Prospect playoff round-up: Fulcher’s Bulldogs win scoring derby vs. Sault Ste. Marie

Of prospect-related playoff note:

In the OHL championship series, Kaden Fulcher didn’t have the greatest night, stopping 28 of 33 shots, but that’s okay because his Hamilton Bulldogs scored 6 goals in a 6-5 win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Hamilton continued to give up goals after building up a 3-1 lead, but Hamilton kept scoring go-ahead goals, and as the highlight clip shows, the Bulldogs’ scorers came out on top.

Jordan Sambrook had an assist and finished even on one shot for Sault Ste. Marie, which now trails the best-of-7 series 2 games to 1.

A Givani Smith follow-up

Red Wings prospect Givani Smith posted a Twitter message thanking fans for their support this morning…

And the CTV News Kitchener’s Ryan Flanagan posted a follow-up article discussing the threats levied at Smith with Kitchener Rangers GM Mike McKenzie:

“It pains me to say it, but it’s probably not the first time that he’s dealt with something like this,” McKenzie said in an interview.

The Rangers alerted league officials to the messages. OHL commissioner David Branch says the league was told about “comments that were concerning,” but not specifically about any racial overtones. Still, what the league heard was enough that they agreed to provide extra security for Smith on the trip to Sault Ste. Marie for Game 7 – something that, according to Branch, the league had never done before.

“We chose to add some security for the benefit of Givani and ensure, hopefully, that his well-being, his safety, was well-looked after,” Branch said.

It wasn’t the first time this season Smith had been on the receiving end of racial slurs. Some were yelled at him during a game in Sarnia, after a fan somehow gained access to the players’ area.

Sault Ste. Marie general manager Kyle Raftis also spoke out against the comments directed against Smith, saying they don’t reflect the values the Greyhounds hope to see from their fans.

“You don’t want to see any person have to go through that,” he said. “There’s definitely a line that was crossed through social media.”

FYI:

Smith’s agent, G.P. Daniele, told CTV News that his client was “incredibly humbled by the support received.”

“Givani respectfully asks for privacy, as he and his family wish to move on from the incident,” Daniele said in an email.

Red Wings at the World Championship: Nielsen’s Danes pummeled by Canada; Nyquist’s Swedes remain unbeaten

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Frans Nielsen finished at +1 in 23:07 played for Denmark, which is pretty damn good given that Denmark lost 7-1 to Canada on Monday;

And Gustav Nyquist had 3 shots, finishing even in 17:37 played during Sweden’s 4-0 win over France. Sweden is 3-and-0.

On Tuesday, Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak’s Czechs will battle Switzerland at 2:15 PM EDT.

AHL realigns divisions: Griffins lose Cleveland, welcome Texas and San Antonio to Central Division

The American Hockey League has revised its divisional format:

The Grand Rapids Griffins will lose a familiar rival in the Cleveland Monsters, and will welcome both the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage to the Central Division.

Here’s the AHL’s press release:

Changes from the 2017-18 season include:

  • Colorado joining the AHL as its 31st active team and playing in the Pacific Division
  • San Antonio and Texas moving from the Pacific Division to the Central Division
  • Cleveland moving from the Central Division to the North Division

The playing schedule for the 2018-19 regular season, which begins Oct. 5, will be announced this summer.

Red Wings sign David Pope to 2-year entry-level deal

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Red Wings sign David Pope to entry-level deal

2013 draft pick led Nebraska Omaha in scoring in 2017-18

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today signed left wing David Pope to a two-year entry-level contract.

Pope, 23, has spent the last four seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he totaled 94 points (45-49-94) and 41 penalty minutes in 133 games. As a senior in 2017-18, Pope led the Mavericks in goals (20) points (41), power-play goals (12) and shots on goal (123) while tying for the team lead in assists (21). He tied for 28th overall in the nation in scoring, and finished second overall in power-play goals. Pope tied school records in 2017-18 by recording four assists and five points in a game on Jan. 12 vs. Miami, and he also registered his first NCAA hat trick on Feb. 2 at St. Cloud State. The 6-foot-3, 194-pound forward placed fourth overall in conference scoring with 28 points (14-14-28) in 23 National Collegiate Hockey Conference games and was selected to the NCHC First All-Star Team and NCHC All-Academic Team.

Originally drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round (109th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Pope spent three seasons (2011-14) in the British Columbia Hockey League prior to his collegiate career. In 131 BCHL games between the Cowichan Valley Capitals, Westside Warriors and West Kelowna Warriors, the Edmonton, Alberta, native registered 114 points (52-62-114) and 71 penalty minutes. In his final junior season, Pope led West Kelowna with 50 points (27-23-50) in 45 games and was selected to the BCHL Second All-Star Team.

David Pope, Left Wing
Born Sep 27 1994 — Edmonton, ALTA
Height 6.03 — Weight 194 — Shoots L

Selected by Detroit Red Wings round 4 #109 overall 2013 NHL Entry Draft

— Regular Season —  —- Playoffs —-
Season   Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM
————————————————————————————–
2011-12  Cowichan Valley Capitals    BCHL   24    2    5    7   12  —  —  —  —  —
2011-12  Westside Warriors           BCHL   20    6   12   18   19  —  —  —  —  —
2012-13  West Kelowna Warriors       BCHL   42   17   22   39   20   7   4   1   5   2
2013-14  West Kelowna Warriors       BCHL   45   27   23   50   20   6   2   4   6   2
2014-15  U. of Nebraska-Omaha        NCHC   33    8    6   14    6  —  —  —  —  —
2015-16  U. of Nebraska-Omaha        NCHC   31    4    4    8    8  —  —  —  —  —
2016-17  U. of Nebraska-Omaha        NCHC   34   13   18   31   14  —  —  —  —  —
2017-18  U. of Nebraska-Omaha        NCHC   35   20   21   41   13  —  —  —  —  —
————————————————————————————–

Update: FYI:

Update: Here’s the Free Press’s Helene St. James on Pope:

Negotiations with the 23-year-old forward drafted 109th overall in 2013 had been on hold while he finished up his senior year at University of Nebraska-Omaha. Pope posted career highs in 2017-18 with 20 goals, 21 assists and 41 points in 39 games. He’s 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds with good offensive instincts and soft hands and knows how to get open away from play.

Pope will be at development camp in late June, where he’ll mingle with the likes of 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen. A better feel for whether Pope can help the Wings as soon as next season will come at training camp, but it’s a good chance for Pope to get acquainted with the team.

Team USA defeats Germany 3-0; Larkin plays 21 minutes

At the World Championship in Denmark:

Dylan Larkin finished even with 4 shots in 21:00 played and Nick Jensen finished even in 14:45 as Team USA defeated Germany 3-0 on Monday, improving to 3-and-0 (with 1 shootout win).

IIHF.com’s John Sanful penned a recap…

Led by Patrick Kane’s goal and two assists, Team USA remains unbeaten with a 3-0 win over Germany. Keith Kinkaid recorded his second straight shutout in three starts for the Americans.

Germany came into the contest winless in two tries. The defending Olympic silver medalists have now lost their first three games of the tournament.

Based on recent history, this game was anything but a given for Team USA. Germany defeated the United States in their last two meetings at the 2016 and 2017 IIHF World Championships. Last year, Germany defeated Team USA 2-1 in the opening game of the World Championships in Cologne.

“We had some power plays and had some good chances, but then we got one on a 5-on-3, and it’s great to capitalize on those,” Kane said after the game. “And then we got one the next one, too. I think in a tournament like this it’s huge to get the power play going and get some confidence.”

As did USA Hockey…

Continue reading Team USA defeats Germany 3-0; Larkin plays 21 minutes

In which the “Yzerman back to Detroit” topic is discussed again

The Family Guy term “Grinds My Gears” applies to the following “final topic” from Sunday’s SportsWorks round table discussion on Fox 2, in which Bob Wojnowski, Jamie Samuelssen and Dan Miller discussed the following:

The NHL Playoffs were last on the rundown and the guys talked if Tampa Bay’s success helps or hurts the chances of the Red Wings getting Steve Yzerman.

The gents discuss the topic at 12:30 mark of the 14-minute clip, and I’ll re-state my position on the matter:

I believe that Steve Yzerman has built his Tampa Bay Lightning team to win a Stanley Cup, and until/unless his team wins the Stanley Cup, he’s not going to leave the Lightning. Even if Tampa does win the Cup, I don’t see Yzerman leaving a team that’s going to be elite for the next half-decade (at least) to have every move micro-analyzed by the media.

Is it possible that Yzerman may return one day? Sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

 

Examining David Booth’s ‘numbers’

DetroitRedWings.com’s Arthur J. Regner looks back at Red Wings forward David Booth’s 2017-18 season “numbers” this morning:

28 – Number of games Booth appeared in for the Red Wings.

4 – In his 28 games played, Booth notched four goals. His first goal as a Red Wing came during a two-goal outburst on November 25 at Little Caesars Arena versus the New Jersey Devils.

5 – Total number of points he had for the season, the second lowest point total of his career. During the 2012-13 season when he played for Vancouver, Booth had three points in only 12 games played due to an ankle injury.

12.1 – Booth’s shooting percentage, which ranked third on the Wings behind only Anthony Mantha (12.6%) and Luke Glendening (12.5%).

Regner continues, noting that Booth was a superb “glue guy”…

Sault Ste. Marie Greyounds, OHL say that racial slurs levied at Givani Smith didn’t come from Rangers’ opponent

According to the Sault Star’s Peter Ruicci, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Ontario Hockey League have stated that none of the racial slurs that Givani Smith had to deal with this past week originated with the Kitchener Rangers’ opposition:

“I can say with 100 per cent certainty, at no time did anyone from our organization, our staff or our players utter a racial slur at Givani Smith,” Hounds head coach Drew Bannister said on Sunday.

Further, the Hounds coach spoke of how there was never a time during the series when allegations of such an occurrence  were brought to his attention by the OHL or the Rangers organization.

“The first I heard about it was Saturday when the article by Josh Brown was published,” Bannister added. “If the league would have heard about such an incident, they would have dealt with it immediately.”

Smith could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Ruicci continues with quotes from OHL commissioner David Branch, and I can only shrug my shoulders and say that fans can be terrible…

Khan discusses the ‘logjam’ on defense

MLive’s Ansar Khan answers questions from readers this morning, and Khan duly notes that the Red Wings’ defense is stacked against the possibility of adding prospects to the mix.

With Trevor Daley, Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Nick Jensen, Niklas Kronwall and Xavier Ouellet under contract for the upcoming season, and Mike Green a decent bet to return as an unrestricted free agent, it’s hard to figure out how any of Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Libor Sulak or any other of the Wings’ prospects will fit into the blueline:

Q:How does (general manager) Ken Holland plan to address the logjam on defense which is affecting the prospect pipeline’s ability to develop? I cringe when I keep reading they want to bring back Mike Green, because I fear it is going to hinder development of guys like Hicketts, Hronek, (Vili) Saarijarvi, Cholowski, Sulak, etc., when they already have six guys on NHL contracts for next season and other vets in Grand Rapids taking playing time. Will bringing back Green be contingent on moving out a couple of players from last season’s defense corps? – Eric

A: Green’s status is not linked to anything that happens with anyone else. If Green accepts a two-year deal, I think they’ll bring him back because he’s the only consistent offensive threat on a blue line that doesn’t provide much offense. He shoots right, which they lack, and his absence would create a big void on a power play that has struggled.

But if he is seeking three years, they’re not likely to re-sign him. Either way, the logjam on D isn’t going to be alleviated much this off-season.

Khan continues…