Detroit Red Wings Clips August 11, 2016

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1 Detroit Red Wings Clips August 11, 2016 Detroit Red Wings PAGE 2 Detroit Red Wings want Petr Mrazek to show consistency, durability PAGE 3 ESPN's Jemele Hill: John Saunders was a 'real champion' PAGE 4 Ray Whitney is getting an unexpected Olympic experience PAGE 6 Red Wings outlook: Niklas Kronwall trying to bounce back from knee issues

2 Detroit Red Wings want Petr Mrazek to show consistency, durability Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press 4:26 p.m. EDT August 10, 2016 The NHL is in its quieter days, offering a fine opportunity to take a look at individual Detroit Red Wings and assess expectations for the coming season. Looking at : with a 2.33 goals-against average and.921 save percentage in 54 games played (49 starts). Went 1-2 n the playoffs with a 1.36 GAA and.945 save percentage. Looking at money: Signed through at an annual average value of $4 million. Actual salary next season is $3.85 million. Looking back: After two months of largely alternating starts with Jimmy Howard, Mrazek emerged as the No. 1 goaltender when he surged as Howard struggled. On the day he turned 24, Feb. 14, Mrazek had allowed just 16 goals in his last 13 starts, generating a.933 save percentage and 1.94 goals-against average that both ranked first among NHL goaltenders who had played at least 25 games. Ironically enough, his birthday coincided with Mrazek suddenly taking a dramatic tumble. He allowed 10 goals his next two starts. By the end of the season he d lost the starting job to Howard. Mrazek reappeared by Game 3 of the series against Tampa Bay, delivering a shutout, then gave up three goals in Game 4. In Game 5, he was directly responsible for the turnover that ended the series. Looking ahead: The Wings have Mrazek pegged as their goaltender of the future, but the sides differed enough in their evaluation of Mrazek s value that the Wings filed for arbitration (a settlement was reached on the day of the hearing). There are concerns about Mrazek s durability and consistency, to which the Wings hope he delivers reassuring answers next season. Goaltending coach Jeff Salajko was promoted from Grand Rapids to the Detroit job, reflecting Salajko s history with Mrazek dating to the start of the season. Mrazek lacks for neither confidence nor skill, and just needs to keep developing and show better consistency and durability. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

3 ESPN's Jemele Hill: John Saunders was a 'real champion' Vince Ellis, Detroit Free Press 4:12 p.m. EDT August 10, 2016 Longtime ESPN broadcaster John Saunders has died at the age of 61 ESPN personality Jemele Hill learned something new about John Saunders last Friday in Washington: Saunders was once a country-rock disc jockey. I had no idea that was the case, Hill told the Free Press with a rueful chuckle over the phone this afternoon. It s a bittersweet memory for Hill because the National Association of Black Journalists gathering will mark the last time she is graced with the ESPN legend s presence. Saunders died this morning at the age of 61, stunning sports fans across the nation who grew up watching Saunders. You can include Hill, a Detroit native and former Free Press sports writer, among those fans. Hill, the co-host of ESPN2 s His and Hers, learned of Saunders death shortly before the live airing of her show. Tears were visible as Hill and co-host Michael Smith spoke of Saunders impact. Hill called the show her toughest moment on TV and compared the experience to when popular ESPN personality Stuart Scott died of cancer in But the suddenness made this tragedy different. In this situation, we found out about an hour and a half before we supposed to go on television and it clearly caught us off-guard, Hill said. Making it even more impactful and more upsetting is I was just with John Saunders on Friday. He attended NABJ, we were on a panel to talk about our career journeys, and it was kind of cool because I learned a lot of things about John I didn t know, despite working with him for years. Hill said he looked fine, but was aware of some health challenges Saunders faced in recent years. Hill joined ESPN in 2006 and, within a couple of years, she drew a coveted assignment, serving as a panelist for the iconic Sunday morning program, The Sports Reporters. Saunders, the long-time host, immediately made Hill feel welcome. John Saunders, for as much a versatile broadcaster he s known as being, behind closed doors he was a real champion of a lot of people there, Hill said. He had conversations with Mike and I privately about our career paths there. He was always interested in how he could help us. He wanted his real legacy to be somebody who helped to pave the way for others especially people of color. One of the reasons he was at NABJ and wanted to do this panel with me is because he had a real sense of what this business is like for us, and he wanted people to know that he was there for them. 3

4 Ray Whitney is getting an unexpected Olympic experience Luke DeCock, Raleigh News & Observer (TNS) 10:51 a.m. EDT August 10, 2016 RIO DE JANEIRO The call never came from Canada, not after Ray Whitney twice scored 32 goals in the NHL, not ever. And when his Olympic invitation finally came, in the wrong half of the calendar, he turned it down at first. When Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet invited his Arizona neighbor to serve as his caddy for the inaugural Olympic golf tournament, Whitney was worried about spending time away from his family and passed. When the former Detroit Red Wings forward told his wife, Brijet, that he declined, she scoffed and told him: You re going. Or I m going. So Whitney, now a Carolina Hurricanes scout, finally made the Olympics, sort of, on DeLaet s bag for the tournament after DeLaet s regular caddy bowed out a newlywed concerned about Zika. I mean, it s not how I thought I d get to the Olympics, said Whitney, who played for the Wings in , as part of a 22-season career. But he s in Brazil, after a Spokane, Wash.-Phoenix-New York-Rio travel odyssey, arriving in time to catch the swimming Monday night. On Tuesday morning, he was carrying DeLaet s bag during a nine-hole practice round as the two got to know the course, and each other. Playing against each other back home is one thing. A playercaddy partnership is something else entirely, equal parts marriage, servitude and therapy. Whitney always envisioned himself wearing Team Canada gear on the ice, not a Team Canada golf shirt and hat, but trying to make the Olympics as a Canadian hockey player is like trying to make it as an American women s basketball player. If you re not in the th percentile, you have almost no shot, no matter how many goals you score. He was a pretty good player, though, with 385 goals and 1,064 points in 1,330 career games before he retired in He s not bad with a golf club, either. Now spending most of his year in Arizona, where he and DeLaet are members at the same club and live nearby, he had his handicap index down to plus-1.8 recently, before it bounced back to plus-0.8. In 2001, Whitney tried to qualify for the U.S. Open but had been traded and wasn t playing much. After posting an 88, he received a terse letter from the USGA, inviting him not to attempt it again. I played with two mini-tour guys, and we all shot in the 80s, so it didn t feel that bad, Whitney said. But DeLaet has seen him at his best typically, Whitney asks for three strokes a side, while DeLaet offers two and thought Whitney not only would keep him loose on the course but knew DeLaet s game and was a good enough player to think it through with him. Whitney once even had a 6-foot putt to beat DeLaet, but it rimmed out. ( I was pretty happy to see that one miss, DeLaet said.) 4

5 Plus, having been a professional athlete and a Stanley Cup champion, DeLaet figured Whitney would bring a unique perspective to his bag in a unique event. I wanted a Canadian with me and I was kind of running through the names and thought it would be a lot of fun, DeLaet said. He s a guy who s got experience winning, a real positive guy who likes to have a lot of fun. That s really what I was looking for as a renta-caddy for the week. It will be a work in progress. There s the mental side of it, but caddying is a subtly difficult task for the uninitiated. On the first hole of DeLaet s first practice round, Whitney dropped his towel, the cardinal sin of any caddy (followed closely by losing a headcover). The rest of the group quickly pointed it out, but Whitney s contributions largely will be mental, not technical, anyway. He knows I know how to play the game, Whitney said. He s going to read his own putts. But I can talk strategy with him, keep him loose. It s no different than when I was in the locker room, trying to keep Roddie (Brind Amour) loose. Brind Amour s competitive edge was notorious. If Whitney can find a way to poke a hole in that, DeLaet shouldn t pose much of a challenge on the golf course. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

6 Red Wings outlook: Niklas Kronwall trying to bounce back from knee issues Ansar Khan By Ansar Khan on August 10, 2016 at 6:04 AM, updated August 10, 2016 at 10:30 AM (Another in a series of player profiles prior to training camp) Niklas Kronwall Position: Defense Age: 35 Height/Weight: 6-0/ stats: 64 games, three goals, 23 assists, 26 points, minus-21 rating, 30 penalty minutes; (playoffs) five games, no goals, one assist, one point, plus-3 rating, eight penalty minutes. Career stats: 738 games, 74 goals, 291 assists, 365 points, plus-21 rating, 456 penalty minutes; (playoffs) 109 games, five goals, 42 assists, 47 points, plus-25 rating, 89 penalty minutes. Contract status: Three years remaining at a cap hit of $4.75 million in review: Posted lowest goal and points totals (minimum 60 games) since Did not score a power-play goal for the first time since Third on club in power-play assists (14).... Averaged career-low 0.95 shots per game.... Led club in average ice time (22:01).... Only Red Wing to average more than two minutes per game on both the power play (2:51) and penalty kill (2:14).... Posted team- and career-worst plus-minus rating.... Was minus-16 in 31 road games and minus-5 in 33 home games.... One playoff point and average ice time of 21:52 were career lows in the postseason.... Third on team with 81 blocked shots.... Appeared in 700th game on Dec Missed 15 games from Jan. 20 to Feb. 21 due to arthroscopic surgery on left knee.... Missed three games from March (sprained right knee) outlook: The team's workhorse defenseman struggled through his worst season. Some of it was due to his age, but a knee issue that hounded him from the start of the season, requiring surgery in January, also contributed significantly. He was slower, not as offensively inclined and didn't step up to deliver the occasional crushing hit, not surprising considering his health and age. It was determined after the season that another procedure wouldn't solve his knee issues, so he is relying on rest and training. His role needs to be reduced. His ice time must be trimmed and he could use the occasional game off on back-to-back nights, especially considering he is playing for Sweden in the World Cup. He wasn't nearly as effective on the power play and needs to be moved to the second unit while Mike Green mans the point on the top unit. It also wouldn't hurt to reduce his minutes on the penalty kill. 6

7 If Kronwall remains paired with Jonathan Ericsson, they're not likely to be matched up as often against top lines. Key question: Will knee issues continue to hound Kronwall? Michigan Live LOADED: