Red Wings have ‘a lot of fun’ practicing outdoors, enjoy family skate at Ohio Stadium on Friday night

COLUMBUS -- Underneath a partly cloudy sky, along with some gusts of wind and temperatures in the mid-50s, the Detroit Red Wings practiced at Ohio Stadium on Friday night ahead of battling the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2025 NHL Stadium Series on Saturday night.

“It was great,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said. “There’s a lot of excitement with the guys. It was pretty cool to just do something different. It’s probably the ugliest stadium that I’ve ever been in, but it’s cool to play hockey outside.”

One of three University of Michigan alumni on the Red Wings’ active roster, Larkin’s playful post-practice jab at the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team perfectly encapsulates one of the night’s most important elements -- fun.

“Anytime you’re outdoors playing, I think it brings you back to being little,” Alex DeBrincat said. “We had a lot of fun out there.”

As enjoyable as Friday’s outdoor practice was, skating at Ohio Stadium was also very beneficial. Hitting the ice at 6:30 p.m., a later start time than any practice Detroit has scheduled this season, helped the players get a feel for the ice itself, weather conditions and sightlines they’re set to experience during Saturday’s highly-anticipated clash.

“It doesn’t feel the same when you’re on the ice surface as it does in a building,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Add the crowd, and they’re further away yet they’re noisy. I think for those players that have played in it, it’ll come back quicker. For the new ones, I jumped on the ice with [goalie] Alex Lyon, and he was like a kid in a candy shop. ‘So cool,’ I think he said.”

Practicing in front of empty stands, the Red Wings know their surroundings will be very different in roughly 24 hours, when 90,000-plus fans are expected to pack Ohio Stadium.

“I don’t think you really know what that’s going to feel like,” Marco Kasper said. “It’s going to be awesome. I haven’t even watched a game with that many people. I’ve watched some soccer games with a lot of people, but I don’t know if there’s been that amount. It’s going to be really fun.”

Patrick Kane has the most outdoor NHL experience in Detroit’s dressing room, having represented the Chicago Blackhawks in six such games. But when it comes to where the Red Wings and Blue Jackets are in the tight race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 35-year-old forward admitted the stakes going into Saturday might be the highest of any outdoor matchup he’s been part of.

“This one has a lot at stake to it, especially with them coming into our building last night and taking two points from us,” Kane said. “We’d like to do the same to them here in Columbus.”

Lyon agreed.

“It’s pretty cool, the stakes,” Lyon said. “It’s a game that both teams want to win. It’s meaningful for both teams. This is a really cool experience, and these are the things you just got to enjoy. Just trying to do that the best we can.”

Detroit dropped a 5-2 decision to Columbus at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday. With the loss, the Red Wings saw the Blue Jackets move into a tie with them for the Eastern Conference’s first Wild-Card spot.

“There’s still a lot of hockey to be played,” Larkin pointed out. “We were in this situation last year where we let it slip, and it got to a point where it ultimately wasn’t in our control at the end of the season. Right now, we still control our own destiny. We got to get back on the horse and start winning some games again.”

That's why, with everything going on not only this weekend but at this point of the season, the Red Wings happily welcomed the opportunity to enjoy a family skate after Friday’s practice.

Lyon said he believes those moments bring a team closer together.

“Really players and staff members alike, it forces everyone to break out of their routines a little bit,” Lyon said. “It helps you take a step back and appreciate the moment. We’re NHL players who get to play an outdoor game, that’s pretty cool. When you ask any 15-year-old version of anybody in here, I don’t think that they thought it would be a remote possibility.”

Reflecting on the fun atmosphere and experience of the family skate, McLellan simply described it as “special.”

“The generations that are out there, I met Mr. Kane and obviously Patty, his [partner] and then they’ve got their little guy out there,” McLellan said. “That’s three generations of hockey. The little one is trying to learn how to skate and just stand up. Patty is going into the Hall of Fame, and his dad and mom are hockey parents who gave him everything he needed, so that’s really special, then they all come together on the road, skate and share that moment. I think it does wonders.

"I personally took time to go around and meet the wives and girlfriends. I haven’t had a chance to do that anywhere. That allowed me to put some names to faces. Everybody has a story to tell tonight. They’re going to phone somebody tonight and say, ‘it was so cool because,’ and that’s how it should be. They should have their own chapters.”