Connect with us

Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Hunt For Strong October

Rugged first month of season for Detroit

Published

on

Dylan Larkin, Red Wings
Captain Dylan Larkin knows the Red Wings are facing a stiff October test.

The Detroit Red Wings nearly made the NHL playoffs last season. On paper, they were missing out on postseason play due to losing a tiebreaker.



In reality, it was a couple of bumps in the road that would derail their playoff hopes. Every team will go through lulls over the course of an 82-season. The key to success in the drive for the playoffs is to nip those downturns in the bid before they develop into lengthy skids.

Another fact often cited as vital is to get the season off to a good start. We’re here to tell you that’s not necessarily the case.

“The last two years we got off to great starts,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “We’ve had great camps and it’s led into October.”

He’s correct in that assessment. The Red Wings were 5-1 after six games last season. In 2022-23, Detroit was sitting at 4-2 six games into the campaign.

Neither season would conclude with a playoff berth. That’s because in reality, a good start guarantees nothing. On the other hand, a bad start to the season almost always proves fatal to postseason hopes.

On October 31 last year, the six teams at the bottom of the NHL standings were the Columbus Blue Jackets (3-4-2), Chicago Blackhawks (3-6), Pittsburgh Penguins (3-6), Edmonton Oilers (2-5-1), Calgary Flames (2-6-1) and San Jose Sharks (0-8-1).  Of the group, only the Oilers would prove capable of clawing their way back into a playoff berth. Then again, suiting up Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on a daily basis can solve a lot of problems.

Red Wings Facing Rugged First Month

The reason why this data is appropriate to discuss in the case of the 2024-25 Red Wings relates to the October slate of games the NHL has handed to Detroit. It’s a murderer’s row of some of the NHL’s best teams.

Among Detroit’s first five games, there are home and homes with the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers. There are also dates with the Winnipeg Jets, Oilers and New Jersey Devils among the club’s 10 October games.

“It’s real,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said of the challenging first month his team is facing. “Sometimes you get a stretch of games when you’re just playing some really good competition. And we just happen to have Pittsburgh, the Rangers twice and Nashville twice for our first five games.”

If the Wings were to launch the season say 3-6-1, they’d be giving themselves a rugged climb to get back into the race. It’s not impossible to do, but it does make reaching the objective that much harder.

They’re going to have to hit the ice on top of their game from the get-go. Lalonde, for one, believes he’s got a team that will be proving capable of meeting that challenge.

“No matter what our competition is, I still think it’s about us and getting our game in order to play the right way,” Lalonde said. “And obviously we’ll certainly need it with the caliber of competition we’re going to start to season with.”

For any team, if they want to be a success and ultimately be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, they’ll need to face up to and overcome challenging tasks such as this one. In Larkin’s mind, it all comes down to embracing the opportunity to excel.

“We’re excited to get back to Little Caesars Arena and play in front of our fans,” Larkin said. “I can’t tell you how many times I thought about that.

“Our last home game against Montreal, I’d watch the video of Lucas (Raymond) scoring with the goalie pulled and that atmosphere was the best it’s been since the building opened and I played a game there.

“So I’ve talked to a lot of our fans. They’re excited for us to be back. So I expect our fans, I’m hoping our fans can, can like they were last year, be there for us and be excited as we are.”