David Perron stuns with reaction to teammates fighting at practice earlier today

The footage went viral on Wednesday in a video taken by Jeanna Trotman of WXYZ Detroit, as frustration boiled over during the Red Wings’ practice. Teammates Ben Chiarot and Lucas Raymond came to blows as anger’s taken over players, especially after losing 7-3 to the Buffalo Sabres last night, consequently falling out of the playoff picture amid a six-game losing streak.

Chiarot and Raymond went at it, were separated by the rest of the teammates, exchanged a few words as Raymond put his helmet back on, and lined up for the following drill.

After practice, the Red Wings’ dressing room was buzzing and when asked about the altercation, veteran forward David Perron could only show his content with how things went down between his teammates.

“I think that’s great to see, Perron bluntly said. “Guys want to have solutions, we want to be part of it and I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Patrick Kane also put a positive spin on what happened at practice.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Kane said. “I’d be more worried if we were walking around here all smiles, happy and everything’s okay. I think it’s good to get a little frustrated as long as you harness it in the right way.

“Frustration can create a lot of positive energy as well, whether it’s practicing like you play, or just playing harder tomorrow.”

When asked about what’s been going wrong with the team, Perron couldn’t put his finger on one specific thing.

“I think at times during the last six-game winning streak, we weren’t playing as good as it seemed,” he said. “Everyone was pumping us up, and I had some conversations with people — coaches, others, players.

“I just felt like we were outscoring our problems, and at one point, it was going to turn around and bite us a little bit, and it did. It’s just the reversal of it right now.”

Perron also admitted that he thought about Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Hitchcock, his former coach with the St. Louis Blues, used to say when you get results you don’t deserve. There is a sense that it can take two or three weeks to get back to your game.

“That’s exactly what’s happening right now,” Perron said. “I just couldn’t help driving in this morning to kind of have his voice in my ear again, think about that. At the same time, it’s an exciting challenge to come to the rink and find a way to turn it around.”

Maybe today’s fight at practice kicks it into gear. This could indeed be the Red Wings’ first step into getting back on track as time is running out. On Thursday night, they face the Arizona Coyotes who defeated them 4-0 last week. Detroit has 17 games remaining in their season to try to end their playoff drought.

Both Chiarot and Raymond will need to step up: amidst the losing streak, the young forward has just a goal and an assist during that time, with a minus-10 rating. As for the veteran defenseman, he has also posted a minus-10 rating while seeing his ice time drop to 17:38 per game from 19:39 per game this season until the losing streak.

Let’s see if Perron is right and this is what the Red Wings need to make that final push into the postseason.

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