DETROIT -- As they prepare to embark on their only trip to western Canada this season, the Red Wings are well aware that they need to change things in a hurry.
They have lost four straight with disjointed efforts that have left them frustrated but resolved to turn things around.
"Here’s the cliff-notes version: We’re not very good right now; we’re going to be," Wings coach Mike Babcock said Monday. "We don’t know what we’ve got on this team.
"It’s like anything in life -- all things you face are good if you have the right attitude. You have to choose your attitude, but we have to get to work, though. You can’t continue to give up 40 shots a night and hope to win."
Babcock has tried several ways to get the Wings on the same page, but Monday he boiled down their troubles this way.
"When I look at our team play -- if I’m coming in from the outside and watched our team play -- I’d say they didn’t have a coach" he said. "That hurts my feelings, but that’s a fact. I told that to the team today.
"We’re not organized enough. We’re not efficient. When I go watch a team play and they don’t play well, I go, ‘I wonder what they’re doing out there?’
"We don’t look good enough, so let’s work harder, let’s work smarter, let’s be more efficient, let’s get more prepared and let’s pay a price to win."
Many of Detroit's players believe -- just like Babcock -- that hard work, which leads to better play, is the key to reversing this recent slide.
"No one is happy with the way we’re playing, and we’re just trying to do the right things out there," Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "But when you start losing -- three, four games in a row -- everything just builds up. And parts that aren’t that bad become really bad, and you focus on the wrong stuff.
"We need a win. If we get a win, everything becomes a lot easier."
Zetterberg also said that the Wings never will press the panic button because they thrive on the pressure of playing in a city and for an organization that settles for nothing but the best from their hockey team.
"In the end, we’re going to be fine," Zetterberg said. "We are a good team, and we will play like a good team."
FRANZEN HURT; EAVES IN
Forward Johan Franzen won't play Wednesday night in Vancouver because of an undisclosed injury.
Babcock told reporters that Franzen will be re-evaluated after Wednesday and could be ready for Friday night's game in Calgary.
With Franzen out of the lineup, the Wings have recalled Luke Glendening from Grand Rapids. Babcock is unsure if Glendening will play Wednesday; however, Babcock did say that forward Patrick Eaves will make his season debut against the Canucks.
"I need someone to shoot the puck, and I need someone smart," Babcock said. "If he’s looking at the bigger picture, if he’s looking for a larger chunk of cheese, there’s lots out there 'cause lots of guys have left it out there for him."
For his part, Eaves is eager to get his shot.
"I’m sick of watching hockey," he said. "Ready to play. Hopefully, I can jump in and help the team a little bit."
HELM HOPEFUL
Although his back is still painful and his groin remains a little tender, Darren Helm expects to return to the Wings' lineup at some point during their Western Canada swing.
"I feel good," Helm said. "Had a good skate (Saturday). Get a couple more good ones Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, see what happens Friday."
