TSN.ca 30 TEAMS IN 30 DAYS: DETROIT RED WINGS

TSN.ca has highlighted the Detroit Red Wings in their “30 teams in 30 days” series. Among the areas they look at are what the team did in the off-season, the biggest issue the team is facing and a player to watch out for this coming season. Being a Canadian website, and please excuse me for perhaps promoting a stereotype but you would think that they would know what they were talking about when it came to hockey. It’s no secret that the game is much more popular north of the border then it is in the United States. However, this article has to be one of the poorest written articles in terms of information I have ever read. The portion of the article that really did it in was the section where they discuss the biggest issue facing the Red Wings this season.  Here is what they had to say…
Despite all the talent at their disposal, this is an old team that got older in the off-season.  Their two biggest free agent acquisitions are much closer to collecting a pension then they are to reaching their prime.  Although you cannot argue with the amount of talent at their disposal, with the exception of Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings core are all in the homestretch of their careers.  Valtteri Filppula was the only Red Wing under 29 last season that scored more than 30 points.  The return of Jiri Hudler from Russia should help inject some fresh legs and youthful enthusiasm to this group of grey beards; however that may not be enough.  This is a group that appeared tired in the post-season and were out-skated by the much younger Sharks group.  At some point the Wings will have to introduce a newer generation to take over from the current group or the situation could quickly become bleak in Motown.  They have enough skill to succeed this season, but their window to capture another championship is rapidly closing.
I’m not going to beat around the bush or try to hide the fact that I am a Red Wings fan but anyone who knows anything about the NHL would know that this is the same old tired argument that critics of the Wings have been spewing since way before the salary cap was put in place. “This is a team that got older in the off-season”, really? I will give you Mike Modano but Ruslan Salei who is essentially replacing Andreas Lilja is older then him but not even by a year and Jiri Hudler who is replacing Jason Williams is about four years younger then him. Let’s also look at the players that they re-signed. Yes they did re-up a lot of their veterans in Nicklas Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom, Todd Bertuzzi and Kirk Maltby (who baring any injury on the team will not be playing that much on the NHL roster) but they also re-signed a lot of their younger players such as Patrick Eaves, Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader, and Darren Helm. This is all in addition to players who are in their prime or just entering their prime such as Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Valtteri Filppula and Johan Franzen. Oh yeah I almost forgot they also have a 26 year old Jimmy Howard starting in net who was only up for the Calder Trophy last season. Also, it is true that they are bringing back essentially the same team but this is also pretty much that same team that won the Cup in 2008, was a game from winning it in 2009 and was a victim of the injury bug in 2010. Sorry, I’m not buying the statement that the Wings were outmatched by the younger, fresher legs of the San Jose Sharks in last years playoffs. Given the injuries and the extent of those injuries the Wings had last year, I don’t care if they have all those players back for the playoffs the effects are still going to be felt.
TSN, I believe it is time to throw out your old outlook on the Wings from 2003 and maybe write one that is a little more relevant to today’s team. The Red Wings have continually proven that they know how to put together a winning team and keep them competitive through the years.