I knew that the first Quick Hits after posting yesterday’s post would be a little weird because it’s a very much ‘goodbye forever, see you tomorrow” kind of feeling, but here we are. Let’s power through.

First off, I want to give a sincere thanks to everybody for the kind words yesterday. I didn’t know how I was going to feel after putting that out there, but y’all really came through and helped uplift me. Thank you.

In Red Wings Land

Detroit Red Wings’ Filip Zadina joins Jakub Vrana, Alex Nedeljkovic in minors. Here’s why – Freep

The Wings are on their bye week and next play Tuesday when they host the Edmonton Oilers. The Grand Rapids Griffins play Friday and Saturday at the Texas Stars.

Yep, that’s why.

Helene does a pretty good job explain the other context about how conditioning stints work and how Detroit’s schedule plays in.  She also doesn’t pull punches about Zadina’s struggle to find a role on the team.

Around the League

NHL announces 2023 All-Star Skills participants – Sportsnet

UPPER DECK NHL FASTEST SKATER

• Dylan Larkin, DET

• Kirill Kaprizov, MIN

• Cale Makar, COL

• Chandler Stephenson, VGK

• Andrei Svechnikov, CAR

The all-time record holder is participating in just the one event.

I’m more likely to watch tonight’s festivities than Saturday’s, but I also have some scheduling conflict stuff and might just skip the whole weekend.