Opie 308 Report post Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings surprised many by advancing to the Western Conference finals last spring, their deepest playoff run since winning the Stanley Cup in 2002. The run showed that the Wings were a much more versatile, hard-nosed group than they had been given credit for in recent years. They will return much of the same squad, with the added bonus of having terrific young defenseman Niklas Kronwall healthy after he sustained a season-ending injury on March 30 (broken sacrum). Netminder Dominik Hasek is back, too, after a stellar return to the Detroit nets last season, squashing any suggestions he wasn't anything but a team guy. Superlative puck-moving defenseman Brian Rafalski joins the red-and-white as a more than adequate fill-in for Mathieu Schneider, who signed in Anaheim via free agency. Dearly departed: Mathieu Schneider, Todd Bertuzzi, Kyle Calder, Danny Markov. Joyously welcomed: Brian Rafalski, Dallas Drake (again), Brad Ference, Mark Hartigan. Burning questions â€Â¢ Does Hasek have another season left in him like last season, when he went 38-11-6? â€Â¢ Can Kronwall stay healthy for an entire season and prove he's the star material the Red Wings believe he is? â€Â¢ Just how good can Henrik Zetterberg be? â€Â¢ Were the no-shows at the normally sold-out Joe Louis Arena during the playoffs a symptom of deeper problems in one of the NHL's most solid markets? http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/stor...&id=3011999 link fixed I love the Z question!!!! Edited September 11, 2007 by Opie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted September 11, 2007 (edited) To re-emphasize the answer to the last question for people not from Detroit/Michigan perhaps or new to the board, yes. And we all know why. I know there are times when JLA seems real quiet (and this has been debated/beaten to death with 50 2x4's so I'd rather not get into it), but I can guarantee you if the Wings won the Cup this past season, attendance at the planned parade would have been huge. It just sucks that the overall economy is not doing good and ticket prices in the playoffs after the first round were out the wazoo. Support, from a moral/mental standpoint, is still extremely high for this organization. Edited September 11, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
T-Ruff 47 Report post Posted September 11, 2007 West Preview takes me to a 2005 article about Joe Thornton..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
