Of brief but hopefully useful Red Wings and Grand Rapids Griffins-related note:
1. Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson appeared on ESPN 96.1 FM’s “Big Drew and Jim” show on Wednesday afternoon, and ESPN 96.1 FM posted episode without separately posting Nelson’s interview, so: Nelson appears at the 41:48 mark of the following clip, and he speaks for 8 minutes:
2 — Coreau earned two AHL honors this season, the first as the league’s Goaltender of the Week for the period ending Feb. 18 and the second as the league’s Goaltender of the Month for February after allowing just nine goals on 185 shots while going unbeaten in six appearances. He was 4-0-2 with a 1.46 goals-against average and .951 save percentage in February. Coreau also won AHL Goaltender of the Month in Dec. 2015.
85 — With 38 this season, Coreau now has 85 regular-season wins, putting him in fourth place on Grand Rapids’ all-time goaltending list. Tom McCollum moved into first this season with 123 victories; Joey MacDonald is second with 109; Jimmy Howard is third with 93.
The Toledo Walleye saw instant impact from their returning Grand Rapids Griffins forwards on Tuesday, and the Walleye took a 2-games-to-1 lead over the Fort Wayne Komets as a result:
Dylan Sadowy scored 2 goals and Mike Borkowski had an assist as Toledo blew a 2-goal lead but managed to defeat Fort Wayne 4-3. Mike Embach and Shane Berschbach (1G, 1A) scored as well, and Pat Nagle stopped 36 shots for Toledo.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a locker room clean-out day article foreshadowing Dylan Larkin’s appearance in this year’s World Championship, which begins Friday in Denmark, and the Team USA forward spoke bluntly regarding his goals for the tournament:
“I’m going back this year and I want to win,” he said. “It’s experience for me. It’s not being complacent with finishing early April playing hockey. Playing hockey into May is what it is all about. I just think I am young, I have a lot of energy, got a lot of passion. I want to keep playing.”
…
Playing center at the 2017 Worlds helped Larkin succeed at that position in his third year in the NHL. He played wing his rookie year, 2015-16, and was moved back to wing after struggling at center to start the 2016-17 season. Larkin held his own at the position this season, and had a career-high 63 points. He scored seven goals the last 10 games.
That kind of growth is crucial as the Wings try to regain competitiveness. Larkin is a cornerstone of the rebuilding process, even better than the Wings hoped they were getting when they drafted him 15th overall in 2014. He has a high internal drive to be the best player he can be. Returning to the World Championship is a chance to show he can thrive in big games. Teams play seven preliminary games, and the top four teams in each group advance to quarterfinals.
“Moving forward in my career, the next step is becoming a winner,” Larkin said. “I want to have that extra factor where I take my game to another level to either hold onto a lead or try to get that goal to tie it up or win. I want to better myself.”
Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff spoke with Red Wings prospect and Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Kaden Fulcher on Monday, discussing Fulcher’s ascent among the prospect corps due to his superb season and post-season with Hamilton (which will be competing for the Ontario Hockey League championship starting on Friday).
The Red Wings have the option to send him back to Hamilton for an overage season but are planning on turning him pro. He’ll be competing for a job with the Grand Rapids Griffins but likely will be moving back and forth from the ECHL Toledo Walleye to Grand Rapids, as needed.
“It’s definitely huge to know that they’re making plans for you,” Fulcher said. “You make sure that every day you show at the rink at the OHL level, that you want to keep putting in the work to get to that next level. I think getting a little taste of it at the prospect tournament and the main camp, you see just how good everyone is, and how good you’re going to have to get to get there.”
As for Fulcher’s opponent, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Red Wings prospect Jordan Sambrook will be patrolling the blueline for the Sault, but his future with the Wings is less certain:
The Red Wings selected Sambrook in the fifth round of the 2016 draft (137th overall). They have until June 1 to sign him or he will re-enter the draft. They are still evaluating.
Sambrook (6-2, 195) has no goals and six assists in 18 playoff games. He had 10 goals and 39 points in 67 regular season games, along with a plus-43 rating, with ranked fourth in the OHL.
The Grand Rapids Griffins are holding their exit interviews for players today.
The Red Wings’ management has some difficult decisions to make regarding the mix of veterans and youngsters that will make up next year’s Griffins team; the Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner spoke with three key veterans in Matt Ford, Ben Street and Eric Tangradi regarding their futures. All three players are unrestricted free agents this summer:
“We’re talking right now and that’s where I can of want to leave it right now,” Ford said. “Obviously, I’d love to be here, and they want me to be back and we’ll see how it goes.”
Free agent signings begin July 1.
Like Ford, Street and Tangradi also spoke highly of Grand Rapids and the Griffins organization. But both also would like an opportunity with an NHL team, an unlikely scenario for either with the Red Wings. Both have to decide it there is an opportunity with a different NHL organization or be satisfied as a leader/mention within the AHL.
“I explore before July 1 and see what’s out there. During the year there’s really not an opportunity to see what’s out there,” said the 31-year-old Street, who led the Griffins with 65 points (21-44-65) “… That’s homework my agent and I will do over the next couple months and we’ll see where the best opportunity is.
“For me, I still believe I can be an NHL player and it was disappointing to me that I didn’t get a chance at that. So, my job this summer is to find where that best opportunity is. It may be with the Red Wings or it may be somewhere else.”
Wallner continues, breaking down the Griffins and Red Wings’ restricted and unrestricted free agents…
“I’m not thinking too far ahead right now,” Nelson told reporters on griffinshockey.com after Monday’s 5-1 Game 5 first-round series loss to Manitoba. “I have to process what just happened. We have exit interviews with players, I’m sure I’ll get feedback from management to see where myself and the coaching staff is at. Once that’s done, we’ll see what happens.”
But Nelson, who was an interim coach in Edmonton in 2014-15 and drew positive reviews, would like another opportunity to coach in the NHL.
“Obviously that’s a goal of mine,” said Nelson, who has a year left on his contract with the Wings’ organization. “But if it doesn’t happen, this is a great place of work. The Grand Rapids organization is fantastic to work with, fantastic people. The Wings are fantastic to work with. I’m just going to process this.”
2. As already noted, Olympia Entertainment is selling off seats from Joe Louis Arena, first to Red Wings season-ticket holders, and then to the general public starting on May 12th. The Detroit News and WDIV posted stories regarding the sale, and the Detroit News’s David Guralnick posted both a photo gallery and video of the state of the Joe, which ain’t great:
4. In the prospect department, part 1: I happen to believe that what Givani Smith did to earn a suspension for Game 7 of the Kitchener Rangers-Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds series was stupid, but the Hockey News’s Ryan Kennedy does a good job of summarizing what character assumptions one should make when a 20-year-old flips off the opposition bench:
Lessons have definitely been learned along the way. Kitchener Rangers power forward Givani Smith found that out the hard way. The Detroit Red Wings pick flipped off the Sault Ste. Marie bench after a thrilling OT win in Game 6 and that act got him suspended two games, including the pivotal Game 7 that the Soo ended up winning in double OT. Was it a crass move by Smith? Sure. Did he feel horrible, not being able to help his team in a crucial game? I’m sure he did. And while a lot of folks were upset with Smith, let’s not forget that he just turned 20; he’s still a very young man. No doubt he will move on, as should we.
Stupid? You bet. Does a suspension in a deciding game of a playoff series send home the message that one needs to grow up? Uh uh.
5. And I’m going to get a little creative here and combine some narratives.
The Free Press’s Helene St. James took note of the fact that the Griffins, Smith and Michael Rasmussen’s respective playoff runs ended on Monday night, and St. James had this to say about Rasmussen:
What happened: The Tri-City Americans lost 6-5 in overtime in Game 7 of a third-round series against Everett in the WHL. It wasn’t for lack of production from Rasmussen. The team captain had 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 14 playoff games games. Among WHL league leaders, he ranked first with seven power play goals, second in points, third in goals and fourth in assists.
What’s next: Time in the gym to add more strength to his 6-foot-6, 221 pound body. Development camp with other Wings prospects in June. From people I talk to in the Wings organization, Rasmussen is penciled onto next season’s squad. He can’t play in Grand Rapids because he has a year left of junior eligibility, so it’s Detroit or Tri-City. But Rasmussen impressed with his mature play last September, and now he’ll come to camp with the confidence of having dominated at the junior level.
I’m sure that some Wings fans are discounting Rasmussen’s playoff production with the same words of caution that followed Anthony Mantha’s playoff run, and that’s fair: while the WHL isn’t as high-scoring a league as the QMJHL is, Rasmussen’s team lost because they were letting in as many goals as they surrendered, and Rasmussen’s +/- of 8 on a 33-points-in-14-games effort could easily seen as a caution flag [see also: power play production, which was the reason some draft experts thought Rasmussen was a dud a year ago at this time].
The point of the matter (to me) is that Rasmussen recovered from wrist surgery to play really damn well, and he played really damn well in front of the Red Wings’ brass as everyone from Cleary and Horcoff to Holland and Blashill took trips out to Kennewick, Washington to watch Rasmussen skate in games.
6. The same is true of the progress made by Filip Hronek, whose conditioning makes him a little less NHL-ready (as does the Wings’ relative depth on defense, at least in terms of contracts at the position).
Hronek, 20, picked 53rd by Detroit in the 2016 NHL entry draft, led all Grand Rapids defensemen with 11-28-39 totals. The six foot, 178-pound Hronek also posted a team-best plus-24 rating. No other Grand Rapids player was better than plus-12.
“He exceeded my expectations,” Grand Rapids coach Todd Nelson told Detroitredwings.com. “I knew he was going to be good, but I didn’t think he’d develop as quick as he has.”
Only seven AHL defensemen scored more goals than Hronek and just eight accumulated more points.
“It was a tremendous first season for him,” Nelson said. “He really put himself on the map with the organization. (Detroit coach) Jeff Blashill’s been here, (GM) Ken (Holland), (assistant GM) Ryan (Martin), they’ve been watching a lot of our games and he’s putting himself in a good opportunity to play some National Hockey League games next year. It’ll be up to him at training camp to see where he’s at.”
As Duff noted, Hronek will be able to earn more confidence as he plays for the Czechs at the World Championship, and from there, it’s up to Rasmussen, Hronek and the rest of the Wings’ top prospects to train with a purpose this summer, play well at next fall’s prospect tournament, and then have a good showing in training camp.
You and I both know by this time that the Red Wings don’t hand young players opportunities unless the players have earned them, and training camp and the exhibition season have a way of sorting out who’s ready and who’s not.
If you’re panicking or yelling about a player’s potential as you deem it to be defined forever and ever as of early May? Take a chill pill, my friend, and remember that there has been time with which the Red Wings have evaluated these players, and there will be more time with which to make as-they-play evaluations going forward.
Grand Rapids Griffins forwards Dylan Sadowy and Mike Borkowski will continue their playoff campaigns with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye:
Mike Borkowski and Dylan Sadowy are back with the @ToledoWalleye and will be making the trip to Fort Wayne today. Zach Nastasiuk may join the team later in the series.
Mike Borkowski on being back with the @ToledoWalleye: “It feels good to be back. I wasn’t gone too, too long. I’m extremely happy to be here to help out. I was here for the majority of the year. We have a great group here. I’m really excited to get going again.”
Mike Borkowski played in 53 of the Walleye’s 72 games. He had 48 points (3rd highest on the team) with 19 goals and 29 assists . He played in 2 games for GR in the playoffs. He has appeared in one playoff game for Toledo so far. He said he kept close tabs on the team while in GR. https://t.co/nzSsuSKAZ2
The 2018 World Championship will take place in Copenhagen and Herning, Denmark starting on Friday, and Team USA’s Dylan Larkin headlines a group of seven Red Wings players and prospects taking part in the tournament.
MLive’s Ansar Khan penned an article about Larkin’s belief that his second consecutive World Championship appearance will help him hone his NHL game:
“It’s an experience for me not being complacent with finishing in early April,” Larkin said. “Playing hockey into May is what it’s all about and I’m young, have a lot of energy, have a lot of passion. … Moving forward with my career, the next step is becoming a winner. When we get into games late I want to have that extra factor where I take my game to the next level to either hold on to a lead or try to get that goal to tie it up or win.”
Team USA, with Larkin and Detroit defenseman Nick Jensen, coached for the second year in a row by the Red Wings’ Jeff Blashill, play host Denmark in an exhibition game Tuesday (2:30 p.m. ET) and open the tournament Friday against Canada (10:15 a.m., NHL Network).
Larkin (two goals, eight assists) was second in scoring on the U.S. last season. The Americans went 6-2, losing to Finland 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
“He’s going to be a big factor in it. It’s why I think Larks is a great competitor,” Blashill said. “He looks at this year and says, ‘I can be a better winner.’ I think that’s great to hear. What you want are athletes who want it on their shoulders when it matters most and he’s certainly one of those guys.
According to the Free Press’s Helene St. James, Grand Rapids Griffins defensemen Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak will continue their 2017-18 campaigns:
Red Wings prospects Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak joining Martin Frk with Czech team at Worlds. Puts Wings at 7 players for tournament: Frans Nielsen (Denmark), Dylan Larkin & Nick Jensen (USA), Gustav Nyquist (Sweden).
