In Red Wings Land
The #RedWings are devastated to learn tonight of the passing of longtime team masseur Sergei Tchekmarev, a beloved figure around the Red Wings dressing room since 1998.
Head coach Jeff Blashill shared his thoughts about “Cheeka” following tonight’s game. pic.twitter.com/vVesoWZA7p
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) February 20, 2021
Oh man, how awful. Condolences to his friends and family.
Red Wings: Just need to flip one goal a game – mlive.com
“Guys have to understand that the way they’re helping the team is a lot of times well beyond producing points,” Blashill said. “We reward points in pretty much everything we do in a lot of ways in hockey and probably don’t always reward winning enough. Certainly, we have to produce a little more, but we don’t have to produce a whole bunch more if you really look at it. We need to flip a goal a game.”
As usual, I’m writing this before the game tonight, so how this comes off will likely determine your reaction to the above quote. I’ve given Blashill a lot of shit lately, but this is a good point. The idea, which is simple in theory but difficult in execution, is to keep up the defense while increasing offense.
UPDATE (9:48PM 2/19/2021): See, just like I said.
SHL Spotlight: Moritz Seider – SHL.se
Has the timing in your, quite frankly, A level hits been something you’ve had to work on coming back to the big rink?
“I always like playing a physical game. I think that’s just the answer, with me being that tall.” he chuckles. “But I try to use it as an advantage to my game. But it’s always nice when you’re getting closer and you can get that hit. But it’s just a nice bonus, because in the end it all comes down to how you perform. Because nobody cares if you dish out hits and you still cost the team games. But it’s worked pretty good lately and I think the last couple of games are going to be a lot of fun. “
This is a great look at Seider. Gotta love his response to this question.
Around the NHL
The NHL will play two outdoor games this weekend. As someone who’s gotten tired of these games, I’ll admit that this location does seem more interesting than most of what the league has done in the past. Below are two articles that show you a look at what to expect if you haven’t been paying attention.
Take a first look at the rink in Lake Tahoe ahead of Sunday’s Bruins game | Boston.com
In preparation for the pair of games (the Avalanche and Golden Knights will face off on Saturday night), a hockey rink was constructed right next to the 18th green of the Tahoe Resort golf course.
Golden Knights-Avalanche, Flyers-Bruins games at Lake Tahoe must-see TV
NBC will use two drones to broadcast live footage for the first time — plus a fixed-wing aircraft, robotic cameras, handheld cameras and usual game cameras — when the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights play in the Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, SN1, TVAS) and the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers play in the Honda NHL Outdoors Sunday (2 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, SN1, TVAS).
