Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Yzerman's Thinking

12/11/2019 at 6:36pm EST

Ansar Khan of Mlive answered questions from his readers and of course questions on Blashill came about...

Yzerman has not responded to interview requests and rarely speaks to the media, so I can only tell you what he told NHL.com at the general managers meeting on Nov. 20:

“I think (Blashill) and his staff are doing a really good job of preparing the players, of practicing. I like to think we're improving from training camp to the start of the regular season. As we speak here today, I think you’re seeing good progress in our team.”

They have gone 0-9 since, so maybe Yzerman’s opinion has changed – or maybe it hasn’t.

Certainly, the team's performance indicates a change is needed behind the bench. But like I said last week, I don't think it would yield much different results because the roster lacks talent.

Bylsma surely would be the interim if Yzerman makes a change. But I get the feeling Bylsma is not who Yzerman has in mind as the next permanent head coach or else he would have made the change by now.

I also think character matters, especially with news that has surfaced in recent weeks about other NHL coaches. Blashill is a good person who is well-respected in the organization.

more

added 7:13pm, from John Niyo of the Detroit News,

This is what they were afraid of all those years.

This is why “tank” was a four-letter word as the Red Wings played out the string at Joe Louis Arena and prepared to move into a new arena downtown.

Quite frankly, this also is why Ken Holland had to make way for Steve Yzerman as general manager in Detroit before things got really ugly.

And make no mistake, losses like the one we saw Tuesday night — a 5-1 meltdown in Winnipeg that marked Detroit’s 12th consecutive defeat — “They are ugly, for sure,” admits Jeff Blashill, the Wings’ head coach.

They’ve also become startlingly routine in a season that’s threatening to turn historically awful here in Detroit. Blashill’s team hasn’t won a game in a month, yet it goes beyond that. The Wings have allowed five goals or more in 16 of their 32 games and been outscored by three goals or more in 15 of them. And by way of ugly comparisons, while the Los Angeles Kings had the league’s worst goal differential last season at minus-61, the Wings already are at minus-62 this season — with 50 games yet to play.

continued

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About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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