The Malik Report

Today marked the start of the Red Wings' summer development camp in Traverse City, and judging by the number of "embedded" camera crews and accredited media, this ain't the little hidden gem I used to be able to attend, sometimes on my own, at Joe Louis Arena back in the day:

The attendance for the morning skates was fantastic, though the prospects took part in an hour's worth of very intense drills (after a little goalie warming-up from Jim Bedard, of course) for each of the respective "teams."

Frenetic pace + tons of speed = more than enough to get this vastly younger and "newer" set of summer campers into the mix before the team allowed a bunch of 17-to-24-year-olds do what 17-to-24-year-olds should do on the 4th of July--enjoy themselves and take advantage of the holiday in Traverse City (albeit under team supervision), and the drills should set up Saturday's simultaneous 9-to-9:45-AM practices and the 3 PM scrimmage nicely.

Julesring on Twitter pointed out that the Wings added a new wrinkle to the mix, perhaps due to the ginormous number of NCAA try-outs: in addition to Grifins coach Jeff Blashill and assistant coach Jim Paek, Red Wings video coordinator Keith McKittrick, Toledo Walleye coach Derek Lalonde and assistant coach Dan Watson (Nick Vitucci was in the stands as he remains with the Walleye organization), goalie coach Jim Bedard and his assistant, there was a new face in the crowd. The Wings have brought in RPI coach Seth Appert to oversee some of the NCAA try-outs.

Kris Draper, Ryan Martin and Jiri Fischer all watched the Wings' prospects take part in a remarkably hectic set of drills, but Alexey Marchenko was absent for undisclosed reasons. The Free Press's Helene St. James reported that Mike Babcock and Ken Holland will watch tomorrow's scrimmage, and while I'm not a fan of ditching a day of skill drills, the Wings' coaches and management certainly believe that scrimmages allow the prospects to get into a game-like atmopshere that tends to separate the men from the boys--and it definitely turns the, "Almost-no-contact" skill drills on their head, giving you a whole different "look" at the prospects. Two scrimmages for one fewer skill day? I'll take it.

Anyway, the media availabilities were VERY limited, and the Wings were given a leg up on everybody, so I kind of "came in late" to most of 'em.

First, Anthony Mantha spoke with DetroitRedWings.com's Bill Roose, and then the rest of us, about playing alongside Dylan Larkin, about his desire to make the Wings roster, his hopes regarding "turning pro," and eventually I was able to ask him some questions about his QMJHL title and Memorial Cup participation. I like the fact that he got ever-so-slightly testy when I asked him if he'd been checked at the Memorial Cup like he hadn't been checked before:

Those final questions meant that I came in a little late to Dylan Larkin's scrum, too. Larkin was already being asked when the Wings plan on asking him to turn pro, which seemed a little odd given that he's all of 17, but Larkin handled all of the questions with surprising aplomb, and he came off as someone who's been in the hockey spotlight since he was playing with Belle Tire as a 14-and-15-year-old and someone who'd played on the U.S. National Team. Smart kid, and I did manage to ask him about making an investment in himself by paying his own way up here--which all NCAA prospects have to do to retain their eligibility:

I got in on Andreas Athanasiou's scrum a little earlier, and he remains full of confidence in his own abilities as he "turns pro," but he also looks bigger and bulkier and speaks a little more softly than he used to. He and Zach Nastasiuk are pals, too, so I was able to ask him about both his pro aspirations, his training and he and Nastasiuk goofing around:

Tyler Bertuzzi's interview followed both the "scrum" format and was a little hard to hear given that the players started cranking up the stero, but he spoke about his second Major Junior season, returning from a neck injury to take part in the Guelph Storm's playoff run, perhaps adding a few more dimensions to his game and being one of the "older players" this time around (I asked Mantha and Athanasiou a similar question):

My talk with Tomas Nosek was also of the scrum variety, but I was able to ask him about how his contract with Detroit went down and what he thought of the camp thus far, as well as the fact that Richard Nedomlel's available to serve as a semi-translator (Nosek's English is OK):

I eventually got to speak with Dominic Turgeon on my own--I sacrificed an interview with Christoffer Ehn to do so--and Turgeon was very honest about his hockey background, playing for the Portland Winterhawks, the skills upon which he feels he needs to improve, his strengths as a player, his initial take on the Wings' system of play and his hockey allegiances as someone who grew up in Denver:

Update: Michigan Hockey's Tom Mitsos has already filed an article based upon Larkin's comments:

“I was pretty nervous,” Larkin said of coming into the development camp. “I didn’t really know many guys coming in. Just meeting people and getting comfortable.”

Larkin, a 6-foot, 190-pound winger from Waterford, Mich., has committed to the University of Michigan to play for coach Red Berenson. Most recently, he played for the United States National Under-18 team (with the National Team Development Program) where he scored 26 points (17 goals, nine assists) in 26 games. It was exactly one week ago that Larkin was drafted by the Red Wings, and he said he’s trying to get back into the swing of things after a weekend in Philadelphia. “Trying to get back into my routine as much as possible,” he said. “I took a little time to spend time with family and friends and let it soak in. Spend time in Philadelphia — I spent a few days there. Just seeing the city — it’s a great city.” Larkin said he’s trying to absorb everything he can while at this development camp and would like to focus on the details when it comes to his game. “The Red Wings have such a good coaching staff,” the 17-year-old said, “you take the things they say away and you really practice them and make them become good habits.”

Mistos continues...

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