September 18th Training Camp News and Notes
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The opening day of the Red Wings training camp was marred by a scary incident just minutes into team Delvecchio’s practice. Free agent tryout Jerome Verrier and Darren Helm collided while participating in intersquad drills. The force of the impact left both players down on the ice for several minutes. Helm was the first on his feet but he had to be helped off the ice while Verrier had to be stretchered off. Both players went to the hospital for precautionary reasons with Helm going through the concussion protocol. Verrier’s training camp is finished after breaking his right leg in the impact.
“You don’t want to see this the first day of the camp,” Tomas Tatar said. “It’s hockey and it’s a fast game. Those two guys didn’t see each other.”
The drill the players were running at the time of the collision was not new and there was no intent to injure by either player.
“You don’t ever want to see that especially in practice,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “Unfortunately we weren’t able to give a heads up to either guy soon enough . Obviously the drill got messed up and it was unfortunate.”
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Both Brad Richards and Mike Green made their first Red Wings training camp appearance. Richards skated on a line with Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm until he was injured.
“Richard’s has been a real elite offensive player in this league a long time,” Blashill said. “Tats is an offensive give and go player and Helm will give a little bit of speed, tenacity and go to the net. What we will try to do is get four lines we feel confident playing and four lines that will add offense.”
For Richards the first day was about getting himself established as a Red Wing. He hopes to bring a good veteran presence who can provide offense and depth on the power play.
“It was good to get the uniform on for real,” Richards said. “No matter how much you do it, there is always butterflies the first day. I’ve been lucky enough to play on some great teams and great organizations and this is no different so hopefully I can bring some of that experience to this group.”
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The players in general seem excited for a fresh voice in the locker room this year. The veteran players like Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen like the idea of a fresh start under a new coach.
“It’s a different voice,” Zetterberg said. “Before we knew everything every drill so this is refreshing. It is going to be more competitive because he’s new so that will be fun.
Johan Franzen couldn’t hide his excitement about a new coach.
“It’s a new voice and I am excited,” he said. “I feel young again and I want to show what I can do.”
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In addition to the collision, the Red wings moved the first period of their scrimmage to David’s rink after the ice on the West rink was deemed inadequate. The players took the ice down to the cement in places by making patterns prior to the drop of the puck. The second period of the game was back on the West rink after the ice was resurfaced.
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Team Lindsay beat Team Howe by a 4-3 margin with goals Nyquist, Abdelkader, Ericsson and Zetterberg. Goal scores for Team Howe were Larkin, Bertuzzi and Lemcke. Gustave Nyquist had an impressive 3 point outing.
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No one was happier to see some of the prospects score than coach Blashill. He wants competition and he wants to make the tough decisions when it comes to finalizing his NHL roster.
“Those are two real good players [Bertuzzi and Larkin]”, he said. “We’d like as much competition from guys who are going to be NHL players as possible. Those are two guys we think have the real potential to be NHL players so that’s a positive.”
Henrik Zetterberg was also impressed with the 19 year-old Larkin.
“He’s got everything,” Zetterberg said. “He skates real well and he’s strong for his age. When he gets his chances he can put the puck away so it’s going to be fun to see him here in the preseason.”
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In addition to watching the players who are likely bound for Grand Rapids, Blashill is also pushing some of the younger established players to take their games to the next level.
“I think the next steps for Tats and Nyquist is that they establish themselves as go-to guys,” Blashill said. “We need to make sure if Pav and Z are out that the next group of guys are ready. I talked to Nyquist and Tats about making sure they can carry a line instead of being a piece of it.”