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When things are going well in terms of sports, the Detroit fandom is a happier and interesting place. Born in 1976, I’ve lived through one World Series win, 3 NBA championships and 4 Stanley Cups. Each of those years had its own insanity but general friendliness. In the modern era, we’ve now seen Tigers and Lions scoreboard updates at Red Wings games. Players on the ice and bench are staring up at the scoreboard. “Jared Goff” is chanted, even at away games, by Wings fans. Last year the U of M squad (which seems to keep getting bigger) had a lot more fun than Jeff Petry during the NCAA football season. Red Wings players are spotted at baseball and football games, and Tigers and Lions players are spotted at LCA. The cross over is probably there for the Pistons as well, but the season just happens at the wrong time.

With the stadium setup downtown, there are fans who have gone to a two different team games in a single (and likely very long) day. It’s what Detroit loves. The other “stuff” of life takes a break for a couple of hours and fun and the sport is the priority. Now, we’re seeing a blending that feels unprecedented. Whether it’s crossover ownership or advertising or just fans being fans, we see a little bit of everything at the games and that feels like a net gain.

On a rare multi day stretch off of Red Wings games, it felt like a good moment to look at what we’re seeing in chemistry. Specifically Copp and Compher. It feels like endless tweaking is going to define the top two lines but Copp and Compher seem to click. Whether it’s at full strength or on the PK, those two seem to just complement each other’s game. This has been a welcome sight while the best fit for Debrincat/Kane and Tarasenko are all still very fluid. The blue line situation is pretty much Seider and Edvinsson more and more and then, bingo balls to healthy scratch.

There was an odd December where I had the chance to be around one of the players (a decade ago) and their line in December was contributing most of the offense. The player quipped, “it’s amazing what happens when you get to skate with players you click with”. Coaches can sometimes over shuffle (Bowman had a dictionary’s worth of combos) and instead of “getting someone going” it can shut them down. There’s an old interview I’m following up on so it won’t go into this piece, but there are players whose production fell off a cliff with the constant shuffling. The intended result backfired and the “boost” never happened. Net loss across the board.

Kasper coming up is a welcome sight and it feels like he should be centering the 2nd line with Kane and Debrincat. Tarasenko is still finding his spot but with Larkin and Raymond it seems like that would allow him to focus on defensive play.

Let me know your thoughts. Who do you like seeing play together, and has it surprised you to see so much crossover on the Detroit sports front. It can be a lot of fun and Lions fans have had a good time seeing the team pick up and bring that energy wherever they go.

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