Red Wings open season with big challenges
The Red Wings prospects have a lot to prove, and the season starts with a tough stretch. The first six games will all be against teams who made the postseason last year. Two of those teams were in the Stanley Cup finals, and have similar aspirations again.
In October, the team will play a grueling 12 games in 22 days, including a road trip to California. Weak starts have plagued Detroit’s rebuild, and have undone strong second half performances. This year’s team has to be better, and has to be ready to reverse those trends.
The Atlantic Division may be the best in the NHL
The Red Wings are desperate for the post season, however the Atlantic Division is a formidable foe. Five of eight teams made the playoffs, and none will be easily eliminated. Detroit will face Toronto, Montreal, Florida and Tampa Bay in the first six contests. Edmonton, last year’s Western Conference champs, are in the mix for good measure.
Those opening games are critical, and will affect the seasons of multiple young players. It is a small, albeit crucial window for players like Emmitt Finnie to show they belong in the NHL. Failure to do so could see Finnie and fellow rookie MBN possibly heading down to the AHL.
Avoiding a 10 year playoff drought won’t be easy
The Red Wings failed to make the post season for a ninth straight year, and changes seemed necessary. Young players are getting opportunities, whereas veterans are being placed on notice. Everyone has to be better, indeed much better for this team to succeed.
Most pundits have Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay as locks to make the post season. That leaves four teams battling for the wild card spots. Only Boston seems to be headed for a significant rebuild, while everyone else is anxious for success. Montreal and Ottawa both remain powerful adversaries for Detroit. Buffalo’s own 15 year drought is motivation for the Sabres to break out and change the story.
A slow start in any division is a problem, however in the Atlantic it can be impossible to overcome. Detroit will have to flip the script and win in order to make the next major step. Avoiding a 10th straight miss is difficult, however crucial for this team to advance.
The Pitts beat the Rags in their debut to a season where they are expected to tank for McKenna………
Does this mean that the Wings will have a chance to beat the odds too?
Maybe this is the start of a topsy-tervee season?
Well, I am glad that hockey is officially back!
Side note: As someone that lives just 20 miles from Lake Superior we recently enjoyed 4 days in a row of mid-80’s temps as the leaves were falling from the trees, it did not feel as if hockey was about to start. It just feels weird, like so many things as of late.
That first stretch of six games is going to be tough. It will be a good measuring stick though to see what this team is made of. Biggest concerns is still the defense and penalty kill. Also… I’m not sold on the idea yet that Gibson is a big upgrade in goaltending. I need to see him play and prove it. Time will tell…
Absolutely a critical start. The players seem really excited about Gibson and the kids, and it’s good to see the room coming together. But 12 games in 22 days, six against teams that made the post season (plus the SCF teams) may be a humbling beginning for sure.
The playoffs still do not appear to be happening this year as well. The glaring issue is that the defense has not been strengthened. They STILL have acquire a 2nd pairing RD that can either lead a PP (like a Karlsson or Hamilton) or a more defensive type (like a Tanav). I am not really advocating for those 3, even though 2 of them may be available. Since LD will be more available, one could acquire a 2nd pairing LD and play Chiarot or AlJo besides him on the RS.
Wings need a strong 2nd pairing D to get Chiarot off the 1st pairing and to relieve some of the pressure on Seider as the only reliable all-situations D-man.
It’s a tall order. The past 2 seasons saw bad starts absolutely erase that opportunity despite “bounce back” performances. If Detroit sees the post season, massive improvements in goals against combined with other teams falling off will be in play. The Atlantic took both wild card spots last year, 4 cups in 6 seasons 6 straight SCFs. Big climb to get there.
Strong start would be nice but usually, they have problems after february. They should be motivated for the first games, let’s see how that will show on the socreboard ! But don’t forget a season is so long, consistency is one main goal (look at Soderblom starting the first game, notching a goal, and then… going back to AHL after a few games.
I’m a bit worried with the D because they don’t know a lot of the other one (2nd and 3rg pairings at least) and I think that Ed is still coming back from injury (he seems a bit slow and careful with his steps).
Taking 5 goals will not make you win for long… Gibson was not there for the last one. At least, Talbot seems ready !
ps : in France too, it is a bit weird. Tomatoes are still growing, leafs are just starting to fall down and the trees have a lot !
The bad starts for the past 2 years completely erased the winning surges, for sure. 2 seasons ago it was a massive let down because they got so close. I expect good patches/bad patches but they need to bank some good will early on. Post Olympics could be brutal if injuries come into play. Nearly a full month off this year, a lot of things can happen. Thanks for stopping by!
Welp, here we go!!!
Watched the last pre-season game; these 3 kids worked their skates off, glad to see they made it. Finnie was a revelation and once he truly finds his legs, will be an awesome mid/top-6 guy. MBN was WAY more than I expected, physical and doesn’t take too many bad angles, still has some growth but he’s gonna be really good. ASP has absolutely blown his game up. I’d love to see him as a top-4 d-dude.
Simple fact is, the Atlantic is a beast. Top 3 teams are heavy, heavy hitters. Supplanting them will be almost impossible; Tronna may be the top of the heap, and FLA will struggle a bit to find the new normal until Tkachuk & Sasha get back. But I don’t see losing those 2 as killing their pathway to the SCPO. Tampa’s gonna be a bit of a wagon as well. MTL & OTT are the 2 we’ve got to hammer to make the SCPO this year. MTL is loaded and are dang near a lock for a WC spot.
This is going to be a fun year, a year of transition that hopefully sees us making the SCPO. Not sure this is our year, being honest. That being said, this is going to be a wild year with the Olympics thrown in, so really anything can happen. I’ll say this: 3 kids breaking camp with tye Big Club was truly unexpected and show that the gloves are coming off. We just need to play our tails off..
Game. On!!!
Really well put! Great to see you here again! We’ll see how it goes, but definitely excited to get going tonight!
Wings really need to score first to get their mojo early. I’d like the Wings to trade Rasmussen. They really don’t need him with Soderblom in the lineup… who I think is a better version of what Rasmussen is. Soderblom needs to get his big body in front of the other team’s goalie… and learn how to get tips and redirects. He won’t be easy to move.
Hey Vlady! Definitely want to see them get on the board quick. For Ras, at this point he’s a PK guy. Soderblom’s D game isn’t quite there yet. I’m fine with Ras in that role at this point. I’d rather see them move on from Compher early if they can. Offense wise i do like Soderblom net front, just still need the bottom 6 shot blockers. If he turns it on, absolutely move on. So glad you stopped by!