Who was injured and how often do they get injured?
It was a freak year and the only year the Wings had such injury problems.
Point being? Datsyuk isn't exactly injury prone, and Franzen played 76 games.
Rafalski is gone, btw.
He cited last year as well. Makes sense to give a broader scope of stats than pick at one or two seasons like you are doing.
Nobody used injuries as an excuse in 2010, and in 2009 Datsyuk and Lidstrom are hardly "injury ridden." Also I know you couldn't find any way to replace them with "new blood."
Based on one player's injuries from last season and two superstars' injuries from 09. Of course.