Quick Hits: 2018 Olympics and Red Wings Getting Out-competed

The Big Story

Bettman has inquired if NHL can skip 2018 Olympics, return in 2022 - By: Craig Hagerman: theScore

Something to keep an eye on this week will be Wednesday’s meeting between the NHL, NHLPA, IIHF, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada as they discuss the possibility of NHLers competing in Pyeongchang, South Korea for the 2018 Olympics. Although it appears a final decision will not be made until January, these early negotiations could give us some clue as to what each of the parties involved might decide.

Personally, I’m indifferent on this issue. On one hand, it’s a lot of fun to see a best-on-best tournament where you’ve got players competing for their native land on the world’s biggest stage. On the other, injury risks, interruption of the NHL season and the time difference are some pretty big hurdles to overcome as a fan. Also, Team North America is not a thing in the Olympics which kind of sucks.

In Red Wings Land

‘We got out-competed’: Blashill tries to toughen up Red Wings - By: Ted Kulfan: The Detroit News

There’s a lot in here so I’ll try to hit some of the highlights. The Wings went through a rigorous practice Monday afternoon after the 5-0 drubbing to the Canadiens on Saturday night. Usually I don’t use terms such as “compete level” and the like, but they aptly describe what happened to the Wings on Saturday. They came out limp, had no sense of direction or urgency and head coach Jeff Blashill is doing all he can to right the ship.

From the article:

“We’ve talked about identity and talked about being relentless, talked about being fast and competitive, and you can’t win in this league and not be highly competitive,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “The game in Montreal, we got out-competed and we can’t get out-competed.

“We got slapped in the face (so) it better be a wakeup call.

It’s been confirmed that Niklas Kronwall will not play against the Lightning this week, so we can expect to see one of Sproul or Ouellet draw back into the lineup. This makes a whole lot of sense, but Blashill’s also moved Glendening up into the top-six in practice, which does not. I guess those two moves are a wash.

Whatever Coach does I hope it gets the Wings kicked back into gear; they’re 2-5-1 after winning 6 straight.