Is 2009/2010 the season Detroit comes back to the Pack?
The Wings have lost Hossa, Sammuelsson and Koepeky. Chelios is retired. Maltby (36), Draper (38) and Holstrom (39) are running on empty.
They have the second best defense top 4 in the west (behind Calgary) and Datsyuk, Zetterburg, Franzen and Cleary (compared to low scoring potential of Iginla, Jokinen, Langkow and Bork) BUT still have Osgood in goal.
They have 5.5 M left in cap space to sign Hudler and 3 close to minimum forwards to fill in 13 forwards; plus a back up goalie. They should be able to get this done but have the same cap difficulty as the Flames when looking to add a top 6 forward to replace Hossa / Cammalleri.
Ottawa quickly went from an elite team to missing the playoffs when they lost Chara as the prize UFA a few years ago. Might losing Hossa have the same impact?
Ottawa quickly went from an elite team to missing the playoffs when they lost Chara as the prize UFA a few years ago. Might losing Hossa have the same impact?
Actually Ottawa went to the Cup finals after losing Chara but that's beside the point.
Detroit is a little different then Ottawa because when Muckler left, the prospect pool was decimated. The Red Wings have players like Helm and Ericsson to step in and lots of young players who can take on a bigger role.
Hossa had 40 goals. Samuelsson had 19. That is 59 goals out of their lineup that Helm and Abdelkader are going to replace?
If the Hawks getting Hossa is the best UFA move, doesn't Detroit losing Hossa become the biggest loss? It is not like they are getting Havlat to fill in.
Where is their depth coming from? Do they have Kane and Toews playing in the minors? If they were so strong organizationally, why did they bring Hossa on board for a year? Would that not have slowed up their internal development?
For the past half decade, I think Detriot is going to "come back to the pack"...
... but, never underestimate the value of "having fun" ... Yzerman, Shanahan, Larionov et al really set a culture of just having fun and competing hard there, and somehow it just stuck. I wish we had the same culture here. (things seem to always be a little tense here)
__________________
Quote:
He’s on injured reserve. Remember the deal? When they come off injured reserve, then you’ll know the update. Active, non-roster, inactive, injured, hurt, sick, not dressed, healthy scratch, on waivers.”
- Darryl Sutter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbob
at the end of the day you have to applaud the oilers for making it look so easy. I never would have thought it would be this difficult to be the worst team in the league.
Hossa had 40 goals. Samuelsson had 19. That is 59 goals out of their lineup that Helm and Abdelkader are going to replace?
The Wings also scored a league high 295 goals. If they're production drops by 30, 40 or even 50 goals they will still be among the top ten offensive teams in the league.
They do have a weak spot in net and weren't all that great defensively mind you.
For the past half decade, I think Detriot is going to "come back to the pack"...
... but, never underestimate the value of "having fun" ... Yzerman, Shanahan, Larionov et al really set a culture of just having fun and competing hard there, and somehow it just stuck. I wish we had the same culture here. (things seem to always be a little tense here)
Not to worry....we now have party animal Bouwmeester.
Things are gonna get cruuuuunk.
__________________
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. I love power.
The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to Machiavelli For This Useful Post:
I tend to feel that as long as Lidstrom is the best defenseman in the league by a good margin, the Wings will be fine. Even after losing Hossa they still have guys like Fippula, Leino and Helm who will put a ton more points in bigger roles. Lidstrom is the one irreplaceable guy in my mind.
It is interesting that around here (fairly close to Detroit) there were mummers about Hudler and how he was a bit of a weak link when it was going around that Hossa was going to re-sign and thus Hudler would be gone. I do wonder if another team will try to snap him up.
I think the Wings will continue to be a force next season but Ken Holland will be busy over the next few years taking into account the age of some of their veteran players, especially as Lidstrom slowly becomes less of a factor.
The Detroit management team though has proven they can get it done, and while I would love to see them fall into the middle of the pack (or lower) after years of domination I just can't see that happening.
__________________ "There are probably some things I could do to keep my flexibility up, but I'd rather smoke, drink Diet Cokes and eat."- John Daly
For the past half decade, I think Detriot is going to "come back to the pack"...
... but, never underestimate the value of "having fun" ... Yzerman, Shanahan, Larionov et al really set a culture of just having fun and competing hard there, and somehow it just stuck. I wish we had the same culture here. (things seem to always be a little tense here)
I don't buy stuff like this... if they didn't have such great players and weren't winning all the time they wouldn't be having fun. A few years back when they were having trouble in the playoffs they weren't having fun. Its always fun when you win.
I don't buy stuff like this... if they didn't have such great players and weren't winning all the time they wouldn't be having fun. A few years back when they were having trouble in the playoffs they weren't having fun. Its always fun when you win.
Yup, for sure. I think Pheonix players have fun too, but they just have fun while losing.
Not to hijack this thread, but I think the Flames are a perfect example of a team that has so many of the right tools, but its just too much of a business and "go out to do your job" kind of mentality, and thats why this team comes out in big games, just completely flat*.
* except if Keenan is a coach and we lose cause there is no system
In 2004, we had a lot of fun energy (alot due to youth, but Warraner and Lowry brought that too)... Niemo, Commodore, McLennan, Iginla, Ference, Montador, these guys were just having a blast playing. I remember talking to a reporter at the 2006 loss and he said before the game 7 loss, players were just wired into this zone like zombies, just trying to focus on the game and mentally prepare. If it were Detriot, you'd probably see them playing soccer before the game.
Winning teams are always the ones that are having fun; of coarse, thats not to say if you have fun, you win, but having fun is an ingredient.
__________________
Quote:
He’s on injured reserve. Remember the deal? When they come off injured reserve, then you’ll know the update. Active, non-roster, inactive, injured, hurt, sick, not dressed, healthy scratch, on waivers.”
- Darryl Sutter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbob
at the end of the day you have to applaud the oilers for making it look so easy. I never would have thought it would be this difficult to be the worst team in the league.
Yes. They are still a contender but, they are going to have a lot more company this year and could be behind two or three teams in the West going into the playoffs.
I also think their legendary drafting is a little overrated. For years they simply bought their teams because of their deep pockets and could afford to draft high risk-high reward type players. Sure some panned out but, most didn't. Other teams had to stick with the safe pick because budgets forced them to rely on their picks to field their team. Today the Wings have lost that advantage. I look forward to their demise.
Barring some sort of distaster, when you have a defense that consists of Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall and Stuart.... you're not going to fall that far. Add in their offensive punch in Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Hudler, Holmstrom and so on.. and they'll be fine.
Granted, Chicago is going to be really strong too. The runner-up in the central (one of those two teams) will the 4 seed in the West again this year IMO.
They will be top five overall and with better regular season goaltending than last year should win their division again. Hossa is no big loss at all for them.
Is 2009/2010 the season Detroit comes back to the Pack?
