DetroitRedWings.com’s Josh Berenter paid attention to Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill’s media availability on Monday, and the coach essentially wrapped up the Wings’ training camp and expectations for their imminent regular season over the course of a couple of paragraphs’ worth of comments:
Blashill, who is entering his sixth season at the helm of the Red Wings, said the biggest aspect of improvement he’s focused on is team defense. He said it takes everyone–forwards, defensemen and goalies–to help translate defense into offense, and translate offense into winning.
“I would say that we need to, without a shadow of a doubt, be better in our team defense,” Blashill said. “I hope that not only the players we added on the blue line, but also the type of players we added up front–the guys that are fairly complete players, that are respectful of what it takes to win–ultimately, would give us a chance to be a more sound team defensively, which then means you probably have the puck more and you’re a better team offensively.”
With several key veteran additions, through free agency and trades, the Red Wings look to be improved in every aspect of the game, and Blashill said he’s excited about his club’s mindset heading into Thursday’s season opener.
“I like our hunger,” he said. “We’re a group that had an extraordinarily long layoff. I think sometimes you gain perspective in those situations. I certainly think we’re a hungry group, a group that wants to keep getting better, a group that doesn’t like what’s happened here and wants to get this organization to better days.”
