Blashill under pressure in Detroit
Red Wings coach has a new boss heading into ’19-20
DETROIT If Jeff Blashill didn’t know he has much to live up to amid the monuments of Red Wings greats around Little Caesars Arena, he just has to take a glance at the GM’s booth.
Steve Yzerman has replaced Ken Holland, putting more pressure on the coach to help guide the Wings return to respectability.
Blashill, who has been coach since his one-time boss Mike Babcock left for the Maple Leafs in 2015, welcomes the challenge.
Holland took his Stanley Cup rings to Edmonton, while Yzerman, architect of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Team Canada’s international success, longed to return to the team where his illustrious playing career began.
“I feel super lucky I’ve had the opportunity to work for Ken and Steve,” Blashill said. “Ken is going to be a Hall of Famer, Steve is a Hall of Famer, they’re two of the most respected men in the NHL. “As a coach, when you work for that level of GM, it’s a great thing. They’re certainly somewhat different in their personalities (Holland will gladly conduct an impromptu press conference in an elevator, Yzerman has hardly been seen at training camp), but they have similar beliefs in how to build a team, how to win and the long-term approach you have to take.”
As expected, the Wings’ string of playoff appearances stopped as the Nicklas Lidstrom-Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg glory days team faded. The Wings have mostly hovered between 70 and 80 points the last few years and it will be important Blashill shows the team is trending upward. Using a lot of young players, the Wings finished last season on an 8-3 run.
Blashill is down to final cuts, but cautioned not to read too much into who makes his 23-man roster next week.
“This is a relentless league. (If) you’re on the team Monday, doesn’t mean you’re on the team Friday. It’s just the reality,” Blashill said. “In junior, when your skill set is generally better than the guys you’re playing and if you’re 50 per cent of your best, you’re still one of the better players. In the NHL, if you’re not 100 per cent or close to capacity, you get eaten alive.”
Making strong impressions are six-foot-six centre Michael Rasmussen, rookie Joe Veleno and Toronto-born left-winger Givani Smith. “Last year we played Raz at wing for the most part because it’s a heck of a jump from junior to a centre in the NHL,” Blashill said.
Chosen 30th overall in 2018, Veleno had a 100-point year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with Drummondville last year. “Joe and I talked this summer and I told him the quickest way to the NHL is to be a guy the coaches trust,” Blashill said.
“He’s making a real concerted effort to be a really good two-way centre. In this league, it’s very hard to be successful if you don’t have good two-way centremen. We played against one of the better ones last night in (St. Louis’s Ryan) O’Reilly.”
Smith, a 2016 second-rounder, is another physical presence. “Givani’s had a real good camp,” Blashill said. “He understands more today than a year ago of what can separate him in the NHL … I think he’s been a pain to play against at times — the right times — so he can really bring that element.”