SB Nation - Jakub Kindl

Jakub Kindl to make NHL debut tonight against Oilers

MrNorrisTrophy — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:45:15 -0000

More photos » by Jerry S. Mendoza - AP

Various sources have Kindl starting tonight for the Wings after being called up from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. So far in Grand Rapids this year, Kindl has only one goal but has dished 11 assists in 19 games.

Brian Rafalski left practice early yesterday with a sore back and will be out of the lineup. Kindl was called up and will be paired with Brett Lebda while Meech/Stuart and Lidstrom/Ericsson will likely be the other two pairings. Kindl will also get time on the top powerplay unit apparently, which could be mean some points in his debut as Edmonton is ranked within the bottom 5 in Penalty Killing.

Hopefully Kindl will show the skills so often advertised and be able to show that he could vie for a spot in the near future. Kindl's first crack at the top level could lead to more playing time if injuries persist or he shows enough promise.

Also, the likely forward lines for tonight's contest are as follows (per Ansar Khan of mlive.com):

Leino-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Bertuzzi-Zetterberg-Cleary

Draper-Helm-Miller

May-Abdelkader-Maltby

Leino on the top line? This better be a change for an increase in his performance, not a reward for his lack of.

Poll

Are you excited for Kindl's debut?

Yes, about time!

74 votes

Nah, not really.

21 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

Jakub Kindl may play tomorrow

MrNorrisTrophy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:22:45 -0000

Grand Rapid Griffins defenseman Jakub Kindl may play tomorrow night for Detroit in the spot of Brian Rafalski. Rafalski is suffering from a sore back and is questionable for tomorrow's game against the Edmonton Oilers. If Rafalski is out, the Wings would be short one defenseman and need to fill it quickly or play with only 5 defenders.

From mlive.com's Ansar Khan:

Rafalski's back stiffened up on him 10 minutes into practice, forcing him to leave.

Already without Niklas Kronwall and Andreas Lilja, the Wings are thin on the blue line and have had to call on Brett Lebda and Derek Meech for a lot of minutes each game. Kindl could be called on from Grand Rapids to fill the spot for a game. Kindl has been talked about a lot as being a future anchor on the Detroit blue line but will have to wait until there is a vacancy. More on this as it develops.

There's also mention that Patrick Eaves will miss the game because of sore right ankle. Brad May and Kirk Maltby will both play with Eaves out.

Players with the most on the line

MrNorrisTrophy — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:03:32 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y Huh - AP

Browse more photos »

Continuing with the season preview theme, here are three players that have a lot on the line with their performance. Note I don't mean they are all necessarily at risk for being off the team, just a lot to prove.

1. Brett Lebda- With Jonathan Ericsson making the jump from Grand Rapids to Detroit and Jakub Kindl making similar progress, Lebda will need to prove he is worth his salary. The problem for him is that even if he can show some improvement, he might be traded away to free up some roster space for a cheaper replacement in Kindl. Lebda has the potential but doesn't always live up to it, reason for me to believe he will be gone sooner rather than later-assuming those waiting in line for the 6th spot continue to develop.

2. Tomas Holmstrom- Although a fan favorite in Motown-and only in Motown probably-Homer's production has declined and his health has been problematic to say the least. I'm not saying his health issues are unfounded and minute because I know I could take one game of the abuse that he takes, let alone an entire season. But at a certain point, lack of production will cost you a roster spot. Add to the increasing speculation that Holmstrom might be dealt at the deadline, he has a lot to prove about his health and skills. Will the Red Wings be able to find someone that can do what Holmstrom does in front of the net? No, not even close. But they could find another player to fill the $2.25 million void.

3. Darren Helm- "The Kid" will be under pressure to follow up on his exceptional playoff performance. Luckily for him, and Wings fans, his skill is high and I don't see it dropping off all that much. With his contract up at the end of the season, Helm could showcase his talents for potential offseason suitors or give himself leverage for a hefty raise in Detroit. Helm has big expectations on his shoulders but could fit nicely into the scoring plans, despite that pressure. Contract years can make or break a young career but hopefully he'll handle it like he handled that epic lone man penalty kill. He has the least to lose but a lot on the line in terms of contract gains.

Poll

Who has the most on the line with his performance in the upcoming season?

Lebda

364 votes

Holmstrom

263 votes

Helm

71 votes

698 votes | Poll has closed

2009-2010 Red Wings Season Preview

MrNorrisTrophy — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

Maltby, Rafalski, Datsyuk, and Osgood are all crucial parts of the 2009-2010 team in their own roles(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

Gearing up in anticipation for the 2009-2010 NHL season, the folks at SB Nation have been running a series of season previews for each team. Today, you guessed it, is the day for the Detroit preview to be up. We here at Winging It are running our own preview and James Mirtle over at From the Rink will have his Detroit preview up. Be sure to check his out as well as ours and of course link them to your friends--yes, that was a shameless plug.

2008-2009 Season Review: After winning the Stanley Cup in 2008, the Red Wings were pretty much an automatic favorite for winning the 2009 Stanley Cup after adding Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin from the Penguins. I guess that's why they play the games then huh? Hossa was one of the key players throughout the regular season, scoring 40 goals and 31 helpers. In contrast to those high numbers during the regular season, Hossa's skills went missing in the playoffs and it hindered the rest of the team's success. I don't pin the whole loss of the Cup on Hossa because it is a team sport after all. Last year's team seemed to go through the motions at times, seemingly disinterested in what was going on on the ice. There were two games in which the opposition put up 8 goals and several games that slipped away for unknown reasons. Call it the Stanley Cup hangover if you want but I call it lack of chemistry and inexcusable complacency. I think the mindset of "offense offense offense" was deadly for the defensive focus and created lapses in good play.

Oh, there were good times too. I mean how can you go to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and call it a bad season? There were so many times I felt the team was unstoppable and they looked so quite often. How else would they have garnered the number 2 seed? The Winter Classic was an incredible game in an incredible atmosphere at Wrigley Field. Or the 6-0 demolishing of the Sharks at the hands of Pavel Datsyuk's 2 goals and 2 assists was pretty incredible too. I've already done two posts on the great moments from last year's season so let's get to the rest of the preview shall we?

The remainder of the preview follows the jump...

Who's In (or back for seconds): Todd Bertuzzi (RW, Calgary Flames), Jason Williams (RW, Columbus Blue Jackets), Patrick Eaves (RW, Carolina Hurricanes)

Who's Out: Chris Chelios (Free Agent), Jiri Hudler (Moscow Dynamo, KHL), Marian Hossa (Chicago Blackhawks), Tomas Kopecky (Chicago Blackhawks), Mikael Samulesson (Vancouver Canucks), Ty Conklin (St. Louis Blues)

Team Strengths:

In net: Chris Osgood showed last season, the season before, and both playoff runs that he still has what it takes to be a top goalie. Yeah, sure he's had his spotty moments but that's the nature of the position. He still has the skills and Howard has shown enough in Grand Rapids to get the chance to split time. We could be witnessing the passing of the torch in the Motown net.

Defense: Chris Chelios is no longer on the team and Andreas Lilja will start the year on the long term injured reserve. But if it wasn't for these two circumstances Jonathan Ericsson wouldn't have gotten the chance to start the season with the Red Wings. Ericsson is an up and coming defenseman who shows too much skill and mental awareness to have just had "fluke success" in his time last year. His big frame is a much needed presence in the defensive end and he should work well with the speedy and energetic puck chaser Brett Lebda. Lidstrom and Rafalski are one of the best pairings in the league and Kronwall and Stuart have a perfect chemistry since both are skilled but physical defensemen. The key to the success of the 09-10 team lies in the defense. If they keep the pressure off of Osgood and feed the playmakers, the Red Wings can continue to play their trademark puck possession hockey.

Offense: The success of this offense lies with two guys-- Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are ferocious forecheckers and create opportunities in the offensive zone that shouldn't be there. By controlling the puck, they are able to feed their linemates or fire on goal themselves. Although we will probably see them paired together at some point, they are both great anchors for the top two lines. They both have similar lines with Holmstrom/Bertuzzi in front of the net and Franzen/Cleary as shooters so their point production should be high again. Johan Franzen will likely continue his high level of play but look for guys like Valtteri Filppula and Ville Leino to break out as secondary scorers in the absence of Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson. Darren Helm and Patrick Eaves could play great roles within the offense but I don't expect incredible seasons out of them just yet. Scoring depth and puck possession have been the main focus of the Red Wings in the past and there's no reason for it to change now.

Team Weaknesses:

In net: Last year, Osgood was backed up by a solid and proven netminder in Ty Conklin. This year, Jimmy Howard finally makes the move from Grand Rapids to Detroit but will it be a good run? The only reason I even speculate on this is because of his limited experience in the NHL. The former college stud waited his turn down in Grand Rapids and proved he was worthy to take the number 2 spot finally in Detroit. This is more of an uncertainty rather than a weakness in my opinion. The difference between the scorers AHL and the NHL is clear as day and it's hard to predict how a goalie will adjust. Hopefully, Howard will find the pace of the game very quickly because he will be called on often to fill in for Osgood to rest.

Defense: Last year's defense was pretty horrid at times and it showed in two 8 goal games and several 6 goal games. There was very uncharacteristically poor play by Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Stuart far too often for my taste. Pinching in the offensive zone at the wrong time created breakaways, confusion with assignments created shooting lanes, and sometimes just flat out bad defensive play were common during games last year. With the loss of the a lot of the offense from last year, there has to be a new focus on defense. Ericsson showed his knowledge of the game and skill; hopefully this translates to a cohesive third pairing and the top two lines are more likely than not to return to their former level of play.

Offense: Well the loss of 88 goals, or nearly 30% of last year's production, is nothing to overlooked by any means. Hossa was an elite scorer for the Red Wings and Hudler/Samuelsson were great playmakers. I don't know if the addition of Bertuzzi, Williams, and Eaves is enough to make up for that departure but they also may not need to if the identity of this year's team is focused on better defense rather than trying to outscore everyone. Another thing running through my mind is whether or not Tomas Holmstrom will be back to top form or somewhere close. If he's not close, the offense might sputter for a while before finding a new alternative. Good thing there's great scoring depth all the way down to the 4th line right?

Depth Chart: Here's a quick take on the depth chart, based on what the lines have been during camp. Babcock is the king of mixing it up so these lines likely won't stick for the whole year.

Tomas Holmstrom	Pavel Datsyuk	Johan Franzen
Dan Cleary	Henrik Zetterberg	Todd Bertuzzi
Ville Leino	Valtteri Filppula	Jason Williams
Kris Draper	Abdelkader/Helm	Maltby/Eaves

Nicklas Lidstrom	Brian Rafalski
Niklas Kronwall	Brad Stuart
Jonathan Ericsson	Brett Lebda

Chris Osgood

Jimmy Howard

Note: Abdelkader/Helm, Maltby/Eaves are double listed because of the likelihood that Babcock will frequently sit one for the other or in the event of injuries--such as Helm's.

Players in the minors that could make appearances: Jakub Kindl (D), Kris Newbury (C), Evan McGrath (C), Ryan Oulahen (RW), Daniel Larsson (G).

WIM Predictions:

Predictions are a tricky and sometimes risky business. One minute you can look like a genius, the next like a pure idiot. Part of me wants to say the Red Wings will be right back in the Stanley Cup while the other part of me isn't even sure we'll win the division. Chicago took gigantic steps towards re-establishing itself in the division over the past few years and took an even bigger step this past year signing Hossa. The rest of the division has drastically improved too but I still think it is a two horse race for the Central. That being said, I think Detroit has the goaltending, coaching, and team chemistry to still make a deep run into the playoffs. Bertuzzi, Williams, and Eaves all bring a certain hunger and grit to the team that can help protect the star players--something missing from last year's team. In the end, I think the only thing that will hinder the team's success could be injuries.

I'll say that Detroit will finish no worse than 3rd in the Conference in terms of points (not necessarily 3rd seed) and make it to the Conference Finals again.

Let's get your take on things!

Poll

Where will the Red Wings finish in the Western Conference?

1

310 votes

2

295 votes

3

74 votes

4

28 votes

5

7 votes

6

1 votes

7

1 votes

8

0 votes

9 or worse

7 votes

723 votes | Poll has closed

The AHL all-stars: Two Girouxes, Rory and a Brodeur

James Mirtle — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:15:07 -0000

The AHL also announced its all-star teams this week, and they give you a decent idea of who some of the top talent is in the NHL's minor league:

Team Canada

Forwards	Defensemen	Goaltenders
Steve Downie, Nor	x-Johnny Boychuk, Pro	Mike Brodeur, Roch
x-Alexandre Giroux, Her	Kyle Cumiskey, LE	Barry Brust, Hou
x-Claude Giroux, Phi	Cody Franson, Milw	x-Brian Elliott, Bing
Mike Iggulden, Bri	Bryan Helmer, Her ("C")
Jason Krog, Man	x-Derek Joslin, Wor
Corey Locke, Hou	Andrew MacDonald, Bri
Brett MacLean, SA	Brett Palin, QC
Mark Mancari, Por	Danny Syvret, Phi
x-Chris Minard, W-B/Scr
Cal O'Reilly, Milw
Teddy Purcell, Man
Martin St. Pierre, Pro
Mike Santorelli, Milw		x-starters

The tough thing about these all-star games is that, not only do you have to hope no one gets injured, but there's also the problem of call ups to consider. Claude Giroux just torched the AHL in his first pro season with 17 goals in 31 games and is now up with the Flyers, perhaps permanently given their injury woes.

At least they don't have to worry about Captain Helmer missing the game. (Great character guy. Was good to see him get some time in the NHL with the Caps as part of his swan song.)

Three Milwaukee players here, all Nashville picks in the midrounds. Franson's a great example of the depth the Predators have on defence now; he's only 21, big and skilled and would be in the NHL with most franchises. (Not bad for a third rounder.)

Purcell looks like a really good NHLer, someone we'll see play a role with the Kings when they're climbing the standings a year or two from now. He probably misses this game, too.

Boychuk leads AHL defencemen in scoring for the Baby Bruins, and I bet the Avs are kicking themselves for dumping him this summer.

And looking at the goalies, I wonder if the Sens will give Elliott a shot in goal if Gerber and Auld continue to struggle. (And in case you're wondering, Mike Brodeur is a distant cousin of Marty. He started the season in the ECHL and has been very good for Rochester in a dozen games so far.)

Team PlanetUSA

Forwards	Defensemen	Goaltenders
Keith Aucoin, Her	Rory Fitzpatrick, Roch ("C")	Jeff Frazee, Low
x-Chris Bourque, Her	Jonas Junland, Peo	Daniel Larsson, GR
x-Nikita Filatov, Syr	Mattias Karlsson, Bing	x-Cory Schneider, Man
x-Nathan Gerbe, Port	x-Jakub Kindl, Gr. Rapids
Martins Karsums, Pro	Ben Lovejoy, W-B/Scr
Tim Kennedy, Port	Bobby Sanguinetti, Hart
Petri Kontiola, Rock	Jaime Sifers, Tor
Drew Miller, Iowa	x-Yannick Weber, Ham
Joe Motzko, Chicago
Michael Ryan, Albany
Ryan Potulny, Spr
Jeff Taffe, W-B/Scr
Ryan Vesce, Wor		x-starters

Vote for Rory paid off! The plucky defenceman gets the captain's 'C' while playing for his hometown Americans despite having a pretty pedestrian season so far.

Aucoin's another veteran worth pointing out: a 5-foot-9 30-year-old playing for one of the best teams in the league, he leads the AHL in scoring by a mile with 48 points in 34 games despite missing some time while playing three games with the Capitals in the NHL.

Filatov's with Columbus at the moment, so his participation's in doubt.

Karsums is a talented young Latvian who I saw at the world juniors quite a bit when they rolled through B.C. two years ago. He's eighth in league scoring and should see time with the big-league Bruins in the near future.

Weber looks like another good one for the Habs, too, who also have P.K. Subban on the way on the blueline.

Kindl... don't tell me you're suprised the Red Wings have another European stud coming on the blueline.

Speaking of Detroit and potential gems, so much for Jimmy Howard as the goalie of the future: Sweden's Danny Larsson has outplayed him by a mile and makes the team here. He was a late third-round pick in 2006.

I know there are some readers who see a lot more AHL hockey than I do; let me know what you think of the teams and some of the players' play to date.