Of Red Wings-related note this evening:
1. From Fox Sports Detroit, “The 313” offers puns over punditry regarding Alex Regula’s status as the son of a former Red Wings team dentist:
Two things: on Givani Smith and Alec Regula
Of Red Wings-related note this afternoon:
- WXYZ’s Brad Galli spoke with Wings prospect Givani Smith regarding Smith’s belief that he’ll make the Red Wings’ roster…
Continue reading Two things: on Givani Smith and Alec Regula
The Athletic’s Silverman scouts Detroit’s 2018 goaltending picks, Jesper Eliasson and Victor Brattstrom
The Athletic’s goaltending expert, Cat Silverman, has “gone through the film” that involves examining the Red Wings’ pair of Swedish goaltending draft picks, Jesper Eliasson of Troja-Ljungby (drafted 84th overall) and Victor Brattstrom of Timra IK (drafted 160th overall).
Silverman sees the Wings’ 2018 draft picks as risky but potentially useful from an organizational depth perspective:
After the draft was over, I spoke with a few scouts to see what they thought about the Red Wings’ decision to take the goaltenders they did. After all, quite a few teams went off the board and took guys who, in theory, would have been available as free agents in just a few weeks’ time.
One scout said that even though free agency may be a way to avoid using draft picks on an imprecise position, it’s always better to control the situation.
In Brattström’s case, the Red Wings may have already been aware that the goaltender was set to split the crease next season for Timra IK’s pro team with the Wild’s 2017-18 AHL goaltender, Niklas Svedberg. So Brattström will be learning alongside a fellow Swede who has NHL experience and recent exposure to the North American game. If Brattström has a breakout season, it’s easy to see that he could have become the subject of a bidding war by NHL teams in the summer of 2019.
Another thing to consider is the ease with which players can make their way overseas.
Continued (paywall), and this is an intriguing read…
Audio from Day 4 of the Red Wings’ summer development camp ’18: David Pope, Jack Adams, Joren van Pottelberghe
The Red Wings’ prospects wrapped up their practices and fitness testing at LCA’s BELFOR Training Center just after 1 PM today, and the media headed downstairs to speak with players who participated in Team Lindsay’s activities.
We first spoke to David Pope, who discussed his split off-season focus between continuing to improve his skating and goal-scoring while rounding out his game somewhat as Pope prepares for a fall in which the 24-year-old turning-pro forward believes he’s still got a solid chance of making the Wings’ roster:
As it turns out, Jack Adams’ current collegiate employer, Union College, employs a full-year, trimester curriculum, so the 6’5″ goal-scorer spoke about his desire to get back to school and work with his coaches as the massive right-shooting winger hopes to continue building both his physique and intellect:
Finally, goaltender Joren van Pottelberghe spoke with the media about his hopes of earning the uncontested starter’s job with HC Davos of the Swiss League, a league he says is becoming more competitive every day. JvP discussed his adjustments to smaller-rink size and the benefits of platooning his goaltending with co-starter Gilles Senn over the past two seasons. This year, JvP hopes to earn starting jobs with both Davos and the Swiss national team:
HSJ on the Wings’ free agency plans: Detroit’s talked with some familiar faces
The Free Press’s Helene St. James penned a list of five players with whom the Red Wings have spoken during the NHL’s free agency wining-and-dining window, and among them are the following:
G Carter Hutton
Why: The Wings need a proven NHL-caliber goaltender. Hutton is their top target, having gone 17-7-3 in 2017-18 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in 32 appearances with St. Louis. Hutton, 32, has played around 30 games each of the past two seasons. That’s a good workload and would alleviate Howard, who played 60 games last season because the Wings lacked a reliable No. 2.
G Jonathan Bernier
Why: Bernier spent 2017-18 with Colorado, where he went 19-13-0 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in 37 appearances. A former starter in Toronto, he turns 30 in August. He is coming off a season that saw him miss time with injuries ranging from upper-body to two head injuries and an infection.
F Valtteri Filppula
Why: The Wings would have re-signed center him five years ago had he been willing to keep playing under then-coach Mike Babcock. Now he’s 34, and looking for work. Filppula is a good, two-way center, a good faceoff guy who can be trusted in his own zone and a guy who’ll put up in the 30-point range. He makes sense if the Wings are worried about Henrik Zetterberg, who turns 38 in October, though he has played three straight 82-game seasons.
Wakiji: nutritionist Lisa McDowell aims to give Wings’ players an edge
The Red Wings keep their players busy during development camp’s “down times” via seminars on social media, sleep and nutrition, and team nutritionist Lisa McDowell’s nutrition course tends to take the cake in terms of having an impact upon the players’ behaviors. DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji penned an article about McDowell’s crash course in advanced nutritional techniques:
McDowell has learned that you can teach these kids a thing or two about foods and their impact on their performance on ice, things that show up when they test the players’ blood.
“One of my favorite stories goes back to Luke Glendening,” McDowell said. “When he was at development camp, he told me that he ate out often. He just didn’t have the skills and he learned them and he learned real simple recipes and his markers are amazing. So I think it does make a difference. When I can take their lab results back to them and sit with them and show them where opportunities are and now they’ve seen the foods. They’ve seen spinach, they’ve seen kale, they’ve seen beets, they’ve seen tart cherries, oatmeal. We did build overnight oats that will soak in almond milk. I don’t know that they would ever do that at home but now they know, geez, I literally made oats in minutes and I can make a week’s worth, put them in the fridge and have them every morning and get that blood sugar control so they can preserve their glycogen stores on the ice.
“So they’re lessons that are so tangible. They can apply them and then they can feel them when they skate.”
Walleye announce jerseys, format for 2019 All-Star Game
According to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, the 2019 All-Star Game in Toledo will involve the Walleye team taking on the Eastern Conference’s All-Stars at the Huntington Center:
THE FINS VS. THE EAST.
Introducing the Fins jerseys AND the Eastern Conference All-Star jerseys for the 2019 @ECHL All-Star Classic, presented by @ProMedicaHealth. #TeamFins #ToledoVsTheLeague
More info on the tournament format ➡️ https://t.co/Sow6tzExib pic.twitter.com/T0rtY6UgrE
— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) June 29, 2018
There’s more information regarding what will be a 3-on-3 tournament and skills competition at the Walleye’s website.
THE HOOKS VS. THE WEST.
Introducing the Hooks jerseys AND the Western Conference All-Star jerseys for the 2019 @ECHL All-Star Classic, presented by @ProMedicaHealth. #TeamHooks #ToledoVsTheLeague pic.twitter.com/KXkF2rjcZq
— Toledo Walleye (@ToledoWalleye) June 29, 2018
Audio from the morning of day 4 of the Wings’ summer development camp ’18: Patrik Rybar, Lane Zablocki, Luke Morgan
The Red Wings’ prospects engaged in their last full day of practicing on Friday, with Team Howe taking part in the dreaded skating test in front of what is a Holiday Weekend’s worth of jam-packed stands at the BELFOR Training Center.
The players were absolutely gassed after completing 3 circuits of the rink after 3, 2, and then 1 minute’s worth of rest, so I was only able to nab a couple of players during their media availability:
St. James posts 6-minute video of chat with goalie coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson
The Free Press’s Helene St. James spent 6 minutes speaking with Red Wings goaltending development coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson:
Regner on Keith Petruzzelli’s freshman season
DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner spoke with goaltender Keith Petruzzelli’s coach at Quinnipiac University to discuss and review Petruzzelli’s up-and-down freshman campaign:
Quotable: “Keith came in with a high expectation and a lot of hype, so to speak, being a third-round pick by Detroit with a lot of excitement, but I think lost in that was the fact he was 18 years old and a true freshman, which is rare for college hockey at times, especially for goaltenders. So, there was a big adjustment period in terms of how hard the shots are, the pace of the game, just how grueling it is physically at the college level on a daily basis. It took a lot of adjusting and hard work on his part.
No question he struggled early on with that, so there had to be a reassessment of where he was with our goalie coach Jared Waimon and our staff. From that point on he made steady progress and his was putting time in until the end of the year where our other goaltender went down with an injury and he took over for the playoffs and did a real good job in our sweep of Yale and we hung in there in the second round with Cornell and a lot of that was because of him.
There was just a big maturity jump for him to realize what it takes to be successful at this level and as he gets into camp with Detroit, he’ll see it’s different at the pro level. The next step for him is to physically and mentally be a year older and more mature and handle adversity a little bit better and all the work he’s going to put in will pay off in his skill level. For him it’s about being a true college goaltender this year and winning the No. 1 job on our squad. Keith has a lot of potential and that’s why he was brought in – to eventually have that job.” – Bill Riga, Quinnipiac University associate head coach.