Andrew Copp, Moritz Seider, Todd McLellan Practice Media | October 26, 2025

Andrew Copp, Moritz Seider, Todd McLellan Practice Media | October 26, 2025

Andrew, uh, what’s what’s the main thing you guys need to take away from last night’s game? Um, there’s a lot of main things I think. Uh I think the ability to handle adversity and come back stick together all that’s um you know obviously get it gets a win last night but just going forward the confidence that you know we can come back in any game and um you know the ability to stick together through times that you know for probably two full games probably the end of the Buffalo game the whole Islander game and then the start of yesterday looked uh not the way we want to look. So, um, obviously we got to clean a lot of that up and you saw some of that some of that work today. But, um, at the end of the day, us sticking together, us handling adversity, um, having the confidence to come back in any game, I think that’s going to pay dividends down the road. Is that what it took last night? I mean, what was like the turning point or what what do you think? Um, I don’t know. I don’t know if there was one turning point. kind of just, you know, started to happen shift over shift over shift and um you get one and then we the back to back right before the end of the period I think got us you know into the game into the game and then um you know we came out flying in the third and it kind of just went from there. So I don’t know if there was any one particular turning point. I think it was you know each line having a little bit better shift, a little bit better shift kind of started to build a little bit of momentum and then I think the two goals at the end of the second were were were huge. I don’t know if it’s too easy to point to the timeout, but that that was obviously kind of part of that whole sequence as well. Like, why does that happen that way when you see that sometimes? Um, I don’t know. I mean, I think I mean, everyone knew that we weren’t playing good enough. Um, you know, it had been discussed be, you know, even in the first intermission. You know, it wasn’t necessarily bad bad, but it wasn’t uh wasn’t clean. It wasn’t as fast as we need to be. And then it almost got worse in the first 5 minutes of that second. So, I mean, the timeout obviously, you know, is an easy point to lick look to because it was 6 nothing after that. But, um, yeah, just started one shift at a one shift at a time. Uh, each line kind of, uh, you know, giving us something to work off of and then just kind of continue to roll from there. What was the message during the timeout? I don’t think you want to know. Seemed colorful. Uh, I mean, he put his hand over his mouth, so you guys wouldn’t know. So, take that. Seemed to carry over a little bit. It today’s practice seemed more loud and animated than usual. Did it kind of remind you of his first practice back in December? Um, n I mean, this one was just more about a particular part of our game that hasn’t been very good. So, um, it was a lot of teaching. I mean, we were out there for a while. I think he tried to slow it down, um, you know, based off us playing last night. and you know it’s it’s a busy schedule and um you know we’re here early today so I think he tried to slow it down a little bit and do a lot of teaching a lot of directing and I mean it’s a part of our game that we really need to clean up so um I think that’s just how he coaches and uh it’s hard to be confused with that you know like we went over every scenario possible and we went over um you know even how to how to handle it how to talk how to you know we did I mean we did every scenario possible out there so um it’s a huge part of the game and it’s something that we got to do a lot better of. You kind of mentioned communication on the ice. Was that kind of like a Yeah, I mean talk was talk was a big point I think especially on those on those tracks. There’s, you know, each track is different in some capacity. You know, you have your rules, but there still needs to be some direction um on who’s going where and where the squeeze is and all that. So, I think the the talk the talk helps everyone and it kind of breeds a little bit of confidence, too, of you know, I know that this is where I’m supposed to be going. when you guys did get the offense going, seemed like a lot of it started below the goal line. You passed to up front, Larkin to Finny. I mean, how important is it for you guys to win that area of the ice? Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, especially as the year goes on and you get into playoff time, rush chances go away. you know, it’s it’s how how much you can possess the puck below the goal line and get the puck to the points, get chaos around the net, um get pucks through, you know, the the tic-tac-toe rush goals, they go away. People, you know, teams have, you know, what we worked on today, they’re tracking down. You know, no one’s making a mistake like that in the playoffs. So, um we got to learn how to to to move pucks quickly, play a little give and go game below the goal line. We can’t just hold on to it, hold on to it, skate everywhere, skate everywhere, skate everywhere, and then you just get checked. And uh um you know, we need to be playing below the goal line more. And uh that’s what happens come spring. Identity has been a key word that’s been used even since last year came in. Are you seeing key traits or characteristics from that as you guys build that? I mean, I think it’s like I mean, I think the first thing for our team is skating, you know, like when we’re when we’re playing fast and we are forchecking and on top of their D, we are we can be very good. Um, I think that would be what we want our identity to be. I think off of that, uh, we need to move the puck quickly in the offensive zone and, um, kind of like I just talked about, not necessarily like we need to move our feet with the puck, but we can’t just be skating, skating, skating, cuz then you’re holding on to it forever and everyone knows where everyone is, you know? We got to move the puck quickly, play a little give and go game down low. Um, but when we’re skating, we’re we’re a good team. Do you appreciate kind of the more intense feel the practices like kind of like Do I appreciate the intense feeling? Right. Is maybe just kind of a shift in pace. Uh, I mean, I think all our practices are pretty fast-paced, honestly. I think that they do a good job of not letting us get complacent in practice whatsoever. But I think, uh, with the the specific part of the game that we are working on and how we’ve been struggling in that aspect, I think you got to be intense. You got to be um, you know, physically intense. Yeah, there’s not going to be a whole lot of hitting out there, but um, you got to be really mentally focused and and make sure that we’re we’re getting these reps in and getting them uh, you know, in a way that’s going to translate to the game. emotional win last night. What’s kind of the the takeaway for you guys? Um that we’re in every game uh until it’s over. Uh I think we shown that. But um we just got to regroup, eliminate the easy mistakes, and I think then you can see once we roll, we kind of roll with anyone and and that’s definitely something positive. Todd said last night that you guys can’t be like a yo-yo. uh some of the effect that he believes you’re closer to the team you were the second half of the game than the team you were the first half of the game. What what gives you the confidence that that of knowing that you’re closer to the team that you were the second half of the game? Um because it’s easy mistakes we can all eliminate. I think it wasn’t really that um we were overwhelmed with the opponent. I think we’re kind of overwhelmed with ourselves and that’s a that’s an easy fix. So I think um the optimism is pretty high that we can be the team of the second half of the game. Sounds like communication was a big emphasis out there today. Like how much of of solving kind of those easy mistakes is is that basically? Yeah. Um I think it goes hand in hand. Um the more we talk the easier the game will be out there and um I think good thing is we we got some work done today. How do you feel about the more intense field practices like just going earlier today as opposed to maybe kind of like a routine morning skate? Uh I mean totally different approaches. I think morning skate you just kind of want to feel the ice. You want to get your touches in. You want to feel good about yourself. Today is a is a work day and and you want to do some work and you want to get better as a team and you want to work on system stuff. So uh you got to use your time wisely which I think we did today and got a little bit better. Hey, man. What do you think’s causing some of those mistakes? Is it just lack of focus or concentration or just just um I don’t know. Um maybe sometimes we are too excited. Um I think then we want to do too much. We want to help in situations where we I think should just stay back and um kind of overprotect. Um sometimes we over back check and then that’s where the second wave kind of gets pucks and the D’s uh slip pucks through. And I think that’s that’s something um hopefully we can we can learn from and try to trying to eliminate. How good does that a win like that feel having just a comeback like that? That’s got to that could fuel you for a little while. Yeah, it should. Um hopefully can we can ride that wave. Um, I think it’s a very positive outcome for a terrible start and um, so it’s a it’s a really good thing and um, I think we should should continue and really try to be ready right from the hop. How good do you feel for a guy like Simon who you know coming off a tough road trip has has a huge moment in that game last night. Yeah, it’s great. Um, I think he’s he’s obviously not trying to uh, get scored on and I think he done everything to to correct that last night. I think really solid game helped us to to get the win and obviously a big part of our our back ball here. Before the back to back, you talked about the importance of road mentality. Now, here we go with another long lengthy road trip. What element of that is it going to take for you guys to get off on the right foot on Tuesday. Um just win your first shift. I think that’s all we got to focus about. Um, then we’re going to go to the first TV timeout and hopefully we won that part and then we go to the to the second period and hopefully we can win that part and then we kind of build our game step by step and don’t really look too far ahead. It’s going to be one of the lengthier road trips you guys have had in a while. I What do you What’s your mindset on something like that? How do you get through a trip like that? Uh, usually it’s it’s pretty cool from the start. I mean, you’re you’re on top of each other um for for a bit. um it gets tiring in the end. So, you’re looking forward to kind of be at home. Um other than that, I think we’ll we’ll have a lot of uh good meals, good conversations, a little bit of uh uh cozy time on the plane. Um just playing cards and uh hopefully uh building a little bit more chemistry. How do you kill time under? Um I mean, we try all kinds of things. We we try to go um play mini golf when we can, see a movie, um just try to be outside. Um, I think the weather should be great. Um, so I think there are no excuses why we shouldn’t get a little bit of sun. Um, and I think that’s about it. Thank you. Maintenance days again for Dylan and then Sherro. Yeah. After last night, like what was kind of the message today to the guys uh regrouping? Well, our message today kind of matched the game last night. We we gave him kudos for sticking with it and and recovering and you know finding a way. Uh but we also held them accountable for the start and we really tried to zero in on few of the things that we thought were making errors on over and over again and um that’s what practice is all about. So um hopefully we improved as a team today in those areas and we’re going to take the test in in St. Louis Tuesday. It was quite the intense practice. Was that more of trying to keep the message on the way that you rebounded last night rather than or No, it was um fix the what happened in the first half? It was we’re we’re making mistakes in certain areas and we’re trying to correct them and you know the intensity would have came from um mistakes maybe and you have to drill it into them. But also I thought the players had some intensity too like down below the goal lines and some of the battles. um you know, they’re they’re a team, they’re brothers, but there’s still some battles that go on and guys get pissed off at each other. That’s okay. That’s that’s a healthy thing in practice and that’s where the competitiveness will come from. Um if we just skate through it like church mice, we’re we’re not going to get any better. So, we slowed things down a little today, but the intensity went up. And then not the best start for uh Gibby yesterday or the entire team, but then he made several key saves down in the third period to keep you in. How did you feel about his overall performance? I I thought Gibby was just fine. I don’t think I don’t know which goal we would pin on him at all u out of the four. Uh and then after that, it could have been eight. He made probably four more really good saves to keep us in it. and uh he gave us at 4 nothing he gave us a chance to stay in the game. Todd, have you seen anything out of Bergman here the last couple games that you’ve liked or whatnot? Um well, I thought Bergie has played uh a better game uh the last three or four, you know, as as the team’s kind of dipped a little bit. Bergie’s picked his play up. He wants to stay in the lineup and um you know, he’s playing uh responsible both ways. He’s always had offensive mind and and tools and skills that he can use uh to attack the the opposition’s net and he can make plays to help his teammates out that way too. Um right now he’s paying attention to what’s happening the other way too and that’s that’s valuable. The mistakes is that something like consistency Todd or what do you I mean what do you what’s the coaching staff kind of pinning that? Well, we we give we try and give the players a bit of a road map of how we want to play. But as we all know that sometimes the you know things happen when you’re on the road, road gets washed out, a tree falls across it, you got to take a different path and and when you take a different path, you may be talking it out with somebody. You know, what’s the right decision? We don’t communicate well enough on the ice. So when the road changes for us a little bit and something gets in our way um you know we might drive right into the wash out if you will. I’m trying to get an analogy tied into this right into the wash out without anybody talking and saying hey don’t go that direction go this direction. So a lot of what you saw today was as much as it was physical it was verbal as well. You’ve had experience oh so communication you said that’s kind of communication was a big part of today’s practice. You’ve had experience traveling in as a coach in the Western Conference East, now obviously back in your years here, east to west. How different is the travel and what ways can you combat that those long legs on the trip next week? Um, you know, it’s interesting because when I I’d never been in the East, I guess when I was here first time with with Detroit, you could basically say we were in the East, but we played in the West. It was But but in any case, never been in the Eastern Conference. And um it’s nice to to go and come home, but it’s also nice to go and be gone and live out of your suitcase for a little while, then come home and unpack. It seems like in the east, you go, you get home at 1:00 in the morning, you practice, you play at home, and then you’re gone again. Like last year, I think we went from Carolina to Ottawa to Washington maybe in in a 4-day span. Uh that rarely happens when you’re at least far west. Um, I’m thinking LA, San Jose, you’re gone, you’re gone. Um, my preference, my personal preference is that go and and keep on going. Uh, but I’m still getting used to what’s going on here. Um, you know, as far as as travel, uh, I don’t think it can be an excuse. We’re on an unreal plane. We eat like horses. Uh, we sleep in great hotels. Um, are there wrinkles that come into play as far as traffic and buses and unpredictable stuff? Yes. But, um, yeah, there is no issues with travel or anything like that. It’s it’s doable. The nineame mark for rookies tends to have some contractual significance. I mean, how do you kind of approach that, especially with a guy like Michael who didn’t play as much last night? Yeah, I don’t I don’t approach it at all that way. That’s not um how I look at it. We have, you know, Steve and his staff would look at that. We’re responsible for training and and um trying to push the players that are here regardless of contract dollars, contract status, nine games, 10 games, whatever that might be. Um would we sit and talk with with with Steve and his group about our confidence in players and what how they how we think they’re playing? Yeah, we would do that. But um um that for coaching staff that those variables don’t come into play. T I don’t think you go 11 and seven that often. How did you think that worked out last night and with Rasmmanson? It was just a case of just needing kind of a reset. Well, we went 11 and seven for for different reasons, banged up guys and stuff like that. So, we wanted to make sure we had enough D to to finish the night. I don’t I personally don’t like it. I’d rather have four lines that you could roll out and you get a sense of rhythm. Um I think it affected us early in the game to tell you the truth. Um you know, we’d roll out and all of a sudden somebody else was playing with with new linemates and the bench was kind of who’s going next. Uh we didn’t handle it well and and some of the start has to be on us for making lineup decisions, but we really had no choice uh in that. and and with that um a forward had to come out and uh it can’t always be Jonathan Baragrren just because he might be the easy guy. He’s somebody that we’ve done it uh with before. We have tough decisions to make. We think very highly of Ras and of his contributions to the team. Uh but we made a decision and it was hard on him and uh he’ll bounce back. And just any we ask you this every day, but any update on Kane? Any Yeah, Kainer Kirner won’t leave with us um to go to St. Louis, but we’re hoping he’ll join us somewhere in the in the trip. The other two guys, I think I mentioned was maintenance day. Have a good Sunday. Thanks. Okay.

Andrew Copp, Moritz Seider, and Todd McLellan speak with the media following the Red Wings practice on Sunday October 26, 2025 at the BELFOR Training Center.