The first day of Red Wings training camp is in the books and there were some great moments and a really scary one as well. First the bad news. In the first 10 minutes of camp forwards Darren Helm and Jerome Verrier had a brutal collision while executing drills. Both players went down onto the the ice with a horrifying cracking sound and after a minute or so, Helm slowly got up and was able to skate carefully off the ice. Jerome Verrier remained on the ice in a heap for another couple minutes, clearly in pain, until EMT’s brought out the stretcher and took him off the ice. The collision happened as there were two different groups of players doing half ice drills on the ice at the same time. Helm and Verrier were working on separate halves of the ice and ran full tilt into each other at center ice as they were circling around. Both players were taken to the hospital to be checked out, and Coach Blashill told the media that Helm has to go through concussion protocol and was technically “day to day” but would miss more time that that. Bill Roose reported that Blashill told him Helm is expected to miss a week, so if all goes well he may get to play in a few pre-season games. Poor Jerome Verrier has been fighting to find a pro contract and has been on the Wings radar for a couple years and now has a broken right leg and no contract. Get well soon, Jerome and Helm.
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Lines
Here are the camp lines and pairings. With Helm out, Franzen substituted with Richards and Tatar. Interestingly enough, Franzen was at center for a bulk of the line drills, not Richards.
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Scrimmage
The scrimmage was a running clock for the first 18 minutes, then running clock 3 on 3 for the last 5 minutes, so the periods were 23 minutes long.
The scrimmage was between Team Howe and Team Lindsay with Team Lindsay pulling out the win. You can view the full box score here. Dylan Larkin scored the first goal of camp when he blew by Zetterberg on the faceoff (Z’s words, not mine) got some help from his wingers Teemu Pulkkinen and Tomas Jurco and flew in on Jimmy Howard, giving team team Howe a 1-0 lead. Next, Tyler Bertuzzi put team Howe up 2-0 thanks to a feed from Andy Miele, some grinding work by Bertuzzi, and some boneheaded defense by Brendan Smith. Ten seconds later Gustav Nyquist got Team Lindsay on the board when he beat Tom McCollum with the assist going to Jakub Kindl. Less than a minute later Justin Abdelkader tied the game with some help from Niklas Kronwall and Henrik Zetterberg. The score was tied 2-2 and shots were 13-8 team Lindsay in that half.
The second half I missed most of because this is when media availability started. Jared Coreau came in for Tom McCollum and Jake Paterson relieved Jimmy Howard for the 2nd half. Jonathan Ericsson gave team Lindsay the lead when he scored on Jared Coreau, with the assist from Gustav Nyquist. Not to be outdone by his Swedish teammate, Henrik Zetterberg also scored on Coreau with the assist from Gustav Nyquist to give Team Lindsay a 4-3 lead. A minute later Justin Lemcke put one past Jake Paterson who took over for Jimmy Howard to bring Team Howe within a goal. Final score was team Lindsay 4-3 and shots were 22-16 also Team Lindsay.
Gustav Nyquist had 3 points, Henrik Zetterberg 2 points, and Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi both netted goals.
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Scrum Audio
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Noteworthy quotes
Coach Blashill said Zetterberg looked really really good, and I completely agree. Z looked healthy, energized, fit, handsome, stunning without a shirt on, and ready for the season to start. Zetterberg also commented that he was able to do more working out and getting in and staying in shape this summer because he had less rehab to do and could push himself more. He sounded happy and excited for the season and his enthusiasm was evident both on and off the ice.
When asked about Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg said “He looks good, he blew by me on the faceoff to score the opening goal. He has everything, he skates real well, he’s real strong out there, and when he gets his chances he can put the puck away.” That’s pretty good praise coming from Captain Henrik Zetterberg.
Zetterberg also said repeatedly how nice it is to have a “new” camp where the players aren’t doing the same things they always do, but actually have to think and use their brains. Z also said the combination of work and fun that Blashill brings is different for the team, but Hank clearly loves the change.
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Photos
Here are a few pictures I snapped of the events today. Enjoy!
Petr the Mraznificent
It was Mr. Green in the Library, with a candlestick.
DeKe, DeKe, he’s our man, if he can’t do it no one can! Goooooo DeKe!
Jim The Enchanter, brother to Tim The Enchanter.
Scrimmage Action
Everyone’s favorite defense pairing.
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Up Next: Tomorrow, also knows as day 2 of Red Wings Training Camp. What else would come after day 1? 🙂 And remember to let us know what you’d like to see, hear, or have Kyle and I report back on throughout camp. We are your ambassadors.
