Brian Rafalski

Brian Rafalski helped Team USA upset Canada on Sunday night, February 21st, in Olympic hockey.  Rafalski scored twice to help the Americans beat Canada 5-3.The game pitted many NHL players against each other. Joe Thorton and Joe Pavelski played for Canada and the US respectively, but they're both used to playing for the San Jose Sharks. Both teams played hard and fierce and fast.Also on Zimbio: U.S. Men's Olympic Hockey TeamWill the Americans be able to take home Olympic gold in Vancouver...Read Full Story

Brian Rafalski helped the Americans in their victory over Canada tonight by scoring two goals in the exciting hockey game. The score was 5-3 and though it wasn't quite the win that Team USA had in 1980, it was still an amazing game and a great moral booster for the US men. Brian scored the first goal of the game, and is was returned by Eric Staal for Canada a few minutes later. Then Dany Heatley scored again for the Canadian team. The US scored twice more before Canada's Sidney Crosby...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Red Wings mid-day tidbits: Hudler’s on the block, Toledo rocks and the Wings plug a sponsor by George Malik on 08/20/11 at 12:56 PM ET Comments (1) Three weeks from today, the first slate of practices at the Red Wings’ prospect tournament will be wrapping up, but this morning’s crop of Wings news was so incredibly lean that I couldn’t cobble together an overnight report, and this one yields a barely coherent set of tidbits, too. NHL.com’s John Kreiser...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Former Red Wing Domink Hasek is 'taking a break' from hockey--for this season by George Malik on 05/24/11 at 05:24 AM ET Comments (0) At this point, the determination as to whether Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski is in fact retiring, as reported on Monday, comes down to a roll call:Sportsnet (Nick Kypreos broke the story), TSN, ESPN’s Scott Burnside, the Sporting News’s Craig Custance, USA Today’s Kevin Allen, and, this morning, MLive’s Ansar Khan...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Funeral for Ian Jenkins to take place on Saturday, visitation on Friday by George Malik on 05/26/11 at 06:41 AM ET Comments (0) Brian Rafalski chose to leave the Red Wings and the NHL behind with his back and faith intact on Wednesday, retiring in a press conference which revealed more about Rafalski’s character than we may have ever known during his career. His departure leaves the Wings crossing their fingers and toes regarding Nicklas Lidstrom’s return...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Jaromir Jagr's whereabouts unknown, desire to sign with Penguins or Red Wings uncertain by George Malik on 06/30/11 at 04:22 AM ET Comments (0) Long before the, “Where’s Jaromir Jagr, and which team does he want to play for?” mess began (and let’s be honest, we’re kind of assuming that he’s going to sign with Pittsburgh), two Wings targets in Christian Ehrhoff (twice) and James Wisniewski (once) had their rights traded to teams eager to get a head start on...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Next entry: Brian Rafalski replacement theory #2: the Red Wings could lean on Brendan Smith Previous entry: Red Wings overnight report: Rafalski departs, leaving questions in his wake by George Malik on 05/26/11 at 02:53 PM ET Comments (7) As Red Wings GM Ken Holland discussed the implications of Brian Rafalski’s early retirement in terms of building the Wings’ blueline going forward, he never suggested that the Wings would overpay for an Ehroff, Wisniewski, Bieska...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Modano watch slowly heading toward its conclusion by George Malik on 07/29/11 at 08:09 PM ET Comments (0) I received a press release from the Wings while I was at the beach (windy and wavy on Lake Superior, but once I was out over my head, the current disappeared), so if you’re interested, several members of the Red Wings will take part in an event held by the Urban Harvest Ministries and the Clark Park Coalition on Saturday: RED WINGS TO TAKE PART IN UHM...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Red Wings afternoon news: 'ignore the problem' theory and other tidbits by George Malik on 05/26/11 at 08:13 PM ET Comments (0) Okay, we heard the Hockey News’s Adam Proteau argue that the Red Wings need not replace Brian Rafalski’s offensive contributions this afternoon, and while Fox Sports Detroit’s Dana Wakiji believes that the Wings will probably go the free agency and/or trade route, she also offers the theory that the Wings could simply rely upon...Read Full Story

The Malik Report Previous entry: Red Wings' live stream of Brian Rafalski's retirement presser by George Malik on 05/25/11 at 11:48 AM ET Comments (2) Updated 2x at 12:14 PM: Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski made his retirement official this morning, choosing to speak from a lecturn at Joe Louis Arena’s Olympia Club and then exit with his wife instead of doing one-on-one interviews. Rafalski joked that there were no telepropters available until 2012, so he spoke via notes from his iPad...Read Full Story