Abel to Yzerman

Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News on a roll today,

“I’ve had the opportunity to work for Ken Holland, to learn tons of stuff and had great interactions with him, and now (for the organization) to bring another Hall of Famer in Steve Yzerman, for me personally, to be able to interact and learn and find ways to be successful. … You think about it, there’s not many organizations that have those types of people in their management departments,” Blashill said.

Yzerman and Blashill met earlier in the week for the first time since Yzerman was hired. Yzerman and Holland had been scouting the under-18 world championships in Sweden.

“It’s great to have a guy like Steve, his pedigree and knowledge, to try to help us continue in this process of building the Red Wings back to where we all want the Red Wings to be,” Blashill said. “It’s a great opportunity and excellent for me to be able to, again, learn from another great voice.”

read on

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

For coach Jeff Blashill and forwards Dylan Larkin and Luke Glendening, they will represent Team USA. Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi are playing for Canada; Filip Hronek for the Czech Republic.

The tournament, which this year takes place in Slovakia, begins May 10, with the finals on May 26.

“There isn’t a guy on this team who’d wouldn’t rather be in the NHL playoffs,” Blashill said. “That’s a given. (But) I’m a big a believer if you get the chance to continue to work later into May, you don’t get used to being done early, and you’re preparing yourself for the days when you’re going to have opportunities in long playoff runs. It’s the message I’ve given our players – prepare yourself that way.”

The world championships, usually held in Europe, are tough to beat for national pride and excitement.

It’s not uncommon for fans of the participating teams to roam the streets while carrying flags, chanting during games, and generally creating a festive atmosphere.

more

Steve Yzerman first, Ken Holland below.

added 3:04pm, Press release below.

via the Wings' YouTube page,

Ken Kal sits down with new Executive Vice President and General Manager, Steve Yzerman, and new Senior Vice President, Ken Holland in a Red Wings TV exclusive.

In his Tuesday Night 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet mentioned this...

Prior to Steve Yzerman’s hiring in Detroit, Holland discussed a return for Pavel Datsyuk. Not sure if the odds would be very high, but Datsyuk was — at least — considering it. He is scheduled to return to Michigan in May, so we’ll see if this goes anywhere.

Below, Pavel Datsyuk confirms hi time is done in the KHL.

Ten of them, all in less than 2 minutes.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, and under new general manager Steve Yzerman, are looking to end that slide as soon as possible.

How they improve, change, add to or subtract, that stockpile of players obviously will decide how soon the losing ends.

Whose individual stock is highest right now? Who's is among the lowest?

The Detroit News takes a stab at ranking the top 50 players in the organization, given success at the NHL level, age, potential, contract situation, and position played.

It’s a list with plenty of hope for the future. But potential has to be realized by those young players, because the present roster appears to have hit its limit and is rather stagnant.

more and see the slideshow, 1. is Larkin, 2. is Athanasiou and 3. is Zadina...

Sometimes I only glance at the headlines.

Check out Canada's full roster.

Anyone surprised Andreas Athanasiou will not be playing?

NEW YORK (April 28, 2019) – Anthony Benavides (Clark Park Coalition), Tammi Lynch (Players Against Hate) and Rico Phillips (Flint Inner City Youth Hockey Program) are the three finalists for the 2018-19 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, given “to an individual who – through the game of hockey – has positively impacted his or her community, culture or society,” the National Hockey League announced today.

Fans submit candidates for the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, with Willie O’Ree – in consultation with the NHL – narrowing the field to three finalists. The public then votes for the ultimate winner, who will be revealed Wednesday, June 19, during the 2019 NHL Awards™ presented by Bridgestone at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Voting begins today and runs through Sunday, May 5. Fans can vote and learn more about each finalist at NHL.com/OReeAward.

Following are the finalists for the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, in alphabetical order:

from Peter J. Wallner of Mlive,

The Detroit Red Wings organization put the development of its NHL team as top priority this season, of course. But construction of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins for a long postseason run may have been No. 2.

It didn’t happen....

It was a tough loss on a couple levels for the Griffins.

After taking a 2-1 series lead following a memorable Game 3 that featured 144 penalty minutes, the Griffins failed to clinch at home on Wednesday and again Sunday in Chicago.

More so, it was an unexpected end for a team that reloaded with a fresh group of high-profile AHL veterans. The likes of Chris Terry (2017-18 AHL scoring leader), Carter Camper (12th in scoring) and Wade Megan along with defenseman Jake Chelios were brought in to ultimately lead a deep playoff run, provide leadership and a valuable postseason experience for the Red Wings’ prized prospects.

read on

Also, a KK Donation Drive kicked off today.

from Nolan Finley of the Detroit News,

There may be good reasons the Ilitch organization isn't delivering on the promises it made to Detroit when receiving $340 million to help build its new Little Caesars Arena.

But the Ilitches aren't telling anyone what they are, or when the city might expect to see some progress on its grand plan for The District, which was supposed to redevelop 50 blighted blocks north of downtown into five distinct neighborhoods offering housing, offices and entertainment.

Under the timetable laid out for The District, two phases of the project should be well on their way to delivering nearly 700 new apartments.

Instead, the area where the swanky neighborhoods were supposed to go are covered with 27 surface parking lots — the last thing Detroit needed. The lots are servicing the LCA and producing revenue for the Ilitches, but not the transformation CEO Chris Ilitch promised when he revealed the company's vision.

continued

from Craig Custance of The Athletic.

In Sweden.

A guy like Cole Caufield has been amazing but at 5-foot-7, there’s the question about his size. What are your impressions of him?

I’ve watched him all year. Every game he goes to, he just scores. He’s a phenomenal scorer. He’s fast. He’s really good. I just continue to see him score. He has great hands. He has the ability to change his angle, shoot the puck. Gets open for breakaways. He’s a really good scorer. He’s very similar to Alex DeBrincat in the way he plays. Alex’s skating, it really looks like he’s really increased his speed as he’s gotten older. He’s developed. They’re similar. Really good shooters, they know where to go and they know how to get their shot off.

Does the fact that you’re in your first year as a manager with this team give you the ability to be more patient with that pick and the player you get in that spot?

I think we want to be — there’s two, it looks like maybe two or three kids … that look like they’re going to play pretty soon. After that, you’re not really sure — is it one, two, three after that for them? We’re not really sure. We’re going to try. My goal is to pick a prospect that we expect to play in the NHL and fit into the style of the team that I envision, what the Red Wings have traditionally been. If he’s one, two, three years away, I’m not worried about that.

more (paid)

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press answers s few questions from the fans and the first qustion pertains to youngsters on the Wings next season,

...one of the reasons the Wings traded Tomas Tatar in spring of 2018 was to open a spot for Bertuzzi, who at that time dominated with the Griffins. Filip Zadina, 19, hasn’t done that yet. He returned to the Griffins in mid-March following a nine-game audition with the Wings and produced one goal and three assists the remaining 14 games of the regular season. He has two goals and one assist in four playoff games heading into Sunday’s deciding Game 5 between the Griffins and Chicago Wolves, but all are from Game 3.

Michael Rasmussen, 20, was so ineffective coming out of the bye-week (five points in his last 21 games) it showed he needs time in the AHL to figure out how to assert himself against men. Evgeny Svechnikov, 22, is something of an unknown after missing the entire season because of injury.

Maybe if Zadina has a big summer in the gym, he’s around opening night. I think it’s more likely those three forwards join the season in progress.

One young forward I do see making the team out of camp is Taro Hirose, 22. He’s a college free-agent signing who impressed with seven points in 10 games. He’s small but smart and an excellent passer. Christoffer Ehn, 23, is a good skater and grinder and makes the bottom-six group better.

This answer explains the question.

I’d anticipate the Wings pick defenseman Bowen Byram if he’s available, or a center. They like both of the big centers out west — Kirby Dach (6-foot-4, 197, shoots right. Had 73 points in 62 games with Saskatoon in the WHL) and Dylan Cozens (6-3, 180, shoots right. Had 84 points in 68 games with Lethbridge in WHL). Alex Turcotte is certainly another option — a lower-body injury limited him to 30 games with the Plymouth-based National Team Development Program, but he still contributed 23 goals and 30 assists.

more

Joe Smith of The Athletic talked with Jimmy Devellano and Scotty Bowman after the movie....

With all the animosity toward Sergei Fedorov after he left Detroit, what are the chances the Red Wings retire his jersey (No. 91)?

Devellano: “I’d say pretty good.”

Scotty, with Steve Yzerman coming back to Detroit, would you ever consider coming out of retirement to coach the Red Wings for a few weeks?

Bowman: “Only if I can bring the Russian Five back with me.”

more ($$$) about the Russian Five and the Wings...

via the YouTube page of the DetroitRedWings,

Filip Hronek, Filip Zadina, Brian Lashoff, Dennis Cholowski, Joe Hicketts and Chritoffer Ehn speak about the leadership within the Grand Rapids Griffins.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Nothing like the playoffs to remind the Detroit Red Wings of what they used to have.

For example: a productive defense.

The last Game 7 of the first round, won 4-3 in double overtime by the Carolina Hurricanes to oust defending champion Washington, included a three-point performance by Canes defenseman Jaccob Slavin.

Slavin became just the eighth defenseman in NHL history to notch three points in a Game 7 — and the first since Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski each delivered three points to help the Wings beat the Coyotes, 6-1, in Game 7 of their 2010 first-round series.

continued

Below, the Wings posted the top 10 goals from the Wings this season.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

The San Jose Sharks have advanced to round two of the playoffs, which is good for the Detroit Red Wings.

One former coach, however, is done after another short playoff run. Again.

When the Sharks rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a memorable Game 7 on Tuesday, it propelled them one step closer to the Stanley Cup final.

Why should Wings fans care about that? Because if the Sharks make it to the last round, the conditional 2020 third-round pick they received from the Sharks in the Gustav Nyquist trade would become a second-round pick. It can also be triggered by Nyquist re-signing with the Sharks.

continued

video highlights are below

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A two-goal Tuesday by Filip Zadina and Wade Megan and three-point performances from Zadina, Martin Frk and Matt Puempel put the Grand Rapids Griffins within one win of advancing to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven years.

With a gritty 6-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena – a game that featured a combined 144 penalty minutes and a near hour delay due to ice repairs – Grand Rapids grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Central Division Semifinals. The Griffins will have a chance to eliminate the division champions for the second time in three years on Wednesday when they host Game 4 at 7 p.m.

Best of five series, tied at 1-1.

from Evan Jankens of 97.1,

The sub plot to Yzerman being hired is that there is a possibility that he could bring Sergei Fedorov back to work for the Red Wings. He and Sergei remain close plus these is a belief that Sergei is not completely satisfied in his current hockey position in Russia and could be very interested in coming back.

Fedorov's current job status is in question, but a source familiar with Segrei's situation believes he’s not completely satisfied with his current employment situation.

Could bringing back Fedorov to the Red Wings pave the way to have his number 91 raised to the rafters?

a bit more

thanks to a KK member for the pointer