Early each morning, I ride the stationary bike at rehab in downtown Boston, next to a window overlooking a variety of city views: the State House, financial buildings and hundreds of people. However, what usually grabs my attention are the beautiful trees in the park. Lately, I’ve been seeing the trees change. From a sheeny green to a dull orange, the trees are always different. It’s kind of like the rhythm of life – always evolving. That’s what my life has felt like for the past 365 days.
I’m unfortunately a member of the club that no one wants to be in. Today, September 18th, marks the one-year anniversary of my role model’s passing. My brother Roosy’s unexpected death is truly the tragedy of a lifetime. The power that grief possesses is insanely potent. The death of a loved one consumes you from the first breath you take in the morning, all the way until you fall asleep at night. It’s so powerful. But, like the trees, I’m changing, evolving.
Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno probably won’t make the Wings’ roster out of training camp, but the QMJHL alumnus believes that he’s come a long way over the past couple of seasons, and that he is an asset to whatever team he ends up playing upon, as he told the Free Press’s Helene St. James…
“What do I better than other guys?” Veleno said after Wednesday’s morning skate. “Make a difference whether it’s creating a chance or playing well defensively, all the little details are going to be important to my game. One of my best attributes is using my speed.
“You know you can always get better at something every year and I guess in a lot of players, it’s looking to score more goals. You want to contribute offensively and having a good shot, being able to score goals, have that skill, comes a long way.”
Veleno is hoping to do what Larkin did and make the Wings at 19 years old. Larkin had a terrific rookie year (23 goals, 45 points) but he spent the season playing wing on a line with veteran Henrik Zetterberg at center. Veleno is up against a depth chart down the middle that numbers Larkin, Valtteri Filppula, Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening, plus prospects Michael Rasmussen, Christoffer Ehn and Jacob de la Rose (some of those players could also make it as a wing).
“It’s a hard league to play in and you have to work hard for every little bit of it,” Veleno said. “For some guys, it’s pretty much their jobs and you’re trying to earn a spot, trying to take someone’s job. That’s what it comes down to now.”
St. James continues, and she posted a video of Veleno and coach Jeff Blashill’s comments…
Nickelodeon Night headlines this season’s new entertainment
PLYMOUTH, Mich. – USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program announced its promotional schedule for the 2019-20 season this afternoon, which features giveaways, theme nights and community initiatives.
Team USA kicks off the season with a pair of NCAA matchups against Northern Michigan University and the University of Notre Dame on October 5 and 6, respectively. Promotions for opening weekend include a 2019-20 magnet schedule giveaway for the first 2,500 fans, as well as the Under-18 team poster giveaway and postgame autograph session after Sunday’s game.
“I probably skated, I was on the ice around June and working on little details, post work,” Bernier said. “I thought we were getting a lot of shots from low to high so I kind of worked on that. You just train hard and you make sure that physically you’re ready to go.”
Bernier played in 35 games last season, 30 starts, and went 9-18-5 with a 3.16 goals-against average and .904 save percentage.
Bernier seemed to get in more of a groove when he and Jimmy Howard alternated starts for a while late in the season but there’s no guarantee of a specific workload this season.
“Obviously, I think it’s a lot easier to feel confident and being focused on the game but I gotta find a way when I don’t play a lot to come in and be sharp like I was playing every night,” Bernier said.
Continued; the Wings posted a video of Bernier’s remarks as well:
Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider will play against the Chicago Blackhawks when the Wings travel to Chicago for preseason action tonight (8:30 PM EDT on the NHL Network/NBCS Chicago Plus/WXYT AM). Seider spoke with MLive’s Ansar Khan regarding the opportunity which presents itself this evening…
“It’s a great opportunity playing in the United Center against some very, very good NHL guys, I think one of the best (Kane),” Seider said after the morning skate at Little Caesars Arena. “It’s always nice when you have a challenge in a game or a nice, important role. I had the opportunity to play one of the best NHL guys in an exhibition game already against USA (Kane at the World Championship) so I’m kind of familiar with that. It was on the big ice. I think it’s completely different in the States (smaller ice).”
The game starts at 8:30 p.m. and will joined in progress on the NHL Network following the Florida-Montreal game that starts at 7 p.m.
Seider (6-4, 203) is coming off his first NHL training camp, following a strong showing at the Prospects Tournament, where he logged a lot of ice time and played physical.
“I think when you’re tall you have to use your size and that’s what I try every single night,” Seider said. “I think playing hard and making the opponent tough to play against me is probably one of the parts of my game, too.”
Khan continues, and he posted a video of Seider’s remarks:
“One of the ways you can become a great defenseman is be as efficient as possible,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “The best D in the world are super-efficient, In terms of winning D, we had the best of all-time here in Nick Lidstrom probably in terms of pure efficiency, created offense without hardly giving anything up. I’m not comparing the two by any stretch but I think Seider has to be super-efficient, he has to use his offensive instincts when the opportunity presents itself but not at the risk of 50-50 plays.
“Sometimes in the Prospects Tournament he got over the 50-50 plays, where he was trying to force things that aren’t necessarily there and that’s how you end up beating yourself as a hockey team. He doesn’t have to, I think he’s got real good offensive and defensive instincts, so use them and be impactful and be a great defender.”
Throughout camp and again tonight in Chicago, Seider has been paired with veteran Trevor Daley.
“He’s one of the most experienced guys in the league, over (1,000) games, I think,” Seider said. “It’s great. He helps me a lot, we communicate a lot. It makes it a lot easier.”
Wakiji also continues; the Wings posted clips of Seider and Blashill’s remarks on Twitter:
"I'm excited, it's a great opportunity playing in the United Center playing against some very good NHL guys."
Add Justin Abdelkader and Oliwer Kaski to the list of Red Wings nursing minor injuries, joining Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi and Darren Helm.
Blashill said Larkin has skated on his own the last two days but not with the rest of the team.
“They’re not all the same (injuries) but I don’t expect any of them to not be ready for the regular season,” Blashill said. “Any soft tissue stuff, you worry about pushing them too fast and it turns into two weeks (of missed playing time).”
The list of players dealing with minor injuries includes Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tyler Bertuzzi, Justin Abdelkader and Oliwer Kaski.
“Any soft tissue stuff, you worry about pushing them back too fast and it turns into two weeks,” Blashill said. “They’re not all the same, but I don’t expect any of them to not be ready for the regular season. We’re hoping to get them all in on Friday or in some instances Sunday.”
The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 last night at Little Caesars Arena, and AWood40 (a.k.a. Alex Wood) has posted a 9-minute highlight clip from the game:
I’ve spent the last two weeks in Traverse City, but today I’m heading back to South Lyon.
I will miss the Wings’ morning skate and probably resurface sometime before tonight’s game vs. Chicago (8:30 PM EDT on the NHL Network, NHL.tv and WXYZ AM 1270), but I’m not making any promises.
I’ve decided to take Thursday completely off as I’m feeling a bit burnt out from the heavy workload during the prospect tournament and main training camp; I will try to get my butt back to work by Friday or Saturday at the latest. I want to take a little break, but I don’t want a short hiccup in coverage to become a longer-term thing this season.
I want to thank you for your support over the course of the last two weeks, in terms of readership, constructive criticism and financial support. I wouldn’t have been able to get up here without you, and the workload wouldn’t have been worth it if you weren’t my audience.
Anthony Mantha, DET — Mantha scored a career-high 25 goals last season, despite missing 15 games. He has 51 goals combined in the past two seasons and at least 17 in each of his past three seasons. Mantha will continue to see an uptick in ice time and his linemates (Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi), will continue to grow offensively. The trio were one of the most underrated lines in the final few weeks of the season and Mantha was a big part of that: 15 goals and 23 points in his final 26 games.
As is one Filip Hronek…
Filip Hronek, DET — There’s not a lot to like in Detroit and if you play with that silly stat called plus/minus, you probably want nothing to do with Filip Hronek. Which is too bad, because the Red Wings’ defenseman will open up the season on the top pair and it won’t take long to overtake Mike Green on the No. 1 PP unit. Hronek averaged 20 minutes per game and he picked up 23 points (five PPP) in 46 games as a rookie. The 21-year-old could have 23 points by the all-star break.
