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The Daily: Are Red Wings Ready for Higher Expectations?; NHL Notes

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2 weeks ago

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Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings’ 91-point season probably created both encouragement and frustration for Detroit’s fan base. They were undoubtedly disappointed that Coach Derek Lalonde’s team fell a point short of the postseason. On the other hand, fans can see this team is closing in on contention.

“There will be more expectations placed upon this team after missing this season’s playoffs via a tiebreaker,” Bob Duff wrote in his story about higher expectations. “That will lead to more pressure, more responsibility and more growth within the team. Will it all result in more wins? That’s the great unknown at this juncture.”

It’s a challenge the Red Wings have to embrace.

“Expectations for certain are going to change and that’s a positive,” Lalonde said. “Those expectations changed when we went 16-4-2 in February. Expectations changed when we started the season 5-1. Expectations changed when we won six straight.”

When it comes to this additional pressure to succeed, Lalonde says it’s all about perception. His players shouldn’t view it as stress, but rather a chance to shine.

“Don’t shy away from that,” Lalonde said of added expectations. “It’s reality. We want to grow somewhere. We’re going to grow. Of course, expectations are going to change as we keep building this and that’s all part of it.”

Red Wings In Case You Missed It

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  • Red Wings prospect Brady Cleveland used the transfer portal to move from Wisconsin to Colorado College. He’s a 6-foot-5 stay-at-home defenseman
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  • Paywall story: The Red Wings will continue to slow-cook the development of Axel Sandin Pellikka He probably will stay in Sweden for the 2024-25 season. To subscribe, please click here. To receive $10 off your subscription, use the promo code kevin10.

Red Wings Offseason

The Grand Rapids Griffins will open the Central Division Semifinals on the road Saturday with Game 1 against the Rockford IceHogs.Games 2 and 3 will be at Grand Rapids Van Andel Arena on Wednesday, May 1 and Friday, May 3. For the complete series schedule and ticket  information, click here.

Hockey Now Network

Chicago: Could the Chicago Blackhawks move defenseman Connor Murphy this summer? CHN looks at the possibility.

Colorado: The big story in Game 2 was Alexandar Georgiev’s bounce-back game. Evan Rawal reports that his teammates had plenty of praise. Colorado Avalanche.

Philadelphia: Are the Philadelphia Flyers paying goalie Ivan Fedotov too much? Jonathan Bailey drills deep on the Russian goalie’s new deal.

Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins have real problems and need to make some hard decisions.

San Jose: RFA Luke Kunin hopes to sign a long-term deal to stay with the San Jose Sharks.

Vegas: Coach Bruce Cassidy isn’t concerned about the Vegas Golden Knights‘ low shot total in Game 1 against Dallas, although he says offense is going to be point of emphasis now.

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AKscott

Odds are they won’t be top 3 in regards to team shooting percentage again. The Canucks and Wings were buoyed by their offense most of the season, and both came back to earth towards the end when teams started playing playoff-like hockey. They’ll have to be much better defensively. I’m not sure where that comes from if they just return mostly the same team minus a couple free agents. Yzerman has got to find a way to add some forwards that play a heavier game, and challenge Lalonde again to get this team playing better team defense.

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John Parham

Someone please tell me who are these players that still need to learn hockey 101? The Red Wings had one of the oldest teams in the NHL last season but we were fed the, we’re learning to do this or that routine far too often. Now they have to learn how to handle the pressure of playing on a good team? Forget the Stanley Cup championships, gold medal games, etc. you are now dealing with the pressure of playing on a possible playoff team. Roll out the sport psychologists.

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Stevie B

This is what really dissapointed me about the 7 game slump we went through. The thought I had was that when you’re missing your Captain, it’s the A’s who should be stepping up and it seems like A on this team this year stood for something other than Assistant and more like a word paired with “hole”. Where was the leadership when Larkin was out. They were sat there on their keysters sucking their thumbs. For a team stacked with vets who were there for their ability to know what to do in times of toughness, this was unnacceptable. That Lalonde couldn’t get that message across was both a failure of the vets and coaching.

This is why I steadfastly advocate starting to bring in the youth and phase out the vets. The veteran presence during that 7 game run was nowhere to be found, so might as well go with the kids.

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Mike Babcock

Needs another year in Grand Rapids.

Sign another free agent.

Well at least the Griffins will be good. 🙄

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