The Hockey News’s Sam Stockton notes that Red Wings coach Todd McLellan singled out Albert Johansson as a superb surprise after last night’s 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens:
After the Red Wings’ 4–2 win over the Montreal Canadiens last night, coach Todd McLellan—who has now been in Detroit for just shy of a month—revealed the biggest surprise of his tenure.
“Probably the biggest surprise for me to date is Albert [Johansson],” the coach said in his post-game media availability. “I knew nothing about Albert. We get here, and he’s kinda parked on the shelf, and everybody’s playing, and we’re trying to figure players out. I think his rise has been remarkable, really. Unless I underestimated him too, and then that’s on me, but he’s played steady in all three zones. There’s some fierceness in his game. When he gets engaged with bodies and battles, he wins a lot of them. He’s not the biggest guy. We talk about him in the locker room all the time. We’re so happy we have him. Biggest surprise in my mind.”
In last night’s win, Johansson played 18:35 last night against the Canadiens, throwing a hit and blocking two shots. He broke the 18-minute plateau for the first time in his NHL career during last week’s Detroit win in Florida, and in the four games since, he’s broken it three times (including a career high 20:27 in Dallas over the weekend).
Continued; he’s a plucky little bugger for sure.
