The New York Times looks at racist threats against Givani Smith

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:

For decades, black hockey players at all levels have experienced incidents of racial abuse. “A lot of players of color go through this,” Smith’s agent, G. P. Daniele, lamented. “It’s almost par for the course. It’s unfortunate.”

But the level of abuse directed at Smith so concerned the O.H.L. commissioner, David Branch, that he requested the police escort, a move he had not felt obligated to take before.

And in the aftermath, some members of the hockey community are calling for more to be done about racial harassment.

“I’ve lived in his shoes before,” said Kevin Weekes, 43, a black former N.H.L. goaltender and now a lead analyst at NHL Network who played in the O.H.L. in the 1990s. “It’s uncomfortable. It’s confusing.”

Smith received threats after he made an obscene gesture toward the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ bench after the Rangers’ overtime win in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on April 29.

“There were definitely physical threats,” Rangers General Manager Mike McKenzie said. “I saw some of the stuff that was being sent in, and it was threatening in nature, and you could perceive it as death threats if you wanted to, and obviously the racial stuff as well.”

Continued, and both Red Wings GM Ken Holland and director of player development Shawn Horcoff weigh in:

Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland said. “We support Givani. He’s a tremendous young man. We think he’s a really good prospect for us. He had a tremendous playoff. It’s about what you do on the ice. He’s a committed athlete, and we’re thrilled to have him in our organization. We’ve talked to him since the incident and made sure he understands we’re there to support him.”

Prospect playoff round-up: Sambrook’s Greyhounds tie OHL championship at 2-2

In the OHL championship series, Jordan Sambrook finished even with 2 shots in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds’ 3-2 OT win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Greyhounds’ win ties the best-of-7 series at 2 games apiece; Kaden Fulcher stopped 28 of 31 shots for Hamilton.

You can read the recap and watch highlights of the game here.

Red Wings at the World Championships: Nielsen, Nyquist score goals for Denmark and Sweden (respectively)

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Frans Nielsen scored a goal, finishing at +1 in 15:31 played during Denmark’s 3-2 win over Finland:

And Gustav Nyquist scored a goal, finishing at +1 with 5 shots in 18:35 played during Sweden’s 7-0 win over Austria:

 

A bit about Vili Saarijarvi’s ‘numbers’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji examines Vili Saarijarvi’s 2017-18 season “numbers” today, and as Wakiji notes, Saarijarvi’s got to improve upon his weight (listed at 178 pounds) and strength if he is to use next season as a springboard to the NHL. Saarijarvi’s 2017-18 season was split between the Grand Rapids Griffins and Toledo Walleye:

42 – Saarijarvi played in 42 games for the Griffins this past season.

11 – Saarijarvi played in 11 games for the Walleye in a couple of different stints this past season. He also recorded 11 assists with the Griffins.

7 – In his 11 games with the Walleye, Saarijarvi recorded two goals among seven points.

1 – In his AHL debut on Oct. 28, 2017 at Rockford, Saarijarvi recorded his first AHL point on Axel Holmstrom’s first-period goal, earning the second assist. Saarijarvi played in his first AHL playoff game on April 26, 2018 against the Manitoba Moose.

Continued

Crain’s Detroit Business’ Shea: JLA auction to raise at least $1 million for City of Detroit

According to Crain’s Detroit Business’s Bill Shea, the City of Detroit’s auction of Joe Louis Arena seats and other items will provide a significant windfall for the city:

The city of Detroit said it expects to net at least $1 million from the online sale of seats, equipment and fixtures from Joe Louis Arena.

The Detroit Red Wings’ estimated 7,000 season tickets holders since May 1 have been able to buy seats from the shuttered city-owned arena, and several thousand have been sold, according to the auctioneer hired by the city to handle the sale.

Detroit’s building authority hired Byron Center-based appraisal and auction firm Miedema Asset Management Group Inc. and Bloomfield Hills-based industrial asset auctioneer Robert Levy Associates LLC to handle the direct sale of the seats and fixtures.

They will get a buyer’s premium on each sale, which is included in the same price, according to information provided by Mayor Mike Duggan’s office. The premium varies based on the item being sold, but the minimum is 18 percent.

The general public can buy seats beginning Saturday, and about 16,000 seats in total are being made available ranging in price from $150 to $350. For the early sale period exclusive to season-ticket holders, seats range from $200 to $350 each.

The seats are only sold in pairs, because they’re linked by a shared armrest, which means a price of $300 for the cheapest purchase.

The sale site it thejoeseats.com.

In addition to season ticket holders and regular fans, companies that sell sports arena and stadium seats are expected to buy JLA seats in bulk, Robert Levy previously told Crain’s. Arena equipment and fixtures are expected to be sold to commercial and industrial buyers. Everything from HVAC to bars to urinals to the scoreboard will be sold.

Continued

HSJ’s mailbag: Bouchard may be the Wings’ ‘top pick’ at #6

Among the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ mailbag questions:

@HeleneStJames Which of the top Defensemen this draft besides Dahlin do you think the Wings like best? Is Wahlstrom a possibility?

— Joe Falzon (@jsfalzon) May 8, 2018

HSJ: From people I talk to in the organization, Evan Bouchard tops their post-Dahlin defensive depth chart. He has size (6-foot-2, 193 pounds), shoots right, has a heavy shot and a great first pass. He dominated in the Ontario Hockey League with 25 goals among 87 points in 67 games, tops among OHL defensemen. Beyond that, Adam Boqvist and Michigan’s Quinn Hughes are dynamic skaters, and Noah Dobson is another big guy (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) who shoots right, makes a good first pass and skates well.

Forward Oliver Wahlstrom (40 goals among 83 points in 54 games with National Team Development Program) is an elite goal scorer, but the Wings really need an top defensive prospect.

St. James continues…

ESPN’s Peters discusses a potentially transformative draft

ESPN’s Chris Peters penned an Insider-only article regarding the Red Wings’ 7 first-three-rounds-of-the-draft picks, and it’s a solid read:

It’s hard not to view the 2018 NHL draft as particularly crucial for the Detroit Red Wings. Now that Ken Holland knows his job is safe for a while longer, he has an opportunity to reshape the team a little bit. It’s probably going to end up taking longer than the Wings would like, but there is an opportunity to make some significant gains in their prospect system.

In what is considered a deep draft, particularly within the top 50, the Red Wings have two first-rounders and two early second-round picks. Add in three more third-rounders, and the Red Wings have seven of the first 90 picks in the draft. Of the years to have a surplus of early picks, this should be a particularly fruitful one. The Wings join the New York Rangers as the only two teams with seven picks in the first three rounds of the draft this year. To finish out the draft, Detroit additionally has a fourth-rounder, a pair of sixth-round picks and a seventh-rounder.

Of the picks, No. 6 overall is obviously the one they can’t miss on. This is a year in which the top 10 looks particularly strong. Not winning the draft lottery likely does not afford the Red Wings an NHL-ready asset next season, but they could still net a player who instantly becomes the top prospect in their system and a player with a great opportunity to have a lasting impact on the franchise. It all comes down to finding the right fit for the organization.

The rest of the picks have a chance to fill out a system that has some intrigue, but there are a lot of unknowns and longer-term projects for Detroit right now. There won’t be any quick-fix options in the draft, but there is enough here to aid the Red Wings a few years down the line when they’re a little further along in their transitional phase.

Peters continues, picking Quinn Hughes 6th overall…

A pair of World Championship Tweets of note from the Wings

FYI in terms of today’s World Championship schedule and a Dylan Larkin interview, per the Red Wings on Twitter:

 

Talking about David Pope

According to MLive’s Ansar Khan, the Red Wings are hoping that recently-signed prospect David Pope can compete for a roster spot right out of training camp. Pope has developed into a sniper with a skill set that impresses Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff:

“He’s a kid that has improved his skating over the years and I think that’s helped him get to the areas where he can score,” Horcoff said. “He’s great on the power play, he’s got a real good one-timer off the flank and a great wrist shot in stride. He’s a kid that’s really come on the last couple of years and had a great senior year.”

The Red Wings selected Pope in the fifth round in 2013 (109th overall). He had 20 goals and 41 points in 35 games this past season.

Horcoff said Pope is wiry, has a long reach and is hard to knock down.

“He’s had to earn everything in his life,” Horcoff said. “He’s a little bit of a late bloomer. He’s a winger that gets up and down the ice well and he’s a guy that can shoot it. Put him with good players, put him in position to score goals, he’s going to put it away. We’re hoping he can come to camp and show us that.”

Khan continues, and I remember when Pope first came to the Wings’ summer development camp as a 165-pound sniper. He has built up his body and his game significantly over the past four years.

Walleye bow out of playoffs, losing to Fort Wayne in 6 games

The Toledo Walleye faced some stiff odds in heading to Fort Wayne down 3-2 in the teams’ second-round series, but the Walleye rallied from a 1-0 deficit on goals from Zach Nastasiuk and Austen Brassard…

Only to surrender a late-first-period and halfway-through-the-second-period goal, as well as an empty-netter, en route to a season-ending 4-2 loss.

The Walleye fell short of championship expectations by a fair amount, and the Walleye’s website posted a game recap:

Continue reading Walleye bow out of playoffs, losing to Fort Wayne in 6 games