Follow Michael Whitaker On X [https://x.com/mwhitaker_89] The Detroit Red Wings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings] completed their second day of practice in what head coach Todd McLellan said before the Olympic break would resemble a “mini Training Camp.” While several familiar on-ice drills were part of the brisk session, a new training exercise caught nearly every media member in attendance by surprise. Players were instructed to power through a waveof bodies along the boards in a drill that could easily have been mistaken for a football practice. Afterward, Todd McLellan said he had never used that particular exercise with the Red Wings in Detroit. "I've used that in the past but not here yet; it's a real strenuous drill,” McLellan said. “It takes your heart rate up, and puts you in a situation where there’s some contact and some wrestling, and there's a little bit of team-building. The guys, they don’t want to do it every day, but the first few times they do it, they have a little bit of fun with it. "We got our heart rates up, our sports science department will be happy that we got some contact in, and I hope the guys had a little bit of fun with it.” Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/] team site to stay connected to the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/game-day]coverage, and player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/players]. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/83af4725-53fd-43a0-b961-e9b906069f5a.webp] Forward Andrew Copp said that it took him back to his days playing football locally in Ann Arbor as a high school student. "It brought me back to my freshman football days, tackling drills, everyone going through them," he said. "Yeah, I think it’s just to get a little contact, fight through a little bit, battle-type conditioning as opposed to just pure skating-type conditioning that you saw yesterday, so it was fun." Copp also said that the drill gave some players a chance to dish out a little long-awaited physicality. "Some guys were definitely taking some extra shots at some guys who they thought maybe deserved it over the course of the first 58 (games)," Copp said with a smile. "I’m sure some guys took some extra shots with the rookies, maybe some other guys that have been mouthing off throughout the first part of the year." Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwnuDfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] favorites! Image [https://cdn.ramp-assets.playwire.com/1025444/76033/house_ads/file-1762367418209.jpg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
