Red Wings Rumblings
Happy New Year, friends! It sure is feeling a lot better to be a Red Wings fan today than it was a couple of weeks ago. The Wings closed out 2024 with a 4-2 win over the Penguins at Little Caesars Arena last night — the same score they beat the Capitals by at home on December 29. That puts Todd McLellan at 2-1-0 as head coach, and it’s pretty easy to see that this coaching change has made a difference already. I mean, just read the quotes from Ted Kulfan’s column following the win against Pittsburgh. It’s been a while since the team has been this engaged and excited to talk and play hockey. I really enjoyed this quote from McLellan:
‘”It was more about this group then it is about me,” McLellan said. “There are so many excited guys in there and happy guys right now. Just the whole mood is different than when we started, and that means more than the 600. Some of those guys weren’t even alive (when McLellan started his career) so it doesn’t matter to them.”‘
Meanwhile, we’re starting to learn more about the fallout from Derek Lalonde’s firing, mainly how the team was notified. According to Helene St. James, Patrick Kane found out from Alex DeBrincat and Andrew Copp found out from social media. Dylan Larkin told HSJ that he found out from Newsy himself, and that the two had a good relationship despite the team being utter dogshit, for lack of better words. It’s nice to see there isn’t any bad blood between the ex-coach and the current team captain. Strong showing of maturity from Larkin.
Prospects, WJC
The Wings recently announced that 2024 third-rounder Ondrej Becher has signed his entry-level contract. Becher, who will turn 21 next month, has had a slow start with Grand Rapids but is coming from the Canadian junior level, so there’s plenty of adjusting that needs to happen when you make such a move. Obviously he did something to show the front office that he deserves an ELC, so it will be interesting to see how he develops over the next few months.
Speaking of the Griffins… They are really freaking good this year. A big 5-1 win on home ice for New Year’s Eve to keep the team firmly at the top of the AHL’s Central Division with a record of 19-9-3. Head coach Dan Watson is doing a remarkable job of getting the most out of his players, especially the young ones. Multi-point night for prospects Antti Tuomisto (1 goal, 1 assist) and Alex Doucet (2 assists).
Over at the World Juniors, a pair of wins for Team USA and Team Sweden on New Year’s Eve. Trey Augustine and the Americans had no problem with Team Canada, beating them 4-1. Pretty cool milestone for Augustine as well:
Axel Sandin-Pellikka picked up an assist in Team Sweden’s 4-2 win over Team Czechia. That point keeps him in a two-way tie with Cole Hutson for highest-scoring player at the WJC. ASP has notched seven points so far.
