GMRwings1983

Yes. They're the two weakest Cup winners of that decade. Honestly, they may be the weakest Cup winners ever. How many Cup winners were weaker than those two teams? Don't get me wrong. I think the 2008 Wings were a great team. However, they're not better than the 2001 Avalanche. They may not be as good as the 2000 Devils either. A lot of people rank that as the best Devils team ever. The 2003 Devils aren't far off either. I also think you're overrating the 2009 Penguins. I can't see them beating the 2007 Ducks or 2003 Devils in a series. We agree on Tampa and Carolina. They were both #1 seeds, but as I said above, they're great candidates for the weakest Cup winners ever. Neither of those teams ever accomplished anything else and won the Cup against relatively weak opposition and fortuitous circumstances.

Sometimes, it's easier to lose when you're trying to win.

Holland and Blashill being brought back again is pretty good evidence. There's not much accountability right now.

Well, you have to take the leap. That's life. Things aren't going to magically become awesome with Holland and Blashill.

They still wouldn't make the top 5.

Not just that, but they were lucky in the first round when down 0-2 to Montreal. Michel Therrien blew that series with his stupidity. In the Conference Finals, they only got past Buffalo because the Sabres had like 3 or 4 defensemen injured toward the end of that series. In the Finals, they almost blew a 3-1 series lead against an 8 seed that had a backup goalie. If you remember, Roloson got hurt in that series. The 2006 Hurricanes may be the most fortunate Cup winner in history.

The ownership doesn't care about this team. They care more about their stupid baseball team. I've seen this pattern before in sports for other teams I've liked. When the ownership stops giving a crap, everything else slacks off too. Just remove the Hockeytown sign from center ice because the clown show will go on for several more years with Holland and Blashill in charge.

LOL at anyone mentioning the 2004 Lightning and 2006 Hurricanes as two of the five best teams in this century. Those are the two weakest Cup winners in my lifetime. Any Cup winner in the last 15 years would likely beat those teams in a 7 game series. Please tell me that list above is just an early April Fools Day joke.

Would it look bad for the league if the Wings suddenly decided to have all their players shoot with their opposite hands the last five games of the season?

Based on that, the 2012 Kings were the best team of the last 30 years in the NHL, since they started every series up 3-0. You have to look at other factors than whether they were down in the playoffs at some point. The playoffs aren't meant to be easy. I don't think the 2008 Wings had a particularly easy run compared to other Cup winngers. Do you think the 2008 Wings could possibly go down in a series against the 2002 Avalanche? Most likely.

He's a beta male. He's 6'3 and probably doesn't crack 200 lbs. Doesn't play physical whatsoever. His offensive numbers are a complete joke. He'd be lucky to be a 3rd pairing guy with his numbers on most NHL teams.

For one thing, we have a real hockey arena and don't have an ugly ass car that he has to skate by on every shift.

Marshall Faulk?

Haven't seen you around in ages.

I hope this doesn't turn out like Dekeyser.

I don't relish being punched in the face at sporting events.

Agree with a lot of what you said, however, Draper and Maltby did not shut down Forsberg and Sakic. I remember Forsberg being a nightmare to play against in that series. Also, Kocur didn't play on the 2002 team.

This team needs help all over the ice, but I'd like to see a proper rebuild. That means getting rid of Kenny Holland and Jeff Blashill. Neither is the right person for this team going forward. Holland should have the common decency to resign, but alas, he's no Japanese samurai. If he doesn't leave, he needs to be let go. I don't trust him going forward. The contracts this team is saddled with are his fault. We haven't drafted anything good on the defensive side of the ice, which includes goalies. We have some good forwards but too many others that have made little impact. The marriage just needs to end. Blashill needs to be let go because he doesn't seem to have a good grip on this team. They're not good at anything. Much of that is Holland's fault for providing Blashill with a terrible defense and inconsistent goaltending. Still, good coaches can get some players to overachieve. I haven't seen that from this coach.

Lashoff?

Now you're being picky and hypocritical. The 2008 team struggled against Nashville and needed a goalie change, an OT goal in game 5, and a center ice goal in game 6 to beat the Preds. They also struggled in the series against Dallas putting the opposition away. You could say the same about the Pens series. The playoffs are tough. Most Cup winners are challenged by someone at some point. To say that the 2008 team wasn't challenged is false. They were in danger of being ousted in the first round and lacked killer instinct in three of the series they played. Their only dominant series was against the Avalanche, because they had Theodore in net and Franzen went crazy. The 2002 team struggled against the Avs because that team was really freaking good. I believe that team would also beat the 2008 Wings. The Vancouver series was similar to the Wings struggles in 2008 against Nashville. The sequence of games was different but that's not the point. Losing badly to the Blues one game isn't a big deal when you consider how they dominated the rest of that series. The Blues in 2002 were a team with a lot of talent. They just had a crappy goalie in Brent Johnson. The individual awards are nice, but not as nice as having 10 Hall of Famers on the team.

Chelios was a finalist in 2002 from his stellar defensive play. Rafalski was the exact opposite as he was great offensively but suspect defensively. I'm guessing your metrics are largely based on offensive numbers.

Does this mean we can't still trade him for a 2nd?

No. Chelios was a Norris finalist in 2002. Kronwall, Stuart, and Rafalski were not nominated for a Norris in 2008, or probably in any season for that matter.

We're comparing the two teams relative to their era. Otherwise, the 2018 Red Wings would destroy the 1952 Red Wings. Of course the game changed after the lockout with the new rules.

Not quite. That title belongs to the 1976 to 1978 Montreal Canadiens, who put up an absurd record in an era that didn't even have overtimes in the regular seasons. Yeah, sorry but Helm was a 4th liner and Cleary and Filppula were not Hall of Fame players. Hull and Robitaille were still very effective players in 2002. Draper and Maltby were largely washed up in 2008, especially Maltby who was lucky to have a roster spot. The 2008 team was great but don't have a big advantage anywhere over the 2002 team. You're also overlooking goaltending. Osgood was great in 2008 but he's no Hasek. Of course, Hasek was on the 2008 team but we're talking about starting goalies in the playoffs. The goaltending depth was better in 2008, but a 2002 Hasek is better than 2008 Osgood or the 2008 Hasek version. He's more likely to win a big game when it counts.