Are the Blackhawks and Red Wings for real? | NHL Insider Notebook

Is the start for real? That’s the question everyone wants to know. What about the Detroit Red Wings? Are they legit? I’m going to say the Chicago Blackhawks are where they should be and are trending in the right direction, but they’re not getting anywhere close to a playoff spot this season. I will say the other part about the Chicago Blackhawks is that a big change in presence for them behind the bench. Jeff Blashill has put in an NHL mentality for this team. And that’s not throwing shade at at any of his predecessors, whether it was Andrew Sorenson or Luke Richardson or whoever it might be. It’s just a different feel in Chicago. And you can tell that watching the games how different the vibe is around that team and I think that’s gone a long way for them. And speaking of that with the Detroit Red Wings, cannot stress enough how impressed I am with their response to Todd Mlullen calling them out after game one of the regular season. How often do you have a coach one game into an 82 game slog rip into his team and it’s it’s not just the lack of success, but also specifically targeting some of the vets basically saying, “What gives? How much more of this do you want to see? You’ve been here for a few years. Don’t you know that at this point in time, the things that you repeatedly do, the turnovers, the oddman rushes are not acceptable and are not pillars and foundations for success. They heard that instead of some teams turtling or even turning on their coach saying, “Is this guy kidding one game into the season and he’s already on us?” But I love that they said, “No, no, Dylan Lin takes that to heart. That’s that’s that’s that that’s not how we’re going to play. We’re going to be better than that.” And they’ve responded with five straight wins and it’s a whole bunch of things. It’s yes, the vets that have responded and Larkin has led that charge and can’t say enough good things about Larkin because that guy is an absolute dog. If the four nations face off didn’t show you that last year, I don’t know what will. that guy could play on my team any night of the week. And I love how just how competitive he is and wants to win. The pride that he has, not just in his country, but also in his organization, kind of going back at Steve Eisermanman and some of the moves that have been made for this team the last few years, it hasn’t been good enough. So, everyone is willing to call each other out. That creates a healthy dynamic where the bar is raised and set to a standard that the Detroit Red Wings used to play at. I mean, they’re riding a nine-year Stanley Cup playoff drought. They want to see it end. They want to take that next step forward. And part of that has also come from the meritocracy in the environment that they have created in Detroit. You watch some of their young defensemen, they’re pushing out vets from jobs. You’re not cutting it. Doesn’t matter how much you make on the salary cap. We’re going to give your job to someone who will. And that part has been incredibly important as well. So, it’s been coach, it’s been players responding, it’s been young guys pushing out vets and jobs. And speaking of vets, I mean, what about Cam Talbot, uh, 38-year-old giving this team some really quality goalending in a year in which you were hoping, thinking, praying, wishing if you’re an a Red Wings fan that John Gibson would be that guy. Um, I’m very impressed with the Detroit Red Wings turnaround. I’m not putting a stake in the ground yet on October 21st and saying that they’re a playoff team, but I think they’re finally at last it feels like they’re heading in the right Correct.

It’s still early in the 2025-26 NHL season, but both the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings are off to surprisingly strong starts.

On this week’s NHL Insider Notebook, Frank Seravalli breaks down whether these early runs are legit or fool’s gold.

Subscribe to B/R Open Ice on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@br_openice/sub_confirmation=1

Follow B/R Open Ice on X: https://x.com/BR_OpenIce
Follow B/R Open Ice on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/br_openice/

15 comments

  1. The kids are here and more are coming. Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur would have made the opening roster but for injuries. I was at the Edmonton game. They are different this year. There is grit. They play heavy at times. A lot more dump and go get it, and if you don't get it make it damn hard on the opponent coming out. They are buying into Mclellan"s style big time.

  5. Clearly Todd called them out because they acted like they never played NHL level hockey the great thing is they listened because they want to win 🏆

  14. Better to be 5-1 than 1-5 for the Wings. Points are points regardless of when they come in the season. Nice to have some banked early. Could’ve used a hot start the last couple of seasons. You can only win the games you have played. So far, so good. Young kids have looked good. New signings (Appleton and Bernard Docker) have looked solid. Upping the play of our depth pieces may not be as sexy as signing a Marner level free agent, but it can bring about change with our in house talent infusion from the rookies. I would want Danielson up and move Rasmussen to 13th forward. A third line of Danielson-JVR-MBN could be good and Appleton-Copp-Compher as a fourth line would be really solid depth.

Leave a Reply