Former Red Wings Prospect Turning Heads in Sweden

The Detroit Red Wings made the decision not to qualify forward prospect Wojciech Stachowiak, who played last season for the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. That decision made Stachowiak an unrestricted free agent.

And the Swedish club Örebro will be forever grateful that the Wings made that choice.

It’s still early in Stachowiak’s tenure with the SHL club. Still, the Polish-born German Olympian is quickly turning heads.

In his Örebro debut, he scored a highlight-reel goal.

“Oh my God, what a goal he scores,” Örebro teammate Patrik Karlkvist told Swedish website NA.se. Stachowiak has quickly made a good impression on his new teammate.

“First of all, he’s a great guy,” Karlkvist said. “Very positive and happy and easily fits into the team.

“Then he has hockey in him. You could see that from the very beginning.

He’ll only get better and better the longer it goes on.”

During his time with the Red Wings, Hall of Famer Igor Larionov was part of the famed Russian Five. He won three Stanley Cups while wearing the Winged Wheel.

Larionov’s triple-OT goal in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes was key to helping Detroit win that series.

You may not recall Larionov’s Detroit home debut. Evidently, neither does he.

Larionov was referencing his first home game with the Red Wings following the KHL season debut of SKA St. Petersburg, the team he coaches. Despite committing 28 turnovers, SKA beat Lada 4-3 in overtime.

“The first game is always difficult, no matter the level,” Larionov said on the SKA website. “You know, if we’re talking about hockey, let’s say, in my time, the first match at my home stadium, Joe Louis Arena, wasn’t the best.”

Not the best? Really, Igor?

For the record, Larionov’s home debut with the Red Wings was against the Dallas Stars on November 11, 1995. He scored a goal and an assist in a 5-1 Detroit victory.

Apparently, in The Professor’s reckoning, that’s not a very good performance.

Say this about the man: He has very high standards.

Or he’s very forgetful.

We’ve all gotten the breakup text. It’s never easy to take, even when you’re the president of a professional hockey team.

Last season, not long after signing with the Red Wings, forward Eduards Tralmaks also agreed to a futures pact with Karlovy Vary of the Czech Extraliga. It was basically a commitment that he’d join that club if things didn’t work out for him in North America.

Yet, when summer came and the Red Wings let him go, Tralmaks had a change of heart.

“I received an SMS that he doesn’t want to play for us,” Karlovy Vary executive Daniel Tobolka told Czech website iSport.

Karlovy Vary dealt Tralmaks’ Czech rights to Kladno for an undisclosed sum of cash.

“We came out of it absolutely great,” Tobolka said. “Really like winners.”

Then it was Kladno getting the breakup text. Tralmaks signed with the Edmonton Oilers.