As the Red Wings continue their “mini camp,” MLive’s Ansar Khan asked several players about the team’s success under coach Todd McLellan, who asked a big question today:
“Who are we? That’s going to get answered in the next 27 games,” McLellan said. “Are we October to December or are we December to February? Who are we? … Are we a playoff team? Are we close to a playoff team? Are we distant? We got to figure all this out.”
Ben Chiarot told Khan that he’s excited about the stretch run…
“I think you’re seeing, and not just for a short amount of time now, it’s been a while that we’ve been playing a certain style of hockey and that’s worked for our group and seem to be getting the most out of the guys in the room,” Ben Chiarot said. “So, I’m looking forward to seeing it as well.”
And that new players have stepped up…
“Guys that maybe didn’t have as big a role as before you see kind of break out into important roles for us, Albert Johansson being one of them, Justin Holl playing great hockey for us on the back end,” Chiarot said. “So, I think you’re seeing guys elevate their game, and it’s great. We need that from everybody.”
Quickly instilling belief into a team that was tied for last in the Eastern Conference in late December was important.
“It doesn’t guarantee us anything moving forward, just that at this moment they’re buying in,” McLellan said.
So, to answer the question…
“He asked us the same question, and the only way to find out is to go play the game,” J.T. Compher said. “We believe in what we can do in the locker room, and we think we’ve shown it, but it’s not worth anything if we don’t come do it after break. And I think these last few days of practice have been a really good start for us, getting ready for the second half of the season and dialing in our details so that come Saturday, we’re ready to push for that spot.”
