Are the Detroit Red Wings the New York Yankees of the NHL?

Question

The Red Wings signed yet another veteran today, Domink Hasek.

I know about the salary cap in hockey, but it does seem that Detroit is trying to apply the Yankees strategy of bringing in high-paid veterans, rather than trying to build a team from the ground up.

Answer 1

Prior to the cap being in place, yes they were close. They would drop big money on veteran talent, overpaying if necessary and not worry about the consequences. They can no longer drop deals like that though.

Someone suggested firing Holland which may be a good idea at this point. Where everyone else is getting younger and focusing on speed, the Wings keep signing older veterans.

I will give them some credit, they are doing what they THINK is necessary for them to win. My personal opinion is that they are hurting themselves and are looking at another early playoff exit next season.

Answer 2

Detroit is definately not the equivilant of the Yankees, however, I couldn't care less about that. What I am gonna comment on is Hasek. Someone said something about him getting hurt in the playoffs, I wish he woulda gotten that far. He got hurt over playin in the Olympics. He never played another game for Ottawa. We played the remainder of the season and into the playoffs with our rookie goalie Emery. When Hasek does play, he's definately awesome, but being a 'veteran' player like he is, those injuries sure plagued him and the Sens! So glad he's gone!

Answer 3

If you mean the most storied franchise in NHL history, the Canadiens are the NHL's "Yankees" with 24 Stanley Cups.

Per wikipedia: With the exception of baseball's New York Yankees, no North American sports team has had as storied and as successful a history as the Montreal Canadiens, the oldest team in professional hockey. They have won 24 Stanley Cups, eleven more than the team with the next largest number – the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Answer 4

The Red Wings are VERY close to being the Yankees of hockey, what with all the money they spent to buy their Stanley Cup a few years back (yes they bought it, they didn't win it). What the Yankees do year in and year out by going out and signing the "flavor of the week" no matter the cost is sickening and there needs to be a cap. I get a good laugh everytime Detroit gets eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs with their huge payroll, serves them right

Answer 5

No. The NY Rangers were the NY Yankees. But now that there is a salary cap in the NHL there can be no "Yankees". Yankees spend more than double what some teams spend on their rosters, so now that the NHL has a cap, we won't have to worry about that ever, ever again. (Thank Heaven!)

Answer 6

Maybe, with Stevie gone, but salary caps will prove that the Wings are a strong club. They find great players i.e. Datsuk, Williams,Zetterburg etc without having any first round choices. The Rangers pay huge and get no where, and the Leafs just plain suck. Money won't buy Lord Stanley's mug, never has, never will....

Answer 7

I am starting to think they should replace Ken Holland.
Some of the things they do to the club are nuts to me.
I would have got rid of Osgood kept Legacy and brought Jimmy Howard up from the Griffons.
Veterans are ok, But then they had Hasek before and look what happened.

Answer 8

No, because the NHL now has a salary cap. No NHL team can be like the Yankees and be willing to pay anything for whomever they want.

Answer 9

There is not any team in professional sports that should be compared to the Yankees. I do not think that the Wings should even be compared to the Canadians . How about the White Sox , I think that would be there equivalent comparison.

Answer 10

the red wings have been $%#%$ since Scotty Bowman left the team.

AUNTSANISTRI you must be thinking about the Leafs not the Montreal Canadiens cause are oldest player is 33 and that is Alexei Kovalev and are avg. age is 29 so we don't sign all the veterans that was the Leafs for the past 30 years.