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Wings' Blashill revved up by NASCAR |
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Jeff Blashill didn’t hesitate when Michigan International Speedway invited him to serve as grand marshal of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” explained Blashill, coach of the Detroit Red Wings. “When I was asked to do this I said yes in an instant. I was born in Detroit, grew up in Sault Ste. Marie. Most of my professional life I’ve been in Michigan.
“I’ve got great pride for the state of Michigan. I say all the time I want to be the best state in the union and I think we are. When I had the opportunity to do this and be part of this experience, it was a no brainer to me.”
Besides, Blashill has a vested interest in NASCAR.
When he was playing for the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers in the early 1990s, one of his biggest fans was a young local hockey player by the name of Michael Annett.
Sunday, when Blashill gave the call for drivers to start their engines, among the 40 at the wheel who answered and revved up their cars was Annett, driver of the of the No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet.
“I played my junior hockey in Des Moines, Iowa, so of all places I went from the hockey hotbed of Michigan to Iowa to grow as a hockey player,” Blashill recalled. “During my time in Des Moines, Michael Annett was a young hockey player growing up.
“We’ve got mutual connections to some real good friends of mine. I’ve always kept track of his career and how he’s doing, so I’m excited to watch him here.”
A defenceman, Annett advance up hockey’s ladder to also play in the USHL with the Waterloo Black Hawks, winning a Clark Cup title in 2003-04 on a team led by San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski before turning to auto racing.
“It takes a weird breed to be a goalie,” suggested Annett, a guy who spends his days driving 200 mph bumper to bumper with other cars, inches away from a concrete wall.
Blashill would make similar remarks about what Annett does to earn a living these days.
“I did get a chance to be in the pace car this morning and take a lap or two,” Blashill said. “I can tell you that I did not drive. We’re not to that point yet.
“I can tell you it was unbelievable. To hit that turn and not feel the brakes, I didn’t talk to my driver the whole time. I didn’t want to distract him.
“For me, it raised my respect level for the drivers. To double the speed we were going and with 40 other cars out there bumping and grinding, that would be incredible.”
Blashill viewed the chance to visit and discuss their sport with the race teams in the NASCAR garage as a learning experience.
“I’m excited to see everything that goes into the team of it, all the little intricacies,” Blashill said. “I’ve looked for learning opportunities in lots of different spots.
“I had a chance to go to the (Detroit) Lions practice last week. A chance to do something like this is an incredible thing.”
Kronwall Update
Blashill didn’t seem too worried about the news that Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall had to pull out of playing for Sweden in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.
“The biggest thing is Nik wanted to play in the World Cup,” Blashill said. “He wanted to represent his country. I’ve got great respect for our players having that opportunity to represent their countries. But he also promised us that he was going to put the Red Wings first and if he didn’t feel he was 100 per cent because of the early start of the World Cup, he wasn’t going to play.
“And ultimately that’s what he chose to do. His focus right now is being ready for camp. I expect him to be ready for camp. As you know, it’s a day-to -day business and we’ll see what that brings us.
“We hope he’s ready and ready to be the great player that Nik Kronwall’s been.”
Value Of Depth
With two forwards – Teemu Pulkkinen and Tomas Jurco – having already gone under the knife for off-season surgery that figures to delay the start of their season, Blashill felt it only served to emphasize the value of having depth on the club’s roster.
“Organizational depth I think is a critical component in having the opportunity to earn your spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs and then having the opportunity to try to win a Stanley Cup,” Blashill said.
“Lots of people talk about our (25-season playoff) streak. Our goal is not necessarily to continue a streak. It’s to earn entrance into the Stanley Cup playoffs so that we have that chance to take a run at the Stanley Cup.
“The only way you can do that is either you’re super lucky and you don’t have any injuries, which never hardly happens, or you have great organizational depth. So right away even before the season even starts, our organizational depth gets tested. I think it’s been a strength of this organization.
“I think we’ve drafted well, given the draft status we’ve had, and because of that, the jobs our scouts have done, now we’re in the position to continue to have success even when we absorb injuries. We know that’s part of life. We’ve always had a mentality that we’re worried about the guys we have available to us. We certainly want the other ones to get healthy but we’ll take the guys we have available to us and try to win hockey games.”
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