The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan spoke with former Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar regarding his playoff run as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights:

“It’s a little bit crazy,” said Tatar, who has experienced the hoopla for almost three months. “The whole city is behind us. Everybody is talking about it on the radio. Everyone is excited. It’s like being part of a hockey boom around here. This is a lot of fun. To be in the playoffs, with a great group of guys here, it’s amazing.”

Now, things aren’t entirely perfect these days for the popular former Red Wing. While the playoffs have been thrilling, for Tatar, it would be that much better had he consistently been playing in them.

Tatar has only played in four of the Golden Knights’ 10 playoff games, being a healthy scratch in the other six. He has no points in the four games, with a zero plus-minus rating, and four shots on net.

For a player who the Golden Knights sent the Wings a first-round draft pick this year, a second-rounder next year, and a third-round selection in 2020, it is a bit eye-opening to not see Tatar in the lineup.

It upsets you a little bit sometimes,” Tatar said of the benching. “But right now, it’s all about winning and doing whatever it takes to help the team win. I want to win. It upsets you sometimes, but it’s all about being supportive, creating a good environment and it’s all about winning.”

Kulfan and Tatar continue at length…

From PR Newswire comes a press release regarding the auction of items from Joe Louis Arena:

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Frans Nielsen’s Danes won 3-0 over Norway, as noted by IIHF.com’s Andrew Podnieks:

“We’re playing good hockey,” said Nielsen. “We knew we had a good team. We’re not perfect, but Freddy has been great for us back there as well when we’ve had breakdowns. We’ve done a good job so far, played some tight games which are exciting for fans to watch.”

Denmark now has eight points and sits in fourth place in the group while Norway remains stalled in seventh place with three points, ahead of only Korea.

The Danes are right back at it, playing Korea tomorrow, while Norway has a day off before another tough test in the U.S. on Sunday.

“We’ve put ourselves in a good position right now,” Nielsen continued, “but we have another game coming up tomorrow that we have to focus on. I know we’re the favourites, but it’s not going to be easy.”

 

Libor Sulak scored a goal as the Czech Republic won 3-0 over Belarus:

 

Dylan Larkin had 2 assists as Team USA beat Korea 13-1, and Team USA’s website posted a recap:

HERNING, Denmark – Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y./Chicago Blackhawks) and Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, N.Y./Boston Bruins/Boston University) each recorded two goals and three assists and 15 others recorded at least one point as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 13-1 victory over Korea in preliminary round play of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.

The United States (3-2-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) is back in action Sunday (May 13) when it faces Norway. Puck drop is set for 4:15 p.m. local time/10:15 a.m. ET live on NHL Network.

Anders Lee (Edina, Minn./New York Islanders/University of Notre Dame), Derek Ryan (Spokane, Wash./Carolina Hurricanes), Blake Coleman (Plano, Texas/New Jersey Devils/Miami University), Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn./Columbus Blue Jackets/Boston College), Tage Thompson (Orange, Conn./St. Louis Blues/University of Connecticut), Neal Pionk (Hermantown, Minn./New York Rangers/University of Minnesota Duluth) and Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y./Columbus Blue Jackets) also scored for the U.S.

Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill./ Carolina Hurricanes/University of Maine) made 12 saves on 13 shots in the victory.

Team USA has added Nick Bonino to the roster as well.

The IIHF’s new website is awful, so I’ve got to rely on the Red Wings for a statistical summary of the day:

#IIHFWorlds Prem Final, Day 8. | #2018MWC

?? – 3 vs. ?? – 0
?? – 0 vs. ?? – 3
?? – 13 vs. ?? – 1

Nielsen – 2 SOG, 19:55 TOI
Hronek – 1 SOG, 17:05 TOI
Sulak – 1G, 5 SOG, 14:03 TOI
Larkin – 2A, 4 SOG, +2, 18:18 TOI
Jensen – 1A, 1 SOG, +2, 15:12 TOI pic.twitter.com/5ZHyqbSiJ7

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) May 11, 2018

Red Wings prospect Jack Adams had an abbreviated rookie season at Union College, and his in-and-out-of-the-lineup status yielded a decent but not great set of “numbers” for DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner to analyze.

As such, Regner’s conversation with Adams’ coach is more telling than the stats from Adams’ freshman season:

Quotable: “Jack really improved throughout the course of the season for us. What was really impressive about Jack was his vision, his ability to create plays coming out of our defensive zone, making the right play which led to rushes and scoring chances. That was one of the areas where Jack was kind of a surprise. His size and skating ability, he was able to use that as the season wore on and he became a valuable asset for us and he actually had some power play time. One of the hardest things to do is to get players, especially after the season he had in the USHL, transitioning to college, to get a player with his skill set to play a 200-foot game. People have a variation to what a 200-foot game is. Ours is a little different at Union College than somewhere else and for what we wanted I think Jack had his ups and downs with it and towards the end of the season he was really starting to pick that up. Players when they’re not playing sometimes they’re not happy and if they are happy, I’m not sure that’s a guy the Red Wings want.” – Rick Bennett, head coach at Union College

Continued

Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen is playing for Team USA at the World Championship, and journalist Julie Robenhymer penned an article profiling Jensen for DetroitRedWings.com:

Instead of the sandy beaches of the Caribbean, Jensen packed his bags for Denmark, host of this year’s event.

“I decided it was time to come to the homeland,” he said with a smile. “I have great-great ancestors who are from here. I don’t know if you saw all the Jensens on Team Denmark, but we’re popular over here. There’s even a Nicklas Jensen on their team too and we’re about the same age so people get us confused a lot.”

This is Jensen’s first time wearing the USA Hockey jersey at an international event, but he said it has been well worth the wait.

“Coming over here with some of the best American players available — all of them in the NHL and one really good prospect coming up in the draft (Michigan’s Quinn Hughes) — they’re all really high-skill guys on the ice and great character guys off the ice,” the stay-at-home defenseman said. “It’s everything I expected it to be. It has been so fun playing in front of this crowd, even if they’re not cheering for us. These fans have been great and it’s still just so much fun to be out there.”

After four games so far in the preliminary round, USA sits atop the Group B standings with 10 points after wins against Canada (SO), Denmark, Germany and Latvia (OT).

Jensen, who went goal-less with the Red Wings this season but finished the season with 15 assists, has a goal and an assist for Team USA.

Robenhymer continues…

The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan wrote an article about the NHL prospect factory that is the U.S. National Team Development Program in Plymouth, and it’s a superb organizational profile:

“Starting off we had some tough sledding out of the gate,” [coach John] Wroblewski said. “Like most things, it doesn’t happen overnight. You build momentum, it takes time, and we got in a groove and started winning medals.

“We’re at a point where it’s a landmark for kids. I have to imagine when you’re 10 or 11 or 12-years-old, they already have their eyes on Plymouth and wanting to be part of the NTDP.

“That’s what we’ve grown into. There’s a lot of people who have had a huge hand in it.”

Next month at the NHL Entry Draft the USA NTDP has, generally speaking in most mock drafts, six of the top 20-25 players who either played this season or graduated from the program a year ago.

Defensemen Quinn Hughes (Michigan), Mattias Samuelsson and Bode Wilde, and forwards Oliver Wahlstrom, Brady Tkachuk and Joel Farabee are players who will hear their names called early in the draft. All have pushed each other while in the NTDP, one of the reasons the program has been successful.

“You challenge yourself against the best kids in the country in your age bracket every day,” said Scott Monaghan, NTDP senior director of operations, and an original member of the program.

Continued

Both the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins are going to support an influx of Detroit Red Wings prospects over the next season.

After a year’s worth of Walleye and Griffins retaining the vast majority of their previous season’s playoff rosters in attempts to repeat post-season successes, both teams will have to move forward as the entire organization “trends younger.”

As such, Walleye coach Dan Watson’s comments to Toledo Walleye fans during the team’s end-of-season celebration foretold a summer of change for the Red Wings’ developmental arms, as noted by the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:

Watson, the second-year coach, said it was important to hold the event to recognize the team’s veterans.

The Walleye were led by a core group of players that have been with the team for several years. The fans offered loud cheers for Bonis, Alden Hirschfeld, Shane Berschbach, A.J. Jenks, Tyler Barnes, and Beau Schmitz.

“There are a lot of guys who have been here since the 14-15 season that may not be returning,” Watson said. “They’ve really turned the culture around here when we were just hoping to get a winning season. Now it’s become, ‘We’re going to make the playoffs. Let’s see how many rounds we can win.’ We’re hoping for bigger and better things next year.”

If you’re interested in following the AHL affiliate’s changes, the Griffins have posted an off-season player tracker, and it’s updated on a regular basis.

From the Grand Rapids Griffins:

GRIFFINS ANNOUNCE 2018-19 SCHEDULE FORMAT, SIX GUARANTEED DATES

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday announced their schedule format for the 2018-19 season, which is highlighted by inaugural meetings with the Ontario Reign and Belleville Senators, as well as continuing contests against the Eastern Conference’s Hershey Bears, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Cleveland Monsters.

The Griffins will start the home segment of their schedule on Friday, Oct. 12 at Van Andel Arena with Opening Night presented by Huntington Bank, one of six home dates that have been confirmed by the American Hockey League.

Grand Rapids will host its 22nd annual New Year’s Eve Celebration presented by Farm Bureau Insurance on Monday, Dec. 31. In addition to hosting Girl Scout Night, the Griffins’ home date on Saturday, Jan. 19 will serve as a lead-in to the 2019 Great Skate Winterfest, one of the team’s annual fundraisers for the Griffins Youth Foundation. Grand Rapids’ home contest on Saturday, Feb. 9 will welcome Scout Night.

Other home games include Saturday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 16.

Opponents for those six games will be revealed this summer, when the complete schedule for the AHL’s 83rd season is released. The 2018-19 campaign will mark the Griffins’ 18th year of AHL membership and 23rd season overall.

The Griffins and the Pacific Division’s Reign will match up in a home-and-home set in the two teams’ first-ever meetings. Grand Rapids has played 11 all-time regular season games in the state of California, while welcoming a Golden State club to Van Andel Arena 10 times. Ontario is the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings.

Grand Rapids and Belleville will face off four times, twice in West Michigan and twice in Canada, for their initial games. A member of the North Division, Belleville joined the AHL in 2017-18 and is affiliated with the Ottawa Senators.

For the second consecutive season, the Griffins will contest home-and-home sets against Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, both of the Atlantic Division. Cleveland, who Grand Rapids has met 92 times in the regular season since 2007-08, will remain on the Griffins’ schedule and the two teams will play four times.

As part of the AHL’s division realignment for next season, San Antonio and Texas will join the Central Division as Cleveland moves to the North. Colorado enters the AHL as its 31st active team and will compete in the Pacific Division.

Grand Rapids will face off against divisional opponents 58 times, including 10 games apiece against Rockford and Milwaukee, eight games each versus Chicago, Manitoba, San Antonio and Texas, and six games against Iowa.

The Griffins will play teams from the Pacific Division six times, with a pair against Ontario and four versus San Jose.

Single-game tickets will go on sale to the public in September. Fans can secure their full-season, select-season or group ticket packages by calling (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com for more information.

Griffins 2018-19 Guaranteed Home Dates:
Fri., Oct. 12 – 7 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 31 – 6 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 19 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan. 26 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 9 – 7 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 16 – 7 p.m.

At the World Championship in Denmark,

Dylan Larkin had an assist, finishing even with 1 shot in 21:05 played as Team USA won 3-2 in overtime over Latvia.

Here are highlights from the game:

Team USA posted a recap as well:

HERNING, Denmark — Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Colin White (Hanover, Mass.), and Cam Atkinson (Riverside, Conn.) all scored as the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 3-2 overtime victory over Latvia in preliminary round game play of the 2018 International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship.

The United States (2-2-0-0/W-OTW-OTL-L) will return to action Friday (May 11) when it faces Korea at 8:15 p.m. local time/2:15 p.m. ET. That game, along with all U.S. Men’s World Championship games, will be broadcast live on NHL Network.

Kinkaid made 17 saves on 19 shots in the victory.

NOTES:  Alex DeBrincat was named U.S. Player of the Game with two assists … For complete game stats, click here … The initial 23-player roster can be found here … Jeff Blashill (Detroit Red Wings) is serving as head coach for the second straight year … The staff and players of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team are selected by Bill Zito (Columbus Blue Jackets), general manager of the 2018 U.S. Men’s National Team along with members of the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group that includes Stan Bowman (Chicago Blackhawks), David Poile (Nashville Predators), Ray Shero (New Jersey Devils), Dale Tallon (Florida Panthers), and Jeff Gorton (New York Rangers) … For complete coverage of the U.S. Men’s National Team, visit teamusa.usahockey.com/2018mensworlds … The official online home of the 2018 IIHF Men’s World Championship is 2018.IIHFWorlds.com … The U.S. has finished in the top four of the world championship in three of the last five years … USA Hockey’s international council, chaired by Gavin Regan (Potsdam, N.Y.), has oversight responsibilities for all U.S. national teams … NHL Network is the exclusive U.S. rightsholder for the tournament.

 

Update: As the IIHF’s website is being a pain in the ass:

#IIHFWorlds Prelim Final, Day 7. | #2018MWC

?? – 3 vs. ?? – 2 (OT)
?? – 4 vs. ?? – 3 (OT)

Larkin – 1A, 1 SOG, 19:44 TOI
Jensen – 3 SOG, 18:27 TOI
Hronek – 1A, 1 SOG, 12:13 TOI
Sulak – 2 SOG, +1, 22:13 TOI
?: @IIHFHockey pic.twitter.com/AkZKvonVXE

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) May 10, 2018

 

I’ve not revisited the Givani Smith story for two simple reasons: first, Smith’s family, through his agent, has asked for privacy in the matter, and second, I fear that Smith deals with racism in hockey on  far, far more regular basis than we are led to believe.

I’d like to believe that we can do way better as a society and as individuals to really promote the concept that “Hockey Is For Everyone”;  this morning, the New York Times’ Curtis Rush offers an article that causes significant concern regarding that hope: