RWC REPORT: Quincey waiting his turn

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / February 4, 2008

Detroit Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill calls it "getting-sent-down syndrome," and Kyle Quincey is trying to shake a case of it.

The 22-year-old defenseman has endured a difficult season in the American Hockey League after the Detroit Red Wings demoted him to the Grand Rapids Griffins out of training camp. Quincey had high expectations coming in after finishing last season with a 13-game playoff stint with the Red Wings.

"It's a bit of the getting-sent-down syndrome that a lot of our kids go through," Nill said. "We don't want him sitting in the press box. We want him playing. While that's good for us, try telling that to the kid. He'd rather be flying around in an airplane, living the good life. He had a slow start (after being demoted) but he's finally getting back to where he was."

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound third-year pro likely would be Detroit's first call-up in the event of injuries, even ahead of all-star Jonathan Ericsson. Quincey has two goals, seven assists, 71 penalty minutes and a minus-6 rating in 42 games.

"There have been stretches where he's been a force and stretches where we haven't noticed him," Griffins general manager Bob McNamara said. "When he asserts himself physically, the rest of his game takes off. He constantly has to be reminded to be physical and make that first pass. When he does that, he's very good."

Unless disaster strikes, Quincey's NHL time won't come until next year. The Red Wings boast a defence corps that is led by five-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom and ranked No. 1 in the NHL by The Hockey News.

Five of Detroit's seven defensemen are under contract for two more seasons, while the Red Wings have expressed an interest in re-signing the other two — Chris Chelios and Andreas Lilja. That doesn't leave any openings for next season, so something will have to give.

Quincey would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors next season, and the Red Wings are unlikely to risk that, just as they didn't with Derek Meech this season. Ericsson, it should be noted, is waiver exempt for another year, and is a virtual lock to start next season in Grand Rapids.

• Goaltender Jimmy Howard (Grand Rapids, AHL) has another waiver-exempt season, should the Red Wings not have room for him in 2008-09.
• Forward Jan Mursak (Belleville, Ontario Hockey League) had three goals and three assists this week. Mursak doesn't put many pucks in the net, so the scoring is nice to see. With 13 goals, he is unlikely to match last year's 27-goal total.
• Forward Dick Axelsson (Djurgarden, Swedish Elite League) continues to slump. He has a goal and three assists in his past 14 games.
• Forward Igor Grigorenko (Salavat Yulaev, Russian Elite League) has two goals and two assists in his last five games. It took him 16 games to produce the same numbers when he first returned to Russia, so this is a good sign.
• Forward Johan Ryno (Djurgarden, Swedish Elite League) has no goals and just two assists in his past 11 games. He started the year in Grand Rapids.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	48	6	15	21	48
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	49	7	8	15	26
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	47	6	7	13	20
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	46	3	10	13	46
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	44	3	9	12	44
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	43	6	4	10	16
Randall Gelech	Grand Rapids	AHL	42	5	5	10	27
Kyle Quincey	Grand Rapids	AHL	42	2	7	9	71
Johan Ryno	Grand Rapids	AHL	12	3	4	7	8
Igor Grigorenko	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	0	0	0	4
R U S S I A
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	49	2	11	13	34
Gennady Stolyarov	Moscow Dynamo	RUS	29	2	2	4	16
Igor Grigorenko	Salavat Yulaev	RUS	21	4	4	8	22
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SWE	36	8	10	18	30
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SWE	44	6	8	14	6
Johan Ryno	Djurgarden	SWE	19	1	5	6	12
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE	6	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	33	6	17	23	26
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SWE-J20	1	2	0	2	0
C H L
Jan Mursak	Belleville	OHL	44	13	38	51	23
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	49	16	30	46	65
Logan Pyett	Regina	WHL	46	17	25	42	40
Cory Emmerton	Brampton	OHL	38	17	25	42	10
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	49	11	22	33	22
N C A A
Justin Abdelkader	Michigan State	CCHA	29	13	12	25	65
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	21	2	10	12	26
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	25	3	0	3	6
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	22	1	2	3	6
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	14	1	1	2	6

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Daniel Larsson	Djurgarden	SWE	38	--	2.38	.917
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	16-18-2	2.64	.912

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL -- American Hockey League; RUS -- Russian Elite League; SWE -- Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 -- Swedish second level; SWE-J20 -- Swedish under-20 league; OHL -- Ontario Hockey League; WHL -- Western Hockey League; QMJHL -- Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; CCHA -- Central Collegiate Hockey Association; WCHA -- Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC -- East Coast Athletic Conference.