The Detroit Red Wings had already earned the unfortunate distinction of earning the NHL’s worst record before the spread of the novel coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19, necessitated the pausing of gameplay.
Their most recent game was March 10 against the Carolina Hurricanes, a 5-2 setback that featured some late game fireworks courtesy of former Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek.
The numbers are certainly hard to look at. Their record at the time of the stoppage was 17-49-5 for 39 points. Their goal differential was a stunning -122, while their power play and penalty killing ranked 29th and 31st, respectively.
According to head coach Jeff Blashill, the team knew they were in a tough spot from the onset of things, but it was about getting better and improving one day at a time.
“We’ve had a tough year,” he explained. “It’s not like all of a sudden we were out and we have this new challenge we have to face.
http://gty.im/1199540816
“So you kind of reset.”
“What (we were) able to do is we’ve been able to have a ‘next game’ and ‘next shift’ mentality, not worried about the previous 10 games, not worried about the previous 50 games,” Blashill continued. “All that matters is the game (that night).”
Despite the less-than-stellar record, one silver lining is that the team holds the top odds for landing the first overall draft selection.
– – Quotes via Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News Link – –
