Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

Detroit's Training Camp Did Start Today

09/14/2018 at 5:45pm EDT

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Zetterberg’s announcement hung over the first day of camp, but there was plenty of work to do nonetheless.

What impressed Wings coach Jeff Blashill was the intensity of the drills and scrimmages.

“The competitive level was extremely high,” Blashill said. “In each group there were guys who really competed. It was a good start.”

The Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina line received a good lesson overall Friday, scrimmaging after a rigorous 60-minute workout.

“It’s a hard scrimmage for those guys. They had practiced and there was a ton of battle stuff,” Blashill said. “But it’s a good lesson. You have to keep grinding, and they grounded it out and continued to do stuff. “

Two players, Martin Frk and Veleno, left the ice early and didn’t finish the practice session. Blashill had no immediate update, though he didn’t think either was serious.

“It wasn’t anything major but you never know,” Blashill said. “It’s the time of year where you have nagging stuff and you don’t want the nagging stuff to then turn into a long-term thing.”

more, mostly Zetterberg related...

added 6:00pm, from Dana Wakiji of the Wings' website,

Blashill has already talked about Andreas Athanasiou returning to center, joining Larkin, Frans Nielsen and Luke Glendening.

For now, the plan is to keep Darren Helm and Michael Rasmussen on the wing. But Blashill made it clear that the onus isn't just on the team's centers.

"For a chance for us to have success this year a bunch of guys need to take the next step," Blashill said. "Can Larks take the next step? Can (Anthony) Mantha? (Athanasiou)? (Tyler) Bertuzzi is a full-time player now, can he take the next step? Can some of the young players you saw in the prospects tournament step in and help our team be a better hockey team? Beyond that, can guys keep pushing their careers to the next level?"

Both general manager Ken Holland and Blashill said they would wait to decide whether the team needs to appoint a new captain or whether they will go with three alternate captains.

more

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