Somedays, everything goes according to plan.
A quick two hour car trip clears the mind, calms the nerves, and provides much needed freedom.
Then, there are days like today. Where the drive seems to be an endless circle. Feel like I’m in a Griswold movie. Although this is nothing new and I shouldn’t feel surprised, it was amazing how long the short roadtrip took.
The putzing around seemed to carry on, into the game itself.
I can’t fault the Detroit Red Wings team; they played well all things considered. Carrying the play the majority of the game (start to finish) and all had a great attitude for a couple of games in Traverse City, Michigan.
With a few chants in the third period from fans, not only changed Steve Yzerman’s demeanor (after ducking a puck too and donating it to an excited fan), so too did the Detroit Red Wings.
It seemed like the team remembered they could do things like scoring and playmaking. Not that they looked bad at any point, but maybe less confident or comfortable with playing hockey (whether it be a change in rink size or the first game in quite some time).
Who were some of the best performers during day one of the prospects games?
Amadeus Lombardi
Of all the prospects last season playing for the Grand Rapids Griffins, I’ll admit that I was most concerned with Amadeus Lombardi.
While I appreciated his creativity, attitude, and hard work, I questioned if he could become effective and better with his decision making.
There were times he could dance the defenders right off their skates, but more often than not he played a game full of fluff. Let me explain.
His moves looked fun and exciting, but rarely led to high-danger or realistic scoring chances for himself or his team. He tried doing too much, being too fancy, and at times seemed a bit to centered on his own play.
Today, I didn’t see those concerns at all from Lombardi.
I watched a confident, disciplined, high-octane player who was ready to go from puck drop.
He kept his fun, entertaining play, but focused on driving to the net and using his teammates. Maybe it’s a comfortability thing, he just seemed to like his linemates, or maybe it’s part of him maturing.
Regardless of why, Lombardi looked like the best forward on the ice tonight for the Detroit Red Wings. He’s a player that the Detroit Red Wings desperately need to work out and he’s heading in the right direction.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård
Michael Brandsegg-Nygård came as advertised. A fun, hard-nosed player who loves to shoot.
It seemed like every time he was on the ice he was starting something. Sometimes good, sometimes making the other team mad, or a lot of times a combination of both.
He seemed to get more comfortable and confident as the game went along. I look forward to seeing more from him tomorrow.
My favorite parts about Brandsegg-Nygård, regardless of how silly it seems, weren’t the things I saw during the game.
Instead, before the game started, he was out on the ice as long as possible warming up. It seemed like him and Lombardi would remain on the ice indefinitely.
They weren’t even interacting too much, but then Brandsegg-Nygård passed the puck to Lombardi, who already had a puck on his stick. A bit confused, Lombardi abandoned his puck in favor of a quick pass and shoot exercise with Brandsegg-Nygård.
I really like watching teammates build bridges, this to me was one of those instances. We’ll never know how much interacting the two had off the ice, but it’s nice to see players forming connections.
For the record, Brandsegg-Nygård drained his shot attempt, Lombardi just missed. Also, Brandsegg-Nygård was the very last off the ice for anyone who cares for that sort of information.
Side note, Brandsegg-Nygård has a hard shot. Like a really, super booming shot when he misses the net. For as hard as it is, it’s fairly accurate too. I can see why he’s always happy to shoot.
Dan Watson
Head coaches and the Detroit Red Wings give me slight anxiety, not going to lie.
I tend to second guess every coaching decision made. Watson, however, has earned my trust.
At times, I forget that he has and I think, “oh no, not another terrible idea. Why would he do that.”
That might be any number of things, but usually it’s the lineup choices or who is currently on the ice. My hesitation came when he went right back to Charlie Paquette’s line.
The line had been my least favorite of the night. They didn’t look great right before the whistle lead to this stoppage in play.
Thinking to myself, “what in the ever loving heck is Watson thinking…” Only for Paquette and company to say, “hold my ginger ale.”
This line proved Watson right and helped me remember why he’s my favorite coach within the Detroit Red Wings organization in a very long time.
I think players really enjoy playing for Watson. At least it appears that way on the ice.
Having a coach who players like, respect, and enjoy being around is huge. Especially as the prospects head to the Grand Rapids Griffins, he can be a huge draw for players contemplating their futures within the organization.
It’s likely, for example, for Brandsegg-Nygård that it’s the National Hockey League (NHL) or the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), but maybe Watson can talk him into Grand Rapids, Michigan if it comes down to it.
I’ll have more player analysis coming tomorrow, but wanted to give my quick thoughts tonight.
In the meantime, checkout the expert analaysis from George Malik. As always, he gives a great breakdown of each player and the overall with golden nuggets sprinkled throughout.
Likely, I have an early morning tomorrow with even more driving in circles so I’m signing off for now.