from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman, while discussing the long offseason and training challenges presented by the pandemic, said in the summer “We’ll see who wants to be a hockey player.”

They are about to find out as training camp begins Thursday at Little Caesars Arena. It will be the first time since March 11 players and coaches will be together formally as a team on the ice.

“It was somewhat directed at all players but mainly at the younger guys,” Yzerman said. “In the summertime, throughout the fall, you could find a lot of reasons why you couldn’t skate, why you couldn’t go to the gym. These guys could make an excuse. My point was to find a way and we’ll help you find a way.”

When the Red Wings open their 56-game season Jan. 14 against Carolina at LCA they will have gone more than 10 months between games. Most of the team has been skating informally at LCA for many weeks. Several young players are in game shape after playing in Europe the past few months.

Yzerman changed one-third of the roster following a season in which the Red Wings finished 23 points behind the next-worst team. They still figure to be at or near the bottom of their temporarily realigned division that includes Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay, but that doesn’t change what Yzerman wants to see.

“I expect them to be energetic and enthusiastic,” Yzerman said. “It will be interesting to see who plays with whom and how we do. Right off the bat, we’re going to play a lot of games (10 games in 18 days in January). I’m excited to see the team. I can’t really predict what we’re going to be. I believe we’ll be improved. How much, I don’t know. I’m just anxious to get going.

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