Jeremy Laura: Red Wings explosive first period leads to 7th straight win

Good to see things rollin'. Confidence breeds confidence. Nice to see Gus score. Tarasenk has serious scoring issues....he's dishing the puck as well as can be expected, but he was brought in to score, we need that extra push. He's not defensive, so he's got to out-score his defensive liabilities....something needs to break free for him.

Watching Kane is like watching Rembrandt paint (I'd imagine....he's been gone for a while....maybe not the best analogy?!?!?). His hands are so soft, and his vision and anticipation is insane; heknow who's going to be where and how long it's going to take to get the puck there. Justsick to watch, I'm tellin' ya.

Glad we've gained this confidence going into a tough stretch. Hope Lyon's injury is healed because I don't know if Husso can carry the mail. We're going to need some staunch 'tending to carry the mail over the week or so. I'm hopeful, things are rollin', couple guys need to step up and find their way outta poor play....will go a VERY long way to building the foundation we truly need to become a formidable team.

Good to see things rollin'. Confidence breeds confidence. Nice to see Gus score. Tarasenk has serious scoring issues....he's dishing the puck as well as can be expected, but he was brought in to score, we need that extra push. He's not defensive, so he's got to out-score his defensive liabilities....something needs to break free for him.

Watching Kane is like watching Rembrandt paint (I'd imagine....he's been gone for a while....maybe not the best analogy?!?!?). His hands are so soft, and his vision and anticipation is insane; heknow who's going to be where and how long it's going to take to get the puck there. Justsick to watch, I'm tellin' ya.

Glad we've gained this confidence going into a tough stretch. Hope Lyon's injury is healed because I don't know if Husso can carry the mail. We're going to need some staunch 'tending to carry the mail over the week or so. I'm hopeful, things are rollin', couple guys need to step up and find their way outta poor play....will go a VERY long way to building the foundation we truly need to become a formidable team.
- mcmastermike1968

Honestly, some of my favorite moments of the rebuild have been these past 7 games. Raymond seems like such a special player. I agree on Tarasenko. He cares and wants it to go but I think he’s fighting himself a bit. Even Gustafsson has had a pick up and that’s cool to see. Kasper works so hard and I really want the best for that kid. Debrincat hasn’t smiled this much in a while. Confidence can be contagious, for sure. My biggest hope is that there are real changes sinking in. Todd is such a different coach than LaLonde. Hoping DL can get a gig and be involved somewhere. The change was needed but you still hope for good things.

Honestly, some of my favorite moments of the rebuild have been these past 7 games. Raymond seems like such a special player. I agree on Tarasenko. He cares and wants it to go but I think he’s fighting himself a bit. Even Gustafsson has had a pick up and that’s cool to see. Kasper works so hard and I really want the best for that kid. Debrincat hasn’t smiled this much in a while. Confidence can be contagious, for sure. My biggest hope is that there are real changes sinking in. Todd is such a different coach than LaLonde. Hoping DL can get a gig and be involved somewhere. The change was needed but you still hope for good things.
- Jeremy Laura

Being a DRW fan comes with a heavy price, no doubt. I watched "The Joe..." the other night; some insane memories, names I haven't thought of in years (Danny Gare, etc...), and it really put things in a different light - this team is amazing, the organization is amazing, the fans are amazing. But it comes at a cost. We've got some really talented players, and some that are less-than desirable (trying to be nice. The A & minors are in great shape, and The Captain is working to keep the draft productive. Are we hard on the team? Yep. We're spoiled. It's going to take a few more years for us to be able to get cranky if we don't make the SCF semis. It all comes from the message coming from the staff - and I think we all can agree that the message, the drive, the intensity, etc... has completely changed w/Todd Mac.

The past 7 have been really good hockey. It shows what the team is capable of and shows some of the guys who may not be as viable assets as we may think....

From my seat; if we can unload Tank and he agrees, go for it. He's a declining vet who's decline has been precipitous. Now, full disclosure: I've ALWAYS been a Tank fan. He was a beast, but something's off and I'd have his name #1 on the trade list. If he turns it around, that's great for us. BUT.....I just don't see it in him like he's shown in the past few years..... Just sayen it's probably time for him to move on. There's a good chance that we have a name or 2 in GR that could come up post-TDL, if he's traded. Again, if not, so much the better. But again, I don't think we need to make a ton of moves right now. Tank is more of an opportunity trade, make sense?

ANYWAY, good game, some defensive lapses and I feel like we took the foot off the gas a bit in he 3d. BUT, that's been 2 games in a row. Not freakin' out, but as we play FLA, taking the foot off the gas will equal a blow-out.

Wow, what a turnaround, is this a temporary bump from a coaching change or is this sustainable? Oh, is Yzerman still and idiot? Asking for a friend.

Wow, what a turnaround, is this a temporary bump from a coaching change or is this sustainable? Oh, is Yzerman still and idiot? Asking for a friend.
- DraftandDestroy

Do you really think they are going to be 50% on the PP for the rest of the season or score 4 or 5 goals per game?

Yzerman should have gotten rid of Fester at the very latest in November. I'd been saying it for a long time that his systems and passive play was complete garbage. Roster still needs 2 solid top 4 defensemen, a good offensive 2nd line center and more size and physicality. I mean Copp has 6 hits in 42 games...how is that even possible?

An awful lot of negativity for a 7 game win streak. This is why conversations on sports tends to get heated. There are fans who only see the negatives when they watch the games, fans who only see the positives when they watch the games, and then a very small subset who just enjoys the game because we have exactly zero input or control over the outcome.

Yes they are a different team, yes they have the toughest schedule in the NHL the rest of the way, yes players and the team are improving, but it’s hockey and the Wings are still several years away from being a contender and that’s not going to change no matter how much faster we think the rebuild should have went, no matter who we think should be kept or traded, no matter who we think should have been signed, drafted or traded for in the past, and no matter who gets fired who we think should be fired, so sit back and enjoy the game of hockey. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

Wow, what a turnaround, is this a temporary bump from a coaching change or is this sustainable? Oh, is Yzerman still and idiot? Asking for a friend.
- DraftandDestroy

You have friends?

I did think this team was better than what their record showed prior to the win streak. But it was pretty obvious this coach was not the right man for the job. The players were simply not allowed to play to their offensive strengths and be creative with the offense. They were using a terrible "dump and chase" system or just chipping it in the offensive zone. And this team does not have the size / physicality / forecheck to play that kind of system. What was even worse was seeing them collapse back into their own end and watch the other team play tic-tac-toe and take shots at will from the perimeter in the Wings' defensive zone. Just awful to watch... and guaranteed to lose games. Hoping McClelland gets this team back to a true "puck possession" team which is what this roster is built for. Nice to finally see them actually shooting the puck now.

Things that still need attention with the current roster... i.e. what McClelland still has to figure out:

- get Tarasenko scoring again... he's been a big disappointment. Needs to get his confidence back. Maybe put him on the top line with Larkin and Raymond

- Get Kasper to play to his full potential... slowly getting better, but he needs to really heat up and become the impact player / second line center they need him to become.

Yzerman still needs to get more talent up the middle / Center position if they're ever going to roll 4 lines like a true SC contender does. Really hoping Danielson in GR will turn into a top tier center eventually. Team is still lacking top talent on the blue line. Yzerman needs to address this ASAP. Pellika needs to be in Grand Rapids ASAP and learn North American hockey right now !

An awful lot of negativity for a 7 game win streak. This is why conversations on sports tends to get heated. There are fans who only see the negatives when they watch the games, fans who only see the positives when they watch the games, and then a very small subset who just enjoys the game because we have exactly zero input or control over the outcome.

Yes they are a different team, yes they have the toughest schedule in the NHL the rest of the way, yes players and the team are improving, but it’s hockey and the Wings are still several years away from being a contender and that’s not going to change no matter how much faster we think the rebuild should have went, no matter who we think should be kept or traded, no matter who we think should have been signed, drafted or traded for in the past, and no matter who gets fired who we think should be fired, so sit back and enjoy the game of hockey. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.
- bluelineenforcer

The group consensus is this team is not SCF-bound. We all agree that there are multiple issues that need to be addressed (how many new units were you assigned to where some new commander came in and blew the place up? I gave the new units at least 45 days to see wth was needing attention.....Mac doesn't have that luxury....). I'm not being overly negative, I don't think....what I'm saying is that there are a few positions that need attention now that schemes have been put in place, etc... and the team is rolling. So if the above is directed at me......I'm not trying to come across as negative - just pointing out some areas that need work. BUT, I will meet you behind the wood-shed for some wall-to-wall counseling

people cant handle Raymond breaking towards the middle. they have to cover him but that leave debrincat wide open.

Do you really think they are going to be 50% on the PP for the rest of the season or score 4 or 5 goals per game?

Yzerman should have gotten rid of Fester at the very latest in November. I'd been saying it for a long time that his systems and passive play was complete garbage. Roster still needs 2 solid top 4 defensemen, a good offensive 2nd line center and more size and physicality. I mean Copp has 6 hits in 42 games...how is that even possible?
- dcz28

My response was clearly a bit of "tongue-in-cheek", obviously they're not going to win out the rest of the season. And yes. I agree that Yzerman should've made a move sooner than he did, and there's clearly more work to be done, but they're not as bad as they were showing, they just needed a change in direction.

My response was clearly a bit of "tongue-in-cheek", obviously they're not going to win out the rest of the season. And yes. I agree that Yzerman should've made a move sooner than he did, and there's clearly more work to be done, but they're not as bad as they were showing, they just needed a change in direction.
- DraftandDestroy

To your point there are plenty of quotes that could be reposted that “changing the coach won’t make a difference” as well as calls to do just that. This has been a nice bump and it’s relit bonfires in both camps. There are fans enjoying it and fans just waiting for a chance to tear it all apart. It’s been fun, I hope more people are enjoying the boost and see the kids from the WJC that are coming up. The one thing that was setting in was apathy. People just tuned out. Glad to see passionate discussion back for sure.

Debrincat and Kane are on fire… you can feel they are so good… but Raymond and Larkin are as well. It’s such a nice looking PP unit. Can you imagine if we had Ghost this year with the way those first unit PP guys are clicking??

There's no way to make up the perfect roster anymore. Heck, even the HoF roster of '08 stumbled down the stretch. Mistakes have definitely been made. But, can you imagine what last year's team may have done under Todd Mac? I mean, just hypothesizing, but dang.....

Anyway, I'd think there's more work some guys need to put in to get to where they think they should be playing right now. If we can get those guys hitting, we may have some pretty decent improvement, and maybe a decent return at the TDL. Meh....let's see what happens!