Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill spoke with the media on Sunday, and he wasn’t optimistic about the Red Wings being able to dress a competitive roster until the team’s litany of COVID protocol-related absences lessen, as he told Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:
If the NHL requires the Red Wings to play on Wednesday, they will do so with a shorthanded lineup. What about those who are out of COVID-19 protocol and able to participate? How could they possibly be expected to be at 100% of their capabilities?
“We won’t have all of them and I think part of it is there’s one thing to be available to play,” Blashill said. “There’’s another thing to be ready to play. Just because a guy’s out that day, that means he wouldn’t have skated at all for 10 days. Where’s everybody at from that aspect?
“We’ll make those decisions as we move forward. We certainly have plans in place for call ups from the American Hockey League to play if needed and fill those roster spots. We’ll play with a roster, if we do play, that we’re going to go in there and win the hockey game. But we won’t have everybody available to us beyond even the two guys that we placed in today.”
