from Dana Wakiji of the Wings' website,

Although Detroit Red Wings prospect Otto Kivenmaki has played center most of his life, he did not last season while playing for Assat.

Some things are apparently not like riding a bike.

"I suck at face-offs!" Kivenmaki exclaimed after Team Finland's 7-1 loss to Team USA Blue Sunday afternoon at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich. "That's the thing that I gotta work on. Last year, I wasn't playing center so I wasn't doing any face-offs. That's a thing that I gotta work on."

Kivenmaki, 19, struggled in the face-off circle against Team USA's 6-foot-2 center Shane Pinto, 6-foot centers Jon Gruden and Owen Lindmark and 5-foot-11 center Alex Turcotte.

At 5-foot-8 and 154 pounds, Kivenmaki is still working to gain strength one year after being drafted by the Red Wings in the seventh round, 191st overall.

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from the Detroit News,

Former Red Wings first-round draft choice Joe Veleno is expected to play on one of Canada's top lines with 2020 consensus No. 1 prospect Alexis Lafreniere in Tuesday's game against the United States at the World Junior Summer Showcase at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth at 4 p.m.

The 11-game tournament, which features many of the best 20-year-old players from Canada, U.S., Sweden and Finland, is an early audition for the players who will represent their countries and compete at the world championships in the Czech Republic from Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

Veleno, a 6-1, 191-pound center who was selected 30th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, and left-winger Lafreniere were paired on the same line for the first two practices with right-winger Kirby Dach, the third overall pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2019 NHL draft.

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