NHL.com has some video (opens Hightlight Machine) of Igor Grigorenko from the first prospects game (versus Atlanta). Nothing terribly exciting, as it consists mostly of Igor skating and gliding around, rarely lower in the zone than the circles. From the admittedly scant evidence provided by the video, it seemed to me that his linemates were doing most of the work. Granted, it was his first game, but I hope he starts moving his feet more than that and mucks it up along the boards a little more in the future. For more video options, including film of Jonathan Ericsson and Matthias Ritola, click here. (via Snapshots)
Archive for September, 2007
Grigorenko in the wild
Zetterberg Update
Update (11. Sep, 12:08 AM): Ansar Khan has a post up that covers much the same ground Kulfan covered in the link below. The difference is he has more actual quotes from Hank. - Matt
Remember those reports out of Sweden a little over a month ago that said Zetterberg bowed out of a charity game because his back injury had flared up? Well, Hank has now set the record straight. He told Ted Kulfan that he chose not to play because he had not been on the ice before the game and did not want to risk being injured due to being somewhat out of shape.
RWC reports on Grigorenko’s debut
Red Wings Central’s Sarah Lindenau has the story on the Wings 3-2 loss to Atlanta in the first game at prospect camp. Grigorenko posted an assist and was impressive overall, at least according to Evan McGrath and Jan Mursak, his linemates.
Kukla’s new look
If you haven’t seen it yet, go there now. Looks great, Paul!
Wings to sell $9 tickets
Update (8:16 PM): George Malik, an outspoken critic of the team’s relationship with the fans (or lack thereof), has the perfect headline to his post on the ticket announcement: “Hell freezes over as Wings offer $9 tix.” That about sums it up. - Matt
At the end of a solid post on a number of players on the team, Ansar Khan includes the news that, starting Sep. 13 at 10:00 AM, the team will sell special $9 tickets for each homegame. Purchases will be limited to two tickets per person and can only be made at the JLA box office. The tickets will only be releasted on a monthly basis, though, so you won’t be able to buy a ticket to the New Year’s Eve game yet.
No information yet on where the seats will be (the seating chart has not yet been updated), but there aren’t really any bad seats at the Joe so no real worries there. $9 is $9, after all. For $9, I’d sit in the rafters if it meant I got to watch the Wings in person. I’ll definitely be taking advantage of this a few times this year. Or trying to, anyway. I’m sure these’ll sell out real fast, since this is just the kind of thing that will entice people to go to games they previously couldn’t afford to attend.
The official announcement is here (a direct link so you can avoid the Wings’ awful splash page). And be sure to check out the rest of Khan’s post, which includes interesting tidbits on Rafalski’s assimilation process and Draper’s possible new role as a top-six winger, among other things.
Igor skates with Wings
Update (4:30 PM): John Niyo has posted a more personal reaction to the practice over at the News’ Wings blog. (via. George Malik) - Matt
Update (12:07 PM): Apparently, I linked to the first edition of the Freep article, as there is now a piece up that has some more content. - Matt
David Guralnick/The Detroit News (gallery)
Igor Grigorenko, the most highly anticipated rookie since Henrik Zetterberg came over, has finally arrived in North America and has donned the Winged Wheel in an informal practice with a number of his teammates at a rink in Troy, MI. By all accounts, his first skate with the team went well, but that’s about all the accounts tell us, aside from the usual bits of information included in all stories about Grigorenko (The Accident, The Lost Step, The Escape Clause, etc.). Even the quotes from the Wings’ brass are the same, such as this one from Ken Holland in the Freep:
“You know, he’s an unknown for me. In the sense of how close is he to being NHL? This is a big month.
“Obviously, we’re going to give him some time. He hardly speaks the language…you know, it’s a different style of hockey. I know he’s got the hands and the head.”
The closest we get to a report on how he actually looked out there is this comment by Kris Draper, made to John Niyo of the News:
“He seems like he has a great set of hands, holding onto the puck. But it’s the first week in September — he’s still adjusting. Exhibition games and training camp are going to give you a better feel for what he’s able to do.”
So, how would you grade him, Drapes? B? B-minus?
Draper told Ansar Khan pretty much the same thing he told John Niyo, but ended with,
“Hopefully he can step in and be a good surprise, kind of like when Pav came over.”
No pressure, Igor.