Know what I'm not going to do should they lose?

[Jersey Wing 1,521]

No team in professional sports sans the New York Yankees over the last 15 years has tried harder to put a winning team on the field of play. The Ownership has spent when spending was allowed. They hired great scouts to pilfer Europe. They were the first ones to have their own personal plane to make all the travel the easternmost team in the western conference does. They paid them well, they treated them right. The fan support has been off the charts. Collegiate fans in love with a professional team. So, OK, things look grim now down 3-0 to a very fine San Jose team who looks yes, a little fresher at the ends of games and thus able to make that more quality plays in crunch time.

What was the stat that over the last 15 years or so the Red Wings have played a full season's worth of extra games than the second closest team? These aren't just regular season games, everybody plays 82 games. They extra games the Wings are playing are the most mentally taxing, physically destructive and bone crushingly difficult ones -- the playoff games.

We've all seen so much top flight, beautiful, hard nosed, Kronwallian hits, Datsyukian dangles, Yzerman playing on one leg, Brent Gilchrist taking a 12 inch needle into his groin just to play kind of efforts. We're seen them chase Patrick Roy in a game 7. We've seen them hoist 4 Stanley Cups and grab enough awards they could become richer yet using cash for gold.

It's my opinion they are simply running out of steam right here at this moment in time, it's nothing that would keep them from challenging for the cup next year, they'll be better yet. I'm more than willing to cut this franchise some slack after all the high intensity hockey they have played now for decades.

I'm going to be mighty proud seeing this team go through the handshake line win or lose.

[TheOwl 77]

I agree with you, you can't make it to the finals every season. But I think now it's time for a big change. This is more or less the same team that won it in 2008, and came close in 2009. I think the Wings need to do more then just re-sign in house UFA's and getting Hudler back. If Lidstrom doesn't resign, it'll be a huge chunk of money, that the Wings should spend on a top 6 forward. The Wings are weak on offense, with our bottom two lines incapable of providing a decent amount of scoring. It would spread out the lines well with another top 6 guy.

This team next season will have the same result. It's not just a matter of being gassed. The Wings need some new players. This roster a year from now won't fair any better.

Edited May 5, 2010 by TheOwl

[WinginCanada 11]

Great post OP! We're spoiled being fans of the Red Wings as they have been so successful in recent decades. It should bring your minds at ease to realize that the Wings have nothing more to prove, they have won 4 cups in a short span as well as making 19 consecutive playoffs. THEY HAVE 10 CONSECUTIVE 100 POINT SEASONS! With that said, I believe the Wings will be back up in playoff form soon enough. It will be fun to see how Howard pans out the rest of these playoffs as well as next season! (I still HAVEN'T lost TOTAL faith in him yet )

[RedLightGoesOn 81]

This team next season will have the same result. It's not just a matter of being gassed. The Wings need some new players. This roster a year from now won't fair any better.

We picked up some guys who wouldn't really rock the boat and play in Detroit's system. Cap room will be interesting next year. Hopefully if Lids comes back for one more year he signs for around a million to help with the cap. I expect the Wings to lose this year, we simply just can't make it to the SCF every year. If we lose I will still be VERY proud of the Wings for not going quietly. But I agree people need to go. This roster needs a shakeup.

[Rockitman 11]

Great post OP! We're spoiled being fans of the Red Wings as they have been so successful in recent decades. It should bring your minds at ease to realize that the Wings have nothing more to prove, they have won 4 cups in a short span as well as making 19 consecutive playoffs. THEY HAVE 10 CONSECUTIVE 100 POINT SEASONS! With that said, I believe the Wings will be back up in playoff form soon enough. It will be fun to see how Howard pans out the rest of these playoffs as well as next season! (I still HAVEN'T lost TOTAL faith in him yet )

I'm just really afraid that this is what your gonna get from Jimmy going into the future... AHL and NHL he just has never really looked that solid to me... Sure hope I'm wrong though

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I'll be watching baseball. The worst part? I'll be watching Blue Jays games.

I'm just really afraid that this is what your gonna get from Jimmy going into the future... AHL and NHL he just has never really looked that solid to me... Sure hope I'm wrong though

He just put a Calder worthy season together. He played well enough to get us through the 1st round as a rookie (including stealing games 4 and 5 of the 1st round). He's been crap this round, sure, but he's still a rookie.

I never expected him to pull a Roy and win us a Cup as a rookie.

I expect him to be better next year and the year after that. Right now we should be happy that he's getting playoff experience and learning these lessons early in his career.

[Buppy 1,720]

I agree with you, you can't make it to the finals every season. But I think now it's time for a big change. This is more or less the same team that won it in 2008, and came close in 2009. I think the Wings need to do more then just re-sign in house UFA's and getting Hudler back. If Lidstrom doesn't resign, it'll be a huge chunk of money, that the Wings should spend on a top 6 forward. The Wings are weak on offense, with our bottom two lines incapable of providing a decent amount of scoring. It would spread out the lines well with another top 6 guy.

This team next season will have the same result. It's not just a matter of being gassed. The Wings need some new players. This roster a year from now won't fair any better.

If Nick doesn't come back, we'll need pretty much every dime spent on retooling the defense. I'd love a premier winger, but i think it's only a viable option is Nick does come back and at a friendly cap hit.

Depth scoring is a pipe dream unless we're fortunate enough to have a guy or two like Tatar/Ritola/Mursak/etc explode developmentally. Bargain contracts are the only way to get great scoring depth in cap era, and we really haven't had the draft picks for it. Cap systems pretty much by design favor the Hawks/Pens method of periodic total rebuilds.

Other than the stop-gaps in Williams & Bertuzzi, I believe the rest of the team is still championship caliber. A top sniper would rock, but Hudler would be good enough if that's the best we can do. Miller/Eaves/Helm/Abby are fine bottom-6 grinders, and capable of producing a bit of offense. Throw in someone like Draper/Homer/Cleary to help them learn, or maybe another cheap vet who still has decent speed. A youngster like Ritola or one of the other kids to finish it off. That's plenty good enough for a bottom 6.

A top 6 of Pav, Hank, Mule, + Flip/Huds/Homer/Cleary isn't bad either. I'd expect Franzen to be more 'himself' next year. I'd expect Flip and Cleary to be big contributors provided they stay healthy. And I'd expect Happy to do well also. It's not the best in the league maybe, but still a forward core capable of winning.

The defense could use some work I think, whether Nick goes or not. If he comes back, we may not have any options. Rafi is probably the only one we could upgrade for a similar cap hit, and he has his NTC, so not likely an option. Let Lilja go, and we could potentially have 2-2.5 mil to spend on a replacement, but we won't get a difference maker for that much. I think we just have to hope that Ericsson gets backs to '09 playoff form, and that Nick stops pretending to be human.

Goalie might be my biggest concern. I freely admit that Howie proved me wrong this year, and I love the experience he's gotten so far these playoffs, but 'sophomore slump' is something that really seems to hit goalies hard. And I'm not all that confident that Ozzie can get back to proper form. But when we're only paying a little over 2 mil for our goalies, upgrading there wouldn't be easy either.

As far as tradeable assets, we're basically limited to Flip and Happy. Either or both would likely mean we'd need a top 6 forward in return, so no real help if we wanted to free space for defense/goalie. So short of just blowing up the whole team, which could very well leave us out of the playoffs for a few years, we're more or less 'stuck' with what we've got. Might not be a top contender, but a contender nonetheless, and too good to give up on just yet.

[Ozzy318 3]

I am right with the OP. It is going to be a nervous offseason watching Lids. His decision will decide Holland's course of action this offseason.

Jimmy didn't do anything Ozzy didn't during his first postseason. If anything Jimmy achieved more by making it to round 2.

We are in great hands with Holland and his team of scouts.