TRAVERSE CITY -- Short but sweet.
The Detroit Red Wings ended a brief three-day training camp at Centre ICE on Tuesday night with little rest in sight. The Wings host Philadelphia tonight in their exhibition opener, the first of eight games in 11 days.
The Wings capped off their Traverse City stay -- before another full house -- with a Red-White game.
"This is a great way to start out the season for our guys because of the response we get from the fans here," GM Ken Holland said. "The rink is jammed, and everywhere we go around the city people are excited to see us.
"After 11 or 12 years here you would think maybe the interest would drop a little. But the building's full.
"(Coach) Mike Babcock and I were talking during the scrimmage that ideally we would like to be here another day, maybe two. But because we're opening in Sweden -- we're going over there four or five days before the season starts -- and we wanted to play our full complement of pre-season games, it only gave us a few days (for camp). Hopefully, next year it's another day or two."
Other than an injury to Darren Helm -- he strained his shoulder Monday and will be out up to four weeks -- the camp went off without a hitch for the Wings. Even the weather cooperated.
"We usually get nice weather here, but this was really nice," veteran forward Kirk Maltby said. "Great weather. Great fans. The guys worked hard. That's all you can ask."
Instilling that work ethic is one of the principles of camp.
"We try to set the standards here on how we want to play every year," Johan Franzen said.
For Holland, the camp gives him an opportunity to assess young players and those battling for positions.
"I don't look at the veterans," he said. "We know what they can do. I've watched them year in and year out. Some of those guys are just pacing themselves to be ready for opening night.
"Here, you're looking at players on the bubble. I thought (defenseman) Jakub Kindl played real well. (Tomas) Tatar is a young player who shows good instincts."
Tatar was a late second-round pick in the June draft and Holland liked what he saw from the 18-year-old in the Prospects Tournament and in camp.
"He's signed a contract to play in Slovakia," Holland said. "We've talked to his agent. He has interest in staying in North America. If he does stay in North America, it will be one of two places -- he'll play juniors in Plymouth or he'll be in Grand Rapids (the Wings minor league affiliate). We'll assess that in the next couple weeks. We'd like to get him signed. If we get him signed, we can have some influence as to where he plays. But we like him. He had a real good camp. He competes. He plays the North American game. In the short time we've seen him, it looks like we've got a real good prospect."
Holland said he expects a tough battle in the Central Division of the Western Conference and he said the Wings will need to be ready from game one.
"I compare it to climbing Mount Everest," he said. "There's 30 teams at the base of Mount Everest and one team is going to get (to the peak). It's a long climb. There's stepping stones. The guys realize what a long process it is. But it starts here. Last year we didn't get focused until the last 20 games of the regular season. We know we've lost a lot of offense so we have to be ready to go game one in Sweden against St. Louis. I think our division is the best division in the West. All the teams are improved. And they're young teams and those players are getting better and better."
Franzen, who has scored 86 goals in the last two years (regular season and playoffs), will be a key player in Detroit's efforts to recapture the Stanley Cup.
Franzen, who signed a long-term contract with the Wings late last season, saw his career take off when Babcock played him with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
"That's how it all started," he said. "A couple injuries and I got to play with some really skilled offensive players. Pavel and Hank, they make it easy for you. I just try to get open and score when I get good passes. It's worked so far. I hope it continues."
Franzen, one of several Swedes on the team, said he's nabbed 60 tickets for the games in Sweden.
"A lot of family and friends will be there," he said.
He'll also have tickets for a youth team from his hometown.
"My sister's kid plays on the team," he said. "Now that's pressure. I have to do good at home."
Tomas Holmstrom said he's also get around 60 tickets.
"Hopefully, I didn't forget anyone," he said. "You see people (back home) in the summer, and it's, 'OK, yeah, yeah, I'll get you tickets.' I went through list. I hope I've covered everybody."
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