Detroit Red Wings: Picking the Corners Clean

Mickey Redmond is a beloved figure in Detroit Red Wings hockey. But he is no mere good-time Charlie waxing folksy about downing a “ginger ale,” no mere legendary ambassador for the sport and the Wings.

Redmond, currently the Detroit Red Wings color commentator actually knows a lot about hockey in general and scoring in particular. Of course, scoring today is different than when Redmond patrolled the right wing at Olympia Stadium. Goalies today, though gradually downsized in recent years, are padded in ways that would embarrass the Pillsbury dough-boy.

Add to that goalies afoot taller and much broader than the likes of Roger Crozier and Eddie Giacomin whom Redmond shot upon, and the goalies fill the crease as never before. There is so little daylight. Even worse, these massive goalies are nimble as well.

At six and a half feet, they can kneel in the crease and fully darken that 4 x 6 square foot, leaving absolutely nothing below. Mickey has been vociferous about this: if you want to be a scorer in the NHL today, you had better master the top shelf of the net and learn to pick the net corners clean. It is the only way forward. In this posture, the only place these goalies are vulnerable is up above.

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Mickey has regularly proclaimed this as the only way a forward for Detroit Red Wings scorers today. But until recently his sermons have mostly fallen on deaf ears. Along with net-front presence in this new hockey year, the most critical reason why the Red Wings are scoring more is their willingness to pick the corners clean. We now drill goalies in the midsection with less regularity.

Most notable like this is Dylan Larkin getting freed up as a scorer. If we saw a highlight reel of his goals this year, we would notice a new-found love of picking the corners clean. We see the same in Andreas Athanasiou and Dennis Cholowski. On the backhand, it is Frans Nielsen’s signature move in shootout domination. It is precisely how Anthony Mantha scored twice in the third period.

This is not as simple as it sounds. If you are a prospect, and cannot crack the NHL code on how to score, you are squeezing your stick too tightly, like we all do the steering wheel as we drive in a snowstorm. Nothing is more limiting for a scorer than that heavy, ham-handedness devoid of any touch. You must keep your hands light and flick the puck, whether a wrister or a snap shot. In a game played at lightning speed, as the shooter is chased down, it is a feeling with no little artistry.

That is not easy to do in the face of a quality goaltender, defensemen eager to pummel you, with your coach on the bench waiting, waiting for you to finally contribute rather than be a fond hope.

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We see Detroit Red Wings offensive prospects stepping up in ways like this before our eyes. We see them mastering how to win by scoring in critical moments with a lightness of being that until recently escaped them. We see an important step in them fulfilling their destiny and lifting up the Wings. This should make us smile. Let’s see how this goes in the next many games against better teams.

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