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Red Wings vs Blue Jackets: GDU, Lineups, Keys to the Game

Posted on by Pete Flynn

Game Day Updates

Before you read all the stuff below about Joe Veleno, it’s important to note that he may or may not play tonight.

On another note:

On the Columbus side:

Lineups

Detroit

Forwards
Vrana – Rasmussen – Filppula
Erne – Namestnikov – Zadina
Panik – Veleno – Gagner
Helm – Glendening – Svechnikov

Defense
Cholowski – Hronek
Staal – Stecher
DeKeyser – Lindstrom

Goalies
Bernier
Greiss

Columbus

Forwards
Robinson – Domi – Bjorkstrand
Foudy – Roslovic – Laine
Grigorenko – Texier – Atkinson
Gerbe – MacInnis – Matteau

Defense
Del Zotto – Jones
Gavrikov – Lehtonen
Bayreuther – Kukan

Goalies
Merzlikins
Kivlenieks

Keys to the Game

1. Must See JV:

This one is a little tongue-in-cheek, partially because as I write it I don’t even know if Veleno is playing, but mostly because it’s important for fans to not place their expectations too high for him right now. He’s taken some time to adjust to each of the levels of play he’s been at in the past 2 seasons, so it’s likely that he will take some time to adjust at the NHL level too. It’s still going to be fun to get to see him in the lineup. Now we just need to get Jimmy Vesey so we can have the Three JV Line

2. Find A Way to Go On

With Detroit now eliminated from the playoffs, they no longer have the hopes of a playoff berth to motivate them. They’ll have to figure out other motivations. Maybe they can make a Columbus player look so bad that John Tortorella benches them for the next two games. It seems like a pretty good goal. Let’s see:

  • S – Specific (or Significant). – Yep.
  • M – Measurable (or Meaningful). – Yep.
  • A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented). – Oh Yes.
  • R – Relevant (or Rewarding). – Maybe not relevant, but definitely rewarding
  • T – Time-bound (or Trackable) – Yep. /

Success!!

3. Make the Most of It

I coach high school tennis for a school that does not have many players who have played tennis before. We play in a league where almost every other team we play has handfuls of players who have played for years. So I am no stranger to being up against a player or team that is better than you.

In cases where we are overmatched and it’s obvious early on, I tell my players to just work on the things they know they need to do in order to get better. For example, if one of my singles players should be coming to the net more often, I tell them to do that whenever possible. Sure it won’t work a lot of the time, but you are practicing that skill in a real game situation.

My point here is that I think that for our team’s long term success we need to be playing a more aggressive style than we do now. In the short term, it could be ugly, but you can’t improve something unless you practice it. Now, am I over simplifying things to an incredible degree? Sure. But I think you get the idea. Work on tactics that will help us in the long run, even if it costs us now in these last 6 games that are meaningless in so many ways.

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