Author: George Malik

In the Red Wings’ latest episode of “The Crew,” LCA facilities supervisor Dave Jones talks about the means by which the Wings’ rink crew changes over Little Caesars Arena’s floor from ice hockey to basketball and/or concerts (and back):

AWood40 on YouTube posted yet another set of highlights, this time recapping last night’s 3-2 overtime win over the Washington Capitals. Enjoy:

Detroit’s home tomorrow vs. the unbeaten Florida Panthers (7 PM EDT start on ESPN+/97.1 FM) and then the Wings head to Toronto for a Hockey Night in Canada game vs. the Maple Leafs (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM), so the next two games will be rough sledding. Enjoy the Wings’ successes while we can!

ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski wrote a lengthy article for ESPN+ which discusses the Red Wings’ rebuilding effort, which is slow, but steady. Some blogger got quoted in the article, but that part isn’t important:

In April 2019, the team announced that franchise legend [Steve] Yzerman, who stepped down as Tampa Bay GM in September 2018 to spend more time with his family, would become the new general manager. [GM Ken] Holland was kicked upstairs, before leaving for the Oilers one month later.

“I started the rebuild. It was a philosophical direction change that Ken Holland started somewhere in 2017-18. Steve came back, and he’s done a fabulous job,” Holland said.

Remember that line from Yzerman: “This is going to take time.”

The biggest virtue of the “Yzerplan” is patience.

“Our philosophy isn’t to rush anyone. Slowly challenge them in better leagues and harder situations. Let them feel their way through it. They’ll tell us when they’re ready, from their play, when they’re ready to step into the NHL,” Horcoff said. “And not just step in. We don’t just want to give them games. They need to come in and play meaningful roles.”

What rebuilding teams want to avoid is the toxicity that can come with losing. That stench festers. Horcoff got a whiff of it when he was the captain of the Edmonton Oilers from 2010 to ’13.

“It’s not easy for any player, even the veterans,” he said. “These young guys were coming in — Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov — and we had some down years. It was tough on them. It’s hard to learn to win when you’re not.”

Continued, with more quotes Ken Holland, Shawn Horcoff, from Jeff Blashill, and me…

In the, “Way too early” department, from Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff:

It’s not the best start to the NHL season a Detroit Red Wings team has posted since the 2004-05 NHL lockout. However, it does match up exactly with the launch of the club’s most important season during that span.

Wednesday, the Red Wings were rallying from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 victory Wednesday against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Achievement of the victory came via captain Dylan Larkin’s overtime goal.

“I think it shows a lot of character,” Red Wings forward Adam Erne said of the comeback road victory. “They’re a highly-skilled team with a lot of big names. We just stuck with it, stuck to the gameplan. Eventually it paid off.

The outcome is leaving the Red Wings sitting with a 4-2-1 record for the 2021-22 NHL season. Interestingly, the last time the club was sitting at 4-2-1 in the standings following seven games was during the 2007-08 season. That also happens to be the most recent season ending with a Red Wings Stanley Cup celebration.

Continued; hope is a wonderful thing, but realism is not a bad thing, either, and the Red Wings are clearly a better team after seven games…

But let’s not get carried away.

Yet.

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a mailbag feature this morning, and, among his many answers to reader queries is the following:

What’s the plan for Joe Veleno? I’d love to see him up at some point soon. — Chad M.

There’s a decent chance you will. In fact, Blashill said a couple of weeks ago, “There’s going to be a time when Joe plays for us this year. I would bet on that.”

That was while he was explaining that the chance for Veleno to thrive high in the lineup in Grand Rapids was the main reason they sent him down to start this season.

“If he wasn’t going to be in our top six — maybe you could make an argument in the middle-six somewhere — but we just wanted him to be in really important roles,” Blashill said.

The key was Veleno building confidence and continuing to develop his offensive game, so he’s ready when the Red Wings do need him in that top-six or top-nine capacity.

“When (he’s called up), we want to make sure Joe’s feeling really confident and that he’s playing at a really, really high level and continue to develop the offense,” Blashill said. “I don’t know what Joe’s offensive ceiling is. I know he can be a really good third-line player. I know that. I really believe that. But can he be more than that? Well, we’re hoping so, and he’s hoping so. He wants to be. Well, to do that, you’ve gotta (score points), and you’ve gotta produce and you’ve gotta be in those offensive situations, and I didn’t have spots for him here right now, so let’s have him do it in Grand Rapids.”

Continued (paywall)

WDIV’s David Bartkowiak Jr. posted a set of five observations regarding last night’s Red Wings 3-2 OT win over the Washington Capitals, and among them are the following:

Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are gifts for us to enjoy. If you know someone not watching the Wings right now because of, well, because of the past few seasons, tell them to start watching right now if only for these two players. The two rookies set up Larkin’s winner. I can’t believe how confident they look out there, especially during the 3-on-3 overtime. They are both so strong on that puck. Both are fun skaters to watch, too. I love all of it.

…

The Red Wings don’t go away. They were losing this game 2-0 in the second period, but they never let up and kept up a strong forecheck. They were not rattled much and stayed very committed to their 5-on-5 game plan — in fact both of Washington’s goals were on the power play. Last year’s team most definitely would have folded after falling down 2-0 on the road against the Capitals.

Continued; the Red Wings’ tenacity this season is the gift that keeps on giving; Seider and Raymond are just gravy.

Expressen’s venerable Gunnar Nordstrom conducted a lengthy interview with Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond today, discussing Raymond’s adjustment to North America…But it’s stuck behind a paywall, so all we get to read is the introduction.

“Especially to come over to a new country”

He had an assist already in his first NHL game with the Detroit Red Wings.

In his sixth game in a Detroit jersey, he scored a hat trick and had a goal-scoring pass.

And last night, Swedish time, Lucas Raymond played as the victory goal was scored in overtime in the away game against the Washington capitals.

The 19-year-old Swedish giant talent has had a great start to his professional career in North America.

“I want to be a productive player, so of course I’m happy with the start I’ve gotten with the Red Wings,” Lucas says to SportExpressen.

In this week’s big player interview, he talks about…

*The first time playing for the ancient Red Wings and Hockeytown.

*The feeling of being able to score a hat trick so quickly in the world’s best league.

*Which opponents in the NHL have impressed him.

*And the teammate with whom he shares an apartment now as he begins his career.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? I wish I could give you a rough translation, but that’s where the paywall hits.

The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime last night, and this morning, the Free Press’s Helene St. James and MLive’s Ansar Khan have posted “morning after” recaps.

The Free Press’s Helene St. James focuses on the ways in which the Red Wings have changed their team…

They return home for a brief appearance Friday against the Florida Panthers riding a two-game winning streak. Wednesday’s game against the Washington Capitals was the best demonstration yet of how different the Wings are from the previous two seasons: Down by a pair of goals early in the second period, there was no panic, just patience. The reward was a 3-2 overtime victory.

“That’s the difference for us, is winning these tight games,” forward Adam Erne said after contributing a goal and an assist. “It shows a lot of character. It’s a highly skilled team with a lot of big names, and we just stuck with it, stuck to the game plan and eventually it paid off.”

Another good example came in the season’s third game, in which the Wings outplayed the Columbus Blue Jackets the first two periods but were stymied by the goaltender. In the past, that scenario would have seen the Blue Jackets score on a fluke and win. This season, the Wings kept working and banked two points.

“We’ve been in situations where we found our way to wins, and that breeds confidence,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “That’s part of it. We have some guys that have matured over the years in terms of living through that. As hard as some of those moments are to live, you hope you grow. A number of our guys have grown even through some of the difficulties we’ve faced. And then we have some new faces that have a calm demeanor to them, and just kind of keep playing.”

Coach Blashill continued while speaking with MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said the difference this season is a higher talent level and a stronger belief they can win.

“We have a better hockey team, so you have a better chance to come back, and with that you have more belief, and belief that you can come back in those types of situations,” Blashill said. “I didn’t feel any frustration or panic on the bench at all. We just kept playing.

“To come back and have a chance to win in overtime you need good goaltending against that team. They have a lot of talent, and they make plays out of nowhere.”

Of prospect-related note in North America on Wednesday:

In the QMJHL, Jan Bednar stopped 26 of 29 shots, earning 3rd star honors in the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s 3-1 loss to Quebec;

And in the WHL, Cross Hanas scored a goal, finishing even with 3 shots in the Portland Winterhawks’ 6-4 loss to Seattle.

The Detroit Red Wings managed to rally from a 2-0 deficit to the unbeaten Washington Capitals, eventually winning over the Caps 3-2 in overtime. Detroit now heads home to tangle with the 7-and-0 Florida Panthers on Friday, and will face the 2-4-and-1 Toronto Maple Leafs on in “Hogtown” on Saturday…

But tonight and this morning are about enjoying what the Red Wings did on Wednesday, and what the 4-2-and-1 Red Wings did was to slowly and methodically chip away at a 2-goal lead until it was a tie, to generate opportunities to score while not surrendering their tie until overtime began, and then…to pounce upon the Washington Fricking Capitals of all teams, as illustrated below:

O Captain! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/y6tdYuDaMs— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 28, 2021

The fact that the Washington Capitals’ players were somewhat shocked by what the Red Wings did to them in overtime, as noted by NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan, is worth noting: