Of Red Wings renaissance-related note this morning:
- MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that any comparisons made between the Red Wings’ turnaround and those of the 2019 St. Louis Blues or 2024 Detroit Tigers are premature…But the important part of his article is about the “how’s” and “why’s” of the Red Wings’ turnaround, as explained by the Red Wings’ players and coach:
“I’m not sure any of us really thought we’d be in this position, but what a spot we’re in,” Patrick Kane told media in Seattle Tuesday after scoring his NHL-record 53rd shootout goal in a 5-4 victory over the Kraken. “Obviously, it’s fun when you’re playing for something every night. We’re in a good spot, we put ourselves there. You got to give Todd a lot of credit, he’s done a great job of coming in and kind of 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 Red Wings will get in a couple of practices before hosting Tampa Bay Saturday in their last game before a 13-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off (1 p.m., ABC).
They’ll be seeking their first eight-game winning streak since 2008 (Jan. 17-Feb. 5).
“The spirit, the belief has gone up,” [Red Wings coach Todd] McLellan told media at Tuesday’s game. “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, simpler than if you’re losing. They’ve been attentive, they work hard in practice, they want to win. They’re a hungry group.”
2. And the Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses the Red Wings’ resurgence as well:
Whatever happens Saturday, the Wings will go into the two-week 4 Nations Face-Off break on a completely different note than the misery with which they entered the Christmas break. General manager Steve Yzerman said at the time he made the coaching change because he could sense “the will being zapped from everyone.”
Now it seems their will cannot be zapped at all. Just hear [Patrick] Kane — 36 years old, a veteran of 1,200-plus NHL games and three Stanley Cup championships — describe the impact of 23-year-old Moritz Seider, after a 4-2 score became 4-4: “We have our leaders coming up and down the bench telling us to stay confident, hang in there, we’re in a good spot. [Moritz] Seider is doing that — some leadership from a young guy. That’s huge. That keeps us in the right mindset and keeps us wanting to play on the attack.”
It was Seider who, on Dec. 21, after a 5-1 loss at the Montreal Canadiens, said that “we can all agree we’re not fulfilling the expectations right now that we are hoping for.”
Now they’re exceeding them, just a point out of moving into the third-place spot in their division, and with 28 games left to keep climbing.
“I think ever since Todd came in, we have proved we’re a good hockey team,” Seider said. “We knew we had it in the locker room and we just couldn’t find a spark and he brought that extra spark, brought us back to life. But still a long way to go.”
Continued; It seems like McLellan tapped into the sense of belief that was lying within the Red Wings players’ hearts and minds. He’s not a miracle worker, but he’s a hell of a coach for sure.
