The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan reports that Red Wings coach Todd McLellan had a simple message for his players after yesterday’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning–to head into the Four Nations Face-Off break with their minds “turned off” from hockey, so that they can regroup and refresh over the next week-and-a-half:
“It’s been stressful for a lot of players here and a lot of staff,” McLellan said. “During the year, the team to go through what it has gone through, it takes a lot out of you mentally and and physically. But mentally as much as anything.”
McLellan isn’t worried about players getting out of shape or flowing too much out of a hockey mindset.
“I would have been more worried about them 10 or 15 years ago, letting themselves go by just laying on the beach,” McLellan said. “Enjoy this for 10 days. They actually enjoy training now and feeling good about themselves. Yes, they’ll have some fun, and they should. They’ve earned it. Mentally, I’d like for them to turn their heads off.
“I’d like for them to focus on their families, their kids, the people that sacrifice for them during the year. Give their time back to them now and when they get back here [on Tuesday the 18th], we’ll turn it back on. We’ll have four days of practice, so it’ll be a little mini-training camp. We’ll get them back into it.”
The coach is concerned for Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond, the team’s two representatives at the Four Nations Faceoff in Montreal and Boston:
“It’s taxing,” McLellan said. “You’re spending another two weeks on the road. We’re just coming off a real long road trip, you wash your clothes, and now you’re leaving again. It’s been about three weeks on the road for our guys.
“The intensity and the stress of the tournament will travel with them everywhere they go. They’ll come back and skate right into the season. They miss out on their bodies feeling better and that type of stuff. We’ll find days for those two somewhere along the way to try and get them what they need.”
