From the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan’s notebook comes this note regarding Thomas Vanek:
Forward Thomas Vanek brought a lot of positives to the lineup during his first tour with the Wings two seasons ago.
Having an opportunity to bring Vanek aboard again has already turned out to be a treat for Blashill.
“I don’t know if I can state clearly enough the impact he has on our younger players,” Blashill said. “One of the reasons we brought him back is how much he makes the other guys better. He’s such a smart offensive mind.”
Blashill used an example from Thursday morning. Vanek went to the coaches’ room to borrow a teaching pad to diagram face-off plays to his linemates.
“He’s a smart hockey mind,” Blashill said. “Playing with Double-A (Andreas Athanasiou), that chemistry has a chance to be real great.”
