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What’s that they say about one door closing and another one opening? Monday, when the Grand Rapids Griffins were eliminated from the AHL Calder Cup playoffs by the Manitoba Moose, Griffins defenseman Filip Hronek figured his season was over.
Tuesday, his hockey campaign was granted an extension. Both Hronek and fellow Grand Rapids defenseman Libor Sulak were added to the Czech Republic roster for the upcoming world championship.
It’s a chance to Hronek to measure himself against some of the best players in the world in what has been a breakthrough rookie pro campaign for the Detroit Red Wings prospect.
Hronek, 20, picked 53rd by Detroit in the 2016 NHL entry draft, led all Grand Rapids defensemen with 11-28-39 totals. The six foot, 178-pound Hronek also posted a team-best plus-24 rating. No other Grand Rapids player was better than plus-12.
“He exceeded my expectations,” Grand Rapids coach Todd Nelson told Detroitredwings.com. “I knew he was going to be good, but I didn’t think he’d develop as quick as he has.”
Only seven AHL defensemen scored more goals than Hronek and just eight accumulated more points.
“It was a tremendous first season for him,” Nelson said. “He really put himself on the map with the organization. (Detroit coach) Jeff Blashill’s been here, (GM) Ken (Holland), (assistant GM) Ryan (Martin), they’ve been watching a lot of our games and he’s putting himself in a good opportunity to play some National Hockey League games next year.
“It’ll be up to him at training camp to see where he’s at.”
Like all rookies, the plan was to bring Hronek along slowly, but when Ryan Sproul was traded to the New York Rangers in late October, the door swung wide open. Hronek jumped through with both skates and didn’t look back.
“The start of every season, when you have young players and you’re blending them in, he wasn’t a regular at the start,” Nelson said. “Then once Ryan Sproul got traded, that made room for him to step in.
“He steadily improved and just when I thought maybe in February that he capped out with his improvement, he took it to a whole different level.”
Hronek gives much of the credit for his rapid rise to the help he garnered from some of the veterans on the club.
“I learned a lot,” Hronek said. “A big thank you for (defenseman Brian) Lashoff and (goaltender) Tommy McCollum. They helped me a lot. They learned me how to be pro.”
Larkin Scores
Wings center Dylan Larkin, working a line between Patrick Kane and Anders Lee, scored a goal as the USA beat Denmark 3-2 in a pre-world tourney exhibition game Tuesday in Herning, Denmark.
“This was a good team win in a fun atmosphere,” Blashill, coach of the 2018 U.S. Men's National Team, told USAhockey.com. “We were able to play different line combinations and evaluate some of our special teams play, which was great. What's important going forward is that we continue to build our game.”
The United States opens tournament play Friday when it faces Canada at 10:15 a.m. ET. That contest, along with every U.S. tournament game, will be televised live on NHL Network.
Seat Sale
Seats from Joe Louis Arena will soon be on sale to the general public. The web site TheJoeSeats.com began selling seats from the old home of the Red Wings today.
Season ticket holders get first dibs, with access to a pre-sale from May 1-11. The seats will go on sale to the general public on May 12.
To purchase their exact seats, season ticket holders will pay $200 apiece. General seating goes for $150. There is a limit of two seats per customer.
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