I’m heading out to Grand Rapids this afternoon to take in Games 3 and 4 at Van Andel Arena, so:
1. What specifically would you like me to look for in terms of my observations? Dennis Cholowski is making his Griffins debut, for example. Would you like me to focus on “Cholo’s” play?
2. Is there any way that I could possibly raise some $ to cover the hotel and gas?
3. The comments section was very busy over the last day. Is everything okay?
The Grand Rapids Griffins have posted Bob Kaser’s Game Day Preview ahead of tonight’s game vs. the Manitoba Moose (7 PM EDT on ESPN 96.1 FM/The AHL Live):
Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson appeared on ESPN 96.1’s Big Drew and Jim show on Tuesday, discussing tonight and Thursday’s games against the Manitoba Moose:
Listen to “Todd Nelson – Grand Rapids Griffins Head Coach (4/24/18)” on Spreaker.
This already happened this morning, but it’s worth noting, per the Red Wings:
“Red Wings Play Zone” to be unveiled at Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. featuring Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard and leadership teams from Ilitch Holdings, Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation to officially open 1,700 square foot outdoor play zone
DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings and the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation will unveil the Red Wings Play Zone located at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit (3901 Beaubien St., Detroit) on Wednesday, April 25 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
Continue reading Red Wings opened a ‘Red Wings Play Zone’ at Children’s Hospital this morning
The Free Press’s Helene St. James interviewed assistant player developer Daniel Cleary ahead of this weekend’s NHL draft lottery, where Cleary will be sequestered behind closed doors where the lottery actually takes place.
Cleary touched upon a wide range of topics, from his position with the team to his post-career injuries:
Q: You had quite the NHL career. First-round draft pick (13th overall in 1997, Chicago), but came to Detroit in 2005 on a tryout. You turned that into nearly a 10-year stay, including three 20-goal seasons and a Stanley Cup. You finished your playing career with Grand Rapids, as a player-coach. Now you’re in player development. How have your playing days helped the transition to your new role?
A: For me, I’m a good soundboard for a lot of these guys in terms of perseverance and not giving up. I talk to our guys a lot about it. I got a tryout here, found my niche. I was so dialed in and it became a full time gig. I fully embraced the culture. I watched what Kris Draper and Nick Lidstrom and Chris Chelios and Brendan Shanahan did and thought, that’s what I have to do. We had a great run. I love Detroit, l love the Red Wings, I love being a part of it. I love this job. I want the Wings to be great again, and I am fully invested in that.
Q: Do you still play now and then?
A: No. I just had cornea transplant surgery in February. I’ve been told I shouldn’t play, because I could lose the eye with any hit. My left eye had a scratch that was bothersome for a lot of years. That was from fighting Chris Pronger in 2008. I got clipped as I was getting up. I see Pronger now and then and chuckle, wonder what I was doing. The guy is huge.
I need knee replacement surgery, two shoulder surgeries. My knee is by far the worst, but I still work out.
The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel’s Blake Sebring duly notes that Toledo Walleye goaltender Pat Nagle will be battling his former team, the Fort Wayne Komets, in the second round of the ECHL playoffs:
Pat Nagle will approach this playoff series just like he approaches everything, calm, prepared and ready. His outlook will be just like it was in October when he became the Toledo Walleye’s No. 1 goaltender after playing three seasons in Fort Wayne.
“Obviously, it’s a change of pace with new scenery this year,” Nagle said. “Anytime you are getting a fresh start somewhere, it’s always good for you to come in and be humble and do your work at the rink and try to get some victories on the weekend.”
In other words, he won’t get too excited about the Komets and Walleye rivalry. That’s simply not how he lives. He always tries to remain stable while everything else may be falling apart around him, slowing things down to give his teammates confidence.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “Obviously, I think this rivalry has always been a fun one. I would say it’s two of the top teams in the league every single year, with great fanbases, great rinks to play in and the atmosphere in both of them is awesome. It’s almost unfortunate that we have to play each other so soon, but that’s just the way the seedings are.”
Update: Here’s more on the alumni match-up from the Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe:
Nagle, who is 4-0 in the Kelly Cup playoffs with a 1.79 goals-against average, will be between the pipes against his former teammates in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series on Saturday at the Huntington Center.
Embach, who played with Nagle in Fort Wayne the last three seasons, said he is looking forward to squaring off against so many familiar faces.
“You always want to beat your buddies in everything, right? You want to have the bragging rights,” Embach said. “So I will do anything and everything I can to make sure I’m the one smiling when we go through that handshake line at the end of the series.”
The Central Division rivals are meeting for the third time in the last four postseasons, and the teams have been on a crash course to another playoff meeting throughout the year.
Division champion Toledo (105 points) and the second-place Komets (98) pulled away from third-place Cincinnati (81) and fourth-place Indy (78), then in the first round of the playoffs the Walleye swept the Fuel and the Komets needed only five games to get by the Cyclones.
In 2015 and 2017, the Walleye eliminated Fort Wayne at the same point in the playoffs, winning the division finals and advancing to the conference finals. Nagle and Embach were both on the losing end in each of those series.
Update: Also, from Toledo’s 13 ABC’s Andi Roman:
Schedule for Best of Seven Series (All Times Eastern)
• Saturday, April 28 vs. Fort Wayne at 7:35 p.m. (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN)
• Sunday, April 29 vs. Fort Wayne at 5:15 p.m. (5 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN)
• Wednesday, May 2 at Fort Wayne at 7:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN)
• Friday, May 4 at Fort Wayne at 8:00 p.m. (8 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN)
• Saturday, May 7 vs. Fort Wayne at 7:35 p.m. (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN) *If Necessary
• Tuesday, May 8 at Fort Wayne at 7:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN) *If Necessary
• Wednesday, May 9 vs. Fort Wayne at 7:35 p.m. (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Radio 1230, BCSN) *If NecessaryCONFERENCE FINALS: Best-of-Seven Series | May 11 to May 23
KELLY CUP FINALS: Best-of-Seven Series | May 25 to June 62017-18 Regular Season Meetings vs. Fort Wayne
(Toledo record 2-5-1, 2-2-0 at Home, 0-3-1 at Fort Wayne)
• October 14, 2017 – Walleye lose 4-2 at Fort Wayne
• November 16, 2017 – Walleye win 6-3 in Toledo
• November 23, 2017 – Walleye lose 5-4 at Fort Wayne
• December 1, 2017 – Walleye 3-2 in a shootout at Fort Wayne
• December 6, 2017 – Walleye lose 5-2 in Toledo
• December 31, 2017 – Walleye lose 3-0 at Fort Wayne
• January 12, 2018 – Walleye win 3-1 in Toledo
• April 6, 2018 – Walleye lose 5-2 in ToledoWalleye Notes
• Brooms out against Indy: In a series that was close (three games decided by a goal) the Walleye took care of Indy in short order, posting the first-ever sweep in Toledo Walleye history. The last time a Toledo team swept a team out the playoffs was in the 2006 Kelly Cup Playoffs when the then Toledo Storm defeated the Johnstown Chiefs three games to none in a best of five series.• Winning series: With its win over Indy, Toledo has won at least a round in the playoffs in three of the last four years. In 2015, Toledo advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals and last year reaching the Western Conference Finals. Since the start of the 2015 playoffs, Toledo has a playoff record of 27-22.
• Leading the way: Both Kyle Bonis (3G, 5A) and Tyler Barnes (1G, 7A) are tied for the league lead with eight points each. The seven assists for Barnes is the most for any player so far in the playoffs. Christian Hilbrich is tied for the league with five goals in the playoffs. Both Austen Brassard (2G, 2A) and Simon Denis (1G, 3A) each posted four points in the series win over Indy. Goaltender Pat Nagle allowed just nine goals in four games vs. Indy for a 1.79 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.
• Welcome in a Close Friend/Foe: The closest rivals in the ECHL (106 miles from Huntington Center to Memorial Coliseum) meet for the third time in the last four years during the postseason. Toledo took the previous meetings first during the 2015 Kelly Cup Playoffs in seven games to advance to the then Eastern Conference Finals and then in five games last year to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
• Stats during the Year: Toledo finished the regular season with a record of 2-5-1 (2-2-0 at the Huntington Center and 0-3-1 at Fort Wayne), and were outscored 29-21 in the season series. The total shots were fairly even with Toledo having 236 on Fort Wayne and the Komets with 243 on Toledo. The Walleye power play was 4-31 (12.9%) against Fort Wayne during the regular season while Toledo’s penalty kill stopped 16 of 17 power plays (94.1%). The two teams finished as the top two in attendance during the regular season (Fort Wayne 7,784 and Toledo 7,600).
The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed an article regarding the NHL’s draft lottery this upcoming Saturday (8 PM EDT on NBC), where the Red Wings will have an 8.5% chance of moving up from their current 5th overall spot to the #1 draft pick, and a 26.1% chance of landing a top three spot:
With the NHL Draft lottery taking place Saturday night in Toronto, the one large, looming question will be answered: Who gets to pick first, and the right to choose Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin?
There are actually at least 10 legitimate prospects who could provide immediate help to the teams in the lottery. And that’s great. But there’s only one “franchise” player, a guy who can make a team better, quicker, and instantly turn the complexion of his team around. Meet Dahlin, a 6-foot-2, 183-pound prospect that Saturday’s draft lottery will revolve around.
“He’s the best player (in this draft), there’s nobody close,” said Craig Button, TSN’s chief draft analyst, when discussing Dahlin in recent mock drafts. “There’s nobody even in the discussion. He’s advanced beyond his years.”
So, one can see why Saturday’s draft lottery is so huge for the Red Wings. The Red Wings have the fifth-best chance of landing the first pick given their season record, with an 8.5 percent shot of winning the lottery and gaining the first pick.
Buffalo (18.5 percent), Ottawa (13.5 percent), Arizona (11.5 percent) and Montreal (9.5 percent) are the four teams with better odds than the Red Wings.
“(Dahlin) will make whichever team that wins the lottery feel a whole lot better about the miserable season that got them there,” said Jeff Marek, Sportsnet’s draft analyst, who had Dahlin as the No. 1 prospect from start to finish of the season.
There is one piece of trivia that could serve as a good omen for the Red Wings heading into Saturday. Don’t look now, but Saturday also is the birthday of Red Wings’ legendary Hall of Fame (and Swedish) defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who happened to add late in the season that Dahlin is more advanced at his age than Lidstrom was similar stages of their career.
The Athletic Dallas’s Sean Shapiro penned a profile of Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson, who may be a candidate for the Dallas Stars’ vacant head coaching position:
The Key Questions
Nelson is very highly-regarded. With three current openings (Dallas, Carolina, New York Rangers) it’s hard to fathom a scenario where he doesn’t end up coaching an NHL team next season.
But will his style translate to the NHL? That question that will come up in interviews and ultimately be answered on the ice. Players have bought into Nelson’s system throughout his career, but he’s never had a full-season opportunity to install it at the NHL level.
Teams always feel like they’re taking a risk when hiring a coach without vast NHL head coaching experience, but Nelson could be worth the gamble.
Shapiro continues (paywall)…
MLive’s Ansar Khan filed a locker room clean-out day article regarding Niklas Kronwall, who’s currently serving a role as a mentor as much as a player (though his ice time is still a bit “heavy”):
Kronwall is the ideal mentor and role model for young defensemen, Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.
“Everyone that has been in this locker room and has spent a lot of time here knows what he’s gone through the last 10 years with his body and how he battles through everything with his work ethic and how he shows the young players how to do things right,” Zetterberg said.
Said Gustav Nyquist: “My first couple of years, I’ve probably never seen anyone work as hard as him.”
Coach Jeff Blashill said he has as much respect for Kronwall as any player, calling him a long-time underrated defenseman.
“I was here as an assistant when he was in his prime (in 2011-12); he was always in the shadows of Nick Lidstrom, but he was such a two-way defenseman,” Blashill said. “He brought the physical element, he brings the offense, he’s done such a good job over the years and there’s not a better pro. Probably sometimes he does too much. There’s been times where we’ve kind of said to him, ‘Do you need to work that hard in the gym?’ He’s just got that inner drive that makes great players.”
Khan continues at length…
Of multimedia-related Grand Rapids Griffins note:
