Red Wings 101?

Question

I've always been interested in hockey, and being from Detroit I'm of course a Wings fan. however, I never really had time to watch the Wings much, but now I've got a bit more time on my hands. So who wants to give me a crash course on the Wings? I know most of the past stuff, I know Yzerman and Shanahan are gone. I more want to know whats going on this season. Whats their win loss record this season.? What players are good? etc. Thanks

Answer 1

A tradition of excellence as of the last decade or so.

This year by general groupings.

Coach:
Babcock, the coach, is awesome, and will continue to be awesome. He gets emotional and fired up and lets his players know it. Love the guy, and if we can't have Bowman back there, I'm very happy with Babcock. Bowman is a hall of fame coach who is now a consultant for the Red Wings, and was our coach when we won our most recent cups. Nearly mythical in stature.
Bottom Line: We're set.

Goaltending:
Always a great split here. Detroit is VERY tough on the Red Wings. We expect a legitimate cup run every year. And we're even tougher on our goalies. With Hasek, seems most either love him or hate him. His play style is very unorthodox and makes many people uncomfortable. His stats will show however, that when he wants to play his best, he's one of the best goalies in the game (my complaint is it seems he doesn't always want to play his best). Osgood... lovable Osgood. Been here forever it seems, barring a little trade for a bit. Everyone loves him, and I'm more than happy that he is kicking butt recently. Performing much better than Hasek this season thus far. My complaint with Osgood, as was with Manny, is that they don't seem to have the mental toughness to shoulder the load come play-offs. Osgood has shown considerable talent as a 2nd goalie, and maybe this year he'll prove me wrong and take us the distance, but he had an AMAZING year a few back and then tanked it in the play-offs, so I take his performance with a grain of salt until he proves otherwise.
Bottom Line: They're both very high performing goalies, and as long as they don't each go on a cold streak at the same time, we'll be set.

Defense:
We lost Scheider this past offseason, and that one hurt a bit. I felt last year he was one of the few players you KNEW would be on his game every game during the play-offs. We did replace him with Rafalski, who has historically done very well, and is doing very well this year. Also, he's from Dearborn, so he's a hometown guy, which is nice to see. Kronwall is healthy this year, where last year he was out for a long time, and that should be good as he was showing considerable promise before he was taken out last season. the other defensemen are capable and developing, but not particularly noteworthy yet, barring these next two. Lidstrom, our captain, is in my opinion the best defenseman to play the game. He's always in the right position, always playing 100%, and if there is a star on the opposing team, Lidstrom will indefinately shut him down. I believe last year when we were playing Calgary in the playoffs Lidstrom was always on Iginla, and Iginla had an almost non-existant series for the first 3 or 4 games. He is a very fitting replacement to the "C" that Steve left. Then comes gramps. Chris "older than dirt" Chelios. Gotta love the guy. He was a nemesis of sorts while he was in Chicago, but we've really embraced him with good reason. He's an amazing performer who is defying the odds with his continued contributions regardless of age. He says he will retire before he threatens Gordie Howe for the age record, so keep that in mind, but with how he's been playing, he looks like he could be playing for many more years. When you watch Lidstrom and Chelios on the ice, you are watching history in the making.
Defense: Solid, consistant performance. Very pleased.

Offense:
You cannot mention the Red Wings without mentioning Henrik Zetterberg right now. He's on an unbelievable hot streak, and couple him with Datsyuk and Holmstrom on a line, and you have arguably the best line in the NHL right now. Homer takes a seat in his office in front of the goalie, and Datsyuk and Zetterberg just feed off each other creating beautiful opportunity after beautiful opportunity. Picking any of them as your favorite player would not draw wierd looks from anyone. Jiri Hudler has also been developing quite well for a younger guy. He's showing some big promise and like his effort thus far. Now for the guys who often go overlooked (at least nationally), and that is Draper, Cleary, and Maltby. These guys are as tough as you'll find anywhere in the league, and are so consistant in their effort and play that you almost take them for granted. I cheer a bit harder when one of them scores, because on a team with the line mentioned above, you don't always get the recognition you deserve (not to say Zetterberg doesn't deserve his recognition). They've been here for the cups, and not once have I ever been uneasy about them being on the ice when the game is on the line. Solid hockey players with proven histories of excellence. They're the equivalent of the offensive lineman in football, all the same work, none of the glory. I tip my hat to these guys. As for the rest of the group, your Fillipulas and Franzens, they are all coming along nicely, and I will be very eager to see who among them steps up as the season progresses. In my opinion, there are no guys laying eggs this year like Lang and Bertuzzi did last year.
Bottom Line: The stars are hot, the support are solid, and there's still room for guys to make a name for themselves.

All in all, I'm quite excited for this year and look forward to a lengthy run at the cup. GO WINGS!

Answer 2

Others have given you records, so I'll just give you my opinion. They are very strong again, but have a weakness against fast teams (such as the Blackhawks). If they want to win it this year, I think they have to get one or two FAST defensemen. They will score enough goals, that's for sure.

The players that I believe are underrated:

CHRIS DRAPER - Although not among their biggest scorers, I believe that with Draper the Wings don't have all three of their cups. His work has been great, and gets better year-after-year.

CHRIS OSGOOD - Did you know that statistically, Osgood is the 3rd best goaltender of the last 28 years?? Most people don't realize it, but after Brodeur and Hasik, the best is Osgood - he has better numbers than Roy, Fuhr, Vernon, Belfour, and all the rest!

It'll be a good year.

Answer 3

Wings!

Answer 4

ok ok ok, i like you already

Wings are doing good this year, except to the blackhawks who we usually beat alot, we lost all four of our games we've played against them so far.

We are second in the league currently, Ottaway is first. We are first in our confrence, we just beat the bluejackets today in a shootout. Actually come to think of it we doing pretty badly against everyone in our division.

Zetts is tied with crosby with the 2nd most points in the NHL, he was leading the NHL for quite some time, Datsyuk Zets and Homer maybe the best line in the NHL or at least close to it. Lidstrom (not lindstrom Sw0t) is arguably the best defender in the league. Hasek even I'll say (i"m a big Hasek supporter), is sucking as of late, Osgood on the other hand is so good (ha ha, get it.... no?). Thats pretty much it as of this season

Answer 5

14-5-1 is there win/loss... believe it or not there 0-3-1 vs the hawks this season, they got rafalski on defense, chelios is still playing along with hasek... ozzies makin a run for the number 1 goaltending job... there first in the west... there on a slump as of late... there next game is wed... um if you wanna no anything just email me lol

[e-mail]

Answer 6

First, you should know that the Red Wings are always a great home team. If they play bad, Joe Louis Arena lets them hear it. Detroit expects greatness from the Wings, and they deliver.

They are still playing great - amazing since they've had over a decade of superb hockey. You can check out their current record on nhl.com. Right now they are 13-5, 2nd in the league.

There are some players you should definitely know. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are the two young stars, amazing talent (and underrated in my opinion). Chelios is the oldest player in the league, and probably one of the toughest, too... the best American defensemen ever. Lindstrom is another hero for the Wings... the greatest defensemen ever, probably surpassing Chelios. Don't forget about Hasek too... legendary all-star goalie who resigned for the wings.

Answer 7

One name: Henrik Zetterberg.
The Swede is the real thing. He plays a great overall game- offensive and defensive.

Answer 8

I think they only lost 2 or 3 games this season. I'm a Red Wings fan as well. I don't follow it though. Although I should start.

Answer 9

If you want to know all-go to their webpage-Redwings.com or Yahoo sports.

Answer 10

You could find this information in two seconds by going to Yahoo Sports. Why ask here?