McLellan believes the extra rest will help everybody, including Detroit’s support staff.
“We’ve put in some hours, but the players are the ones that are getting beat up,” McLellan said. “The training staff, the equipment people, the nutritionists, the fitness people, all of our sports science, the medical team that is at the rink so early and stay so late – they all need a breather too. I hope they go and turn things off, then be able to come back and bring that energy back to the group.”
Once Thursday’s slate of games wraps up, nobody in the Atlantic Division will have played more regular-season games before the Olympic break than Detroit’s 58.
“With the break and how the schedule gets set, because of that, it becomes even more of a grind than usual,” van Riemsdyk said. “You got to use it to your advantage. Refresh physically and mentally. Be ready to roll for the stretch run because it’s going to be a lot of very hard-fought games, but those are going to be the most fun games of the year to play because you’re playing for the playoffs. Playing those meaningful games down the stretch, there’s nothing like it.”
The Red Wings are set to play 11 of their remaining 24 contests at Little Caesars Arena, and will return for the stretch run on Feb. 26 when they visit the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre for what also marks the start of a three-game road trip.
“We put ourselves in a real good spot,” McLellan said. “We’ve worked really hard as a team. Every player that’s been in the lineup has given us something on any given night. We’ve set ourselves up to have a good mini–Training Camp coming out of the break, and then we control what happens to our hockey club from thereon. And really, that’s all you can ask for.”