DETROIT — The surest sign you’re starting to carve out a niche for yourself as an NHL player is when your teammates start dropping your name. To the head coach, no less.
And so it is for the Red Wings’ Michael Rasmussen these days, midway through what looks to be a breakout season for the hulking 23-year-old forward and once-maligned former first-round pick.
“You know a winger is good when every center starts to come hinting that they would like to play with him,” head coach Derek Lalonde chuckled Tuesday night, after Rasmussen’s play helped the Wings escape with a 3-2 overtime win over San Jose at Little Caesars Arena. “Or if I’m having a talk with a player about their current game, and they're like, ‘Well, when I was with Ras …', that's certainly a good sign, too.”
