Audio from the fourth day of Red Wings training camp ’18: Nyquist, Nielsen, Howard, Abdelkader and Blashill

Of note from this morning and early afternoon’s media availabilities at Red Wings training camp:

Gustav Nyquist spoke with the media for an extended period of time, discussing his take on Henrik Zetterberg’s departure, his hopes of stepping up in Z’s absence and the particularly competitive nature of this training camp:

Frans Nielsen spoke about the possibility that he may step up in terms of both leadership and point production given that Nielsen is finally feeling “at home” on a Red Wings team that will play absent his friend…

Jimmy Howard mentioned wearing a smaller chest protector per NHL rules as he addressed the tenor of camp and his desire to create a positive atmosphere with Jonathan Bernier as the goaltenders support one another throughout the season, and he reflected on Zetterberg’s absence, the potential displayed by Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina, and more:

Justin Abdelkader discussed being a new father as much as anything, and he spoke about training camp and the exhibition season to come as someone who was just getting into the swing of things–necessarily so, said Abdelkader, who felt that it was going to be important to get his legs under him, vicious skating test included:

Finally, coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media for 9 minutes, addressing his “60 Minutes of Hell” slogan for the team, the emphasis on competition for jobs and playing hard all the time as the practice teams have been whittled down to “red,” “white” and “non-game-day” players; the coach was asked about the elements that Nyquist, Nielsen, Abdelkader and Howard bring to the team, sharing his belief that he hopes to split the goaltender’s duties 50-30 game-wise:

Update: Among the Wings’ videos and Twitter clips come this YouTube video of Frans Nielsen…

 A clip of comments from Gustav Nyquist…


And the following Twitter clips:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!