McLellan Hates That The Red Wings Aren’t Practicing Today

Detroit Red Wings coach Todd McLellan wasn’t happy that he had to give his players the day off today with a game scheduled for tomorrow against the San Jose Sharks.

The Red Wings have won seven in a row, yet McLellan witnessed sloppiness he didn’t want to see in Sunday’s Detroit’s 6-2 win against the Seattle Kraken.

“(It’s) a mandatory off day (from collective bargaining), so we’re not going to get that practice time,” McLellan said. “And actually that concerns me a little bit because of the way this game kind of played out. You have a four or five nothing lead really quick and then it just gets loose. Some things aren’t really important and you have a tendency maybe to give something back. In an ideal world, it would be nice to have a practice, but we don’t. So we’ll see how the group responds to that test.”

Maintaining Focus

The all-business approach speaks about how serious the team is about sustaining this higher level of play that has occurred since Todd McLellan took over right after Christmas.

Some coaches believe the best time to practice is when a team is winning because they are eager to figure out more ways to be successful. They like being back in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They like the fact that they are scoring 4.42 goals per game during this streak, and have surrendered only two goals in five of those triumphs.

“You’re either moving forward or you’re repairing,” McLellan said. “And right now we’ve been able to have some success. The nuggets that we try and give the players, because they’ve had success with them, they’re kind of waiting for more now, like, what else do you have for us? And let’s see what else we can add to it because, you know, it’s worked for us so far. We’ll buy in and we’ll apply it and so we can move forward.”

Can’t Overlook Sharks

The San Jose Sharks (13-26-6) have the NHL’s second-worst record, and the Red Wings want to make sure they don’t take them lightly or show any of the sloppiness they demonstrated after they built a big lead against Seattle.

Since McLellan arrived, every practice has been about adding another page to his book on how he wants them to play. Thus far, his practice plans have worked.

“I don’t think you have to win or lose to evaluate how you played,” McLellan said.  “We won (against Seattle). It wasn’t our best game of the streak by any means. In my opinion, we gave up too much. We were too loose. Hence, that’s why I would like to had have that practice (today). But there, there are some clips that the players might see. It’s just a little harder to sell because they knew it was 5-0 or 6-1, and it doesn’t get as important. But I don’t think you have to win or lose to hammer home a point. You watch the game, you evaluate it, and you take what’s there and try and sell it to the players again.”

You can bet the Tuesday morning skate will feel just a little bit like a practice.