Three things: On the Todd McLellan turnaround, Dylan Larkin and ‘buying’ at the deadline

Of Red Wings-related note this morning:

  1. The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons weighs in on the Red Wings’ coaching change:

There has rarely been any doubt about Todd McLellan’s ability to coach hockey. But what’s been happening with the strange roster that is the Detroit Red Wings is more than fascinating. McLellan has this rather ordinary Wings roster playing at a 127-point pace in his first 20 games behind the Detroit bench. When Derek Lalonde was fired as Wings coach, he had Detroit playing at a 72-point pace. Still not sure the Wings will maintain this and be a playoff team, but McLellan’s start is close to remarkable and he is the latest example of why you fire coaches in mid-season.

Continued; I still don’t know whether the Red Wings will make the playoffs, but this season started so poorly that I just want the Wings to be relevant to playoff conversation for the rest of the season…

2. Sportsnet’s Michael Amato, who focuses on fantasy hockey, notes Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin’s resurgent play under coach McLellan:

Perhaps no one has benefited from Todd McLellan’s hiring more than Dylan Larkin. The Detroit Red Wings forward has exploded since McLellan was named head coach, scoring 24 points over the past 21 games. Larkin and Lucas Raymond are becoming a dominant pair and whoever is playing with them is a must-roster. Marco Kasper is the one taking advantage right now and keep an eye out if anyone else gets bumped up to Kasper’s spot.

Continued;

3. And finally, Bleacher Report’s Adam Gretz discusses whether each and every one of the NHL’s 30 teams should “buy,” “stay” or “sell” as we approach the March 7th NHL Trade Deadline:

Continue reading Three things: On the Todd McLellan turnaround, Dylan Larkin and ‘buying’ at the deadline

Meet the Pochmaras

The Free Press’s Jeff Seidel posted a lovely column about the Pochmara family. Red Wings usher Pat Pochmara happens to be the father of two referees in Brian Pochmara, who refereed Saturday afternoon’s game between the Red Wings and Lightning, and Barry Pochmara, who refereed Saturday night’s game between Michigan and Michigan State:

While Brian was officiating the [Red Wings] game, Pat had his own official duties in LCA, working as an usher at Portal 54.

Which would be a cool story on its own — a dad working as an usher in the same arena at the same time his son was working as a ref?

But wait.

That’s only half of it.

In the nightcap of this amazing day — at least for the Pochmara family — Pat’s son (and Brian’s brother), Barry, was a ref for the Michigan–Michigan State hockey game at LCA, while his dad, once again, worked as an usher.

Somebody call Guinness Book of World Records because this must be a first — at least, it was for the Pochmara family.

Continued

HSJ in the morning: Coach McLellan’s learning curve

This morning, Free Press’s Helene St. James discusses “what 6 weeks have taught Todd McLellan” about helming his new team, in the wake of Saturday afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning:

“The good thing about where we’re at now is we can take some time to breathe and we’ll review as a staff kind of where we’ve been, where we’ve come,” McLellan said, bothered by a cough he has had for the past week.

Where they were entering the Christmas break was second from bottom in the Eastern Conference, worn down by a three-game losing streak that had dropped them to 13-17-4 and convinced Yzerman a change was needed.

Where they are entering this break is 28-22-5 and bumping around the wild-card spots, enmeshed in a tight race with a handful of other teams.

…

McLellan has, as Moritz Seider put it last week, “brought us back to life,” ever since their first practice together, when he urged the Wings to “play (expletive) hockey. You’ve done it your whole lives.” There’s a sense of joy and fun in the locker room that had completely ebbed at Christmas.

Continue reading HSJ in the morning: Coach McLellan’s learning curve

Red Wings still occupy the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff notes that, as of this morning, the Detroit Red Wings still occupy the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot:

Even with Saturday’s loss, Detroit has won seven of the past eight games. Among the teams in the hunt for the Wild Card placings in the East, only the Red Wings are showing any sort of recent life.

The standings show the Ottawa Senators with 62 points and occupying the first Wild Card spot. However, the Sens have lost three in a row.

Detroit sits with 61 points. Boston (60) has dropped two straight and is 5-5 over the past 10 games. Columbus (60) is 4-5-1 through the last 10 outings.

Sitting with 58 points, the Rangers are 5-4-1 over the last 10. The New York Islanders (57) were on a roll, with seven wins in the past 10 games. But they’ve suddenly dropped two in a row.

Of the three teams with 55 points, none among Montreal (3-6-1), Pittsburgh (4-5-1), or Philadelphia (3-6-1) is showing signs of life.

“I think our game’s in a pretty good spot,” [Alex] DeBrincat said. “Obviously not as good (Saturday), but overall we’re doing good things and winning games and, yeah, the feeling’s confident in that room. The break’s going to be nice to get rested and come back full strength.”

Here are the standings as of this morning. Tampa Bay will play against Montreal at 1 PM EST today, so they can increase their lead on the Wings from 1 to 3 points, should they defeat the Canadiens:

Continue reading Red Wings still occupy the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot

Tweet of note: Sportsnet’s Friedman reports that Tarasenko may be moved

On CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada’s “Saturday Headlines,” Elliotte Friedman tells Ron MacLean that two players to keep an eye on are the Islanders’ Brock Nelson, Brayden Schenn, Ryan Donato and one Red Wings forward Vladimir Tarasenko.

Friedman says, at the 2:35 mark, “Yeah, so this one is a little bit of a surprise, you know Vladimir Tarasenko, is in the first year of two in Detroit, and he’s got a no-trade clause this year, but I ave heard there’s been some noise around him, the Red Wings have gotten much better, they’re in the race, a lot of their players have started to play better better, but it’s kind of struggled to be a fit. He scored today, they got ‘Vasilevskiy’ed,’ I know they out-shot the Lightning, but he beat them, and I’ve just heard Ron, that in his case, there’s been some conversation around him, and we’ll just see how it develops.”

You can watch in video form as well;

Update: Both Sportsnet and The Fourth Period reported Friedman’s comments.

Red Wings-Lightning wrap-up: disappointing loss to ‘flush’ sets up a post-Four Nations race for a playoff spot

The Detroit Red Wings lost a 6-3 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon, snapping Detroit’s 7-game winning streak and 7-0-and-1 unbeaten streak.

I will say this: it’s going to be fun to watch these teams tangle on Friday, April 11th, because they do not like each other one bit:

Regrettably, the Red Wings showed more fire at the end of the game than they did for significant stretches thereof, and they enter the Four Nations Face-Off break with a 28-22-and-5 record and 61 points.

For the Lightning, who are 4-0-and-1 of late, their spirits are high going into tomorrow’s First Nations-half finale against the Montreal Canadiens, where they’ll be able to push their 3-point lead over the Red Wings to 5 points, presuming that they earn a victory.

The Lightning’s coach, Jon Cooper, told the Tampa Bay Times that he was pleasantly surprised by the Bolts’ scoring outburst:

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning wrap-up: disappointing loss to ‘flush’ sets up a post-Four Nations race for a playoff spot

Post-Wings-Bolts videos: 2 highlight clips, and DeBrincat, Chiarot and coach McLellan post-game

Of video-related note from the Red Wings’ 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning:

  1. Sportsnet posted a 10:22 highlight clip:

2. NHL.com posted a 10:13 highlight clip:

And the Red Wings posted a 7:45 clip of comments from Alex DeBrincat, Ben Chiarot and coach Todd McLellan:

Red Wings-Lightning quick take: Wings fail a big test, but not all is lost

The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning for an essential Atlantic Division tilt on Saturday afternoon, with the Red Wings hoping to gain ground on the Bolts in the Atlantic and Wild Card standings, and holding a 7-game winning streak and a 7-0-and-1 record over their past 8 games.

This afternoon, the Red Wings failed their test, bluntly, and they did so because they had neither the defense nor goaltending to defeat Tampa Bay. Alex Lyon gave up 2 goals on 3 shots, Cam Talbot gave up 3 on 14, Detroit trailed 2-1 and 4-2 before they made it a 4-3 game, and Tampa would score the 5-3 marker as U of M alum Dylan Duke put the game away 4:10 into the 3rd.

Yes, the Red Wings mounted comebacks, and the final goal they surrendered to Brandon Hagel was merely an empty-netter…

But this was a frustrating, end-of-the-game-scrum-inducing loss, and now the Wings have to hope that the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Boston Bruins so that the Wings can hang on to that 2nd Wild Card spot.

It’s a bitter outcome and a bitter taste left in the Wings’ mouths for the 4 Nations break. Hopefully, they’ll come out of it with lessons learned, and they’ll be a better team for it.

Continue reading Red Wings-Lightning quick take: Wings fail a big test, but not all is lost

Tweet of note: WXYZ’s Galli interviews Elmer Soderblom

Per WXYZ’s Brad Galli: