Good Morning Hockeytown! Top Headlines: *Xavier Ouellet Talks About Playing for the Wings for the 1st Time *Glendening Talks about His First NHL Goal *Anthanasiou Ready for NHL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Xavier Ouellet on Experiencing Red Wings for the 1st Time Xavier Ouellet was just one of nine prospects to make his NHL debut with the Red Wings this last season. He first took to the ice in the Winged wheel back on 21 Octobre of last year against the Sharks and played three more times for the Wings as well. He was called up to skate in place of Jonathan Ericsson who was attending to the birth of his daughter, Liv. Ouellet, a native of Bayonne, France, in his first game was on the ice for 17:15, recorded one shot on goal and put a big hit on Joe Thornton. He took a total of 23 shifts in that game. In his four games with the Wings in the past season he recorded four shots on goal and had two penalty minutes. He skated in 70 games for the Griffins the past season and had 17 points, four of them were goals. Here are some comments Ouellet had about his first game for the Wings as reported by redwings.nhl: “I was really excited. I was happy to have my opportunity and I just wanted to get the best of it. It’s a loss so it’s kind of hard to say I feel good but I’m pretty proud of my game. There are a few things to still work on but it was really exciting and a great experience. “I’m pretty proud, I did what I had to do and we’ll see what the coaches think about that. “They’re the best players in the world so I learned a lot, how to prepare and get ready on the ice talking and just learning how to play with a lot of structure. These are things I learn every day here. Some of Ouellets Red Wings teammates also remarked on his appearance via redwings.nhl: Brendan Smith: “I think he played very well, he made it easy on myself too. I think he’s got a lot of skill and he understands the NHL or the professional way to play. You have to get the puck in the top guy’s hands, we have some great forwards and he understood that. He made the easy, simple play and that’s how he stayed out of trouble and it actually ended up working out really well for our D pairing. “I did that whole stint where I was up and down, I got my few games in here and there and it was always exciting. I think you just have to be a sponge and learn from all of the veterans and that’s what I did when I came here. I got to learn from Nick and Kronwall and all the guys that are here now. I think that’s the biggest thing for him is just to keep your eyes and ears open and just keep learning so when you get here you stay here.” Jim Howard: “I thought he was great. He did a great job keeping everyone in front of him. He battled, he had a big hit on Joe (Thornton) there in the first, first game of many for him. He wasn’t afraid to be out there against him and that’s great to see, for X to step up and put a guy of his stature on his rear end.” Here is what Coach Babcock had to say about Ouellet via redwings.nhl: “Obviously we want them to play and make nice easy plays. We want them to do it every time. That’s what Nick Lidstrom made a career of. It’s not a bad way to play. We talk about it all the time. Sometimes we turn the puck over a little too much. … ” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *It Took Awhile but Glendening was Glad to Get First NHL Goal Luke Glendening was brought up to the Wings on the 12th of Octobre but it took him until 5 April against the Canadiens to record a goal, he set a record for longest period for a rookie forward to go with out one. He spent most of the early part of the season going back and forth between Detroit and Grand Rapids but became a permanent part of the Wings since the January 1st Winter Classic. It took him 52 games to get the goal, the previous record was 43 games set by Cummy Burton in the late 1950s. He did earn his first NHL point with an assist against the Ducks on the 17th of Decembre. Glendening played in 56 games for the Wings this season and tallied seven points, but only the one goal. He also recorded one goal out the five playoff games the Wings played this spring. The day was extra special for Glendening as the goal was just the icing on the cake after he had signed a three year contract with the Wings the morning of the game. Here are some comments from Glendening about the occasion as reported by redwings.nhl: “It was just I think overall just a feeling of relief just to get that monkey off my back. I don’t know I guess it was a special moment for sure, I didn’t really have to do much. Abby made a great pass and I just had to put my stick on the ice but it was a moment of relief for sure. “I mean everyone I think was pretty happy. Everyone was razzing me a bit after my streak and my record that I set so everyone was pretty happy. “I mean as far as goals it will probably be number one for a long time. I don’t really remember how I scored. I blacked out, but I knew it went in the net. “It’s been special for sure and it’s sometimes hard to focus on what you’re doing well when your point production is so low. Obviously I never thought I was going to be a point guy in the NHL, I didn’t even know if I was going to make it to the NHL to be honest but it’s always been a dream of mine to be here and to be able to live out my dream is truly something I’ll cherish forever. “It’s just enjoying the journey, it’s just another step, another thing that you just have to find joy in every minute and every day is special here for sure.” Glendening, a UofM grad, was skating on a line with two former Spartans, Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller. Here is what Miller had to say about the acheivement, also via redwings.nhl: “I think me and Abby might have been more excited, or I don’t know I was screaming in his face, Abby was yelling, it’s great for him to get that first goal finally. He’s been waiting for a while and I think the pressure was starting to get to him a little bit but it was a big goal at the time and I’m happy for him, he could get it.” Glendening offered some comments about his linemates: “I think it’s one, that’s a testament to college hockey and two, I think it’s just kind of the camaraderie built with this team and I think I got the biggest congratulations from those two. Yeah, you’re going to have some great battles in college but once you get on the same team you’re all working for the same goal.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Andreas Athanasiou Ready to Step Up to the NHL Having scored 49 goals for the Barrie Colts of the OHL this past season Andreas Athanasiou feels hes ready to make the next step and move up to the NHL. After his Colts were eliminated form the OHL playoffs he joined the Griffins and recorded one goal and two assists in two regular season games and had one assist over six playoff games. Athanasiou was drafted by the Wings in the fourth round in 2012, 110th overall. The 19 year old forward has bulked up in the two years since adding two inches and 21 pounds to reach 62 and 200#. He has a brother who is 64. He has been to development camp the past three years and is expected to be at Red Wings training camp this Septembre. He would definitely like to make the Wings but realizes that hes much more likely to be with the Griffins this upcoming season. Here are some comments from Athanasiou as reported by mlive: I think thats everyones expectation no matter how far or how close it is. Everyones expectation is to become a National Hockey League player. Thats what Im going to strive for. If I come up short, Im going to be ready for wherever I go next year. I think I have the ability to play in the NHL. Its just a matter of how soon. I dont think Ive grown in it. I think its something Ive always had in my game. Its just a matter of how much opportunity I had. If you look back at all my years, I think I produced exceptionally for the amount of ice time I got. With more opportunity, I made the most of it. Obviously, being a 16-year-old and 17-year-old, I didnt get much opportunity. If you look at the opportunity (compared) to the points and goals, I think it was exceptional. I was in Barrie last year and they gave me an unbelievable opportunity. I knew I was capable of it. I just knew with the opportunity Id make the most of it. He said this about his experience with the Griffins: I was a lot of fun. I got a taste of pro hockey. It gave me experience and let me know what it takes to be a professional. Its just one step closer to becoming the person I want to be and a National Hockey League player. Griffins head coach Jeff Blashill had this to say about Athanasiou, also via mlive: Andreas has great ability. I thought he was great in the development camp and he was great in the prospects tournament. He just needs to continue to learn all the little things it takes to be successful at the pro level. He has flashes of brilliances but it cant be just flashes. Its got to be consistent every day and I think hes getting better at that. But thats just part of the maturation process. Red Wings director of player development Jiri Fischer added his thoughts on Athanasiou via mlive: Hes certainly in the mix with Anthony Mantha. Tomas Nosek has already played on the world stage with the Czech Republic. Theres several forwards that are going to come to camp with big expectations. Somebody has to grab somebody elses job. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Information from redwings.nhl and mlive was used in compiling this post. BELEIVE! ~~Red
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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