Grand Rapids — The Red Wings are done hitting each other. It’s time for the next stage of the exhibition season.
The Wings ended the training-camp portion, you could say, with Sunday’s Red & White scrimmage at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Team White defeated Team Red, 3-2, behind two Elmer Soderblom goals in front of a sellout crowd of more than 10,000 energized fans.
“Unbelievable atmosphere,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “I’m not surprised knowing the hockey fans here in Grand Rapids and the people that drove from all over the west side of the state to come watch. It was real special.”
The pace was faster than in Traverse City for the three days of camp — and frankly, the pace was impressive there, too. Larkin felt the tempo and intensity of Sunday’s scrimmage and felt it was more like an actual game. But it’s time to face someone in a different uniform, which the Wings will Tuesday when they host Chicago.
“We’re tired of playing each other,” Larkin said. “We’ve been going at each other for four days now, somewhat the same teams and lineups, and we’re ready. You saw it kind of got physical there (Sunday) and that’s good for our group to do that.
“I’d like to hit someone else now and play with Patrick (Kane), Marco (Kasper) and Alex (DeBrincat) and not against them.”
DeBrincat had the other Team White goal, while Jonatan Berggren and Emmitt Finnie had the Team Red goals.
Finnie was on a line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond, as he was Saturday in Traverse City, and gave another good account himself.
“He probably, more than some of the guys, he’s brought his best aspect forward,” assistant coach Alex Tanguay said. “He’s a good skater and puck retriever and he showed it in the games in Dallas (prospect games), and camp (in Traverse City) and again (Sunday). We put him on a good line and he showed he was able to retrieve pucks and drive the pace with his speed and size for a line.
“He gave Larks and Razor some touches.”
Finnie, a 2023 seventh-round draft pick (201st overall), has been pleased with the start of his camp.
“I had a good offseason and I wanted to come back to camp and show that I could play with speed and I’m ready for pro hockey,” Finnie said. “Those guys (Larkin, Raymond) are great players. They make it easier to play with them.”
Soderblom scored twice on nice set-ups from Amadeus Lombardi.
“It feels like I’ve been ramping it up a bit,” Soderblom said of training camp. “It’s important to get some scrimmages in and get some games going. It helped a lot of guys to get into (good) habits. Personally, it’s getting better and better.
“It was intense.”
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
@tkulfan
Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.