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20.02.2019 02:50
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DETROIT (AP) The Detroit Red Wings‘ debut season at Little Caesars Arena fell short Adidas Ian Cole Jersey , even of low expectations.Detroit was not projected by many to make the playoffs but the Red Wings didn’t come close.Detroit won just 30 games and finished 24 points behind the wild-card teams in the Eastern Conference, faring even worse than it did during last year’s farewell season at Joe Louis Arena. And some nights, it was as quiet as a library in their spectacular new home.”It was a tough year,” forward Justin Abdelkader said. ”Hopefully, we have guys in here that understand the long offseason gives all of us an opportunity to come back bigger, stronger and faster. We’ve got a lot of picks and hopefully some of those guys can help at some point next season and in the years to come. I don’t think we’re far off because we have a lot of pieces in this room.”The Red Wings, who didn’t miss the playoffs from 1991 to 2016, had their season end in with the regular-season finale in consecutive years for the first time since 1979-83. Back then, fans referred to them as Dead Wings and the team gave away cars to draw fans to the games.HE’S BACKThe Red Wings will continue to rely on general manager Ken Holland. He helped the franchise win four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008 and was given a two-year deal recently to stay in place and turn things around.”When I fly in an airplane Adidas Philipp Grubauer Jersey , I always love to fly with a pilot who’s done it before,” team President Chris Ilitch said. ”Ken Holland has had the experience of seeing a Detroit Red Wing team in the 1980s build from the ground all the way up to the Stanley Cup champion.”ON THE BENCHJeff Blashill, who won 33 and 41 games the previous two years as coach, is expected to have his future addressed by Holland after the Red Wings gather Tuesday. On Monday, he was named the head coach for the U.S. national team competing at the world championships in Denmark next month.BRIGHT SPOTSThe Red Wings don’t have any superstars right now, but they have some younger players who could develop into game-changers.Dylan Larkin, a 21-year-old center, led the team with 63 points and made a relatively smooth transition from wing.”We had some guys that are significant in the growth of this team I thought take steps forward,” Blashill said. ”Larkin certainly would be at the top of that list. I’ve said before we need some guys to become elite players in their prime. I thought he took a step from a guy who a year ago in the middle part of the year was struggling on the wing Adidas Cale Makar Jersey , to a guy who is really coming as a two-way center.”Anthony Mantha, a 23-year-old wing, led the team with 23 goals. Tyler Bertuzzi had 24 points in 48 games in his first extended opportunity to play in the NHL as a 23-year-old wing.ONE TO WATCHAndreas Athanasiou, a 23-year-old center, was inconsistent after holding out for a bigger contract last fall. He is a restricted free agent, eligible for arbitration, and may want to be on the move.Does he want to play for the Red Wings next season?”I want to be an NHL player,” he said. ”I want to be in this league. I’ve been very happy to wear a Red Wings wheel, but it’s a business so we’ll see what happens.”LOTTERY LUCKThe Red Wings have an 8.5-percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick Adidas Adam Clendening Jersey , a selection that is widely is expected to be Swedish defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Detroit desperately needs a potential superstar such as Dahlin, but will have a pair of first-round picks and an NHL-high 11 selections in the draft.— SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Even the simplest of tasks like breathing and eating were painstakingly difficult for Logan Couture heading into the playoffs a year ago.An errant puck had shattered his face and the injuries hampered Couture during San Jose’s first-round loss to Edmonton. They weren’t fully healed until the summer. The Sharks are counting heavily on a now healthy Couture to anchor a long playoff run this year starting Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series at Anaheim.”It was tough,” Couture said about playing through the injury a year ago. ”It was very difficult. I went from playing to not knowing if I would be playing in the playoffs. The injury, it affected my life more than hockey. It was difficult just waking up and dealing with day to day stuff. But I’m happy, happy to be healthy.”Couture was hit in the mouth a year ago by a shot from teammate Brent Burns and missed the final seven games of the regular season with two fractures in his face. He came back for the playoffs with plastic and wiring to keep his teeth in place and played all six games, scoring two goals in a Game 4 victory, but he was far from his usual self.Couture was a main factor in San Jose’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, leading the NHL with 30 points that postseason before the Sharks lost in six games to Pittsburgh. He’s hoping for the same type of spring this year.”That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey Adidas Riley Nash Jersey ,” he said. ”Just a blast to go to the rink every day. That was a special group that we had that year. It’s different each year obviously when personnel changes. I think about that run quite a bit, just how much fun it was. Just hoping to relive it.”As well as he played during that run, Couture might be at his peak heading into this year’s playoffs after scoring a career-high 34 goals this season, posting 61 points and having the usual responsibility of trying to slow down the opponent’s top scoring line.That performance helped the Sharks overcome the loss of Patrick Marleau to free agency last summer and Joe Thornton to a knee injury in January and helped Couture win the team’s MVP award, although he has loftier goals still in mind.”I’ve felt good. The puck’s gone in for me. That’s the big thing. Just capitalized on opportunities. Scoring 34 goals is pretty cool. Definitely to be up in the top 20 in goal scorers in this league, in the best league in the world, is special for sure,” Couture said.”The season’s not over. Obviously the goal for myself, and as well as our team Adidas Anthony Duclair Jersey , is to win it all. It’s tough to say it’s been a successful year until the year’s done.”Couture will have plenty of responsibility this series to make sure the season doesn’t end too soon.He’ll be a main part of the top power-play unit, one of the team’s most important penalty killers, tasked with slowing down Ryan Getzlaf’s line and provide offense of his own.”The one thing about Logan is he has the ability to raise his level in important moments, in important times of the year as he’s shown in my time here,” coach Peter DeBoer said. ”I expect the same thing. I think we kind of take it for granted but that’s what he is. He’s a great player and he has that ability.”NOTES: DeBoer would not rule Thornton out for the series, saying only he wouldn’t play Game 1. … Eric Fehr and Melker Karlsson, who missed time late in the season, worked on the fourth line at practice Tuesday.— |
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