The Malik Report

Red Wings director of player development Shawn Horcoff spoke with DetroitRedWings.com’s Art Regner last month, addressing a number of topics on The Red & White Authority podcast, and DetroitRedWings.com’s Brett McWethy posted an article annotating some of Horcoff’s comments:

On Filip Zadina
“It’s important that Z’s playing. He’s a guy that really developed a lot last year, and it was important for us to have him get reps. Get out there, play in the game. He put a lot of good effort in this offseason. He put on strength, and his skating looks better. He’s scored some nice goals over there. So it’s good that he’s playing, and he should be in a lot better situation coming into Training Camp.”

On Filip Hronek
“We’re happy that he’s playing. He’s playing very well. He plays on the National Team, and did very well for them. One of the best defensemen in the tournament. So he’s progressing nicely.”

On Michael Rasmussen
“Rass is another guy that we found a place for him to play, because he really, this offseason, found a new dedication to himself, to his game, wanting to get better. He’s ready, he feels like he’s ready to make that next step. Put a lot of work in on skating and off the ice. It was important for him to get into a league, into a competitive situation playing games. He’s doing that now.”

On Moritz Seider
“In my opinion, he’s playing in the best league in the world. He’s stepped right in and played top minutes, all situations, and has done very, very well. That’s not easy to do at his age. Mo continues his progress, and we’re excited about his development.”

Continued

HockeyNews.se’s Mattias Ek and Henrik Sjoberg posted an article explaining that Red Wings prospect and Frolunda Indians forward Elmer Soderblom, who is attempting to return from a foot injury prior to the World Junior Championship, had to leave Frolunda’s Friday practice.

Frolunda coach Roger Ronnberg would only tell Ek and Sjoberg that Frolunda’s medical team will determine whether Soderblom can play tomorrow; Rakapuckar’s Henrik Leman also reported that Soderblom had to leave practice early, and that Soderblom texted that he’s “day to day” with whatever injury is bothering him.

Long story long, Soderblom, who Ek and Sjoberg duly note tantalizes with his 6’7″ size, is battling another injury, and that seems to be the case fairly regularly for the big middle-six forward.

If you’re interested, Red Wings forward Evgeny Svechnikov and coach Jeff Blashill appeared on “The Word on Woodward” today, and here are their interviews:

The Athletic’s Max Bultman gave an interview as well:

This is kind of neat: As USA Hockey Arena can’t hold its annual Teddy Bear Toss, they’re asking fans to donate $5 via their in-arena restaurant, C.J.’s Brewing Company’s online ordering to “toss” a virtual teddy bear, thus benefiting the United Way of Plymouth.

It’s hard to discern whether you have to make a physical food order at C.J.’s Brewing Company to “toss” the teddy bear, but I have a feeling that they’ll work the details out.

Of prospect-related note:

In the Belarusian League, Kirill Tyutyayev finished with 3 shots in Yunost Minsk’s 1-0 win over Neman;

In the SHL, Joe Veleno finished at -1 with 4 shots in 16:16 played during the Malmo Redhawks’ 5-3 loss to Lulea Hockey;

Moritz Seider finished at -1 with 1 shot in 21:22 played as Rogle BK lost 2-1 to Linkopings HC:

Continue reading Prospect Round-up: Berggren returns to Skelleftea lineup with 2 assists

Filip Zadina is asking fans to vote for his goal scored against Red Wings teammate Filip Hronek for the “Golden Helmet” award on Hokej.cz. The “Zlata helma Sencor” award names the best play in the Czech Extraliga for a given month, with the monthly winners advancing to the year’s top play awards.

https://t.co/5Z2FMLUt5x You can vote here 🙂 thanks guys ! pic.twitter.com/aaSK8ukpRp

— Filip Zadina (@zadina_filip) December 3, 2020

The last couple of months have been up-and-down health-wise, but I’ve ground through the challenges to try and produce regular content for you.

I’m facing a difficult December in terms of paying the bills, so I hate to do it, but I have to ask whether any of you might be willing to help support the blog as I attempt to plain old pay the bills and afford groceries this month.

If you’re able to lend a hand, you can do so via Paypal at https://paypal.me/TheMalikReport, via Giftly by using my email address, rtxg@yahoo.com, or by Venmo at https://venmo.com/George-Malik-2. No donation is too small!

As always, thank you for your time and your readership.

Update: As suggested by TMR reader JOE-verthinking on Twitter, you can totally “donate” a couple of bucks for a Diet Mountain Dew or something small on Venmo and designate that as fundraising, and that would be great…

From DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter:

Red Wings and Tigers introduce Virtual Trivia Nights series

Trivia series includes five separate events with opportunities for Red Wings and Tigers players to join teams

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings are constantly brainstorming creative ways to keep their loyal fans engaged throughout the offseason, providing fans with unique experiences and access to Wings players when they’re off the ice.

The Red Wings’ newest fan-engagement initiative is a Virtual Trivia Nights series, presented by DTE Energy, where the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and Detroit Tigers Foundation are teaming up to test fans on their knowledge of the Red Wings and Tigers, as well as Detroit trivia and general pop culture.

Starting Thursday, December 10, fans are invited to team up with friends, family, coworkers or all of the above and compete from home for a chance to win a $1,000 championship grand prize, as well as exclusive Red Wings and Tigers merchandise and major bragging rights!

Continue reading Press release: ‘Red Wings and Tigers introduce Virtual Trivia Nights series’

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

Today’s episode of The Word on Woodward features Evgeny Svechnikov, Jeff Blashill, The Athletic’s Max Bultman and more!

If you’re interested, head on over to The Athletic for the results of Max Bultman’s Red Wings fan survey:

The results of our Red Wings fan survey 2.0, including what fans thought of the offseason moves, 2021 predictions, and more: https://t.co/pQd3JO05rW— Max Bultman (@m_bultman) December 3, 2020