Episode 279 – Talking Griffins & Red Wings with Coach Dan Watson!

Episode 279 – Talking Griffins & Red Wings with Coach Dan Watson!

ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to announce that smooth sack summer is officially upon us when you’re playing in the Summer sun make sure you’re groomed from pubes to bum thanks to our friends at manscaped you can make this season your smoothest yet the performance package 5.0 Ultra is the ultimate bundle to keep your boys downstairs cool while looking hot join the 10 million men worldwide who trust manscape with our exclusive offer get 20% off plus free shipping when you go to manscape.com and use code tpn summertime and the trimming is easy the manscape performance package 5.0 Ultra has everything you need to prepare that summer bod inside this package you’ll find the star of the show The Lawnmower 5.0 Ultra their fifth generation trimmer features two interchangeable nextg skin safe blade heads a standard one for taking a little off the top and a new foil blade to go smooth wherever your heart desires now that you have the perfect haircut use manscapes Liquid formulations to keep the freshness even at the hottest summer barbecues the crop Suther aftershave lotion and crop preserver anti-chafe ball deodorant once they touch your sack you’ll never go back get 20% off plus free shipping with code tpn manscape.com that’s 20% off plus free shipping with code tpn manscape.com it’s smooth sack summer boys get on board or get left behind what’s up and welcome to another episode of the grindline podcast us link to episode 279 I am your host Greg I’m here tonight with Ryan and tonight we have a very special guest we have head coach of the Grand Rapids Griffins Dan Watson Dan thank you for joining us tonight how are you doing no I’m doing great and thanks for having me on like I told you guys earlier I listen to you guys and appreciate the coverage you provide uh you know the Griffins fans and and Walley fans and uh Red Wings fans so uh you know it’s it’s a pleasure to be on here yeah I also want to say Happy Father’s Day like just thank you how was your Father’s Day awesome awesome obviously uh you know it’s nice being at home and uh we’re able to have my wife’s family over um hung around the pool all day that’s was kind of a relaxing day but it was a nice day weather was perfect yeah beautiful pool weather before it hits the mid 90s in Michigan here and everyone’s just sweating to death exactly it’s gonna hit it’s gonna hit Ohio the same way it was hot one today awful uh so we got Dan on to talk a little bit about the Griffin season uh the prospects that are coming up and uh Ryan had a question too while we’re in here talking about it but I just kind of want to kick it off with it was your first season with the Griffins uh it didn’t maybe go as well as everyone expected it went really well for what we were last season um but just kind of what were your impressions on your first season the group of guys on how you kind of what kind of approach you took to the first season coaching there yeah you know what I enjoyed it I really did I thought uh speaking about the group of guys I that we had a great group of guys uh you know good people good teammates uh the biggest thing at the start of the year was you know we wanted to make play two two goals that I always start with at start of every year no matter what team it is and that’s become a team as fast we possibly can uh because usually get off to a good start things are rolling uh and they make playoffs you know and once you get that opportunity in the playoffs then you you know then you can create different goals but um you know you can add goals throughout the year too you know if you’re close to a division a conference uh a league championship for the regular season you can start adding those types of goals in too but the first two are really important to me um I I think we got off to a slow start uh in terms of wins how we wanted to play uh yelling together as a team both on and off the ice and um you know it took time it took time to to get that going organically it wasn’t we don’t want to force it on guys didn’t want to force them um you know too much it was more of let’s let’s make these friendships let’s get the trust let’s get the respect happening organically you didn’t want to force it so uh you know but once Christmas hit I I could feel it before Christmas I could see in our play maybe the results weren’t exactly what we wanted but I think those four games heading into Texas I started to see some really good things and uh you know now we need to do that more on a consistent level consistent basis I think everyone you know I’ve talked about it at length after Christmas we became a different team uh players became different players after Christmas and I think it it took those first couple months just to figure everybody out figure out our whole new coaching staff um how things are going to be run maybe the differences and changes from the year previous to this year and how I wanted things run and our staff wanted things run so it wasn’t smooth sailing off the start let’s put it that way but once we got going I felt we got into a good Rhythm and and certainly enjoyed the learning process the learning curves and the university were thrown our way early on and I think that helped the helped us be a little bit stronger mentally helped us build resiliency as as everyone could see the the last half of the year we had a lot of third period comebacks yeah and that’s that doesn’t happen by accident and and I I do believe that and I think our guys that are really good job of becoming a team uh making playoffs and making a good run at it yeah you mentioned that kind of slow leadup uh to December and there was like there were a couple stretches of that you strung together some losses and that goes to like was there like anytime you can pinpoint like hey this is the Pivot Point like an inflection point or was it just like you said it almost Mir mirrored the red wi situation from the previous year you get a whole new staff you get a whole you bring in five six seven new guys is it just them all jelling together or was there any point you can point to and say that is the switch that flipped to get the season on track yeah I think there was some games before the Texas Series right before Christmas uh playing Toronto four times the two games in Belleville um you know we got to you know wasn’t pretty wasn’t pretty game one in Belleville uh game two real proud of our guys for the balance back effort but I think we could see how hard it is uh our younger players could see how hard it is uh maybe the experienced guys realized how much we need our younger guys in the lineup to to get going as well um and then really we talked we talked a lot before we had that four game series against Texas and I think as a staff we talked that this could be this could be really good or it could go really bad Texas had our number there and and uh you know it went well again the results weren’t there but the way we played so I I I really look back and I look at kind of that series that we went to Toronto that kind of weekl long trip and then going down you know having that four game stretch against really turned our mindset around of how hard it’s going to be and what we need to do and how we need to play to have success the AHL I feel has quite a bit more turnover than the NHL has you’re you’re bringing up guys from maybe from the ECHL you’re sending guys off to the pros you’ve got to make a lot of Trades you carry several goalies how closely are you following the guys that are coming in uh that may be a new crop of guys you have coming in in the system to potentially make the Griffin Squad next season yeah I think we’re we we follow along pretty close um you know we know probably who who’s expected to turn pro um you know now it’s waiting to see who they’re going to sign uh you know and again that’s sort of out of our control right now but once they do you know we obviously with with video at our our fingertips right now and and all the different types of software out there we can get as much information we possibly can on these guys so we know them pretty well we know their game um we know their personalities make sure we talk to them get to know them development Camp’s important if there’s any guys that have potential to be on the Griffins team next year or or turning pro um we want to know them we want to get to know them as quickly as we can and how they tick and what makes them work and what makes them operate that’s that’s my job and uh so I’m excited I’m always excited when there’s uh new players coming into the fold and see where they’re going to fit within the lineup see what they’re going to fit within our team and excited for the possibility of all the guys that could be coming back too and you know it makes it uh makes it exciting for hopefully not the same start we had last year maybe a quicker start uh to get us on the right foot but yeah we’re always paying attention we’re always kept up to date with communication from Detroit of of the potential players we’re going to have and um then it’s it’s time for us to do our homework so not much of a summer vacation no no and you know what though it’s it is nice you do get some downtime one of the big differences that people ask me all the time like in the EO you’re constantly recruiting uh you’re your calling agents you’re calling players you’re getting character references and now all those phone calls stop but they’re different it’s different work it’s hockey work it’s watching vide it’s Wasington Stanley Cup finals and playoffs in a different way all the American League finals right now going on in the semifinals you know the uh conference championships we’re looking at that in a different way and so it’s fun you know and that’s the best part of the job is you got to get up and you got to enjoy it you got to want to learn do you ever get your way and say kind of like hey I want that guy on my team next year you go to stepen say Steve send him over like we want him in Grand Rapids no I think it’s it’s types of players you know and um there there’s obviously certain types of players that they like there’s certain types of players I like there’s there’s commonality between that though we everyone knows the type of players the type of Team you need to blend you need to mix you can’t have all one type of player and um so as as the teams being put together uh whether that’s with prospects with experienced players veteran type guys then you got to start filling in those holes and that’s a really tough job you know you’re trying to balance um you know how much ice time they’re going to get and where they’re going to play and and what type of role they’re going to play and so uh you know Sean horof and Steve they do a great job of uh you know they did a really good job last year of providing us a team that allowed us to have success we did yeah I think Ryan had a question about kind of the development path yes so kind of piggyback on that I mean is there a difference in the guys that you’re seeing coming in say that are coming out straight from the CHL or the NCAA or from Europe for instance yeah I think you know what from the CHL they they play a very similar schedule you know whether it’s three and three whether it’s backto backs you know some of those midweek games at times um the NCAA guys are playing 40ish games uh give or take a few here and there if they make the the the final tournament or not um and they’re they’re basically playing Friday Saturday same team every time so some of the some of the differences are that some of the similarities for the NCAA guys they they typically play the same team back to back and we do that a lot in Grand Rapids whether it’s Texas coming in Manitoba Iowa so we get those back to backs they know what they’re up against every single time which I like um you know I think at times you get a little bit more mature player from the NCAA route they’re a little bit older at times um you know I I know the routines and how they operate they’ve got a a strict schedule they have schooling they’ve got their workouts they’ve got their hockey so they’re already used to that the biggest thing of those young guys is when they turn pro you know we practice at 11 they do a workout either before or after um it’s what do they do with the rest of their day and you don’t want them just going home and laying on the couch the rest of the day playing video games all all day they’ve got to find things to do uh and that’s the biggest thing I think for these young guys coming out is number one a lot of some of these guys haven’t lived on their own especially the CHL guys they live with billets you know a lot of these billets help them out and they whether they cook for them whether they you know they they do a lot of things for them they help them out and they go into these CHL teams as as young men I’d say 16 17 years old and now they’re 19 20 years old it’s a big chunk of their life an important part of their life um and now they got to figure out how to do all that stuff on their own and so I think that first month month and a half they’re really trying to figure out they’ve got to go get an apartment there’s a lot of stuff happening outside of hockey that they have to focus on and you want to try and get them to put that away when they walk through the doors of the locker room but that is hard to do for the NCAA guys whether they’ve lived in a house or they’ve had some roommates before uh they’ve probably had to cook on their own unless you’re going eating the meal the cafeteria every single day uh but you know what they they do they come out a little bit more mature on the outside of the rink type aspects and then European guys I think it’s it’s a Well documented and known fact it’s it’s the smaller ice it’s how things happen a little bit quicker um they’ve got to really make that adjustment on the ice versus off the ice yes it’s a different cult coming to North America uh but these guys seem to find a way to figure out a lot of them come over and they’re good Cooks already for some reason I don’t know what they’re doing over there but we had a lot of young guys cooking some good food and uh especially European guys so they’re all different for sure there’s definitely differences there are some similarities when they turn pro but I think the biggest thing is just getting uh acclimated and and used to things that happen off the ice which I think is a big part of it yeah the the cooking piece makes me kind of chuckle because you see the videos that the wings will put out for training camp up in Traver City and all the cooking classes they have everybody going through so you got to think that that’s like a mindblowing moment for some of those younger guys right yeah you got to make sure the chicken’s not pink guys before you eat it we had uh going back a few years in Toledo there we did we had a couple guys there all of a sudden a game on Friday Saturday night and they were showing up and food poisoning well what did you guys have we cooked chicken well was it pink on the inside well yeah it was fine though it tasted good I’m like yeah yeah you know you gotta make sure that’s done so you know have medium rare chicken no that’s important and that’s why the Red Wings do a great job of developing camp they’re trying to open these guys to open their eyes to new things that are going to be hitting them hard and coming their way quickly as they turn grow so you mentioned the training with the NCAA guys do you think that the way over the last maybe even just five to 10 years that the NCA is going with the competitive nature and how it seems to be growing at a high rate do you think it’s passing a league like the CHL and other junior level hockey for the way they’re putting emphasis on training in the facilities like you see Penn State for instance and the money that they’ve put into their a brand new program essentially and it’s amazing top tier like it’s could argue better than some minor league teams like it’s it’s impressive yeah I mean I don’t know all the ins and out of that I haven’t been around that that type of thing in a long time and and for me I mean you see the money they have building those programs and some of the resources that they have and the facilities they have you mentioned some are probably better than than some of the NHL teams right now I don’t know you know you look at North Dakota and the oh you know you look at the locker room tour if you go online you look at all the stuff that they have and it’s unbelievable to see the resources they have but um I think the elite CHL players are still really good hockey players they’re getting drafted playing the NHL right away at 18 years old and I to me it’s if you’re a good hockey player you’re going to found no matter where you’re at whatever route you take you’re going to someone’s going to see you there’s so many scouts out there and as long as those guys are doing their jobs they’re going to find you and uh you know and again it’s everyone’s different everyone’s got a different way to go and you know one kid might not be suited for the CHL but they going to excel the NCAA and same then vice versa so um you know again it’s it’s not advice but it’s my my think is if you’re a good hockey player you’re going to be found and uh just make sure you’re doing a good job where you’re playing yeah I think it’s to your to your point where you see a lot of guys from the CHL who do get drafted and then they do go to the NCAA and maybe it is to learn some of those life skills they go like you said man I’ve never cooked before I’ve never lived by myself so maybe it is a little easier for them to go there and play hockey and learn how to play so you learn and play at a lower level before you jump right into like the AHL from the CHL and then still have to learn how to like live life like an adult at the same time that’s got to be like super stressful it is it is I think that’s part of the maturing proc process for these for these young guys you know and um we saw it firsthand this year uh and guys didn’t struggle with it it was just a is part of life they hadn’t had a do before and so you know there is there’s that balance of getting to the rink and trying to put all that stuff behind you um and make sure you’re focused on your job that’s we need you to focus on your job and show up to to at the arena whether it’s to work out whether it’s to get on the ice whether it’s skills and skating coaches um you want to make sure that nothing off the ice is hindrance is hindering your mind so uh again that first month for these young kids it’s it’s hard it’s hard they trying to especially last year it’s a whole new staff uh you know they’re they’re learning a whole new city uh they’re coming in learning um you know whole new systems all that type of stuff goes into it now they go home and it’s what am I’m going to have for dinner do I have to go to the grocery store uh you know it’s do I need to get an oil change you all these little things that we probably take for granted being adults now these young guys are just learning how to do plus they’re also starting their pro career so there’s a lot on them mentally a lot on them physically and and that’s the way they handle it but our guys handled it great this year I think that’s something we kind of take for granted as a fan too we don’t we see what they’re doing on the ice and how like when things are posted on social media for instance but we don’t really take into account how much is going on in the background like to what you just mentioned yeah yeah something we talk about when they get there and try to block out that noise or get those things taken care of before you have to you’ve got all day you know by the time you leave the rink and and go home you’ve got a lot of a lot of time to do some things so get it done um again it’s it’s things that the fans don’t get to see it’s it’s behind the closed door things unless you get to know them personally or on a personal level or or guys are active on social media and show you every little thing that they do you know that’s really the only way to find out so uh there’s a lot put on them early there’s a lot again it’s we don’t want to overload them with information uh but at the same time you’ve got to make them aware of all these situations that could come up again at the arena and away from the ring so uh is it’s how they handle it how they own it again our guys our guys did a really good job with that and we had experienced guys to help them to walk them through it here’s what Grand Rapid is all about here are the great places to go and eat uh here are the grocery stores you want to go to um you know when we had older guys invite the younger guys for dinner I think that’s real important or have them over for dinner uh I think it’s is great I think it’s it’s part of the being becoming a team process and um you know there’s a lot of help a lot of help uh that are experienced guys provide these young guys this year so to talk about some of the younger guys mckin recently just ranked the Detroit Red Wings Prospect pool number one in the NHL so you will have a huge influx of talent making its way through the system uh one of the guys at the top of the list is Nate Danielson I’m sure you’ve watched tons of tape on him he’s a guy that should be on the team next season if he doesn’t make Detroit he’ll be in Grand Rapids uh what do you see in him what kind of value do you think he can bring to the team is kind of what’s shapen up to hopefully be a top six NHL Center eventually yeah I think with Nate and and you know it was a pleasure to be around him the couple weeks he was there at the end and we threw him right into the fire you know we didn’t he literally had a practice a morning skating he was right into a game and so um to put that type of pressure on a young Prospect he handled it extremely well uh he’s very mature he plays a 200 foot game he’s very responsible reliable uh I I’m sure that first game we we gave him all the systems at once and I’m sure there’s a lot to handle uh but again he handled that pressure extremely well I think that’s what impressed me the most it’s just is uh the way he thinks the game the way he sees the game uh the support that he provides with uh without the puck uh again he is going to be a really really good hockey player there’s no doubt about it everybody can see it now it’s just gaining that strength you know he’s he’s a young kid uh still learning his way but he just needs to he needs to get some strength and he’s going to be a really good hockey player I liked him in the circle the faceof dot um he was on the power play right away uh because he can do that and I think he’s going to be a really really good Prospect I think he was pretty unmatched in the preseason last year in Detroit um in the faceoff dot he won majority of his faceoffs but I think the more we watch him the more he looks like he’s turning into a Dyan Lin style player very high hockey IQ he’s got wheels he makes Smart plays um which is really exciting for us because we’re saying we need a 2C and this is a guy that can come in if not him then Marco and it’s really good to have that Center depth but Nate’s been super impressive to us yeah it is you know you talk about Center depth and and you look at Marco you look at Nate you look at uh aladas lombardia there’s three young centerman right there um that if they all have great Summers can make an impact for us next year and you know again couple of those guys will be knocking on the door and then trying to make the Red Wings there’s no doubt about it um I give these guys a ton of credit for how they come in uh to training camp in shape they want to learn that’s the biggest thing for me is these young guys want to learn they’re hungry for it now we’re kicking these guys off the ice at time saying hey like you need to rest we have games coming up we have three games this week hey get off the ice you’ve done enough right now uh and so these guys are all hungry for knowledge and that’s all you can ask these young guys if they want to get better we can provide all the resources we are going to give them the information to get better but then they’ve got to take ownership of it and these three guys are certainly doing that that’s what we need we need some hungry guys and I think there’s uh none more hungrier than a guy you’ve had the you’ve been probably the closest with following him from uh Toledo 2 Grand Rapids is Sebastian kosa uh I don’t think we can explain the level of excited we are for Sebastian kosa not just his play but it seems like the attitude UD that he brings to the game and the attitude he brings to the team uh seems like he likes to to disturb a little bit um but what has it been like following the development path of Sebastian kosa and where do you see him going yeah I think you know from the first time we had him in Toledo we’ve already talked about at length but just that maturing off the ice and understanding what you have to do away from the arena you know those first couple months were a little bit Rocky for him until no his his performance was fine we were winning hockey games with him still in the net but after Christmas again he took off that first year uh he was very solid won us a ton of hockey games um you you can see the progression on the ice you could see the progression off the ice and then this year getting him again it’s it’s that expectation of how is he going to get better what is he going to do to get better and now it became his off I preparation for practices his off I preparation for games uh he had to put the work in and he had to find a routine that worked and then and then he had to stick with it again that’s part of that learning process and learning curve and and part of his development was off the ice and you can see it translate on the ice and again we we had philos there in Toledo for a majority of the time last year in Toledo and then this year Roe comes over from Finland our goalie coach um did a really really good job with with uh Sebastian I think they are able to stay on that same level I think Sebastian they they created a really good Bond a respectful Bond uh where you know there was some honesty aeropic could be very honest with him how his game was uh where he needed to improve and and uh Sebastian took that to heart and worked on in practice and that’s one thing I say about Co is he’s a worker um and he’s going to try and find ways to continue to get better this summer and so I’m excited to see where he goes you know it’s all on him now it’s there’s a path there uh it’s right there for him um as long as he wants to continue to get better which I believe he does and will uh you know the future is right there for him and I can’t predict I’m not a predictor all I know is that we’re going to do everything we possibly can to turn him into an NHL goenda that’s our staff job um and we hope he gets there I I love the kid to death uh he’s a worker like I said and you mentioned it his personality his character inside the locker room is is awesome the guys love him um you know he’s got the little bit of swagger which I think goalies need to have uh and he started to learn how to use that the right way too yeah and when he does Gra uate it looks like uh you’re not going to have any shortage of talented goalies with Trey Augustine coming up through Michigan State now yeah no they you know certainly I’ve watched him a little bit here and and it seems like he’s a big game goalie uh coaches love that you know that’s for sure you want to make sure uh when the spotlights on them and and times are tough and there’s big games ahead that your goal is have to be one of your top players your best players and it seems like he’s having the ability to do that at a young age so after spending a couple Seasons um with news in Toledo how much communication is there now that he’s the head coach of the Red Wings between you guys about certain players during the season are you passing notes back and forth saying hey this guy probably should get a look or here’s how this guy is progressing if you need to fill in yeah we talk quite often obviously we’ve I we’re beyond the coach to coach talk at times where we’re friends we’re good friends uh but we do talk a lot about our our business our jobs um he checks in after the weekends you know how are things going he does check in and watch the games as well much like I do with the wings and and yeah he wants to know with certain players he’s asking about certain players and what qualities they could bring to their team what they still need to work on um you know always wants to know information and that’s all we can do is provide information to each other so we can help each other out and then after that it becomes a family talk and probably a few chirps here and there getting on each other a little bit but you know that’s the fun part of of of having a friend and and that close Bond and that close friendship uh you know we can have the serious talks for sure and then and then we can have our our light talks uh again regarding family but um always love the communication I think it’s important to have that I think it’s important to have that coach to management and then NHL coach americ leag coach and American coach ECHL coach just making sure everything’s on the right path everything’s on the right track and and uh checking in on on players to make sure that they’re doing the right things to be prepared when they get called up uh either way from Toledo to Grand Rapids or Grand Rapids to Detroit want them prepared and ready so they can make an impact so now we’re going to do our job and try and get some of that same information uh you’ve got guys like Marco Casper you’ve got Carter merer you got Albert Johanson Jonathan berren what uh prospects have made a strong push uh developed their game that are maybe knocking on the door uh for the NHL I think merer was one of the big ones for us last season I think if he wouldn’t have gotten hurt he might have had a shot um because I think he’s a very versatile player and can play up and down the lineup and wouldn’t hurt his development but who do you really see um that is just kind of progressing so well that they they might have a shot yeah you know what I think all the names you mentioned they do have good shots and it’s up to them you know they’ve got to put the work in uh they all go home with development plans for the summertime skills and skating and strength um but these guys made big strides throughout the season and there’s no doubt from from day one to the to the final day we lost out to Milwaukee in game five they’ve come a long way and I think that’s a testament to them I think that’s them putting the work in um you know again aladas Lombardi I thought he made a huge stride and big jump this year will he get NHL games I don’t know that again that’s not my decision all I can do is try to help him uh Willie Wallander again another guy who H in the playoffs I thought he had a great playoff you know he was physical at the right times he competed at the right times I think that’s what we’re looking for as as a staff who are the guys competing who are the guys that are willing to do some of the Dirty Work go to the net fronts go to the corners and battle and if you don’t do that what else can you do are you a skater are you a playmaker or your shooter Elmer soderbom at times and it’s unfortunate this the illness that he had for that full month it was crazy because he was on he was trending in that top six playing really well physical he’s got the body and the size to do it um you know and so some of these guys they had really good finishes to their Seasons I love the fact we were able to make playoffs go through a couple rounds they could see how hard it is so now they have sort of a template to work on in the summertime to come back and push for push for ice time uh once the regular season comes all these guys I’m sure will get games exhibition wise and that’s gonna be their time to show and then it’ll be up to management to to see who’s going to make the team who’s going to maybe be a call a potential call up and then again what do these guys need to work on so they can get there and we have so many prospects and and so many young guys that played this year that got better that it’s hard to predict where they’re going to be because some guys early on in the year were like oh where is this guy gonna fall come Christmas time where is gonna be at the end of the year and I think almost all them surpass where we felt they would be and again that’s a testament to uh my staff our assistant coaches for putting in the work and effort that they did the skills and skating coaches and then the players themselves you know it’s they did a lot a lot of work a lot of good work a lot of hard work and it wasn’t easy uh but they owned it and they you know they they’ve set the table now they they’ve kind of raised the bars and raised the standards that they all want to be NHL players uh this is the path you got to take to get there go do it yeah like we said it was probably not the result we wanted at the beginning of the season but it was a great season nonetheless we saw a lot of development and guys uh and you were you were just extremely important piece in getting them there it’s been amazing talking to you Dan I want to thank you again for coming on the show to just give us a little peek into into the Griffins and how it works and how that process goes going forward no appreciate it any time uh you know love to be a guest on once again and um thanks for once again thanks to the coverage guys certainly appreciate it from our side of it uh all the work you guys put in I know it’s not easy uh but uh certainly appreciate you guys uh you know doing your podcast and and getting information to the fans and and uh myself yeah and we’ll make sure to uh we’ll give you a shout when we go to a game in Grand Rapids next season perfect sounds good sounds good well again thanks Dan for joining us yeah appreciate it seriously all right take care we’re this close to crowning the Stanley Cup champion and with the action heating up on the ice it’s even hotter at DraftKings Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of the NHL new to DraftKings listen up new customers can get a no sweat bet up to, 1500 bucks just deposit at least five bucks and you’ll get a bonus bet back equal to your first bet if it doesn’t hit download draff King Sportsbook app now and use code tpn that’s code th hpn for new customers to get a no sweat bet up to 1,500 bucks if your first bet doesn’t hit only on DraftKings the crown is yours gambling problem call 1800 Gambler or in West Virginia www.1 1800 gambler. net in New York call 8778 H oen or text hopen 467 369 in Connecticut help is available for problem gambling call 888 78977 77 or visit ccpg dog please play responsibly on behalf of booill Casino and Resort in Kansas 21 plus age varage by jurisdiction void in Ontario one no sweat bet per new customer issued as one bonus bet based on amount of initial losing bet bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance see DK n.co I for eligibility wagering and deposit restrictions terms and responsible gaming resources copyright NHL 2024 All rights reserved and that was Grand Rapids Griffin’s coach Dan Watson what a great opportunity to get an interview like that especially in the off season when uh you can kind of just reflect on on what happened and like he said like they realized like hey not a great beginning of the season but it took them a while to gel and get together and work with other guys in order to just get that group of coaches and new players to kind of push through and and you know we kind of said the same thing even with Detroit like going going back to last year and into this season with the amount of just turnover on the roster you can kind of see that point at both ends of it and but it was no it was really really good conversation I’m glad that we weren’t getting catfished because we thought that turned out it was just a Time mixup which is fantastic I was sweating I’m like man I’m like well looky what did you do to us and he’s been he’s been following us on Twitter for a while and it looks pretty legitimate so I think I’ll reach out and yeah it was legit which was great and it was a fantastic conversation it’s good to learn that he’s listened to us for a while I don’t it’s good it’s it’s it’s uh it’s something yeah one of the interesting things that I found too was we went into the whole discussion about the NCAA and the CHL and I did not think about the fact that the NCAA players you’re living in the dorms you’re out there like chilling with your friends and you’re cooking you’re going out din but you’re learning to be an adult at the same time like you’re living on your own for the most part but when you’re like he said with a Billet family a lot of that stuff is done for you and then you go right from being a 16 or 17year old 18-year-old who was just drafted living with a family who’s done everything for you to going and playing in the AHL where yeah now you’ve got to find an apartment now you’ve got to learn how to cook all at the same time we’re learning to adapt to the AHL I can understand now why a lot of the CHL players are taking time to go to college if not just for the education but to also learn life skills at the same time I mean it’s it’s it’s a double-edged short college and i’ I can be a prime example of how quickly things can turn South when you’re 18 years old on your own for the first time oh how turntables and surrounded by many different things Al the way I’ll put it but no it’s it’s it’s a testament to what these guys have to go through at a young age whether you’re 16 moving into Billet 18 moving in a dorm for the first time on your own or just coming from Europe as he touched down with some of these guys and making their the Trek across the ocean and being boom hit with a brand new culture but it is kind of funny he said most the foreign guys are actually good Cooks already so that says a lot about how great we are at not cooking yeah I think that’s a big family thing overseas is like cooking with your family or learning with your family how to cook but yeah I mean our guys cook McDonald’s right they can do that well apparently our guys can’t cook cook chicken so that that tells you a lot right there yeah guys um just a tool a quick tip chicken 165 internal temperature you’re s eting it but yeah 165 cook it to 165 and make sure it is not pink in the center if you bite your chicken and it’s chewy it’s not done so cook your chicken all the way don’t get food poisoning uh the other thing that I thought was interesting is we we mentioned some of the main guys like Casper merer and Johansson a name that was brought up multiple times Amadeus Lombardi yes Amos had a good development path come a far away from playing with Flint uh talked about William Wallander and how and and we had talked about Wallander before and how I think that it was Dan Clary who said that wallander’s just like dedication to the game in seriousness for Learning and adapting to new stuff and I think Dan kind of echoed it there that he he’s adaptable he’s he’s come a long way and learning he’s he’ll go to the net he’ll go to the corners um dig out same with uh Elmer soderblom who that’s one thing who we had constantly said Elmer’s got to be more consistent he’s got to use his size to his Advantage he’s got to learn also very sick yeah but he was sick and that derailed his development but he said that sod Blom made up for it and he was he was going in that direction until the sickness happened too so I think it was really good to hear about guys who who we are necessarily not thinking of for next year but are also having a really positive impact in our in our impressing the coach with their development path I I think it also speaks to I mean you called out the mckin having Detroit with the number one Prospect pool it also speaks to that pretty heavily no yeah I think it it adds into it I mean we’re like we’re not the only people watching them it’s the scouts and and the people that are doing the draft profiles are watching them too and that that’s something where you a lot of pools you hear about three four five different guys if you’ve got a really good pool maybe you hear about two three guys if you’ve got a decent pool but then you’ve got to look at that depth and for Elmer who was a late round pick he was a late round pick but if he can hit and make it and play legitimate NHL games past the season that he did play like that’s big wins and that is part of things that will elevate your prospect ranking even if he doesn’t break the Top 10 Prospects maybe he’s 11 maybe he’s 12 and that still counts toward your pool yeah I mean we’ve already seen what he can do as a rookie without having that true experience at the NHL and AHL level so if he can continue to grow as what we’re how Watson just kind of laid it out there for us your depth is getting shored up it means it’s going to be a cheaper hit to your cap as as you’re looking into the future and and that that’s just how you build long-term success is with guys like that that may not be your top 10 Prospect pool that’s that’s fine but can they come out and be impactful in ways that are going to help you win games and we’ve seen with when sod B was on the ice even though it was a small sample size he could be impactful now if he’s can put that all together and grow off it that’s even better now do we get news on and start a coach Feud is that our next step right yeah if we if we can pull that one off then uh yeah good luck yeah I thought it was a really good uh discussion I learned a lot from it uh especially about Sebastian kosa and how he’s like like it reflects what we’ve seen we’ve seen the development in him him learn as he goes and then end really really strong it’s good that he brings the attitude like the attitude is respected uh among goalies and and it brings to the game but also that the apparently there’s just a lot of respect for the goal tending coach in Grand Rapids which I wonder if that helped uh vly huso when he had his rehab games down there because they do have a finish uh goal tending coach he could have I mean we he what didn’t he have a shut out real quick down they’re not saying that’s not because of you know what we know that he can bring as an NHL level goenda all that just praying and hoping that Uso comes into the season healthy because well we sort of need it yeah and then another goalie option in Detroit would be nice but Ryan I think that’s where we’re going to wrap it up for tonight I want to get your final thoughts before we sign off we’ll be back next week uh we’ve got a couple feelers out there we might have another interview next week um but give me your final thoughts before we sign off no final thoughts semester is finally over uh I can start being a normal person on the show again so yay for that uh only two more semesters to go and then I can finally be rid of this hell hell of school but other than that that good to be on glad we had a great conversation it was a fun one to get back into um yeah we’re coming up on the draft we are 11 days away wow damn yeah right oh this summer’s gone too fast softball’s taking over everything but yeah already ran 33 yeah you can follow me online and bring the win you follow grind line podcast online at grindline pod I at least me at least I will be at the draft party I’m not sure about you but at least I will be there uh just fired up in the background uh so yeah okay Ryan won’t be there but tickets are five bucks you need to get a ticket um or else they will not let you in so get a ticket for the draft party it is $5 um like I said I can can check they usually charged no first year yep first year they’ve charged is that incl is that like getting you parking parking was always free before you park in the garage before it was park in the garage walk walk on over that’s what I thought y yeah I’m going to have to double check and see if parking is free but I should be there hopefully it’s not 100 million degrees but I should be there um you can also check out vintage Detroit for our uh exclusive t-shirt collection uh it’s up there they’re still there I’m actively trying to come up with more so vintage shirts are extremely comfortable they are so comfortable I wear my moow with the flow shirt all the time um but yeah go check them out vintage Detroit collection I think you click on the keep it local tab our collection is right under there it is also the only place you should get your Detroit jerseys from and worked on we also give a shout out to the hockey podcast Network and thank them for hosting us and spreading us around and to our YouTube channel go to our YouTube channel sub to us turn on the notifications you’ll get notified every time an episode like this goes live and you can see our dumb faces talk about fun hockey stuff but that is going to do it for us tonight so for Ryan I am Greg you say class

Grand Rapids Griffins head coach Dan Watson joins the show to talk about the Griffins season, the path to the AHL, Nate Danielson & Sebastian Cossa, prospects knocking on the Detroit Red Wings’ door, and the importance of cooking your food correctly!

We have an exclusive collection with Vintage Detroit!
https://www.vintagedetroit.com/product-category/keep-it-local/the-grind-line-podcast/

Remember to follow us on Twitter & Instagram @GrindLinePod and join our Discord at discord.gg/mQ6KP6ePGX

Rate, review, subscribe, and check out our merch on Redbubble!
https://www.redbubble.com/people/TheGrindLine/shop

Prospects to Watch:
– Carter Mazur
– Marco Kasper
– William Wallinder
– Simon Edvinsson
– Amadeus Lombardi
– Cross Hanas
– Sebastian Cossa
– Albert Johansson
– Elmer Soderblom
– Alex Doucet

Red Wings’ Off-Season Acquisitions:
– Alex DeBrincat
– J.T. Compher
– Christian Fischer
– Klim Kostin
– Daniel Sprong
– Shayne Gostisbehere
– Justin Holl
– James Reimer
– Alex Lyon
– Jeff Petry