Detroit Red Wings Clips August 19, 2016 Detroit Red Wings PAGE 2 Detroit Red Wings exhibition game tickets available today PAGE 3 Larkin, Abdelkader earn their wings in test flight PAGE 5 Pair of Red Wings get 'a rush' flying in formation with Breitling Jet Team PAGE 7 Red Wings outlook: Darren Helm can fill multiple roles
Detroit Red Wings exhibition game tickets available today Detroit Free Press 12:22 a.m. EDT August 19, 2016 Tickets for Detroit Red Wings exhibition games go on sale at 10 a.m. today. It s the farewell season at Joe Louis Arena as the team relocates to Little Caesars Arena for 2017-18. The Wings four exhibition home games feature a game against the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, vs. the Boston Bruins at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 30, vs. the Chicago Blackhawks at 6 p.m. Oct. 2 and vs. Mike Babcock s Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. Oct. 8. Tickets can be purchased at the Joe Louis Arena box office (313-471-7575), all Ticketmaster (800-745-3000) outlets and at DetroitRedWings.com. The Wings open the regular season Oct. 13 at the Tampa Bay Lightning. The home opener is Oct. 17 vs. the Ottawa Senators. Detroit Free Press LOADED: 08.19.2016 2
Larkin, Abdelkader earn their wings in test flight Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News 8:35 p.m. EDT August 18, 2016 Belleville Justin Abdelkader wanted to be a jet fighter pilot when he was a youngster, racing the sky in breathtaking speed. Abdelkader got a taste of what it would be like Thursday at Willow Run Airport. Abdelkader and teammate Dylan Larkin flew with the Breitling Jet Team as part of a promotion for this weekend s Thunder Over Michigan Air Show at Willow Run. Absolutely it s a rush, Abdelkader said after the flight. It s real exciting, For myself, I always wanted to be a pilot when I was younger, always interested in aviation and flying jets, so any time I get an opportunity to do something like this, I jump at it. We had an air show in Muskegon and I would always kind of inspire me to be a jet fighter pilot. My career took a different turn but it was fun to experience that and to fly in formation, with all the jets together. Flying in formation, with all the intricacies involved, stood out as a highlight. That was probably the craziest part, Larkin said. You slow down, get into formation, and you come in tight real quick. Larkin s pilot allowed him to take control of the plane while it executed a barrel roll (a maneuver in which the plane makes a complete rotation). That was pretty surprising to do, it s not as easy as it looks, Larkin said. I was focused on looking down not looking at the air. What those guys is pretty incredible. When you bank out to the left, or to the right, you pick up some serious speed. You can definitely feel it in your stomach. Larkin s housemate Luke Glendening flew with the Blue Angels in years past and advised Larkin on what to expect. I m glad I ate and glad I went up, Larkin said. It s a lot of fun. It wasn t too bad. Abdelkader is a veteran with these flights, having also flown with the Blue Angels in the past. We did some rolls and flipped upside down, and it wasn t too bad, Abdelkader said. You just have to make sure, like I learned before, you have to breathe a certain way and a right way, and keep the blood in your head. This here, it gets your stomach churning a little bit and you feel lightheaded. I m pretty good on flights, but this is a little different. The two hockey players came through nicely, said Kevin Walsh, event director for Thunder Over Michigan. 3
They came back, had good color, a little sweaty but that s the way you should be after doing some aerodynamics in a Czech fighter jet, Walsh said. It s amazing to watch how close they (jets) actually get and it certainly shows the skill set of the pilots. Detroit News LOADED: 08.19.2016 4
Pair of Red Wings get 'a rush' flying in formation with Breitling Jet Team Ansar Khan August 18, 2016 YPSILANTI Flying hundreds of miles an hour while doing barrel rolls and banks in a formation of seven fighter jets separated by as little as six feet sounds physically and mentally taxing. It was, at times, for Detroit Red Wings Justin Abdelkader and Dylan Larkin. But they also described their ride along experience Thursday with the Breitling Jet Team as quite a rush. "Flying in formation was amazing," Abdelkader said. "I was fortunate to be in the lead jet, so I could look over the wings and see the rest of the team on the sides. Really unique, really great. We flew about 10,000 feet. Just doing the barrel rolls and looking over and seeing planes 10 feet from each other was pretty cool." The pair experienced typical maneuvers that the Breitling Jet Team will perform Saturday and Sunday during the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show at Willow Run Airport. "These guys did fantastic," Kevin Walsh, event director for Thunder over Michigan, said. "Someone said, 'They're hockey players, they should be able to handle this stuff.' This is such a different experience than you've ever experienced playing hockey. They came back, had good color, a little sweaty, but that's the way you should be after doing some aerobatics in a Czechoslovakian fighter jet." Abdelkader flew with the Blue Angels five years ago, so he knew a little of what to expect. "Knowing how to breathe on the plane kind of helps, squeezing the legs, trying to keep the blood in your head, because if you don't... I'd be curious to hear if anyone passed out," Abdelkader said. "We did a couple of barrel rolls, we flipped upside down and did a left turn." Said Larkin: "I actually got to do a barrel roll myself, take over control. I was just focused on looking down and not looking up in the air. What those guys do is pretty incredible. "When you bank to the left or to the right you pick up some serious speed. When we were coming over to the airport to land, that was pretty fast, you could definitely feel it in your stomach and your chest." Larkin called being so close to other jets "the craziest part." "When you slow down to get into formation you come in tight really quick," he said. "It's pretty intense." Walsh said the pinpoint precision demonstrates the skill-set of the pilots. "I've done formation work before and it's absolutely amazing to watch how close they get," Walsh said. "These guys have been flying all their lives. It is something that is a lot 5
more exhilarating when you're doing a loop and you have a jet on either side of you and one above you. "When you see them this weekend at the air show you'd be amazed at how close they fly. You could see that when they took off, they started to form up right away. They're within six feet of the other jet. You're (flying) hundreds of miles an hour, six feet apart and you're dealing with bumpy air and changing texture. These guys are such pros, they just hold that line and fly in formation, watching each other's jet carefully. It's a skill-set that very few people can master." The Breitling Jet Team is the world's largest civilian aerobatic display team, comprised of seven L-39C Albatros, Czech-made twin-seat aircrafts based out of Dijon, France. The jets can reach speeds of 750 kilometers per hour during level flight and 910 kilometers per hour during dives. Michigan Live LOADED: 08.19.2016 6
Red Wings outlook: Darren Helm can fill multiple roles Ansar Khan (Another in a series of player profiles prior to training camp.) Darren Helm Position: Center/left wing Age: 29 Height/Weight: 6-0/196 2015-16 stats: 77 games, 13 goals, 13 assists, 26 points, minus-2 rating, 32 penalty minutes; (playoffs) five games, one goal, no assists, one point, minus-1 rating, six penalty minutes. Career stats: 443 games, 72 goals, 90 assists, 162 points, plus-10 rating, 112 penalty minutes; (playoffs) 82 games, 11 goals, 10 assists, 21 points, minus-7 rating, 28 penalty minutes. Contract status: Entering a five-year deal with a cap hit of $3.85 million. 2015-16 in review: Scored 12 or more goals for the third year in a row.... Recorded three two-goal games.... Scored 10 of his 13 goals, including all three of his gamewinners, at home.... Had no goals in his first 21 games (three assists) before scoring on Dec. 3 vs. Arizona.... Scored in overtime vs. the Rangers on March 12.... Tied for fourth on team in shots on goal (165).... Average of 2.14 shots per game his highest since 2010-11 (2.16).... Career-high nine shots on Feb. 12 vs. Colorado.... Averaged 43 seconds per game on the power play, as a net presence, but had no power-play points.... Average time on penalty kill of 1:48 was fifth among forwards.... Averaged 15:04 per game in regular season and 13:02 in the playoffs.... Posted minus rating for first time since 2009-10.... Won 50.6 percent of faceoffs (39-of-77).... Fourth in hits (165).... Missed all of the preseason and the first four regular season games due to a concussion and separated shoulder from a violent collision with prospect Jerome Verrier during first day of training camp.... Appeared in 400th game on Dec. 31. 2016-17 outlook: The Red Wings showed how much they value Helm's speed, tenacity and versatility by giving him big money and a lot of term for someone who's played on the third line most of his career and probably won't provide more offense than he has the past few seasons. Now they must determine how best to utilize him. He expressed concern about his role and ice time after the season, when he was moved freely up and down the lineup. Two years ago, Helm played much of the season in a top-six capacity, on the wing on a line with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar. It was a unit Jeff Blashill turned to at times last season. Helm can play third-line center or on the wing. He can play the net-front role on the power play if there is an injury. He is a regular on the penalty kill. 7
Helm generates a lot of scoring chances with his skating ability and forechecking and gets the puck on the net, but he's not a good finisher. He needs to continue to focus on slowing the game down and realizing he has more time with the puck. Durability has been a concern in the past, but after a couple of injury-plagued seasons, Helm has logged 75 and 77 games in each of the past two seasons. Key question: Will Helm return to his familiar third-line center role or remain on the wing? Michigan Live LOADED: 08.19.2016 8