As the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan notes, the Red Wings have essentially played a “split season,” underwhelming under coach Derek Lalonde, and going on a 15-5-and-1 streak under coach Todd McLellan.
With the Four Nations Face-Off break ending on Saturday, and a daunting stretch run schedule looming, even the Red Wings’ players are curious to see which team they have become–though they are optimistic about their chances of making a real run for a playoff spot:
As the regular season resumes Saturday, and with only 27 games left on the schedule, which is the truer Wings’ team? Players are confident it’s the latest example, the Wings team from Dec. 26 to the present, that has impressed in so many ways.
“We’ve just been playing real good hockey all the way around, doing a lot of things well,” forward Joe Veleno said. “Competing, and our attention to details have been sharp. When Todd came in here, he introduced us a to a lot of new systems and the way we’d like to play. We feel good about our chances and our game. We definitely want to be that team to push to the very end and learn from those mistakes last year that didn’t get us in the playoffs.”
What gives the Wings optimism is that this hot streak they’ve been on under McLellan hasn’t just lasted a week, or two, or a bit more. It’s been almost two months, encompassing 20 games, and has shown no sign of disappearing.
It might be more than just a fluke.
“You’re seeing it not for just a short amount of time,” defenseman Ben Chiarot said. “It’s been a while now. We’ve been playing a certain style of hockey and we’ve been getting the most out of the guys in the room. Guys who maybe didn’t have as big of roles have broken out into important roles. I’m looking forward to seeing (the rest of the season) as well.”
Continued (paywall)
