from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

"We've had a fantastic coaching staff the last few years," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Newsy came in and now Jeff that is a big part of an organization. It is the part that goes unnoticed the head coach sits there in front of the camera all the time, but he's only as good as the sum of his parts, and you need to have assistants that get it, that contribute, they work hard. To watch what Jeff brings to the table, it has been fantastic for us."...

Blashill immediately moved his family to the Tampa area (one new experience that came with relocating: "Learning how to drain a pool," Blashill said) and set about adjusting to an organization that has been to the Stanley Cup Final three straight years, winning in 2020 and 2021.

"Ive really enjoyed it so far," Blashill said. "New group of guys to learn from as players, a number of guys that are really smart, so you learn from those guys. The coaching staff has been great. From a quality of life standpoint, my family has enjoyed the move, theyve all kind of settled in in their different athletics and school. Weve enjoyed it.

"When I took the job, ultimately I wanted to add value. I wanted to go to a place I could learn and have a chance to win. Were working on trying to be a good hockey team and have had moments where we are getting better still. Overall its been a good experience."

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via the Detroit Free Press,

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

"We've had fantastic coaching staffs here the last few years," Cooper said. "When Newsy (Lalonde) came in, and now Jeff, that is a big part of an organization. It's the part that goes unnoticed. The head coach sits in front of the camera a ton but he's only as good as the sum of his parts and, to me, you need assistants that get it. They contribute, they work hard and as great as friends as I've been with Jeff, we really haven't worked a ton together.

"So, to watch what he brings to the table, it's been fantastic for us. When you lose somebody like Derek, you're hoping to replace him with somebody equal to or better. We've done that with Jeff. We've been extremely fortunate."...

"He's got a winning pedigree," Cooper said. "He was here for four years, from the lows of the lows in 2019 (four-game sweep in first round after winning 62 regular-season games) to the highest of the highs the next few years after that. Newsy has been a winning coach everywhere he's gone. He needed to learn the NHL game and he came here and that's what he did. He learned the NHL game and got to watch how you deal with stars and new guys and all that stuff.

"If there's one thing that Derek really brings to the table, it's he's got a great feel for the guys in the room, a great feel for the game. I'm not surprised they've having the success they are."

The Wings were only two points from Tampa in the standings heading into Tuesday's game. Cooper, whom Yzerman hired when he was general manager of the Lightning, believes Yzerman felt the Wings were ready for the next stage in their development after rebuilding the last several seasons.

"They brought these guys along, and when he realized it's time to win, he went out and made some real wise, astute decisions and brought in NHL players," Cooper said. "They've turned the corner from that rebuild time to win now time, and their window is open now. Steve went out and got a goalie and all the things necessary to put this team in position to win, and that's how you're supposed to do it.

"It's now the time for Detroit."...

oderblom hurt himself blocking a shot on Nov. 8. He hasn't played for nearly a month, but Lalonde feels a return to the ice could be soon.

"He's coming. He had two real good skates and he'll get hammered again (after Tuesday's morning skate) with a long skate," Lalonde said. "I would expect him maybe by the weekend."

But don't expect the Wings to reinsert Soderblom immediately into the lineup. Given Soderblom's length of absence, a conditioning stint in Grand Rapids is likely.

"It's up to Steve with what he wants to do, but I'm sure because he (Soderblom) has been out as along as he has, he'll see some time in GR," Lalonde said.

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o/topic: curious what the boards opinion is about velano so far.

also o/t: ETA on V?

opinion: this emphasis on shot blocking is dangerous imho. I always subscribed to grapes theory on rushing the points vs. the danger of attempted blocks.