MLive’s Ansar Khan discusses the Red Wings’ greater sense of self-belief under coach Todd McLellan:
Has the [team’s] immediate success surprised even the coach?
“The obvious answer is yes, but when you come in it’s hard to imagine or predict what might happen,” McLellan said Thursday. “You haven’t been around people. You don’t know what the environment’s like. You think you know players because you’ve watched them on TV, but that’s not where you really learn about them. You get to know them in practice and on the bench, their emotional level. Trying to predict or gauge where it might all go is impossible. You just come in and do your thing and react more than anything.”
The Red Wings (28-21-5) are 15-4-1 under McLellan, who said they’re close to forming an identity in the six weeks he’s been here.
“I think we can skate; I think we can play with pace,” he said. “Combine that with checking for chances, and taking pride in that, seems to be how we’re rolling out wins. Is that where we’re going? Seems to be, but we need a little more time.”
Some adjustments have been made structurally, but they haven’t revamped everything.
“We changed forecheck, we changed penalty kill, we do some things different in the neutral zone,” McLellan said. “The D-zone coverage, it’s not the whole five guys zooming all over the ice, there’s areas or certain points of emphasis in the D-zone. But not dramatic changes. Not just take a paintbrush and paint over everything. Just small adjustments. Players understand our language now, too, so we can fix things quicker. We can do it verbally instead of having to show video. … That’s maybe as important as all the changes in the system stuff.”
Continued (paywall);
And Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff discusses the Red Wings’ self-belief under their new coach as well:
Currently, McLellan and Mike Babcock are sharing the mark for the fastest start to a career by a Red Wings coach. Both sat with 15-4-1 records following their 20th game behind the Detroit bench.
In his 21st game in charge to launch the 2005-06 NHL season, Babcock and Detroit fell 6-5 in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers, dropping to 15-4-2 on the season. Oddly enough, that setback would conclude a winless (0-2-1) Western Canada trip for the team. McLellan and his Red Wings just went 3-0 on the same trip.
“Seeing how the team is playing with this much confidence is fun to be a part of,” Detroit forward Patrick Kane said.
McLellan doesn’t need to be given a reminder of how the season went for the 2005-06 Red Wings. He was right there, serving as an assistant coach on Babcock’s staff.
To be honest, he’s more interested in how responsive his team continues to be. The coach has no concern about his place in history, other than the fact he wants his team to keep it going.
As the song they play after every home win at Little Caesars Arena proclaims, these Red Wings just don’t stop believing.
“The belief, and I keep using that word, the spirit, the belief has gone up,” McLellan 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, simpler than if you’re losing. They’ve been attentive, they work hard in practice, they want to win. They’re a hungry group.”
