Red Wings Reactions: The Mood After Six Games
By Nate Brown
Just slightly over the 10% mark of the season, the Detroit Red Wings stumble out of a demoralizing weekend dropping two games to the Chicago Blackhawks. With a combined score of 10-3, the performances threw cold water on what felt like positive momentum from last season and now has a lot of Red Wings fans asking questions about what’s in store for the shortened season.
Among the concerns of Red Wings fans: the play of Anthony Mantha. After signing an extension before the season and being billed as one of the core members of the rebuild, his play has raised eyebrows and drawn the ire of a fanbase looking for an improvement on last year’s debacle.
Questioning Jeff Blashill seems prudent after two flat performances, but the issues obviously don’t stop there. He can’t possibly control all aspects of the game, which begins with decisions being made on the ice. The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James wrote about this specifically, pointing out that if the entire team doesn’t start producing, it’s going to be a repeat of last season.
The Athletic’s Max Bultman (paywall) comes to a similar conclusion, which asks if anyone from the “fringes” can step up or if the skid can be stopped. Brad Krysko, one of the contributors to the Winged Wheel Podcast (awesome listen and a must for Red Wings fans) tweeted this after the game regarding Blashill:
I don’t ever want to see someone fired, it’s a real problem that affects good people.
— Brad Krysko WWP 🇺🇦 (@BradKrysko) January 24, 2021
However, what is the defense for Blashill at this point?
I want actual answers that aren’t “he’s never had a good team” or “for the tank”
I want specific examples of his positive effects
To end it on a more soothing take, George Malik of The Malik Report provides a calming reminder of how hockey can be.
Guys, some times the team lays an egg. Sometimes they lay two. The Hawks tend to facilitate these kinds of outings.
— George Malik (@georgemalik) January 24, 2021
Who is it on? Everybody. Not just the coach. Not just Mantha. The team loses, from the coaches' office to the locker room.
Regardless of where you stand in all of this, there is definitely solace in standing back and taking notice that there will be games like we witnessed this weekend. Especially in a season where the pandemic affects every team, there will be circumstances where the Covid Protocol will wreak havoc on rosters. But there still has to be a contingency plan and there’s no problem with asking some tough questions. Like:
How much of this is on the coaching staff? What players are just not cutting it anymore? Are we going to get a repeat of last year–just with different faces? Or maybe the doom and gloom question of all: How much more of this are we going to go through with this team?
Rebuilds are brutal–and just as it appeared that things would be slightly (though not overwhelmingly) different this year, the series against Chicago happened. The Dallas series will certainly give us an indicator of where things really stand–especially since the Stanley Cup Final runner up is in a different category than the Blackhawks. At some point, I hope it won’t feel like the Red Wings are just spinning their wheels.
The next week will certainly provide more answers.