titanium2

He and Jarnkrok will face the US WJC. http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospects_adam_almqv.html

Even though they seem like rare cases I hope Ritola is one of those players that somehow produces better at the NHL level.

How much of the team will be at Z's wedding? Is it just the Europeans? Z probably invited the whole team but I wonder how much of them were able to make it.

Eh I could definitely wish that and then some. Especially after this clown showed up on these boards.

I know I keep telling myself it's no big deal and bla bla bla the Hawks will be fine. As the days go by though it's getting harder and harder to dismiss everything. You never really know how things will work out but oh boy does it look bad these days. Hope things turn out as bad as they look. Oh, and I still wouldn't feel sorry for them.

Hey... I want what I want and I want it NOW!!!!!

Way to go Z on tying the knot. I don't know if being married will inspire him but having a kid or two could. Stevie Y believes that his career skyrocketed after the birth of Isabella.

I give the nod to Fedorov for most naturally talented with Lidstrom a close second. The kind of intelligence and hockey sense Lidstrom has is one of a kind imo.

Well, when it comes to whether or not they should play on separate lines then when you think of it from a defensive point of view there's strong case for keeping them apart, which I don't prefer but I'm not a hockey coach.

2010 Prospect Camp Review http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 70 Willie Coetzee Pluses: Coetzee didn’t join the camp’s on-ice activities until the second day, and he was, by far, the most frustrating player to watch during camp. The liberally-listed 5’10,” 186-lb right winger already has a contract with the Red Wings, he posted 29 goals, 52 assists and 81 points in 72 games for the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels, with whom he has one more season of eligibility, and… Coetzee can stickhandle in a phone booth, hold onto the puck in a hurricane, deke and dangle with the best of them, he has a surprisingly heavy and seeing-eye shot, his passes are snake-slither good and his shifty skating and ability to change directions in a hurry, with the puck on his stick, to protect the puck under pressure and either score off the rush or generate offense of the cycle. His skill set was doubtlessly elite. I just didn’t see him put all the pieces together very often. He lurked in the weeds during a time when he really could have dominated skill-wise. I don’t know if he had a bad week, was nursing a nagging injury, or simply got off on the wrong foot, but while he started to shine a bit during scrimmages, otherwise, he looked best dekeing and dangling the puck during skill drills or off on his own when nobody was looking. Minuses: He weighs about 170 lbs. and needs to get stronger so that he doesn’t burn off as much of his speed battling through checks. Defenders definitely found him relatively easy to contain by warding him off with poke checks or encouraging him to take the long way around them—which he would do whenever he could—and whether it was his unwillingness to put his head down and go into traffic or his inability to finish as regularly as someone of his skill set should, he looked like somebody who had all the tools but can go through stretches when he doesn’t put them together, and when he doesn’t play with his skill set doing the shining for him, he can disappear. Potential “upside”: From a pure skill potential he could very realistically score 20 goals at the NHL level and dazzle as a sniper, but he looked like a player whose skills didn’t necessarily translate well into the Red Wings’ system, which seems absolutely baffling given that he’s a highly-skilled puckhandling forward with deft moves, speed, and strong pace to his game. Brent Raedeke had a pretty mediocre camp last summer after dominating in juniors, so maybe it’s just a wake-up call that shakes your confidence….I don’t have a good answer here, because he really does have a top-six NHL forward’s skills. He just didn’t put things together for a few days in July.

2010 Prospect Camp Review http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 45 Andrej Nestrasil Pluses: When Andrej is feeling confident in himself and is on his game, the gigantic 6’2,” 200-lb winger plays like a 6’4,” 230-lb behemoth of a power forward who can roar up (and down) the ice, possesses a massive cannonball of a shot, can astutely make passes which lead to scoring chances and goals, especially off the rush and off the cycle, he can knock people down and out without really trying and matches his offensive aplomb with sound defensive awareness and solid two-way play. Minuses: Andrej himself stated that he that he needs to improve on his skating in terms of technique, efficiency, and power because those big legs chug along and sometimes he goes nowhere. When he’s not feeling confident about his game, he can disappear for stretches, if not look a little lost out there, and that’s not a good thing for someone with his size and absolutely elite hands. He’s still downright spindly at 200 pounds—he could use another ten or twenty, if not, quite frankly, a little more body fat. He’s one of those few players that even NHL teams would argue is too lean for his own good. Potential “upside”: Going to the PEI Rocket, where he’s going to be asked to play like an offensive superstar, should be very, very good for Nestrasil. If he continues to grow as a player, gets stronger and keeps working on his skating, he’ll buck the Wings’ trend of drafting and developing smaller players who deliver the maximum offensive bang for their buck by becoming one of the few big, strong power forwards that the Wings have a) drafted and b) becomes something special. There’s enormous potential in this enormous man. He has to find it on his own.

2010 Prospect Camp Review http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 15 Brent Raedeke Pluses: Work ethic, work ethic, work ethic, and also work ethic. Brent Raedeke understands that, at this point, the Red Wings expect the 6,” 200-lb center to literally work his way onto the Griffins’ roster as a third or fourth-line grinder, and he is completely comfortable with that concept despite the fact that he posted about a point per game at the WHL level. Raedeke is a superbly speedy skater who can protect the puck fantastically well, has a nice shot and can be counted upon to generate offense in a pinch, but he stars as a two-way forward whose skating gives him the ability to charge in headlong to crash, bang, and most importantly, generate turnovers on the forecheck, cycle the puck down low and toss the puck to more offensively talented players; in the neutral zone, he can both carry the puck into the offensive zone or serve as the first man back defensively, using his positioning and a few choppy stick checks with that short stick of his to swipe the puck off his opponent’s stick, and in his own end, he mucks and grinds with the best of them, digging pucks out of the corners, blocking shots, displaying impeccable positioning to both support his defensemen, cover up for their mistakes, and give them “easy outs” so that he can chip the puck out of trouble in short order. He just works his butt off 100% of the time at 100% effort, he’s enthusiastic about taking part in every drills and wants to know where he should position himself at all times, and he’s also an excellent communicator, making sure that his defensemen and fellow forwards know where to go and how to maximize the Wings’ systems of play to their benefit. Minuses: He doesn’t possess elite skill in any other area than his skating, and he’s not 6’3.” He might not have the goods to become an offensive superstar at the NHL level, but that’s OK. Potential “upside”: Ideally, after a few good seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins, in which the affable, again, hard-working Raedeke would work his way up the ranks and become a top-two-line player, the 20-year-old would slowly but surely evolve into a Kris Draper or Dan Cleary-style forward who can kill penalties, play fantastic defensive hockey, possibly chip in 10 goals and 20-30 points, and maybe become the next Justin Abdelkader or Darren Helm in terms of his cult hero status with Wings fans. He’s certainly going to do his damnedest to earn his way into that territory, and I’m rooting for him.

2010 Prospect Camp Review http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 39 Sebastien Piche Pluses: Ah, cockiness in all its glory, a bluffing defenseman who knows how to use his flair for the dramatic to bluff his way into and out of trouble with equal aplomb. Piche’s relatively small but does everything pretty well—he’s a strong, speedy skater, he’s got a shot which matches its high, hard wind-up, he’s a solid passer and his lateral mobility is superb—who possesses a sneakily physical game and is able to turn and twist his body while battling an opponent to gain the positional and physical upper hand. He’s not particularly big (5’10,” maybe 185 lbs.), nor is he the fastest, strongest, or most subtly skilled hockey player out there, but he works very hard and is an absolutely fantastic communicator, letting his teammates know where they need to be and probably getting under his opponents’ skin with equal aplomb. Minuses: His lack of size and “pretty good” skill set hold him back, as does the fact that being the consummate bluffer sometimes blows up in your face. Piche still plays a the high-risk, high-reward, high-octane game that he did in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Oceanic, and his lengthy stint in the ECHL during his first pro season indicates that he tried to get away with a game that leads to mistakes, missteps, and goals against at the pro level. He’s got to focus on becoming much better defensively, more efficient in terms of skating, and a bit stronger if he is to keep up with the push and shove of pro hockey. He can’t let that on-ice arrogance translate to his self-opinion as much as it does at present (though he’s made huge strides in that regard). Potential “upside”: I have a hard time pegging down where Piche will be in two or three years. He could become a top-four defenseman at the AHL level who’s looking to break into the Wings’ roster as an undersized #5/6 guy with bite—think Derek Meech as the Red Wings envisioned him a few seasons ago, with some snarl to boot—or if he doesn’t absolutely and positively ensure that he maximizes his skills and conditioning, he could find himself plying his trade at the minor league level for the next decade or more, either in North America or Europe, a la a former Wings prospect, Danny Groulx.

2010 Prospect Camp Review http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 2 Brendan Smith Pluses: Sigh. Too many to list. Smith is most definitely a solid 6’2” and has room to put muscle onto an gangly 190-lb. frame. He definitely needs to put on some weight and work on his upper-body strength, but his lower-body strength is reflected in his absolutely splendid skating stride. Smith has an upright skating stride that just gobbles up ice because his core and lower legs are exceedingly strong and he glides along the ice like a forward, mostly because he grew up playing as a forward. He doesn’t lose half a step when he gets the puck, he’s capable of bursts of speed to allow himself to cover up for his mistakes, he can pinch and actually beat his forwards to the net at times, and his abilities to skate sideways/laterally and change direction in a heartbeat are elite. Smith has fantastic vision and can either find teammates on the rush with seeing-eye passes that almost always hit the tape or allow the receiver to skate into the pass at full speed, or he can carry the puck up the ice himself, lugging it with authority, confidence, and the kind of presence that makes opposing players back off so that he can generate space for his teammates to work with. His vision, sense of urgency in every pass he makes, deftness and plain old savvy…He’s an NHL passer already. The same can be said of his hard, low shot, which he unleashes on a very sneaky basis. He can truly thread the needle toward the net to generate rebounds down low, he can execute shot-passes efficiently, he knows how to chip the puck out of trouble even if he’s only got one hand on his stick and his snap and wrist shots are almost as hard as his slap shot. The fact that he’s extremely vocal on the ice helps as he lets players know where they should be to accept his passes, tip in shots, help him clear the zone or get themselves out of jams. His enthusiasm and on-ice leadership are not to be underestimated as he also talks to his teammates early and often on the bench, making sure to give them pats and taps to sometimes congratulate and sometimes console them. He also has an extremely underrated physical bite to his game, offering efficient and ever-so-subtly-nasty hacks, whacks, cross-checks, and bodychecks that not only seal his opponents to the boards or take them out of action, but also leave them sore and wary of heading toward Smith with their head down. He’s not exactly Niklas Kronwall, but he does offer a Brad Stuart-like efficiency and physical presence. Minuses: See: his incredible level of talent, which sometimes goes to his head. When Smith simply coasts on his talent, or plays like a hot dog, trying to show off or make the play that would best suit his ego, the passes flutter off his stick blade, shots go wide, and his game loses focus, allowing players to slip by on the rush and allowing opponents to jab rebounds into the net because he’s given them too much time and space. Smith’s been able to get away with mailing it in at times at the college level—though his coaches at Wisconsin, including Mike Eaves and Mark Osiecki, deserve major credit for benching him a few times when Smith just “wasn’t into” playing on certain nights—and as ridiculously talented as he is, he won’t be able to get away with playing when he’s interested in doing so at the AHL or NHL levels. That’s where the concerns regarding his off-ice incidents with alcohol come in. Smith is a genuinely nice young man who’s gregarious and outgoing, but when he assumes that his hockey stardom equals entitlement, you get the kind of behavior that is at least explainable when you’re a college student, but is not acceptable in any way, shape, or form if you’re a member of the Detroit Red Wings’ organization. I’m sure that Jiri Fischer and the Wings’ management will make sure that he’s committed to growing up both on and off the ice as a Griffin, but they might have their work cut out for them at times. Potential “upside”: If he keeps his head on straight, he could very well become a 10-goal, 50-point-producing NHL defenseman, an elite first-pair player who could run the power play, helm the penalty-killing unit, mash his opponents and become a superb leader. If he tries to half-arse it or only gives 100% effort when he’s interested, and if he doesn’t continue to get bigger and stronger in the gym, his sure-fire stint in the NHL will be a short one and a stint marked by “what if’s.”

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess.html 2010 Prospect Camp Review 38 Thomas McCollum: Pluses: I talked to Thomas about the fact that the NHL's restricting its goaltenders to more "form-fitting" gear for this upcoming season on Tuesday, and he told me that he'd already been measured for said gear, and would end up losing something like 3/4" off the top of his thigh rise. Why? Because he's frickin' huge at 6'2" (and a half) and 210 lbs, and possesses a body that just takes up an enormous amount of net, complimented by an impeccable set of technical skills, the goaltender's perfect "I'll just focus on stopping the next shot" mentality, and an off-ice work ethic and personality that are unmatched. He's a hard-working, plain old nice kid who plays goal with skill, style, subtlety and happens to be so dang big that he can form an inverted "T" with his legs splayed from post to post without any of the "cheating" that's going to cost some goaltenders half a foot's worth of leg pads this fall. Glove and blocker are superb, stick skills are great, and he's got superb balance. Minuses: He's still digesting all the technical information Jim Bedard's imparting to him, so he can play rather inconsistently when he's thinking about stopping a shot instead of just reacting. He has yet to internalize some of that information. He also can revert back to his fantastically athletic but raw form, and when he does so, holes open up. He tends to allow his glove and blocker to rest on his thigh rises, and that can blunt his hands' effectiveness. Potential “upside”: Jimmy Howard II if he keeps internalizing the lessons he's learned.

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess_1.html 2010 Prospect Camp Review: 32 Mitchell Callahan Pluses: Over the course of prospect camp, Mitchell’s talkativeness and a few quips and quotes yielded a reputation to which he’s not going to live up to. No, Mitchell’s not going to be the next Bob Probert. He’s too small at a very honestly-listed 5’10” and 175 lbs—he will never be a power forward who can drop the gloves and overpower his opponents. But he will, as Jim Nill suggested, bring something to the table that the Red Wings currently lack, and that’s the reason he earned a contract as a 19-year-old playing for the Kelowna Rockets. If you can remember far back enough, and recall Dallas Drake at the start of his career—or the end of it—watching a fresh-faced young man acquire frequent cuts and nicks because he led with his face as he roared into the corners at full speed, crashing into opponents on the forecheck, grinding pucks out down low on the cycle and passing said pucks to more offensively talented forwards, working his tail off to kill penalties and block shots and passes at the other end of the ice, all while playing exceptionally responsible defensive hockey, and oh yeah, by the way, knocking the fear of Gord into his opponents because he can bowl into and bowl over them all over the ice, with his fists backing up his checks and protecting his teammates when necessary… That’s Mitchell. He’s not particularly big, and he still has to get stronger, but he is the consummate “glue guy” grinder who can occasionally and enthusiastically fight. Callahan is a superb north-south skater whose speed, acceleration, and strength on his edges allow him to change direction in a hurry and provide that stocky body with a longer-legged gait than he actually possesses, and again, a caveat—we’re not talking Kris Draper or Darren Helm fast. We’re talking Drake, Maltby in his heyday, those kinds of comparables. But he is a fantastic forechecker who uses his speed to get the jump on his opponents and bang their bodies into the boards to separate them from the puck in all three zones of the ice, but especially in the offensive zone, where he’s a threat to any defenseman not careful with the puck near the end board and/or coming around the boards on the “hard around,” and in the defensive zone, where he can get up to speed in a hurry—going forward, backward, or changing direction via lateral strides—and mash opponents into the side boards to separate them from the puck, or perhaps clear it himself. And that’s why comparisons to Darren McCarty don’t work, either. Callahan’s not as large as McCarty, but he’s a better skater and his hands are better, much like, again, Dallas Drake. Callahan’s game is grounded in sound defensive play, because he excels at keeping a short “gap” between himself and his defensemen, he blocks passes well with his stick and can slide to block shots on occasion, and, mostly, he simply tries to be a defensively responsible forward in all situations, using his speed to make up for any errors in judgment in committing to a check when he should’ve simply focused on backchecking. But his hands are very, very good, too. He was used as the forechecking forward on Landon Ferraro’s line, and his ability to crash and bang on the forecheck to retrieve the puck and hustle up and back down the ice in a hurry both generated offense via smart passing or showcased the fact that he can deke and dangle decently and has a good shot. Callahan can play the two-way forward’s role. Most impressively, however, Callahan worked very hard to make sure that he was mastering the technical details of the game. Before, during, and after drills, Callahan was the player most likely to be found talking to Curt Fraser, Jim Paek, Jiri Fischer or Keith McKittrick if he wasn’t absolutely sure where he was supposed to position himself while getting from point A to point B to most aggressively gobble up ice to help generate scoring chances and prevent scoring chances against. He wants to get the technical details right, and when he talked to me about systems play, he never ceased to impress me about understanding that it was imperative for him to learn as much as possible about improving himself as a player, whether engaging in drills with the coaches, skill-building drills with Thomas Storm, or skating sessions with Andy Weidenbach. Minuses: His size, and to some extent, his strength, are big stumbling blocks. Callahan still needs to get “bigger and stronger” in the sense that he’s already pretty “big” for his build, but must pack on at least ten more pounds of muscle, especially in his thighs, core and upper body, to ensure that he doesn’t get overpowered by the bigger and stronger forwards in pro hockey. He’s going to have to prove people wrong about his size the whole way along his developmental curve, and there’s not much room for error there given his style of play. He’s also probably going to produce offense on a point-per-game pace in the WHL this season, and to assume that the 19-year-old can post more than, at the top end, 10-15 goals and maybe 30 points at the NHL level is simply unreasonable. Mostly, he’s already got a big reputation already, and despite the fact that he’s always struck me as very level-headed and intelligent, albeit supremely confident in himself, he can’t let all this talk go to his head. Callahan has to continue to get bigger, stronger, and more technically adept in terms of his fundamentals and stick and skate skills, all while remembering that he’s still far, far away from the NHL as a 19-year-old riding the buses as a WHL’er. If all this talk goes to his head, a Mitchell Callahan working at anything less than 100% of his available effort and playing at anything less than 100% engagement in the game isn’t a Mitchell Callahan that will make the NHL. He can’t let his patience slip, either, as he will doubtlessly face the same developmental curve that Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader have. He’s going to be a Grand Rapids Griffin for at least two years, and that’s just how things go. Potential “upside”: Again, if he continues to get “bigger and stronger” and continues to develop as a player while ensuring that hard work is his bottom line, we’re talking about a Dallas Drake-style forward who is a forechecking dynamo, plays sound and responsible defensive hockey, can kill penalties, intimidate and agitate his opponents with the requisite level of fists backing his agitation up, and if all goes well, chip in a few goals from time to time because he’s skilled enough and smart enough to play as a crash-and-bang forechecker on a scoring line. Just as the Red Wings had essentially been searching for a Bob Rouse-like defenseman from the moment they got rid of Bob Rouse until they acquired Brad Stuart, the Wings hadn’t found a real replacement for Dallas Drake until they reacquired him, and Mitchell Callahan could fill that niche as a Swiss Army Knife forward with a gravelly, gritty edge.

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2010/07/red_wings_prospect_camp_assess_1.html 2010 Prospect Camp Performance Review: 47 Max Nicastro Pluses: The Red Wings listed him at 6’2” and 189 lbs, and RedWingsCentral’s 6’3,” 200-lb stats are much more faithful to his size and strength—and that’s the thing about Nicastro. When he’s “on,” he possesses a unique combination of imposing size, a tremendous wingspan, fantastic skating ability for a big man, and oh my goodness, his vision in issuing seeing-eye outlet passes, his ability to lug the puck up the ice to back opposing players off, his tremendously hard shot and innate ability to knock down pucks to block passes or shots with his stick, or, more regularly, sustain possession and control of the puck in the offensive zone are all executed with Nicastro’s head up, looking out at the play instead of looking down at his stick. In terms of out-and-out hockey talent, Nicastro was the most talented defenseman on the ice not named Brendan Smith, and he was arguably one of the four most talented skaters—out of 34 participants. His poke checking ability is already at an NHL level in terms of his deftness of skill and ability to use merely keeping one hand on the stick to steer defenders wide, his positioning is impeccable while skating backward or laterally—which he does incredibly well, especially technically—so it’s very evident that he knows where the net is at all times, and as such, he efficiently and sometimes elegantly pokes the puck away from players and seals them to the boards with a hard thud. That’s the other thing. If Nicastro’s elite offensive skills, absolutely fantastic poke-check (with a huge effective radius), heads-up offensive savvy and defensive awareness weren’t enough to wow you, he’s put on at least 20 pounds of hard muscle over the past three years, and no longer looks like a big, gangly, skinny kid. He’s a big strong man now, and while he could easily add another 10-15 lbs to his stringy frame for good measure, his core strength allowed him to simply twist his upper body, without so much as losing a stride’s worth of speed, and absolutely mash his opponents into the boards. He’s developed a nasty physical bite to his game, and was among the first of the Wings’ players to really start laying people out despite the limited-checking environment, not smoking guys out at center ice, mind you, but absolutely hammering people into side boards or end glass during battles for the puck. Before puck retrieval drills began to regularly end with thuds, the sound of player meeting boards meant Max Nicastro was participating in a drill. Minuses: Inconsistency is Nicastro’s biggest issue, and it’s the biggest reason why I’m glad that he has three more years of college eligibility to go. Nicastro could go from an absolutely dominant big man who head-mans the rush, quarterbacks power plays, helms penalty-killing units and mashes the hell out of his opponents without even trying to a very, very quiet, albeit relatively effective, defenseman, and when he does ever-so-rarely lose his positioning or attempt to play too aggressively instead of letting the play come to him, he can be turned inside out in a heartbeat. His temper also yields some ill-timed hacks and whacks, and despite the fact that he’s an absolutely superb skater, he did indeed need to work hard during Thomas Storm’s drill to get those big legs underneath his body, especially when he’s turning, so that he doesn’t have to exert himself as much when that big bulk stops, starts, and has to make abrupt changes in direction. There are parts of Nicastro’s game that are incredibly mature, but he’s got a long way to go before a dominant NCAA-level defenseman in the making is ready to make the pro jump. His talent level is immense but, like any big man, the bottom line really is that the 20-year-old is still growing into his body and still learning to play a deft, nuanced game whose Achilles’ heel is its inconsistency. Potential “upside”: Down the line, if Nicastro continues to improve in terms of his skating, strength, consistency and simply learning one of the hardest positions to play well if you want to play it subtly, you’re looking at a Jonathan Ericsson-style top-four defenseman with a little more offensive ability, a real, honest-to-goodness power play and penalty-killing specialist who could post points on a pretty darn regular basis. He’s still got to bring all that talent together and keep learning and keep working on playing with more consistency and focus, but if all goes well, his potential is immense.

I thought that said Tiger Woods and then saw the number 3966 and then thought, "No way I'm sure Wilt Chamberlain has that number beat."

After the last two season I'm really excited to see how he does this year. He's probably top 2 or 3 players that I'll be watching the most as always. I definitely hope it's one of the better seasons for him.

I just wanted to add to Jack's post a little.

Well, why doesn't he just go to the KHL? I'm sure some team over there is willing to pay out the ass for him.

Right. And I remember reading somewhere that Kenny presented the Z and Mule deals to the league to show that they were designed within "the spirit of the cap" or whatever. All I know is after I read that one article that I felt secure enough back then that the league was not going to come after them.

If Abs and Helm were UFAs then it'd be a little different.