroitRedWings. pic.twitter.com/P8l2SJXAkY— NHLPA (@NHLPA) January 28, 2021

Bultman’s mailbag: Talking about Mantha

The Athletic’s Max Bultman posted a mailbag feature this morning, and he discusses Anthony Mantha’s situation as it applies to his motivation to avoid “Big Man Syndrome”:

I don’t like to speculate too much on what’s behind a player’s slump. But I will share with you a few relevant things Mantha said Monday, when he met with reporters via Zoom.

On what went through his mind sitting on the bench in the third period Sunday: “A little bit of everything. Obviously I could sit back and be disappointed in myself. Today’s a new day, I had to get better on the ice, and then tomorrow’s a new game. I’ll (do) everything possible in my power not to be sat again this year or in the future. I just need to get my game going and doing what I do best.”

On why this issue pops up sometimes for him: “If I had the answer I would put it in the back of my bag and always be 100 percent and be the best player I could be. But I don’t have an answer for you.”

On how he can get back into a rhythm: “If I could get a couple shots a night, just some grade-A chances, I know I’m going to build some confidence. If I get two to three shots on the power play and then two to three shots 5-on-5, then it just moves forward from there.”

Continued (paywall)

Free Press’ profile of Joe Kocur tells how Bob Probert, Art Moran Pontiac paved way for second sting with Red Wings

The Free Press’s Bill Dow posted a profile of former Red Wings enforcer (and one-time assistant coach) Joe Kocur today, and Kocur tells Dow that Bob Probert was a big factor in Kocur’s return to the Red Wings in 1996:

“I always wanted to play for the Wings again. I was out of a job, playing in a local beer league and with the Red Wing Alumni team. Bob Probert was with Chicago and I said to him before a game against the Wings, ‘why don’t you kick the crap out of them and maybe they’ll realize they’ll need an intimidator.’ Bob obliged and the following day, there was an article about how the Wings needed to get tougher. I later learned that my friends at Art Moran Pontiac, Jerry Vought and Bob Moran, had kept telling Scotty Bowman, who was a customer, that the Wings should sign me. In my second game back, we were in Chicago and I started a fight with Bob Probert. At the end of it, I was on top of him and said, ‘Thanks buddy for getting me back in the league.’ He said, ‘no problem.’ Years later when we were being interviewed for the book, “The Bruise Brothers,” he asked me why I had started that fight. I told him that I had to because they signed me to help protect the others. There were never any hard feelings between us. I had also fought him when I was with the Rangers. We both knew we had a job to do.”

Continued (paywall)