38 replies to this topic

[Z and D for the C]

According to NHL numbesr the devils are actually the older team. Ha.



But he is right about the cap starting to catch up on the wings.

[Echolalia]

This article isn't even accurate. The Wings aren't the oldest team in the league.

[SouthernWingsFan]

Team Canada sure looks smart here. If I was running their team I wouldn't want Osgood either. I would actually wanna win.

You're not so bright here.

[Drake_Marcus]

I definitely agree - but I'm sure it does not raise too many eyebrows to see Fleury in over Osgood.
I sorta wonder if Holland/Babcock prevailed upon Yzerman to ensure Osgood received rest and had no added risk of injury (Howard in the playoffs anyone?).

Actually you make a great point there. Ozzy is one of those goalies who seems to conserve his regular season energy to dominate in the playoffs.

I'm totally cool with Ozzy only playing 50 games when he's the pushing the stat leader boards in the playoffs two years running.

Everyone knows the regular season is just a warm-up for the playoffs anyway. It's like the play-off preseason.

[dat's sick]

This article isn't even accurate. The Wings aren't the oldest team in the league.

The Wings could dress a team full of 19-year olds and people would still say they're old.
I guess it's just because in many teams the stars are the youngest guys (Crosby, Ovechkin, Kane, Nash etc.) and the support players are veterans, while in the Wings the stars are usually a bit older while the support is (often) younger.
And of course a lot of people think that once a player hits 30 he magically loses all skill and speed.


And about Ozzie: if he was selected for the Olympic squad everyone would be saying that it was just because of Yzerman and Babcock running the team (like some said about Cleary), and now that he wasn't selected they are saying that the Wings brass don't have any faith in him. Total Catch 22.

[T.Low]

The Wings could dress a team full of 19-year olds and people would still say they're old.
I guess it's just because in many teams the stars are the youngest guys (Crosby, Ovechkin, Kane, Nash etc.) and the support players are veterans, while in the Wings the stars are usually a bit older while the support is (often) younger.
And of course a lot of people think that once a player hits 30 he magically loses all skill and speed.


And about Ozzie: if he was selected for the Olympic squad everyone would be saying that it was just because of Yzerman and Babcock running the team (like some said about Cleary), and now that he wasn't selected they are saying that the Wings brass don't have any faith in him. Total Catch 22.

Those are good points. Same with Getslapped and Perrie, (well ok, they had some old guys on D, but you get the point.

Yeah, nothing new in this article. If they want to write an article, why don't they tell me what Leino, Abs, Eaves, Bertuzzi and Helm are doign to train and improve and prepare for a season of different roles respectively. Why don't they write an article about Howard and his off season training and how "could this be the year" for him to make the jump. There's a ton of s*** to write about that i would actually find interesting, not a recycled same ole same ole 'Detroits lost its Mojo' article. Lazy ass reporters.

[jollymania]

Fleury? FLEURY? At no point in his career has he been a better goalie than Osgood. I agree on the other goalie invites deserving the nod, but not Fleury. His stats were terrible in the playoffs, unlike Ozzy, who dominated the last two playoff years.

Ozzy deserved the token invite out of respect. It's not like the #4 or #5 goalie invites will get to see the ice in Vancouver, anyway, so give a guy like Ozzy that nod out of respect for his career and achievements. I don't think it has anything to do with Babs, Holland or Stevie, though, I'd say it has more to do with Fleury's past history with Hockey Canada.

His past history?

[e_prime]

Yes. We're so old.

...and therefore so much more EXPERIENCED.

Why do reporters feel the need to write anything about us, if all they can come up with is truly grasping at straws, or just not true?

[Casey]

I'd actually challenge the perpetual "old" debate.

I ran the numbers, for who I think will be the most likely 13 forwards: Draper, Maltby, Holmstrom, Bertuzzi, Datsyuk, Cleary, Franzen, Williams, Zetterberg, Leino, Filppula, Eaves and Helm. Average age is just over 30.

Defense, similar. 31 and 31.

Yeah, that makes them the second-oldest team in the league, if nhlnumbers can be trusted, but what does that really mean?

Not much. League average is 28.2, Detroit is at 30.4. The only real contender below the average age is Washington, with Boston, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Carolina and Detroit all above it.

[Barrie]

Detroit is already the oldest team in the league, a factor some believe hurt the Wings when the Finals went to seven games in a compacted time frame.

What about 2008? Oh and what about 3 straight seasons that went into June?

Idiot!

Haven't we been hearing the age excuse since 2001? I can't believe some people get paid to analyze sports.

[Superman54]

Its just another denial article, trying to convince themselves and others that Detroit won't be very good for much longer. Not like we haven't heard this before.

[edicius]

His past history?

Ah yes, I love that Fleury moment. It's right up there with him falling on his facing coming onto the ice at the Joe.

[toby91_ca]

I think too many are reading out of context. It is very true that Detroit's best players are getting older, you can't really argue that. When those players decline or are gone, if the talent is not replaced, they will be in trouble. They have done a great job of keeping the talent level high for close to 20 years, so you hope it continues, but all teams go through phases, so you also have to expect it will happen to them.

However, everyone probably needs to go back and read the lead into to the preview:

Despite work stoppages and economic model changes, the Red Wings have found a way to remain an elite organization, winning four Stanley Cups, four Presidents' Trophies and nine division titles since 1996-97. And no one will be surprised if they add to the collection this coming season.

[Lamothe]

Yes, it was old age that caught up to them in the playoffs, and not an incredible rash of freak injuries resulting in 70+ man games lost to injury in the playoffs. If only Lidstrom was younger, perhaps his testicles would not have been hanging to his knees for Patrick Sharp to easily spear.

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAH

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long, long time.

[Drake_Marcus]

I think too many are reading out of context. It is very true that Detroit's best players are getting older, you can't really argue that. When those players decline or are gone, if the talent is not replaced, they will be in trouble. They have done a great job of keeping the talent level high for close to 20 years, so you hope it continues, but all teams go through phases, so you also have to expect it will happen to them.

However, everyone probably needs to go back and read the lead into to the preview:

I think the key here is that the management is the same. Detroit is the best team in the league for one reason-- they have the best management/ownership in the league. As long as we can keep that part steady the rest will follow. The thing I'm most scared about is Nill leaving when his current contract ends in a few years. I'm hoping he's offered the co-GM position with Holland such that the overall operation of the team remains the same. That and they should give him a nice fat raise (hey-- he's earned it). Nill is absolutely critical to the drafting success that's made this team so good.

The Wings management seem to realize that they don't seem to have an obvious superstar forward prospect in the pipeline and took a flier on a guy like Tatar this draft to try and land one. Tatar appears to have top 10 first round pick talent, but he doesn't have the size or history of that success to back the apparent talent, so teams didn't select him ahead of kids with proven skills. Remember that Tatar's apparent dominance only started to show at the WJC tournament this year where he tied for first in points. After that he went home to his club and played fantastic for the duration of the regular season and the playoffs. Before that he wasn't really on many radars. If Tatar had a few years of that level of performance under his belt he surely would have been chosen in the first round. This type of dice rolling pick is a great thing right now because we need our next Zetterberg/Datsyuk to enter the system soon. With that in mind I think it's odd that the Wings didn't aquire a pick or use one of their own to take a chance on Tony Rajala (sp?)

Edited by Drake_Marcus, 09 September 2009 - 04:48 PM.

[RusDRW]

Team Canada sure looks smart here. If I was running their team I wouldn't want Osgood either. I would actually wanna win.

for a team which is that strong good atmosphere in the locker room is much more important than virtual benefits Fluery may bring. I';m not saying he is cancer but he is not going to help either. Once again Canada is going to have a roster based on media preferences rather than on real performance. Just like in 2002. I'm not worried though. I'm cheering for Russia anyway...

[VM1138]

The one thing I hate about sports writers (and some fans) is that they think players magically lose talent once you pass 30. I'd say most of the effective players in the league are 25-35. There is really (in my mind) very little quality difference between someone who is 28 and 34. Being two years old than the league average is an interesting stat I guess but it translates to absolutely nothing on the ice.

[Doc Holiday]

This is probably the best copypasta in the NHL.

When did the old age thing come out? 1999?

[Detroit # 1 Fan]

This is the one season I'd really like to see the Wings win the Cup. A bunch of washed up (Holmstrom, Maltby, Bertuzzi, Draper), old (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Osgood), soft (Franzen, Filppula, Williams) players that just lost the Cup to the great exciting young Penguins. Like it'd be perfect