Red Wings Know What They Need to Do to Win, But Can They Do It?

Andrew Copp is confident he knows what it will take for the Detroit Red Wings to win hockey games this season.

“I mean, we’re going to have to check for sure,” Copp said. “We’re going to have to have a good penalty kill. We’re going to have to be solid defensively.

“We got to play with a certain tenacity, a certain competitiveness, and defensive structure that I think we all kind of need to find.”

Considering the number of goals that left with the departures of Patrick Kane (16), James van Riemsdyk (15), and David Perron (13), not to mention the potential departure of the trade-demanding Dylan Larkin (34), outscoring the other team isn’t going to be an effective strategy for Detroit.

Fashioning 2-1 and 3-2 outcomes might be the team’s best hope for assembling victories.

“Goaltending is going to have to be good,” Copp said. “We obviously got to find a way to produce offense too. But I think if the defense takes care of their defensive side, the offense will take care of itself.

“So check, check hard, and hopefully that gives us a little bit more time in the offensive zone. We can turn pucks over, get a little bit more odd-man rushes, more entries, which is kind of where we excel.

“So I think that’s gonna have to be the focus for sure to start. How little time can we spend in our own zone, and how structured can we be?

Will The Red Wings Buy Into What They Are Selling?

Of course, there’s a caveat attached to this game plan proposal, and Copp was quick to acknowledge that reality.

“It’s going to be important for every guy to buy into that,” Copp said.

There’s an axiom in the publishing industry. It’s easy to write a book. And it’s easy to print a book.

It’s hard to sell a book.

The hockey version of this would be: It’s easy to ask a team to check relentlessly. And for a time, it’s easy for a team to do it.

What’s hard is getting a team to commit to playing this style of hockey night after night.

“It’s easy for all of us to say that right now,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “The coach, the player, before we’ve even started, but are we still committed to that in January?

“And we have to improve defensively. We have to break out better. And I think we have to do it over and over and over again.

“We’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to give up goals, but we can’t give any up for free. And I think what Copper is saying is enough of that. We can’t.

McLellan went back to last season’s opener, a 5-1 home-ice loss to Montreal in which the Red Wings gave out goals to the Canadiens like welcoming gifts.

“If you remember Game 1 last year against Montreal, I think I lost my marbles,” McLellan said. “At least my son told me I did. And if I remember correctly, I said, when’s enough enough? Or are they not tired of it anymore?

“Then we got it back for a while, and then we gave it away. We have to capture that and take pride in driving home after the game. And maybe not getting on the score sheet individually, but stopping Connor McDavid twice on a rush like that, that’s worth thinking about on the way home, in my opinion.”

Good defense is nothing but commitment, discipline, and hard work. On paper, it’s easy.

Putting it into practice game after game, that’s the hard part. The part the Red Wings still haven’t figured out.

The part that they must commit to fiercely this season if team success is something they desire.