McLellan settling in as head coach of the Red Wings

DETROIT -- Todd McLellan has had countless interactions with his players since being named the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings last Thursday. And for McLellan, building off-ice relationships with those players is just as important as knowing their on-ice skills and tendencies.

“It’s amazing where [saying good morning] will take you,” McLellan said. “My wife and I are looking for somewhere to live, so, ‘Hey, have you used a real estate agent? Where do you live?’ And all of a sudden, it comes out.

“Andrew Copp was telling me today, ‘When you were here last time, I think you came out and coached my eight-year-old team that I was on.’ I’m going, ‘Holy (explicit), am I ever old.’ So, [former Red Wings assistant coach] Paul MacLean, myself and Babs [former Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock] apparently went out to Plymouth…So that was [Copp] trying to connect with me too, and it’s not always me going there. They find ways to connect. We don’t always have to talk about hockey. We can talk about their families. Seeing their little ones run around is important.”

But it naturally takes time to create a level of trust and comfort among all parties involved, especially on the ice. That process continued at Little Caesars Arena’s BELFOR Training Center on Monday morning during the Red Wings’ second practice under McLellan.

“This is the first time for me personally that [a head coaching change] has happened in season,” Joe Veleno said. “I just really like our energy right now. Guys are feeling really confident here. Although we lost that Toronto game [last Friday], our energy was good and we weren’t moping or getting frustrated on the bench. There were some signs that are leading to some positive things, and I think we just got to keep building. Obviously, it’s one game that we won, but we got to stay in it and be ready for tomorrow.”

The victory Veleno was referring to was Sunday’s 4-2 triumph over the visiting Washington Capitals, which marked McLellan’s first win as Detroit’s new bench boss. McLellan is now one win away from becoming the 24th head coach in NHL history -- and sixth active -- to reach the 600-win milestone, joining Paul Maurice, Lindy Ruff, Peter Laviolette, John Tortorella and Peter DeBoer.

“A lot of experience there,” Copp said about McLellan. “Obviously, coached some really good teams and players. So there’s that, but just how he’s explaining things in video, drawing things up, stopping drills and all that, then kind of getting us to trust ourselves again a little bit instinctively, which is huge. It’s been good so far. It’s been what, four days? We got a long way to go, but hopefully we can continue some of the momentum from last night into tomorrow.”

McLellan hasn’t fully implemented his entire coaching philosophy just yet, a process that also doesn’t happen overnight. But for specific areas like Detroit’s penalty kill, he said new assistant coach Trent Yawney and the entire staff have already started making tweaks.

“I was really impressed with the way the players applied what we gave them in the game yesterday,” McLellan said. “It’s not easy. There are some real important reads. I was certainly concerned that when you’re implementing something new and you take it on the chin, guys begin to doubt. So, we got through that and hopefully that happens for a few more games where they really start to buy into it.”

McLellan will continue settling in as the Red Wings’ head coach, and the players with him. But McLellan, who served as an assistant coach with the Red Wings from 2005-08, said he already feels comfortable being back in the Detroit community.

“It feels like I’ve gone back to Edmonton, to tell you the truth,” McLellan said. “When I was in Edmonton, there’s not a lot of places you could go without somebody saying [something]. Now, I’m walking around and, ‘Hey coach, good luck tonight.’ But that’s the Michigan people. They’re friendly and supportive, and it’s kind of nice.”