The Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses four pertinent points of emphasis as the Red Wings begin training camp today at Little Caesars Arena. St. James includes the make-up of the Wings’ forward corps, defense and goaltending, as her main topics, as well as a blunt and succinct take on the NHL’s condensed preseason:
What’s different?
With the NHL schedule expanded to 84 games, the exhibition slate is down to four games – which means less opportunity for hopefuls to claim a job, as established NHLers will need to get their timing honed and see more time on the ice.
The Wings play on the road Monday, Sept. 21, at the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tuesday, Sept. 22, at the Pittsburgh Penguins, then host the Buffalo Sabres on Sept. 24 and the Blue Jackets on Sept. 26.
The Wings will have 49 players at camp, with 28 forwards, 16 defensemen and five goaltenders split into two squads (Howe and Delvecchio). There will be daily practices and intra-squad competition.
Continued (paywall); bluntly, the Red Wings and every other NHL team will no longer endure a marathon of 6-8 exhibition games played over the course of 2 weeks after training camp.
Instead, this year’s preseason is a sprint toward the regular season, which begins on September 29th, though Detroit gets until October 2nd to prepare for their home opener against the Rangers.
