The Daily: Special Night for Chelios in Chicago; Ruff Accepts Blame in NJ

Chicago Hockey Now’s Nate Brown called the Chris Chelios jersey retirement celebration a “stirring ceremony.” It was clearly a special night for a player who is from the Chicago area.

Even though Chelios was a Red Wings defenseman for many seasons, Detroit fans probably don’t begrudge Chelios having some fun about wearing both jerseys during his career. He made some jokes about it during his speech that landed pretty well.

“The afternoon belonged to Chelios and as the No. 7 rose to the rafters,” Brown wrote, “The crowd roared its approval. Safe to say, he’s one of them again–and forever.”

Chelios paid homage to Patrick Kane as well. He was playing his first game in Chicago since being traded last season. He noted that Kane will also have his number retired in Chicago some day. Kane appreciated the shout-out.

“It’s great,” Kane said. “He’s been a great friend for a long time. I think everyone that knows Cheli knows he’s a legend and he’s definitely deserving of this honor. So it was nice to sit out there and hear his speech and hear his journey. Obviously, great for him to mention me, too. That was a nice touch.”

Red Wings In Case We Missed It

• Patrick Kane enjoys memorable return to Chicago, scoring an overtime goal to lift the Red Wings to a win they probably didn’t deserve.
• Detroit prospect goalie Trey Augustine is up for a major award in college hockey
• The Red Wings have 24 games remaining. How many will Alex Lyon play? We make a projection in this paywall story. We are trying to increase our subscription base to keep the website viable. If you can help, sign up here. We will give you $10 off. Use the promo code: kevin10.
• Thanks to the performance of top Red Wings prospects, the Grand Rapids Griffins extended their points streak to 15 games with an important win against Milwaukee. Sebastian Cossa made 37-6 7 saves.

Red Wings Next Game

The Red Wings play the wild card-contending Washington Capitals Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m.). They play the New York Islander at home Thursday. Detroit owns a nine point lead over Washington and a 10-point gap over New York. They could provide themselves with comfort by sweeping these two contests. The Red Wings boast a five-game winning streak.

Hockey Now Network

Philadelphia: Flyers prospect Matvei Michkov falls just short of KHL scoring record. Philadelphia Flyers. 

Pittsburgh: The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Flyers 7-6 in a chaotic game that puts the Penguins playoff fate back in their hands.

New Jersey: Coach Lindy Ruff accepts responsibility for the New Jersey Devils‘ poor play this season.

San Jose: Nico Sturm still believes he’s in the San Jose Sharks plans, but he’s ready for anything.

Vegas: Overrun by injuries, the Vegas Golden Knights have inquired about what it would take to land Jake Guentzel.