Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde addressed a slate of topics while speaking to the media at the Wings’ “Summer Hockey in the D” event yesterday, and MLive’s Ansar Khan offers a few more quips from coach Lalonde this morning.
First, coach Lalonde addressed the fact that Nate Danielson, Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur will be pushing for spots on the Wings’ roster this fall…
“Very excited about some of our young guys in Grand Rapids that will be pushing,” Lalonde said. “You need that push from the bottom. I was able to see Grand Rapids a couple of times late in the year. [Jonatan] Berggren, Mazur, (Nate) Danielson, watching his playoff in junior, Marco was awesome in the playoffs. I think you need some of that competition and push from the young guys.”
They also need proven, experienced scorers like [Patrick] Kane and [Vladimir] Tarasenko.
“Pat had a lot of options; he had different options as far as term also,” Lalonde said. “In my conversations with him, his heart was here. It speaks volumes about Patrick and it also speaks about what we’re doing here the last couple of years. I think (Tarasenko) is a similar situation. … I think it’s exciting that they want to be part of it.”
The Atlantic Division remains the toughest in the NHL, featuring Stanley Cup champion Florida, playoff mainstays Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay and clubs with a lot of young talent in Buffalo and Ottawa.
“These are different expectations, that’s a different challenge in itself,” Lalonde said. “I think there’s a lot of excitement for good reason going into this year, but it’s going to be on us and the group to narrow our focus on doing the right things, especially early, and we’d love to put ourselves in the same situation next year.”
Continued (paywall); the Red Wings definitely need to evolve into a team which can focus its attention upon winning a 60-minute game this upcoming season.
