Detroit Red Wings

“This Year’s Wings”
Monday, January 29, 2007

We have passed the halfway point by a bit now and my Wings continue to struggle in rather strange ways. Our defensive play is without a doubt superb. Mind you it has to be superb because our goaltending is satisfactory at best. I just do not trust the abilities of Dominic Hasek or Chris Osgood to carry the load. We are still the best team in the league to support the puck and make crisp, accurate passes all over the ice. What surprises and vexes me is our inability to finish off splendid passing plays with goals. We lead the league most shots on goal and least shots allowed on goal.
I think that is pretty significant and speaks well of much of what we do well, but these fancy plays and dipsy doodle passes and moves do NOT result in goals. We have to be able to put teams away for good. Yesterday’s game against Colorado was a clear example of our problem. We absolutely dominated that game from start to finish, but with six minutes left in the game we were leading 1-0; we outshot them 38-10. We had multiple chances to score throughout the game, yet we did not, and it wasn’t because Jose Theodore, their goalie, was playing so well. Too many of our shots get blocked or we miss the net altogether.
Both Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg should have at least 30 goals each, given the many, many chances they get. They have less than half that amount. Why? When they are on the ice with Thomas Holmstrom, usually, they absolutely dominate any other line (with the exception of the San Jose Sharks) a team the Wings really have been dominated by. I’ve never seen a team in the last 15 years that have clearly outplayed us in every way as have the San Jose Sharks. They have two goaltenders that are clearly superior to anything we have, and when the playoffs begin this becomes crucial, absolutely crucial.
So what are we going to do? We don’t have the wherewithal that I know of to pick up a first rate goaltender. We don’t have one down on the farm and we have never drafted goalies well. We are also rather small and light. The Sharks really do push us around; not only are they big but they are also fast too.
Presently I’m watching our game against the New York Islanders. I’ve been impressed by the Islanders quickness. DePietro, their goalie, has been solid. We are down 0-1 on a goal 22 seconds in. We just got overwhelmed in our end. Hasek was not at fault. We had 4 power play chances; we had a lot of excellent chances, but blocked shots and poor shooting, as usual, kept us off the scoreboard. We have a lot of jump; that explains the many penalties against the Islanders, but we have not scored. I expect the team to continue to force the play and find a way to put one past DePietro.
The Islanders are clearly trying to run us and take the measure of our resolve; I think they will find us more than willing to put up with whatever the Islanders send our way. We are about to begin the second period; both teams will be playing five-on-five. I want my team to find the net more, especially Dan Cleary and Jason Williams. They have really been struggling lately. Williams has struggled all year. It is obvious from the first period that we really miss Mathieu Schneider on the power play; his cannonading drive from the point is sadly missed. Even Niklas Lidstrom seems to miss his power play partner.
I really don’t think we will do particularly well this year in the playoffs. I think we will have trouble getting past the first round again. If we do advance, then I’ll have to wait and see who we play and how well we played in the first round. I’m still waiting for our team to begin to jell offensively, especially on the power play, where we have been dreadful at times. I will revisit my team later in the season to see if their offence has come to life.