The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a Sunday notebook article which focuses on the Red Wings’ Red vs. White Game, and in his article, he discusses some of the stand-outs, as well as those who drew criticism from coach Derek Lalonde:
As expected, this early in the exhibition season, there were positives and negatives during the afternoon. Coach Derek Lalonde saw things he liked − and some things he did not.
“I liked it structurally; some things we worked on whether it was the new neutral zone (coverages) or our defensive zone, there was a conscious effort to execute,” Lalonde said. “So we did a good job with that. Obviously, a ton of turnovers, which is kind of expected, but turnovers led to most of, if not all, of the offense. So it’s a good picture to paint for the guys starting tomorrow, cleaning up some of the puck play. But for the most part, the three days we worked on some structure, and some of it translated and we’re in a good spot going forward.”
There was a good amount of physical play, which Lalonde wanted and was pleased to see come to fruition.
“We encouraged it and we talked about it, we ended up both meetings asking for it and you saw that,” Lalonde said. “You can’t turn it on and off. We want to be able to turn it on and just make a habit of who we are, and you saw it on both ends. Nobody was concerned about who was in the other jersey, and that makes for hockey played the right way.”
