In Red Wings Land

Red Wings’ Givani Smith ties future to maximizing his size, strength | Detroit News

“He’s done it through self-discovery, looking and saying ‘OK, I’m not going to be a stickhandler through the neutral zone,” Blashill said. “I’m going to be a guy that is the best guy on the team in putting it behind people, forechecking hard, being unbelievably hard in front of the net. Hold on to the puck, getting it low to high’.

“He seems to have done that. Confidence would be the other thing, the other part.”

If Smith continues to improve and grow, he could become an important piece of the Wings’ rebuild.

I’d love to see Givani Smith develop in to a strong bottom six player. I definitely think there’s a spot for him on this Red Wings roster moving forward.

Around the World

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP NOTEBOOK: CANADA, RUSSIA SET TO MEET IN GOLD MEDAL GAME | The Hockey News

Three Stars

Rasmus Sandin, Sweden (2G, 2A, 4P) – Did everything in his power to contribute for Sweden, but it just wasn’t enough.

Alexis Lafreniere, Canada (2G, 0A, 2P) – May have played his way onto the tournament all-star team despite missing two games.

Stanislav Alexandrov, Kazakhstan (2G, 0A, 2P) – Both goals took the momentum away from Germany. Kept Kazakhstan alive.

Sunday – Jan. 5, 2019

Germany vs. Kazakhstan, Game 3, 5 a.m. ET

Sweden vs. Finland, 9 a.m. ET

Russia vs. Canada, 1 p.m. ET

Meanwhile, possible future Red Wing Alexis Lafreniere had himself another nice game.

Moritz Seider and the Germans are in a do-or-die game against Kazakhstan to avoid be relegated. That game is either in-progress or over depending on when you’re reading this.

UPDATE: Germany won 6-0. Seider with an assist in 21:56 TOI.