from Will Burchfield of 97.1 TheTicket,

In Blashill's quest to turn Mantha into a star, the kind of star the Red Wings can build around up front, the coach pushed the young forward away. He alienated him.

For Mantha, a supremely-skilled 23-year-old still finding his way in the NHL, the seemingly constant rebukes were difficult to swallow. At times, his mom would call, wondering why her son was a favorite target of the head coach. It's part of hockey, Mantha would tell her. Not wanting to create any drama, either in the locker room or in the media, Mantha kept his head down and continued to work.

But Blashill's dissatisfaction nagged at him. It wasn't so much dispiriting as it was perplexing. Oftentimes, Mantha didn't understand the root of his coach's frustration. He didn't understand where he had gone wrong.

Finally, midway through this season, Mantha sought answers.

"The one thing he said to me was, 'Can you show me? Can you show me what you’re talking about?'" Blashill recalled. "And I said, 'Absolutely.'"

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