Indeed it might seem that this team’s flawlessness are leading the Wings to become the “Yankees” of Hockey. However before this Stanley Cup winning season, many of the Red Wings were facing retirement or the last year of their contracts. Chris Osgood (2 year extension), Kris Draper (3 year extension), Nick Lidstrom (2 year extension), and Dan Cleary (5 year extension); are just four Red Wings who signed extensions to prolong their careers in Detroit. The Red Wings will retain everyone from this years championship squad except the now “officially retired” Dominik Hasek. “Dom” or “The Dominator” as many have come to know him as will surely be missed. He posted hall of fame like statistics in GAA and save % as well as wins and shutouts throughout his career and is a shoe-in for First Hall of Fame Ballot. As for the rest of the Red Wings, they know that the road will not be easy to repeat in 2009. It should be noted however, that they have repeated in ‘97 and ‘98 and there are still 4 players that have lifted all 4 of the cups in recent memory The Wings have shown that it doesn’t just take experience It takes team work and talent and the desire to win.
They have that and more with the top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom. That line has been the Red Wings go to line throughout the season and the playoffs. Because they are so talented, Coach Mike Babcock was able to split up the line to play with other players. This gave other teams fits trying to cover them in the offensive zone.People say “Defense wins championships.” This is true especially in light of recent Stanley Cup winning teams like the Ducks last year. But the Red Wings, with the arguably the top four defensemen in the NHL (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Stuart) showed throughout the season that it takes an entire team effort on defense to chalk up the win. Zetterberg and Datsyuk gave other teams problems in the defensive zone as well as their offensive zone. They are both up for the Selke Trophy. For all the reasons above, the Red Wings will be just as formidable next season with Chris Osgood backstopping them.
He made an appearance in the All Star Game with then league leading totals in GAA and save %. The Wings have up and coming players in the likes of Tomas Kopecky, Jiri Hudler, Mark Hartigan, Valtteri Filppula, Darren Helm, Johnathan Ericsson, Derek Meech, and others. The Wings are often faulted for their “oldness” but one can rest assured that come 2009, they will be skating, shooting, checking, and defending, just as well as the rest of the younger NHL teams.. 10 days Jacket fans. 10 days until what we all hope will be a new era in Blue Jackets hockey.10 days until the 1st round of the NHL draft where its expected that Jackets GM Scott Howson will be wheeling and dealing in hopes of getting a jump start on an offseason that is the most critical one in the Blue Jackets 8 year on-ice history.10 days until we all hope is the start towards a playoff birth in the 2008-2009 season.Okay a little overly dramatic there but you get the point I’m making here Jacket fans are jacked. There is a lot of anticipation over exactly what will Howson be able to pull off over the next 10 days.Will he move the 6th for an impact center? What about the 19th – will that be moved for a quality guy. Zherdev, Brule, Fritsche, Tollefsen, Klesla — all have been rumored as trade bait.
Will they still be Blue Jackets after June 20th?What happens if all Howson comes away with at the draft are two first round picks? How will the fan base react to that possibility.All kind of scenarios to play out.Its been quite out there Damn quiet There’s been the Marleau for Z + 6th rumor out there. We’ve heard names like Jokinen, Kubina, Kaberle and Vermette among others on the block.There are still all kinds of unsigned juicy RFAs out there. Some have speculated that perhaps this is a sign that GMs are waiting to commit the big dollars until they see what kind of trade packages could be offered….or maybe in some cases wait to see what kind of offer sheets they received. Brian Burke has come out and said that they will not be signing Corey Perry until after July 1st for instance.Is this the calm before the storm?I hope so, especially from a Columbus standpoint.I wouldn’t count on any deals going down before June 20th though. There is a lot of tire kicking going on, trade talks are certainly heating up and perhaps even some frameworks to some deals in place out there but I don’t see anyone faxing in signed papers consummating a trade until the pressure is at its highest which won’t be until June 20th.At that time teams, especially those with their sites set on either 1 landing impact NHLers 2. improving their draft positions, will have to make their final plays. In the case of teams like San Jose or even Pittsburgh, who are without 1st round picks and have attractive roster players, its now or never if they want to move into cream of the draft which is always that first round.So be patient Jacket fans as we’ve still got 10 days until I expect anything to go down…and make sure come next Friday the refresh button on your computers is fully functional! Update: The countdown is indeed on! I just read over on the Dispatch blog that it seems Pittsburgh and the Jackets are in trade talks regarding some player rights I’ll have a post on this later tonight.-LTL.
