Red Wings January 2025

[gehringer_2]

48 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Yes, tapped it right in. Will be something for him to laugh about if the Wings hang on  

 

It looked to me like Seider's and Talbot's sticks hit each other as Seider was starting to make the play and that may have thrown things off kilter a bit.

Another nice win though!

Edited January 28 by gehringer_2

[gehringer_2]

Quote

And I think Kasper may be here to stay?

Kasper and Soderblom should easily be ahead of Fischer, Veleno, Motte or Rassmussen on the depth chart and Johanssen is easily the #4 D man.

Tonight they said Petry has started skating. Clearly they are not being cautious enough with his recovery.

[gehringer_2]

so have these rookies all gotten that much better in GR since October, or was the Wings org missing obvious decisions?

I suppose one or more of these guys might slow down and get sent back at some point, but even if that's true, it doesn't mean the decision to give them their shot was not the right one. Sometimes a player has to go through that cycle of making it and not holding it to help him figure it out what it takes.

[gehringer_2]

On a directly related note - Monarezz with a column in the Det lamenting that Lalonde hadn't been let go sooner. I have no doubt that McLellan has been a big boost, but so has been getting those younger, faster, players brought up. And how much of that was McLellan's doing is a good question as well.

Edited January 28 by gehringer_2

[lordstanley]

 

[slothfacekilla]

3 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

so have these rookies all gotten that much better in GR since October, or was the Wings org missing obvious decisions?

AHL is definitely a developmental league, and I know a big part of Soderblom playing well this season was that Auston Watson took him under his wing in GR, showing him how to play harder and more physical.  I honestly had written off Soderblom until part way through this season when it seemed like something clicked.  Kasper only played one season of AHL after recovering from a broken knee (that happened in the NHL, I feel like many people forget that the Wings brought him over and played him in Detroit before Grand Rapids).  Johansson only spent two seasons in Grand Rapids and it definitely helped him get accustomed to NA ice and game play.  I know we all want our prospects now but I'm not sure we should be upset about Johansson and Edvinsson already playing 20+ minutes a night and Kasper fitting in well on the first line.  Seems like their development has been alright to me?

 

Something I forgot about too is how young Kasper is, only ~4 months older than Danielson.

[gehringer_2]

Well, regardless of whether the org has been too slow or have been absolute geniuses bringing these guys along, it sure broke well for McLellan to get this infusion of young talent.

[buddha]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Well, regardless of whether the org has been too slow or have been absolute geniuses bringing these guys along, it sure broke well for McLellan to get this infusion of young talent.

he also gave them a chance.  kasper was relegated to 3rd/4th line duty under lalonde.

[gehringer_2]

48 minutes ago, buddha said:

he also gave them a chance.  kasper was relegated to 3rd/4th line duty under lalonde.

I'm waiting to see how much rope McLellan is going to give Tarasenko. He's played him on the 1st  PP unit and otherwise giving him every chance to get it in gear but I'm still not seeing much. Still looks like he's trying to play no-touch hockey most of the time.

[Sports_Freak]

20 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I'm waiting to see how much rope McLellan is going to give Tarasenko. He's played him on the 1st  PP unit and otherwise giving him every chance to get it in gear but I'm still not seeing much. Still looks like he's trying to play no-touch hockey most of the time.

Yeah, I'm not a fan either. Maybe it's a slump but he just doesn't seem to have shown much. But Kasper and some of these other kids? It looks like Yzerman's draft picks may have finally started showing up.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

KEEP PLAYING THE KIDS!!! Really happy to see the step forward that Kasper has taken over the past 3 weeks/month. The more and more ice team he gets, especially with top 2 line talent, the better he seems to be getting.

[slothfacekilla]

It is very nice to see Todd giving Kasper the rookie Larkin treatment.  Larkin got to play wing next to Zetterberg his rookie year and I think putting Kasper at wing on the top line is a great call.  He honestly looked fine at center to me, and I think the way he plays makes everyone on his line better.  Down on the fourth line it didn't mean a lot more than keeping the puck out of the Wings' net, but now he has a chance to play a little less defensively (at the very least he won't have as much responsibility being on the wing) and with good players and he's showing he can put up points.  He's still very young and seems like his body still has some maturing to do as well, so I'm very excited to see him develop in the NHL.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

I think Kasper's future can be at center, but given that we have Danielson in the system and Larkin on the roster, he may end up working out better as a top or second line winger. I see him as a good, facilitating center for sure, but we have a bit of a jam there that may bump him to the third line if he stays at center. He seems to have a nice combo of grit, toughness, and playmaking finesse. A guy with a nose for the puck who can help facilitate and create opportunities for goals, more than just being a pure goal scorer. I didn't think he'd be a 35-40 goal scorer when we drafted him, but could be a very tough, very solid 50. I liked his puck and stick handling, creativity, ability to keep the play moving and puck active, and general nose for the puck.

[Sports_Freak]

I tuned in late. Who are these guys doing the game?

[buddha]

what a pass by kasper and larkin buries it.

2-2

[buddha]

beautiful set up by raymond but debrincat just missed it.

[buddha]

shootout win!

that's a massive win.  on the road against one of the best teams in the league.

[lordstanley]

What’s with this midnight hockey? I’m used to dinnertime games. 

[Motor City Sonics]

So, Lord Stanley, did you go to Schwartz Deli for the smoked meat sandwich yet? 

 

 

Anyway, for those who can explain hockey better than I can.   What exactly is Todd McLellan doing to prompt this very abrupt turnaround?    Is it just the voice in the room needed to change or is there more to it? 

[slothfacekilla]

Lalonde had an awful defensive system that didn't allow for players to have any sort of agency or creativity outside of this person needs to be here and when you get the puck immediately flip it out of the zone.  You could really see it with Seider, any sort of creative plays he used to do with the puck dried up the last two seasons.  I also feel that his defensive system seemed to rely more on collapsing into your own zone instead of trying to stop flow through the neutral zone, which I hate.  Then on top of that, I feel like the last season and a half he was coaching scared to lose his job and stifled the offense even further.  They weren't chasing after dumping and they basically had no way to generate scoring chances.  You could tell that the system absolutely crushed most of the players, they didn't seem to be interested in doing more than going through the motions because the system was so rigid and based around not giving up a goal.

Todd, while he runs an overall defensive oriented system with players collapsing more into a trap type scenario when the opposition is breaking out, it seems like emphasis is placed on hounding the puck carrier in the neutral zone.  On top of that the players seem to be given the chance to actually make plays with the puck, passes or carrying, instead of instantly flipping it out.  It seems like guys are jumping up on offense more and possessing more as well.  Honestly in the end it all boils down to his "just play ****ing hockey" rant.  Lalonde basically coached these guys into being robots in his system which wasn't flexible at all.  Todd wants them to rely less on falling back to the system, but work within that system using your instincts and skills to make plays. 

 

Plus Lalonde was an absolute moron when it came to deploying people, especially young players.  Johansson is playing 20+ minutes a night and he would barely leave the press box under Uncle Fester.  Kasper was being shoehorned into a bottom six checking role.  The man put Motte on the top line.  In retrospect it is kinda crazy what he did to this team, no wonder all the signings looked awful!

[oblong]

13 hours ago, lordstanley said:

What’s with this midnight hockey? I’m used to dinnertime games. 

This western trip came at a good time for me to be able to stay up late again to watch them.  I miss that to be honest. I still find myself saying "We're playing Montreal again?  We just played them 2 weeks ago..."

Last night was fun to be up by myself in a quiet house, drink in hand.

[Motor City Sonics]

2 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

Lalonde had an awful defensive system that didn't allow for players to have any sort of agency or creativity outside of this person needs to be here and when you get the puck immediately flip it out of the zone.  You could really see it with Seider, any sort of creative plays he used to do with the puck dried up the last two seasons.  I also feel that his defensive system seemed to rely more on collapsing into your own zone instead of trying to stop flow through the neutral zone, which I hate.  Then on top of that, I feel like the last season and a half he was coaching scared to lose his job and stifled the offense even further.  They weren't chasing after dumping and they basically had no way to generate scoring chances.  You could tell that the system absolutely crushed most of the players, they didn't seem to be interested in doing more than going through the motions because the system was so rigid and based around not giving up a goal.

Todd, while he runs an overall defensive oriented system with players collapsing more into a trap type scenario when the opposition is breaking out, it seems like emphasis is placed on hounding the puck carrier in the neutral zone.  On top of that the players seem to be given the chance to actually make plays with the puck, passes or carrying, instead of instantly flipping it out.  It seems like guys are jumping up on offense more and possessing more as well.  Honestly in the end it all boils down to his "just play ****ing hockey" rant.  Lalonde basically coached these guys into being robots in his system which wasn't flexible at all.  Todd wants them to rely less on falling back to the system, but work within that system using your instincts and skills to make plays. 

 

Plus Lalonde was an absolute moron when it came to deploying people, especially young players.  Johansson is playing 20+ minutes a night and he would barely leave the press box under Uncle Fester.  Kasper was being shoehorned into a bottom six checking role.  The man put Motte on the top line.  In retrospect it is kinda crazy what he did to this team, no wonder all the signings looked awful!

My general feeling is that Derek was coaching this team like saying "for the love of all that is holy, just don't make any mistakes" and they were always on their heels and they were so risk-averse that they were just bland and I am sure that does crush a player.   Todd's way is more "Go get it, and if you make a mistake, you make a mistake, don't obsess over it or keep repeating it"   When LaLonde was coaching they didn't look like they wanted to be out there and WE ALL SAW IT and since Todd came in it's fun again.   Harkens back to "Aggressive Hockey is Back In Town"      

Playing not to lose is blueprint for failure.   

I just wish Steve would have recognized it about 2-3 weeks sooner, or at least made the move in early December.  Maybe he was trying but needed to negotiate with Todd.    This burst of 12-4 (and honestly, you can't hang Game 1 on Todd, he hadn't even seen a practice yet), so 12-3........this won't continue, but if they can be 9-6 with the next 15 games, great.   But if they miss the playoffs by 1-4 points it's gonna be so frustrating because making this move a little bit earlier (WHEN IT WAS OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE IT WASN'T WORKING) may have meant playoffs.  

And they just need to end it with Husso.    .866 SV% and 3.69 GAA..........that's awful and it's glaring when he plays.  If you need more than 2 goalies give Cossa a look.  If Cossa isn't good enough to get some spot starts at this point, then it might be time to start looking elsewhere

[Motor City Sonics]

............and hockey coaches sure don't last long in the NHL anymore.  

[gehringer_2]

3 hours ago, slothfacekilla said:

Lalonde had an awful defensive system that didn't allow for players to have any sort of agency or creativity outside of this person needs to be here and when you get the puck immediately flip it out of the zone.  You could really see it with Seider, any sort of creative plays he used to do with the puck dried up the last two seasons.  I also feel that his defensive system seemed to rely more on collapsing into your own zone instead of trying to stop flow through the neutral zone, which I hate.  Then on top of that, I feel like the last season and a half he was coaching scared to lose his job and stifled the offense even further.  They weren't chasing after dumping and they basically had no way to generate scoring chances.  You could tell that the system absolutely crushed most of the players, they didn't seem to be interested in doing more than going through the motions because the system was so rigid and based around not giving up a goal.

Todd, while he runs an overall defensive oriented system with players collapsing more into a trap type scenario when the opposition is breaking out, it seems like emphasis is placed on hounding the puck carrier in the neutral zone.  On top of that the players seem to be given the chance to actually make plays with the puck, passes or carrying, instead of instantly flipping it out.  It seems like guys are jumping up on offense more and possessing more as well.  Honestly in the end it all boils down to his "just play ****ing hockey" rant.  Lalonde basically coached these guys into being robots in his system which wasn't flexible at all.  Todd wants them to rely less on falling back to the system, but work within that system using your instincts and skills to make plays. 

 

Plus Lalonde was an absolute moron when it came to deploying people, especially young players.  Johansson is playing 20+ minutes a night and he would barely leave the press box under Uncle Fester.  Kasper was being shoehorned into a bottom six checking role.  The man put Motte on the top line.  In retrospect it is kinda crazy what he did to this team, no wonder all the signings looked awful!

great summary. 

You can't over emphasize that they just have better players being better deployed. Edvinsson and Johansson are just better hockey players now than Petry, Holl or Gustafsson, and splitting Edvinsson and Seider gives a them a D man with more of a 200 foot game on the ice for 45+ min a night. And with McLellan letting them play a 200 ft game, that's a big difference. I'm loving watching Edvinsson. He just erases puck carriers on a rush - it's something the Wings have been missing so much for so long.

the other honorable mention is that Raymond is turning into a star. He was doing well under Lalonde but his creativity has taken another step up under McLellan.

Edited Friday at 08:24 PM by gehringer_2

[Motor City Sonics]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

great summary. 

You can't over emphasize that they just have better players being better deployed. Edvinsson and Johansson are just better hockey players now than Petry, Holl or Gustafsson, and splitting Edvinsson and Seider gives a them a D man with more of a 200 foot game on the ice for 45+ min a night. And with McLellan letting them play a 200 ft game, that's a big difference. I'm loving watching Edvinsson. He just erases puck carriers on a rush - it's something the Wings have been missing so much for so long.

the other honorable mention is that Raymond is turning into a star. He was doing well under Lalonde but his creativity has taken another step up under McLellan.

So is Kasper lately and he's only 20.  The Toddfather put him on the top line and turned him loose and he's not a one-dimensional player AT ALL.