"…When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up. And that’s a lesson that stuck with me my whole life. Is that when you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care."Randy Pausch
As opening night approaches quicker than my dying dreams of becoming a graphic artist, I ponder many choices.
What’s for dinner? Why are leaves changing quicker in southeastern Michigan than in northwestern Michigan? Where does my dog think he’s taking my shoe?
Oh, and the most pressing one.
How can you tell Detroit Red Wings fans and players that you are icing the best possible team to win every game if Marco Kasper is not in the lineup?
Over the last few days, I have been dramatic. I’ve ridden both the highs and lows of the upcoming season.
While many people, far more wise than me, are getting. more excited about opening night:
Can't wait for the season to start so we can start talking more about the actual impact players on Detroit again: Larkin, Raymond, Seider, Kane, etc.
— Ryan Hana (@RyanHanaWWP) October 7, 2024
Not that the Kasper/Watson/depth move discussions aren't important - I just miss Red Wings hockey. #LGRW
The what-if scenarios involving the Detroit Red Wings inhabit every space of my mind.
I get that it’s not a matter of if the Detroit Red Wings will recall Kasper but when.
To me, this statement is irrelevant. Far more importantly, did every Detroit Red Wings player earn his spot on the opening night roster? Does this roster give the Detroit Red Wings its best chance to win the game?
Whoever earns their spot will play. Or at least that’s been fed to me since Steve Yzerman took over the general manager position for the Detroit Red Wings.
Call it trauma from the previous regime, skepticism, ignorance, or whatever you like, but I can’t help to question the Detroit Red Wings organization and its decisions now more than ever.
After Lucas Raymond made it on the opening night roster in his rookie campaign, there was a freeing moment.
If a player earns his spot, no matter how young or what the roster makeup is in the National Hockey League (NHL), the player will skate for the Detroit Red Wings.
The breath of fresh air was everything this fanbase needed.
A promise that things would be different under the Yzerman era of the Detroit Red Wings.
Ever since this move, Yzerman has done little to convince me that this organization has changed one bit.
(Okay, in terms of not trading picks or prospects away, Yzerman has changed the organization for the better, this above-idea strictly focuses on their development of young players and when they join the Detroit Red Wings full-time.)
Anyone can sing the praises of Marco Kasper getting top-line minutes and time on the top specialty units until they’re blue in the face. Someone can argue that Kasper is not a bottom-six forward, and he should play in the top six once he graduates from the American Hockey League (AHL) all day and night.
All I know is that nobody in that bottom six played better in the preseason than Kasper. No matter where in the lineup Kasper plays or the number of minutes he’s given (as he will earn astronomically more minutes than he’ll be given to start his full-time NHL career) he will make this team better. He would make them better from opening night, but he was stripped of that chance.
Of course, Kasper is a great kid, with an even better attitude.
He’ll return to the AHL under the astute eye of the Grand Rapids Griffins coach Dan Watson where he will see continued success.
The other side of this double-edged sword with Kasper is it shows that veterans don’t need to be held accountable. Merit means little in the organization.
It’s more important what name is on the back of the sweater and the contract situation than who makes the team better.
Yes, it’s preseason. Yes, some of the veterans may have shown more in practices than Kasper and maybe that’s more important to the Detroit Red Wings organization.
All I can speak to is what I know and what I have watched.
From my perspective, the difference between some veterans who made the team playing had the exuberance of Whitney’s younger sister in Bring It On:
Versus Kasper who looked like Missy in the clip referenced above. Kasper had more to prove, but based on Kasper’s track record, he gives it his all every time he steps on the ice.
It feels like some fans and Detroit Red Wings management are treating Kasper like Whitney and Courtney (the one who is rallying for Whitney's little sister to get the opportunity to join the cheer squad).
From the halfway mark last season, Kasper has been a standout within the organization. I can understand in his first full North American campaign not wanting to bring him up for any reason. Consistency is good and seemed to be a great environment for Kasper to flourish.
He’s not going to be negatively impacted by returning to the AHL, which might be the best argument to send him back and not risk losing anyone to waivers.
At the same time, though, the current bottom-six of the Detroit Red Wings lacks Kasper’s disciplined physicality and pops of offense. In the last year or so of watching him, I have yet to see Kasper take a shift off. Some shifts are less effective than others, but I haven’t once questioned his competition or effort.
His attitude, effectiveness, and determination all Kasper makes the Detroit Red Wings a better team.
I'm not sure what more Kasper had to do to prove his value to the team. Here's to hoping the Detroit Red Wings bring him up sooner rather than later to help the team with wins.