As fall sports wrap up in Detroit with little success to show for the Tigers, many fans have shifted their focus to the Detroit Red Wings’ rebuild. After a letdown in the final month of the season to drop out of the playoffs, and an increasingly hot seat each week for new head coach Todd McLellan, who took over in late December for Derek Lalonde, fans were desperate for success.
Heading into this year, the Red Wings were ranked fifth in the hardest schedule; however, the Red Wings find themselves 8-3, sitting comfortably in second place of the Atlantic Division. School counselor and Red Wings fan Nicholas Bernbeck credits the improvements to rookie Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Forward Emmitt Finnie, who have stepped up big in crucial times for the Red Wings.
“Finnie has been a huge key to the Wings’ victory, having multiple points and goals through his first few games,” Bernbeck said. “Not to mention Axel on defense, who earned a starting line position and has been a top 20 defender in the league.”
Another key difference in styles of play that seems to be helping the Red Wings has been their defensive style. The Red Wings lead the way in the NHL with a 96.3 percent penalty kill, only allowing goals on power plays less than 4 percent of the time. Grady Deenik ’26 says Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson have been crucial to the close game victories.
“As someone who has watched the Red Wings for my whole life, I’ve never seen a team so willing to make changes and buy into what a coach says,” Deenik said. “I think if anyone deserves credit for the team, it has to be the defenders on the starting line (Seider and Edvinsson) who prevent unnecessary shots and prevent goals.”
Looking forward to the rest of the year, it doesn’t get any easier, leaving the Red Wings no choice but to keep the pedal to the metal until the end of the year. Matthew Bartoszewicz ’27 is excited to see if the Red Wings can finally break their streak and make it into the playoffs.
“I like our chances this year, especially to make the playoffs, but also to make a deep run,” Bartoszewicz said. “A lot of previously good teams lost a lot of key players, while the Red Wings only gained skill on both sides of the ice, offense and defense. If we stay focused, the Red Wings could go all the way.”
