In Red Wings Land

Here’s the Detroit Red Wings’ plan for newly reacquired goalie Magnus Hellberg – Yahoo

“Steve called me today,” coach Derek Lalonde said after Wednesday’s victory at Little Caesars Arena. “That was news to me. It was not something we talked about as a group.

“His exact words were, we have a lot of hockey coming up. We have a roster spot. I think he gives us another option if one of our two goalies here goes down. I don’t follow GR as closely as I probably should, but I think we would like another option if something goes wrong with our top two guys. Those were literally Steve’s exact words.”

Seems pretty on-par for expectations.

Around the League

Salming, Hall of Fame defenseman, dies at 71 – NHL

Borje Salming, a true pioneer who helped change the perception of Swedish hockey players, died on Thursday following a short battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He was 71.

Salming was diagnosed with ALS at the end of April but did not announce it publicly until Aug. 10.

I never say Salming play, but that he was Nick Lidstrom’s idol growing up is good enough for me.  It’s almost kind of sad to hear him remembered as the guy who “helped changed the perception of Swedish hockey players” because we all know that’s shorthand for the silly concept of the soft European thing.