97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burchfield discusses how the Red Wings have “found their game” since coach Todd McLellan took over the team on December 26th:
The Red Wings were second to last in the East and eight points out of a playoff spot when McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde the day after Christmas — a move that, if anything, should’ve happened sooner. They were embarrassed the next night on home ice by the Leafs. They’ve been the best team in the NHL since, their 15-3-1 run rocketing them up eight spots in the standings with contributions coming up and down the lineup.
Kane had to laugh and admit, “I’m not sure any of us really thought we’d be in this position right now, but what a spot we’re in.”
“We’ve put ourselves there, and you gotta give Todd a lot of credit, too,” said Kane. “He’s done a great job job of coming in and settling things down and making sure we’re playing aggressive. Even when we get back on our heels a little bit and things aren’t going our way, to keep pushing forward and try to turn the game in our favor.”
The game turned against the Red Wings in the third period in Seattle. A 4-2 lead with under 10 minutes to go became a 4-4 tie when Cam Talbot allowed two goals that he’d probably like back. Panic might have set in for the fans watching at home. On the bench, the players remained calm, said McLellan. Kane pointed to Seider as one of the team leaders “coming up and down the bench telling us to stay confident, hang in there, we’re in a good spot.”
“And that’s huge,” he said. “That keeps us in the right mindset and wanting to play on the attack.”
The line of Kane, Soderblom and center Joe Veleno responded with a strong shift, and the crisis was over. Both teams survived a hectic overtime, before the Wings got the goal they needed in the shootout. McLellan keeps going back to one word to describe Detroit’s winning ways: “Belief.”
“The spirit and the belief system has gone up,” he said. “They’re playing to the structure that we put in. It’s easy when you’re winning. You can get people to believe in things a lot simpler than if you’re losing. They’ve been attentive, they’ve worked hard in practice and they want to win. They’re a hungry group.”
Continued at length, with some intriguing comments from Andrew Copp. This is a real must-read.
