from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

For as much as they struggled to win, the Detroit Red Wings take encouragement into their offseason.

Before they broke for the summer last week, general manager Ken Holland addressed players, his message acknowledging that they’re not missing the playoffs for lack of effort. It resonated with Dylan Larkin, the team’s most important player.

“Kenny brought up only five games that we really didn’t have it and we didn’t play well,” Larkin said at last Monday’s locker cleanout. “Five games out of 82, it’s going to happen. We’ve had tough stretches but we’ve always come back and practiced hard and battled hard.

“We’ve learned how to face adversity and we’ve done it together. There definitely has been chemistry in here and a jell where we had fun doing it. We kept it loose and we did it together and that’s the most important part.”

continued