2013 was the first time in a long time that I started this season not really knowing what to expect from my Hockey team. After seeing a legend retire, a slew of free agents move on to other clubs, watching the team have a lack luster 2012 playoff performance, and all the buzz about a fully loaded Chicago and St. Louis team the only thing I was sure of is that this year was going to be different. Then the lockout happened, and for a while I didn’t think we were even going to have a season, eventually everything worked out and what was left was an extremely compact 4 month season consisting of 44 games. The compacted schedule kind of ended up being a blessing in disguise, I wouldn’t want it again anytime soon but it was fun to see how intense it made every game and how valuable every point became to each team. When the shortened season was announced I wasn’t sure if it would benefit Detroit or be a detriment to them, but either way hockey was back and life could finally get back to normal. Needles to say there were a lot of changes to this team this year; most importantly I think this team found a way to change their image without sacrificing their traditions and what makes this team the best franchise in professional sports.
The Offense
When the season finally started the offense was a unit that I didn’t feel would see any drop in production. We still had Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, etc and in 2012 the team didn’t seem to struggle to find the back of the net all to often. Also with the addition of Damien Brunner, a youngester with a lot of buzz around him from the Swiss league who played with Zetterberg during the lockout, I thought the Wings would be more or less set on offense. Before we even got into the swing of playing again Bertuzzi, Helm, and Samuelsson were all injured, and for the most part none of them ever really made it back from those injuries. Enter the Griffins, what shined about the offense this year more than anything was seeing that our draft picks over the last few years have not gone to waste. Tatar, Nyquist, and Anderson all had extended stays with the team this year and proved beyond a doubt that they can play and be productive at the NHL level. They provided the depth to be able to give some of top line guys a breather and all of them had clutch moments where they stole a game for the team. What was concerning at times is the scoring slumps that the team would go into, especially when playing teams like Calgary that should be able to beat fairly convincingly. In the end it didn’t matter because the team still made it into the playoffs but one can’t help but think if the team had improved it’s seeding by constantly beating teams like the Flames or the Oilers could they maybe have worked up the seeding ladder a little more? Another guy who deserves recognition this year is Justin Abdelkader, I really loved the kid going into this season because he always seemed to be working his ass off every time he hit the ice, this year he bumped that up to a whole new level working his way all the way up to the top line with Zetterberg and Datsyuk.
The Defense
This was the unit that seemed the most uncertain at the beginning of the season. Kronwall and Ericsson were the only two proven guys returning. Kindl was a young guy who had a lot of potential, Quicncy was sold to us as a dependable blue line presence, and the Wings had also signed Colaiacovo who was no stranger to sitting out games with injuries. Again the Wings went to Grand Rapids and brought up some youngsters, Smith and Lashoff primarily, both of whom made good use of their ice time, Lashoff even earned himself a nice contract extension. The defense this year certainly wasn’t without its growing pains throughout this season though. With the exception of Ericsson (and Dekeyser who I’ll get to momentarily) pretty much every defensive player found it in their heart, a few time, to leave me screaming at my tv for one reason or another. Luckily the team, eventually, seemed to gel and find their style of defensive play. More gritty than the last 2 decades at time but a more balanced approach as well. Most nights the defensive pairings seemed to be able to cover each other, by that I mean if one screwed up the other bailed him out for the most part. Late in the year the Wings signed Danny Dekeyser who was very highly sought after coming out of the college system. The expectations were set high and so far the guy has delivered, it’s a shame that his hand was injured in the playoffs because the experience would have been so valuable for him but luckily he signed with the right team and should be able to earn more and more playoff experience every year in the NHL.
Goalies
When we started this season I thought Jimmy Howard was a good goalie, especially for the regular season. I don’t know if Howard had seen that I wrote that somewhere but every night the guy proved to me that he’s more than just a good goalie, this year he really did prove that he belongs in conversation with the NHL elite when it comes to net minders. Howard isn’t the only reason this team achieved what it did this year but I do think he is the biggest reason. Jimmy earned every penny in that new contract the Wings gave him and I’m looking forward to seeing him between the pipes as he enters the prime of his career. As good as Howard was I can’t say the same for Gustavsson. Not since Hasek has a goalie made me such a nervous wreck while wearing a Red Wings sweater and if Gus had the same end result as Hasek I would have been ok with the roller coaster ride in net, but it never seemed that the coaching staff felt comfortable playing the guy. Even when Jimmy would be on a ridiculous starting streak it seemed like Babs would wait for a “soft” opponent before he would give Monster the nod to go in. For the brief time we saw him I was really impressed with Mrazek, this may be a comment for a different article but I hope they find a way to move on from Gustavsson in the off season and have Mrazek ready to be the #2 guy in Detroit.
The Captain
Stepping up to fill the unfillable shoes in the role of Captain was Henrik Zetterberg. Putting the C on his chest shouldn’t have surprised anyone, they had been grooming the guy to lead this team for some time. I think he deserves some credit though for holding this team together on the ice. Through all the injuries, ups and downs, frustrations, and uncertainties this season Zetterberg lived up to the task and proved this is his team. Detroit Red Wing Captains are a very elite group and Z showed that he absolutely belongs in that group. As if there was any doubt right?
The Playoffs
This team has been labeled as an over achieving team once it got into the post season. I don’t agree with that statement, I had every confidence that when Detroit got in that they could be the Ducks. I also expected a 7 game series against Chicago. The disappointment is really in how this season ended. Once Detroit had the 3-1 series lead against Chicago it was really hard to watch that slip away as we lost 3 games straight. There is a positive to loosing a series like that, the experience that those young players have. If nothing else it will give them something to push for next year as the team moves back east, and when Detroit plays Chicago for the cup you know those young guys aren’t going to forget this series.
The playoffs aren’t over yet but I’m already excited for fall and what this team brings to the table next season. The moves that are coming up with free agents, the draft, and players getting released will be talked about extensively but it all boils down to dropping that puck and reminding people what Hockeytown is all about.
-John Fahrner
Hangin' In Hockey Town 