The Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a morning notebook which looks back upon the comments made by Red Wings forward Christian Fischer and coach Derek Lalonde after the Red Wings’ exhibition season-ending 4-3 win over Toronto. Of note:
The September week spent in Traverse City afforded time in the afternoon and evenings to golf, fish and go to dinner. But even before the Wings officially gathered for training camp, there was an effort to speed up acclimating the many newcomers, which include forwards Compher, Kostin, Fischer, Alex DeBrincat and Daniel Sprong, defensemen Gostisbehere, Justin Holl and Jeff Petry, and goalies Alex Lyon and James Reimer.
“A big shout-out to the leadership group here, starting with Larks,” Fischer said. “They did such a good job bringing us all together as a team. I could make a list of all the things we did outside the rink, even in the rink. It’s a fun team, I can tell you that. We get along well and that goes a long way on the ice. Guys want to work for each other. Golfed a bunch, multiple Saturday and Sunday football days, probably seven or eight team dinners. To do that early on, there’s no adjustment period when we go into New Jersey. We’re all comfortable with each other on a personal level.”
Continued; sometimes a captain’s work is never done, and I’m impressed with the Wings leadership group’s work to bring a disparate set of personalities together.
