The Detroit Red Wings finally have found a way to get Lucas Raymond to shoot.
That's been a long-running storyline within the locker room, that the team would like the highly skilled forward to take more shots with the puck. But it wasn't a puck that earned him rave reviews from his coach: It was Raymond's skills at paintball.
"He was loading his gun over and over again, so he's shooting it a lot," Todd McLellan said on Wednesday, Sept. 30. "That's a good sign."
With the 2026-27 season opener not on the schedule until Friday, the Wings took advantage and stayed off the ice Tuesday, opting to gather in a different setting.
"We took the team away from the rink with
four practice days," McLellan said. "We went away. It's not anything that we've done since I've been here. Actually, we did do it way, way back. My first go-around, but we took the group out and did a real good workout. They had a little bit of fun and there was some team elements in it that they had to work through some problems and some issues. They had to take care of each other. So it was, in my opinion, a productive day."
Holding training camp in Traverse City usually served as several days worth of bonding, but the Wings switched to holding camp at Little Caesars Arena this year.
"Traverse City, there's a lot of that going on, but it's more small groups," McLellan said. "You go golfing, you're in a force. I mean, you see the other guys on the other hole. This was one big group. Everybody was together. The coaches were there. I'll just leave it at that. It was a real good day."
Asked if any players in particular stood out, McLellan smiled.
"We stayed in the safe zone, put it that way," he said of the coaching staff, "so we couldn't really see what was happening.
"It's not just out blasting guys. There were some games, there were some tactics, there was, you know, taking care of a teammate. Yeah, there was a lot of laughs and a few welts, so that's OK."
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings bond via paintball with 'a lot of laughs, a few welts'
