DHN’s Duff on coach Derek Lalonde’s nickname

Detroit Hockey Now’s Bob Duff has explained the reason why Derek Lalonde is called “Newsy“:

When the NHL was forming in 1917, Edouard “Newsy” Lalonde was the playing-coach and captain of the Montreal Canadiens. As a youth, Lalonde was working in a newsprint plant. That’s where the original Newsy would be landing his nickname.

Twice – in 1918-19 and 1920-21 – Lalonde led the NHL in scoring. He scored six goals in a game and five goals in another game. He’s enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame and in 1950, was named Canada’s lacrosse player of the half century.

At least Derek knows the connection. “Obviously, the Hall of Famer Newsy Lalonde (from the), Montreal Canadiens,” he said. “It went from there.”

He’s quite happy for his players to refer to him as Newsy.

“I’m comfortable with it,” Detroit’s Newsy said. “I don’t mind Coach. But coach feels very old. It feels a little more personal when guys call me Newsy.”

The Athletic posts a substantial Red Wings season preview

The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn and Shayna Goldman posted a Red Wings season preview, and they feel that Detroit “isn’t ready” to take the next step yet:

Slow and steady wins the race, but for the Red Wings rebuild it feels like it’s time to start getting a move on. Detroit has missed the playoffs in six straight seasons now and all signs point to that streak extending to seven by year’s end. The Red Wings have just an 11 percent shot at making the playoffs.

To be fair, that’s not quite the goal yet for this franchise. Slow and steady, right?

Detroit has been methodical with its process and this season’s plan is merely to start turning things around. Start is the keyword. Becoming a true bonafide playoff team usually doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to put all the pieces into place. The goal isn’t to just be a playoff team either. It’s to build a perennial contender. That takes a lot of patience, which means understanding when to keep things cooking in the oven for a little longer.

Detroit isn’t ready yet.

For this season, the plan is to simply stop losing and start winning. A playoff berth would be fantastic, but it’s a bit unrealistic still at this stage. An 82-to-83-point season would be a massive stepping stone for this club. It means inching closer towards average, keeping games tight and a lot of moral victories. That’s unfortunately still the stage the team is in, but that’s OK because it will likely all be worth it soon enough.

The Red Wings are much deeper this year, which is the primary cause of the jump in projected points, but there’s still a lot of work to be done before the team is on par with other playoff teams. That’s especially true in a competitive Eastern Conference where the field ahead of Detroit is extremely strong. The average playoff team in the East is projected for 102.3 points with the lowest at 94.5 points. Detroit is still pretty far away from that level.

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HSJ in the morning: on David Perron’s role with the rebuilding Red Wings

The Free Press’s Helene St. James filed her early-morning-posted column today, and in it, she discusses David Perron’s desire to become an impact player for the Red Wings, both on an off the ice:

David Perron made an immediate, favorable impression on the first day of training camp.

The veteran forward exuded energy, helping to feed the freshness that permeates the Detroit Red Wings after a makeover that extended to players at every position and the coaching staff. Perron, 34, is the oldest player on the team, and has played 973 career NHL games, but he is eager to prove how much of an impact he can make as the Wings move forward in the rebuild.

“I think for me at the stage of my career that I am at, I want to be a difference maker on the ice, still, bring some of the stuff that I was doing in St. Louis,” Perron said Thursday. “Team-wise is really where I want to make a difference also, leadership-wise, team identity, talking about some of the details. Kind of being an extension if you will, kind of preaching the right stuff in the room by talking and by my play. Making sure that the staples defensively and throughout our system are there consistently.”

Perron’s enthusiasm on his first day in a new job earned rave reviews from coach Derek Lalonde.

“Even in his want to push practice today, what’s been really exciting about David in talking to him throughout the summer, he’s self-admitted that he’s had to evolve in his career,” Lalonde said. “I think it’s an unbelievable example —here he is now, he expects practice to be at a high pace, he wants guys to work throughout the entire practice. I think he’s embracing that role. It’s something we talked about, something he wanted to embrace in the offseason, and Day 1, he stayed true to his word.”

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‘Hopefully the dog days are over’

The Traverse City Record-Eagle’s Jordan Puente filed a morning article which covers the basics surrounding the opening of training camp here in Traverse City:

[David] Perron played and helped lead the St. Louis Blues to their first Stanley Cup in 51 years. He’s aware that coming into a new team takes time to build chemistry with the players. Perron joked that coaches were eager to get started days before.

“All the coaches I’m sure had many opportunities but picked to come here. They are excited to help this team take the next step, and the same thing for me,” Perron said.

After signing with Detroit, Perron kept an eye to see which players the Red Wings had on the roster, but he didn’t expect to be with old teammates from St. Louis.

“It makes the transition easier when I saw who got traded and signed a few days before, and I saw there was an opportunity for me,” Perron said. “At the end of the day, I’ve been in different situations throughout my career where I did not know anyone or I knew some guys, but I am excited to join a group and hearing Steve talk all that stuff. Hopefully the dog days are over.”

[GM Steve] Yzerman hopes those days are over too. Players during camp on Thursday played with an energy that had fans excited for what’s to come. Some were in awe of the players who would crash each other into the boards this early.

“You can tell in today’s practice how there is a lot of energy, and there’s been a lot of buzz — even at the rink for the last two weeks,” goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic said. “Very intense practice. Very high pace and high energy. I think that’s what you are going to see throughout the year.”

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Impressions from the first day of the Red Wings’ 2022 training camp

The Detroit Red Wings began their time under the mentorship of coach Derek Lalonde on Thursday morning at Traverse City’s Centre ICE Arena, on a blustery day that’s significant in terms of marking a new chapter for the rebuilding team and a significant day in the life of this blogger (more on that later).

The Red Wings’ 67 roster players were divided into three groups, Team Lindsay, Team Howe, and Team Delvecchio, and they were preceded on the ice by a set of injured players.

I was surprised to see Andrew Copp (abdominal surgery), Jake Walman (shoulder) and prospects Jake Uberti and Tnias Mathurin (undisclosed) skating together when I got into the rink around 8:15 AM, with goaltenders Andrew Oke and Jan Bednar working with Grand Rapids Griffins goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson at the other end of the ice.

It’s also worth noting that, after the gents took a leisurely skate, I did see Oskar Sundqvist (undisclosed), Robby Fabbri (ACL) and Mark Pysyk (Achilles) taking part in the video sessions ahead of Team Lindsay’s 8:30 AM-to-9:30 AM practice.

Continue reading Impressions from the first day of the Red Wings’ 2022 training camp

Bultman’s notebook: Red Wings aim to find their afterburners

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a fine article in which he discusses the happenings during the first day of Red Wings training camp, and, among his observations are the following:

With just one camp practice in the books, it’s admittedly a little early to start determining what the 2022-23 Red Wings’ identity will be. That’s something that builds over time — and, frankly, takes some proving, too. But one thing that was clear on Day 1: the Red Wings think their team speed can be part of whatever that identity becomes.

“I think we can skate,” Lalonde said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Now, don’t take that to mean pure fire-wagon hockey is coming to Little Caesars Arena. Remember, Detroit’s top emphasis has been on improving its team defense. But the Red Wings do have speed to work with up and down their lineup, and Lalonde made sure to specify he thinks that skating ability extends to the blue line, too.

Interestingly, the way newly-signed forward David Perron described it, part of the team’s breakout design could help meet both aims — weaponizing Detroit’s speed without sacrificing defense.

“We did some of the breakout staples that we want to do as a team that will be predictable, simple, let us play with a lot of speed and pace and guys like Larks and (Lucas Raymond), those guys can really use their speed, get up the ice and create some odd-man rushes,” Perron said. “But also, I think it’s smart, and it kind of falls into our D-zone coverage. … They kind of work hand-in-hand, where you come in the zone, and you kind of get some of the stuff to do for the breakout, and if it somehow doesn’t work — like (in) hockey happens a lot — then you’re kind of set up into your D-zone coverage, which covers each layer defensively that you need to take care of.”

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Niyo on ‘Newsy’ and ‘Larks’

The Detroit News’s John Niyo is in Traverse City for training camp, and he’s posted an article in which he discusses the relationship between the Red Wings’ new coach and their captain, Dylan Larkin:

[Coach Derek] Lalonde says he finds this situation “very similar” to what he and [Steve] Yzerman both saw in Tampa, where Steven Stamkos has been the captain for several years now.

“Everyone has a captain,” Lalonde said. “But it takes time to have that ‘true’ captain, and I think we have one here. … Now we can build that leadership group around him.”

[David] Perron and [Andrew] Copp figure to be part of that group, especially since last year’s alternate captains — Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal — have moved on. But Larkin has learned plenty on the job shouldering the load these last two seasons, coming out of a pandemic and the painful stages of a rebuild at the same time.

“But I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable with the role,” said Yzerman, who set the standard in Detroit as the longest-serving captain in NHL history. “And the one thing I’ve always encouraged him to do is, make sure to be yourself. Don’t try to be Nick (Lidstrom) or Henrik or any of us in the past. Just be yourself.

“He has a tremendous work ethic, he cares about his teammates, he cares about the team. And I think with each year, you kind of figure the role out — where you need to be, when you need to be there, when you need to address something, when you need to let things slide. So I think just experience is making him more comfortable in the role.”

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