Detroit – The Red Wings began hearing it the past few days, but will be asked more about it in the next week or two.
The month of March is an exciting time for sports fans, with a dizzying amount of tournaments and championships, and some sports gearing up for seasons.
But March hasn’t been fun for the Wings the past several seasons. In fact, the results basically knocked the Wings out of the playoff picture.
Last season the Wings went 4-10-0 in March. What was a four-point cushion being in the playoffs eventually evaporated.
Will this season be different? The questions are growing, with the Wings holding a five-point cushion (72-67) in the playoff picture over Washington (the first team out) heading into Thursday’s games.
This particular Wings roster, said coach Todd McLellan, had nothing to do with the previous March swoons and has an opportunity to change the narrative.
“This group is going to write its own story, it’s going to have its own identity,” McLellan said. “I’m not going to answer March questions anymore. We all are going to answer the question, and we’re going to play. If you keep thinking about it, keep talking about it and keep believing it, you probably get it again, and that’s not what we want.
“Quite frankly, I’m sick about hearing about March and March this and March that.”
It is rather startling how the last three seasons have seen the Wings fade in March.
The Wings were 3-9-2 that month during the 2023-24 season, which ultimately saw them miss the playoffs on the final night of the season, on a tiebreaker, to Washington. The Wings at one point in February that season were inside the playoff field by eight points.
The 2022-23 season saw the Wings go 5-9-1 in March, again snuffing any chance to make a playoff push.
But with a different roster, and a group that’s tested after going through the last several seasons, McLellan feels this lineup is better equipped.
“It’s (March) another month in a season, and a lot of the people in that locker room had nothing to do with what happened two years ago,” McLellan said. “Some of them had something to do with what happened last year but we put ourselves in such a poor position heading into Christmas (2024-25), that we had a big road to climb and it’s hard to have seven-game winning streaks over and over and over again. Other teams have a say in it.”
Defenseman Ben Chiarot has been around for the last three March slides but feels this season will not be like the others.
“We’re more equipped now than ever,” Chiarot said. “With the way Todd has come in and (assistant coach) Trent (Yawney) and the style of game they want us to play, how we manage the game, it’s a lot different now.”
A twist this season, compared to the last several, is a three-week Olympic break that has given all 32 teams a breather heading into the stretch drive (except for the players who competed in Italy).
Forward Alex DeBrincat feels the time off gave the Wings a chance to exhale and prepare for the final weeks.
“It’s a good reset,” DeBrincat said. “It’s a chance to get back to the details of the game. At the end (before the break) there it was slipping a little bit. But we can get back now and be an even better team. Guys are energized and we’ve gotten our legs under us.”
Captain Dylan Larkin felt beginning the post-break schedule Thursday against the Ottawa Seantors, who the Wings have had a heated rivalry in recent years, is an ideal way to begin the schedule.
“There’s probably no better team to do that,” Larkin said. “You know how those games kind of go for us when we go into that building especially, they’re intense and physical. It’s a great way to get us back going.”
Ice chips
Defenseman Simon Edvinsson (knee) returned to the Wings’ lineup after missing the last seven games before the break.
… McLellan will monitor goaltenders John Gibson and Cam Talbot, whose preparation the last 10 days since returning from the Olympic break is different from skaters.
“Goaltenders coming out of it take their workload up more than anybody because they’re facing shot after shot,” McLellan said. “They’ve had some good work the last couple of weeks. We want to keep them healthy.”
With Gibson getting the bulk of work before the break, Talbot hasn’t started a game since Jan. 22, and saw one period of action in relief of Gibson on Jan. 31.
… The video of Larkin carrying 1980 Team USA captain Mike Eruzione on his back in a celebration after Sunday’s gold medal victory went viral. Larkin laughed about how it wasn’t an easy task.
“He’s not at his playing weight, that’s for sure,” Larkin said.
… Larkin became the eighth Red Wings player to win a gold medal at an Olympics featuring NHL players. Larkin joins Brendan Shanahan (2002), Steve Yzerman (2002), Tomas Holmstrom (2006), Niklas Kronwall (2006), Nicklas Lidstrom (2006), Mikael Samuelsson (2006) and Henrik Zetterberg (2006).
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Red Wings ‘sick’ of hearing about March, vow to change their reputations
Reporting by Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
