Where everybody knows your name

Everyone knows the names Nyquist, Tatar and Smith: these are arguably the top prospects in the Red Wings organisation, but what about the lesser known ones, like Backman, Jensen, and Jarnkrok? This guy thinks that the Red Wings right now have the deepest prospect pool since, well, ever.

The Red Wings have a tendency so over-ripen prospects in Grand Rapids or overseas (so I’ve heard) like Tomas Tatar, a veteran of 260 AHL games, Jakub Kindl, a veteran of 237 games and is now a regular in the winged wheel uniform and Gustav Nyquist, who’s a case on its own. The latter has his butt marks permanently etched on the Grand Rapids bus, he’s been up and down more times than Datsyuk on a breakaway.

But enough with the clichés, let’s get to the prospects.

Jensen, Backman and Jarnkrok are three of the Red Wings’ most unique prospects. Each brings a unique skillset and different baggage to a prospect pool that already boats a top goaltending prospect (Mrazek), two defensemen that could look like a Suter (Ouellet) and Weber (Sproul) pairing in Nashville in a couple of years and Hossa-lite (Jurco) that has a lot of lights.

Matthias Backman is a smooth skating, puck moving defensemen from Linkoping, Sweden who is playing his second full year with his hometown team, Linkoping, in the Swedish Elite League (SEL). Not overly big at 6’2’’, 176lbs, Backman was picked in the 5^th round, 146^th overall by the Red Wings in 2011. When he was taken, the feeling was that Rafalski, Lidstrom, Stuart and Kronwall were going to play at least three more years, so Red Wings’ management weren’t in a rush to get an NHL-ready defensemen. Backman took his time and developed in Europe for 3-4 years and boy did it pay off. He’s top-10 in scoring for SEL defensemen and is the team’s top-D at 21, which is no small feat. A lot of scouts think he’ll pan out as a top-four defenseman, comparable to Alexander Edler. Not bad for a 5^th rounder.

Nick Jensen is an in-your-face defensemen, drafted in the 5^th round, 150^th by the Red Wings in 2009; apparently, the 5^th round is where the Red Wings pick up defensemen these last years. Not a beast physically at 6’1’’, 195 lbs, he still likes to hit and is a fierce competitor. As Jiri Fischer said, “He’s in people’s faces, he’s taking people’s space away thanks to his skating, and he makes great outlet passes. He’s had a great year and we’re really happy with his development.” Remember John Wickstrom, the Red Wings 5^th rounder defensemen in 1997? No, me neither. Picking in the 5^th round is still a long-shot, but the fact that Jensen was talked about by Pierre McGuire on National TV during the Red Wings vs St-Louis chess match on Sunday means he’s come a long way since being an unknown last year.

And now for the inspiration for this blog post, the guy that gives me hope that new and exciting prospects are a reality. Calle Jarnkrok was picked in the 2^nd round, 51^st overall in 2010. This was after a disappointing 2^nd round lost in the playoff to the San Jose Sharks, who are now on my bitter-list, with Colin Campbell for not allowing Al to swing the octopus in the 2008 playoffs. His style emulates that of one Henrik Zetterberg. That’s right, this 5’11’’, 165lbs center is supposed to be this team’s next number two center as soon as next year.  He’s been playing with Brynas in the SEL, where’s he’s been in the top-2 scoring the last two years for his team. He’s described as a two-way center with a very high hockey IQ and helped his team win the SEL championship last year. This year’s been tougher on Jarnkrok, with him being held pointless while Brynas was eliminated in four games, but he still did finish 8^th in SEL scoring with 42 points. All was not lost for ‘’Iron Hook’’, the Red Wings have assigned him to Grand Rapids for last nine games of the season (he has 2 assists in 6 games while adapting to the North American ice surface) before playing in the World Hockey Championships in his home country of Sweden April 15^th. In maybe what is the understatement of the year, Jarnkrok has a ton of pressure on his shoulders being touted as the next Zetterberg.

With Brendan Smith, Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson graduating from prospects to full-time NHLers, the Grand Rapid Griffins will need some reinforcements to play under coach Blashill and these three prospects will make sure that the Midwest division title has to go through Grand Rapids.

Costly Mistakes Sink 2-Dimensional Red Wings VS Blues

The end of the season is in sight, and the Detroit Red Wings found themselves needing a win today on home ice to try and maintain their position in the Western Conference standings against the team that trailed them by only a point: the St. Louis Blues.  It was the day of the press conference confirming what everyone already knew--though still enjoyed hearing--about the 2014 Winter Classic.  It was a day where the Wings needed to be tough, and resilient, and smart.

Of those three things, we witnessed the first two.  The last one cost Detroit dearly.

Detroit dropped their home game this afternoon in what was an arduous match of grinding, uninteresting hockey for long stretches.  The play would funnel from one end of the ice to the other with a scoring chance here or there, and then end up in the opposite zone, where we would see much of the same.  The only variant from this would come from one Chris Porter at the 16:28 mark of the 2nd period, when Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl made the poor decision to try and remove Barret Jackman's leg at the knee.  Needless to say, it failed, which prompted Jackman to move the puck up the ice, and the Blues' Porter would drive the net and reap the benefits of more poor play by the Red Wings.  With at least two red jerseys around him, no one made the move to check Porter's stick or clear the puck, and Porter managed to knock the loose puck clean past goaltender Jimmy Howard for what would be the game-winning goal.

Detroit may have had a hope to come back late in the 3rd period, but the final killer mistake came from veteran blueliner Niklas Kronwall, who closed his hand over the puck as he was pinching in behind the Blues goal line, drawing a 2-minute penalty.  Although the Wings still clawed at St. Louis with everything they had left and got some scoring chances, the loss of one skater in the waning moments sealed their fate.

The first question that must be asked (as much as it pains anyone to agree with Pierre McGuire) is this: Why, if you're Jakub Kindl, do you decide that the better play is not to dump the puck in deep to give the forwards a chance for puck control deep in enemy territory, but rather to let rip a prayer of a shot that only has the slightest fraction of getting past the defender right in front of you?? With one blown decision, the entire game was written in stone.  I had mentioned on Twitter directly after this goal that the Porter goal was going to hurt us bad, that this type of slogging, grinding game was not going to see a multitude of goals.  Sure enough, the goal didn't just hurt, it downright killed the Wings.

The second question has to be: If you're Kronwall, why do you even risk touching the puck with your glove when you know the officials will be looking for it in the dying minutes of a close game?  Yes, there is desperation to keep the puck alive and in your team's possession, but not at the risk of hamstringing yourself completely, which is exactly what happened.

Detroit did get it's share of chances offensively, but it was one of those games where the hockey gods simply weren't buying what the Wings were selling.  The greatest of these chances came from Gustav Nyquist, who got free and clear on a breakaway for a chance against St. Louis goalie Brian Elliot.  Nyquist elevated his shot, but the elbow of Elliot was too nimble and managed to deflect the puck up and out of play.  Although Nyquist would be seen looking skyward and face-palming a bit, it was a good effort, and the closest Detroit would come to a goal all day.

Many of the other chances the Wings tried to cash in on were one-and-dones, because despite the outcries of everyone else, it seems that coach Mike Babcock just cannot get the message through to his players that if you want to succeed, you have to work for those extra chances off the initial shots.  Rebounds, loose pucks, battles on the boards, if you aren't getting and/or winning these, you risk spending more time skating up and down the rink when the puck gets cleared easily out of the offensive zone and back down toward your own net.  This is exactly what happened to Detroit today.  At very few junctures was there effective and sustained pressure in St. Louis's own end, and despite Elliot playing well, he was neither tested nor pressured the way he should have been if the Red Wings really wanted to even up the game.

It continues to seem as though coach Babcock refuses to see reason, that most teams in the West have gotten wise to Detroit's offensive flow and have found ways to diffuse it off to the boards and away from the middle, where it is most effective.  What we end up seeing almost every game is Detroit players being forced up the wings to either take perimeter shots or cut to the middle with the puck themselves.

There are 2 problems with this: First, if you're cutting to the middle of the ice with the puck, you're going to get swarmed and lose the puck.  Second, if all the shots are coming from the perimeter, and no one is going to the middle and trying to create a net-front presence, you most often end up with yet another one-and-done scoring chance, if the puck makes it to the crease at all.

Then you have players like Filppula who seem to be allergic to the opposition net and peel off the moment they get to the blueline.  There is a timidness to both drive to the net to just rip shots to the net and push for rebounds.  The fancy stuff is primarily not working unless your name is Datsyuk or Zetterberg, so it needs to stop.  That initiative needs to come from the coaching staff, but so far there has been nothing, no change to the offensive style and no adaptation during the game when the opposition defense stymies Detroit for half the game or more.

It is true that Mike Babcock is not Scotty Bowman, but in the wild, you adapt or you die, and today, the S.S. Hockeytown just sprung a major leak and is taking on water.  With 9 games remaining, the ship cannot afford another hole, or it risks sinking for the first time in over two decades.

Wings Quell Avalanche, Win 3-2

One had to figure coming into this evening's game that the Detroit Red Wings were going to show some spirit, perhaps even two games worth.  It would've been the least they could after their embarrassing showing in front of their own fans yesterday.  Sure enough, the Wings played with passion and put their 7-1 drubbing from Chicago behind them and pulled out to a 3-0 lead on the Colorado Avalanche, holding on for a 3-2 final.

The Wings would rely heavily on the superb play of netminder Jimmy Howard, who was pulled from yesterday's game through no real fault of his own.  It seems coach Mike Babcock simply decided to let Howard start the process of getting ready for tonight rather than leave him in for the Easter morning massacre, and tonight it paid off.  The Detroit goaltender played excellently, weathering everything Colorado threw at him early on, giving his team the chance to secure a lead, which they happily obliged.

The Wings began the scoring in the 1st when Justin Abdelkader struck the puck in mid-air--below the crossbar also, didn't even go to review--and past Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov.  Seems someone forgot to tell Abby the Tigers game had already ended, but the Wings would gladly take the goal.  Then, in the 2nd period, Detroit got a break when Johan Franzen threw a puck out in front from behind the Colorado net.  With two red jerseys bearing down on the crease, Danny Cleary got his stick to the puck and buried it to extend the lead to 2-0.  The trio of Red Wings goals would be capped off by a guy who has been very dry of late.  With Gustav Nyquist weaving Datsyukian-like magic in the offensive end, the final recipient would be Damien Brunner.  Nyquist found the Swiss star and his shot flew clean past Varlamov to pull ahead to a 3-0 lead.

That would end Varlamov's night, with J.S. Giguere coming on in relief of the beaten netminder.  Detroit continued to find points to apply pressure, but admittedly it did seem as thought the Wings eased off the throttle from that point on.  In the early stages of the 3rd, Colorado would strike on the powerplay, ruining Jimmy Howard's bid for his third shutout of the year on a play that looked as though it could have easily been blown dead for interference by the Avs.  Detroit's lead would shrink further in the waning minutes, as the Avalanche would empty their net and get rewarded with another goal, bringing the lead down to 1.  Thankfully the Wings were able to clamp down and hold off the rest of the Colorado siege and stop their winless skid at home before going back on the road.

Even though the Red Wings came away with the victory tonight, it did not however appear to be a great game organization-wise.  Detroit is still showing too many defensive holes and the offense is still a bit sloppy, but it was a vast improvement from yesterday's debacle.  It will be interesting to see if Wings GM Kenny Holland is active before the Wednesday trade deadline, or if he decides to sit on his hands and gamble with what he's got and what he'll be getting back once injuries heal.

Wings Waddle out of West Coast in Boring Loss to Sharks

Last night's game in San Jose was a hard one to watch, and not just because the Red Wings didn't come away with the win.  Yes, Detroit lost 2-0 to the Sharks, but the game overall--on both sides of the ice--was chore to watch, and certainly not worth staying up till 1AM ET to behold.

Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns both score for San Jose in less than highlight-reel fashion.  Pavelski's shot deflected in off of Niklas Kronwall's skate and past netminder Jimmy Howard, while Burns's effort was borne from one of many Detroit defensive miscues, with the Sharks blueliner-turned-forward ripping the puck over Howard's glove short side.

That's really all that happened in this game for 60 minutes.  The only other thing noteworthy was the magic show Pavel Datsyuk put on for the fans at HP Pavillion, culminating when he deked Logan Couture so hard Couture literally fell on his rear.  Everything else was completely ho-hum hockey.  Once the Sharks got the lead, they did exactly the same thing Phoenix did, effectively turtling by switching to a 1-4 trap scheme, they stopped pressuring Detroit as much and just waited for Detorit to make their own mistakes.  The Wings did not disappoint them, either.  With turnovers and errant passes aplenty, the Red Wings made the Sharks look like geniuses, doing all the work for them.

With only one penalty having been called the entire game, Detroit didn't get much chance to flex their special teams muscles, but considering how they played, it's hard to say for sure that they would have been as effective as they've been in recent matches.  Howard's play in net was stellar as always, and gave Detroit the chance to come back, but his teammates just simply did not play to the level required to rally back from a 2-0 deficit. Even if the Sharks hadn't scored those two goals, it hardly looked like the Red Wings were going to generate anything on offense, creating another one of those games where Jimmy gets hung out to dry by a flash goal drought.

In the end, what matters most is Detroit missed out on the 2 points, and it's already to the stage now where points of separation are critical.  The Wings should already be in playoff mode, because every game from here on in is that important.  9th place in the conference is not that far away, and if Detroit isn't careful, they could be staring it in the face come game 48.