Notes: Young Wings learning patience in face of adversity

DETROIT -- It's hard to have patience in a world in which everything seems to happen so quickly.
But that's one of the challenges that the Red Wings are facing now as they are trying to get better as quickly as possible while incorporating young players into the lineup.

One of the things that captain Henrik Zetterberg was best at was just being patient on the ice, not worrying if anything major happened during his shift.
That often would help stem the tide and prevent the other team from increasing their momentum after scoring.
"It's a hugely important thing and that doesn't come natural to young people who want to win so bad that they try to make up the score in one shift and you can't do that," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said after Wednesday's practice at the BELFOR Training Center. "The good thing for us is I can refer back to the way Hank would treat those shifts and most of our guys that were around here understand that, they can recognize that and say, OK, I get it.
"It doesn't make it any easier always in the moment but again, to me, that's just a maturity thing and over time you mature and you gain perspective and understand that's all you have to do sometimes is just be OK with a shift where nothing happens. That's OK, especially when momentum's going the wrong way. How do you gain that experience? Through action and our guys are getting chances to gain it but we got to learn it fast."
Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall said the onus is on the veteran players to show the way when things start to go against them.
"I think a lot of times when things start going south, we need some of the older guys to make those right plays and calm things down, show everyone with their play that we're just fine here," Kronwall said. "Stay composed and we'll be fine."
Although there is consternation about the 0-4-2 start, Dylan Larkin said everyone is committed to turning things around.
"There still is a lot of pride and guys in here, we want to battle," Larkin said. "We're trying. It's not like the effort's not there. It's just we need to work together more, communicate more and battle for each other more."
RETURN OF RASMUSSEN: Blashill said the current plan is for Michael Rasmussen to return to the lineup after a one-game absence.
Blashill and the coaching staff thought it would benefit the 19-year-old rookie to sit out the game in Montreal and get a look at the game from above.
"I tried to watch different guys I want to emulate," Rasmussen said. "I watched a lot of (Larkin) in how he protects the puck and moves his feet and (Anthony Mantha) and how he protects the puck. Even guys on the other team. I watched (Brendan) Gallagher, how his battle level is every shift. I tried to watch as much as I could and learn."
Blashill had Rasmussen on a line with Luke Glendening and Justin Abdelkader during practice.
There are things Rasmussen has to do in order to have success in the NHL.
"One is he's got to skate when he gets the puck, especially from tops of circles to tops of circles," Blashill said. "That's a normal thing that a lot of young guys don't necessarily do. It's something when I talked to Tim Hunter with the world junior Canadian team, he felt that hurt him at times at center at the world junior camp because he wasn't skating when he got the puck. It's just something that you think you can kind of stand still or drift and make a play and all of a sudden, people are all over you and you wonder what happened. He's got to skate tops of circles to tops of circles.
"Two, and just as importantly, maybe more importantly, he just has to keep learning the little tricks of the trade to hold onto the puck in the O-zone more. He probably needs to keep his stick a little bit closer to his body, certainly needs to learn how to reverse hit guys with his butt, reverse hit guys with his shoulder, find ways to reverse check guys that are coming to him, create a little bit of space, move his feet, use cutbacks."
Blashill said they showed Rasmussen some video of former Colorado Avalanche star Peter Forsberg to illustrate some of the ways he protected the puck.
"Just got to learn to do that. I kind of mastered it at the level I was at," Rasmussen said. "It's obviously a lot different here than it was there. I got used to it in junior and I'll get used to it here. It's just a matter of getting reps in, practicing and getting better. It's a big process for me."
Blashill emphasized that sitting Rasmussen was not a punishment but a tool he uses in development to help a player.
"I think sometimes there's a misnomer that development is just about playing when that can be furthest thing from the truth," Blashill said. "I know that because I've lived it time and time again. Sometimes the best thing to do is take a breather rather than spiral the wrong direction. I think he understands that. He understands that all we're trying to do is try to make him the best player possible. He hasn't been bad, we think there's more there and part of that is taking a break, giving us more time to get those reps of those things we're talking about. It's hard to get those reps in the NHL, so sometimes you got to take a break and spend some time in practice getting those real reps in."
CHANGING LINES: There were some changes in the forward lines during practice.
Larkin centered Darren Helm and Gustav Nyquist; Frans Nielsen centered Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou; rookie Christoffer Ehn centered Thomas Vanek and Mantha.
"Right now, nothing worked so far," Mantha said. "You need to try something else. Nielsen, Double-A and Bert played a pretty decent game in Montreal, so they're the same line today and all the other ones are scrambled around."
INJURY UPDATES: There was some good news on the injury front Wednesday.
Veteran defenseman Trevor Daley practiced fully, paired with rookie Dennis Cholowski, and Blashill said he expects him to play Thursday in Tampa.
Veteran defenseman Jonathan Ericsson also practiced but Blashill said he wasn't sure if Ericsson is ready to play quite yet.
Danny DeKeyser is on the Florida trip but is not going to play in either game.
"He saw a hand specialist," Blashill said. "This isn't anything right now that requires surgery. It's a little bit of a symptom of when the pain goes to a spot then he can handle it and play. I don't have the answer on how long that's going to be. I think the term week and a half to two weeks was thrown out there but I don't know if that's totally accurate, it's just going to depend on how it responds."
Also making the trip for the first time this season is veteran defenseman Mike Green.
"He had a real long skate yesterday, he's going to come on the trip because he wants to be around the guys and skate with the players a little bit more," Blashill said. "Hopefully get an answer on where his bloodwork is. He had some more bloodwork done today and we just keep being patient with it until he gets his body back to a spot where he can really go full out. Nothing in the future where I can say he's coming back here or there but he's starting to go in the right direction."