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Kane Compares McLellan’s Red Wings to Lalonde Version

Detroit star sees a team thriving on positive vibes

Published

4 weeks ago

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Patrick Kane. red wings
Patrick Kane sees a Red Wings team playing with more confidence and positive vibes under new coach Todd McLellan.

There were always subtle undertones from Detroit Red Wings star Patrick Kane suggesting that he wasn’t entirely enamored by the style and system of hockey preferred by previous Detroit coach Derek Lalonde.

Kane is clearly enjoying the game again under new coach Todd McLellan. He’s not the only one wearing the winged wheel who is of that mindset.

During Detroit’s current six-game win streak, Kane has at least one point in every victory. He’s accounted for 4-7-11 totals over that six-game span.

In 29 games playing under Lalonde this season, Kane was good for 5-9-14 totals. At times, he was expressing dissatisfaction in the defensive approach the team was taking under Lalonde.

There’s a line from Ron Livingston’s character in the movie Office Space relating to the effect of uninspiring leadership. He suggested in that scenario, an employee is going to work just hard enough not to get fired.

Certainly, the approach that McLellan is taking to hockey gets Kane’s creative juices flowing.

“I mean, just the part of our game that’s kind of always on the hunt, always playing more towards the other team’s net instead of like sitting back a little bit has been a welcome change for, for my game,” Kane acknowledged. “And not only my game, but the team in general.

“So try to keep pushing forward and like I said, keep playing aggressive. I think that’s a big part of our reason for success right now.”

Red Wings Feeling A Different Vibe

The Red Wings will be going for their season-high seventh straight victory Sunday afternoon against the Seattle Kraken. Kane senses that there’s been a complete makeover of the Red Wings psyche.

“I know we’ve only been seven games under Todd, but it’s pretty remarkable how vibes can change within a few weeks,” Kane said. “Obviously we were pretty down going into Christmas and ever since then I think the vibes have been pretty high and we’ve been feeling good about our team.

“And it feels like going into every game where we have a chance to win or that we feel like we should win. So in a good spot right now.”

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