The Detroit Red Wings have won the first 33 of 45 games of the 2007-08 season. They lead the league in just about every statistically category and will have the luxury of only having to win around 16 games the remainder of the season to qualify for the playoffs.

They also have one of the highest scoring and most exciting lines in the entire NHL. It seems like every game is going to end in a Red Wings victory.  But guess what?

I'm bored.

Yes, that's right.  I'm getting bored of all this winning.

I know that sounds like a head-scratcher, but let me explain.

The Red Wings have made the playoffs for every season since 1990-91.  That's 16 seasons.  It will soon be 17.   They don't just make the playoffs, either.  The majority of the time, they have the division wrapped up in mid-January.  It's making the seven month regular-season marathon pointless to watch.

I'm sure there are those who will be quick to point out the "Dead Things" era from the 70's and 80's and how they never want to return to those years, and I agree.  But winning all the time is just as frustrating to watch as losing all the time.  I mean, we're sports fans, right?  The attraction to sports as a form of entertainment is the unpredictability.  I can go see the same movie eight times a day and the story will never change.  But when I buy a hockey ticket, who the hell knows what will happen that night, or the next.  But the Wings' regular-season is about as predicable as Sean Avery opening his mouth.

It's at a point now where one loss, at any point in the season, causes an uproar amongst the fans and floods the message boards with trade proposals.  What kind of hockey fans have we become?

What's even more frustrating than winning all the time is the losing in the playoffs.  Have you ever seen a team so dominate in the regular-season just kick the bucket when the games really matter?  Sure, the three cups are nice, but think about all the Cups they didn't win.  If you're going to break my heart in the playoffs, then at least don't tease me for 82 games.  Also, the perception of this team around the league is embarrassing.   For as dominating as the Wings are, they're almost never expected to do anything in the playoffs.

A recent TSN poll agrees with me:
 

I have two simple suggestions to make this team's regular-season more exciting.

1. Fire Mike Babcock

Get rid of this guy.  He turns otherwise lazy players into hard-working scrappers.  His system is impregnable, and always makes the right decision with line changes.  He's too good.  Get rid of him.  Who replaces him? That's simple.  Nobody. This team would be less dominant without a coach.  Even Dave Lewis can win 50 games with this team. Let's see them play by themselves.

2. Trade Nicklas Lidstrom

If there's one things Lidstrom knows how to do, it's win.  For years and years, the forwards have been spoiled with all his crisp, accurate passes out of the back-end.  Let's see how they play with Andreas Lilja bringing the puck up and playing 30 minutes a night.  Lidstrom makes everyone around him better, and we can't have that.

Look, i don't want this team to be terrible.  I just want a reason to get excited about the regular-season.  "How can you hate winning?", I'm sure most of you will say.  Well, I don't hate winning, I just hate winning every single year.   I'd like to see this team sneak into the playoffs and surprise someone.   Since I've been a fan of this team, I don't think the Wings have ever been the underdog in a playoff series.  Maybe the 1996-97 playoffs, but they won the Cup that year.