Vanek Understands The Criticism, 'Especially In This Market'
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Thomas Vanek has no illusions about the expectations for the Red Wings. The organization's winning culture was part of the reason he signed here in the offseason.
So with the Wings having won 19 times through 44 games and loitering in the bottom of the standings, Vanek isn't surprised by their number of detractors.
"I understand, from the outside, the criticism when you look at this team and say it's not a playoff team -- at times the way we play, we're probably not. You guys (the media) are right," he said. "But the good thing here is we have great leadership, we do believe in each other. We know we have to get better and work, but when we do things right we can win games against the best of them."
The Wings proved as much in their prior two contests, notching home victories over the Penguins and the Canadiens, two of the leaders in the Eastern Conference. Nevertheless, Vanek knows the team has a long way to go to extend its 25-year playoff steak and perhaps quiet some of its critics.
Asked where he hears most of the criticism, Vanek smiled and replied, "From you guys, right here."
"It's normal," he went on. "I think we expect a lot from us too. Especially in this market, they don't know what missing the playoffs is," Vanek said. "But again, I think the leadership is great in here. If we win one, lose one, we don't get too high, too low. We try to get better each day and when we play like we can, we're right there with every team."
The Wings are four points out of the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and six points out of the final wild card spot in the East. They have 38 games remaining.
"There's a long way to go," Vanek said. "Again, I wish we'd be higher in the standings, but it is what it is and we're just going to keep going here. Like I said, we need to win games, we all know it. That's two good home wins and the next ten games are huge for us."
Much of the Wings' frustration this season has come on home ice. They're just 9-10-3 at the Joe, where they'll play five of their next seven games. They had played ten of their previous 11 on the road prior to Saturday night's win over Pittsburgh.
"Overall our home record isn't good and I think that's one thing we talked about coming off a long road trip, establishing home ice again," Vanek said. "It's two big wins but we need a lot more here."
As much as Vanek talks about leadership and experience, the Wings seem to get younger and greener by the week. Jared Coreau has begun to stake his claim in goal while Nick Jensen seems to have locked down a spot on the blue line, joining Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou and Dylan Larkin in a nascent crop of players that's learning on the fly.
"I don't think we're quite over the hump yet, but we're a fragile team, a team that's trying to learn to win," Vanek said. "We have some great leadership and then we have young guys that haven't been there, done that and when you're losing it's tough. So I think we're trying to learn how to build confidence, how to win games in a row. That's two for us and we got some big games coming up here before the break."
Back-to-back wins over the Penguins and Canadiens could be the shot of confidence the Wings need.
"There's no question that we know where those teams are at in the standings," said coach Jeff Blashill. "So when you're able to beat those teams and I think in a lot of ways outplay them, you walk out and say, 'When we play the right way, we can be a really good hockey team.' I think we know that, but it certainly helps when you have the results."
