The Detroit Red Wings and Mulan
As I rewatch Mulan countless times, I can’t help but draw similarities to the Detroit Red Wings.
"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." -Pat Morita, Voice of the Emperor in Mulan (the 1998 animation version).
**SpoilerAlert** In case someone hasn’t seen Mulan and wants to in the future, there are some spoilers below. I can’t recommend this movie enough. Although it isn’t accurate to China or the Mulan myths, it’s entertaining and uplifting for kids and adults alike.
The main character, Mulan, paints notes on her arm as she prepares for the matchmaker in her opening scene. Striking a good match via the matchmaker is the only way a girl can bring her family great honor in this tale. The notes help her remember her duties as a potential wife to ensure she brings her family honor.
Fast forward a few scenes, Mulan and the other potential brides bow behind a parasol (similar to an umbrella, but not quite), awaiting their matchmaker. Mulan looks the part of a potential bride.
The matchmaker asks for Mulan by name, which Mulan replies with, “present.”
“Speaking without permission,” the matchmaker scowls, making a note on her clipboard.
Things only go downhill from there.
The culmination is the matchmaker’s bum bursting into flames to which she dances around demanding someone put out the fire. Mulan politely obliges, dousing the matchmaker in tea and extinguishing the flames.
The Red Wings’ playoff hopes are much like the matchmaker’s bum, going up in flames.
As with Mulan’s hopes of finding a potential match, the Red Wings’ playoff hopes going up in flames may be for the best.
While I would love to watch the Red Wings’ in playoff hockey sooner than later, I also understand they have a long way to go to get there. Even more importantly, the Wings might be looking to build a dynasty that is even farther in the distance.
These struggles may not be the most fun thing to watch, but it’s a long way from the 2019-20 season (arguably the roughest season thus far in the rebuild).
Let’s dive into some ways I hope the Wings improve this year (and years to come) to take steps towards the dynasty I am impatiently waiting for…
Reflection
Steve Yzerman might need to pick a lane. Is this team going for the playoffs, or is the goal to improve the Red Wings through their prospects? Although the veterans have taken the Detroit Red Wings toward the playoffs, it might be at the expense of players like Jonatan Berggren and Simon Edvinsson.
While some fans may argue that if either player was good enough, they would make the roster. Likely, you would be correct. At the same time, a player like Berggren isn’t going to improve much in the American Hockey League (AHL). Could his defensive game be better? Yes. Is it going to improve in the AHL? Probably not. He can cheat, and Berggren knows it. He’s better than the league and needs more of a challenge than only the best hockey league in the world provides. Maybe if he gets a real shot in the lineup, especially on the power play, he might be more inclined to defend as well.
For Edvinsson, I’ve seen it circulating that he needs to work on his timing and making decisions. In other words, he’s not making plays quickly enough at the National Hockey League (NHL) level. I’d argue that Edvinsson is a brilliant mind. However, if anyone wants him to make quick decisions, his consistency will become a huge question mark. From my viewing, Edvinsson performs better when he takes a moment to evaluate the ice before making a play. Of course, it’s not a long time, but it’s also not instantaneous as some people might want to make it.
Instead of demanding a player to adhere to the system (the way the team thinks he should play), maybe the team should mold him. They have enough players between Dylan Larkin and Jake Walman who can push pace north at a quick pace. To have a defenseman who can slow the game down while making wise, creative decisions would, at the very least, be okay. More than likely, especially with Edvinsson’s abilities, it would result in incredible fun.
Molding a system to the players’ strengths that they already have in their system is where the Detroit Red Wings will have the biggest payoff, I think.
If the Red Wings are adamant about becoming a playoff team, they must go after another center and a goalie. The goalie is important, of course. Alex Lyon has looked promising in his starts, but for some reason, the Wings don’t see him as the answer in the net (I’m not sure why; they’re weird with who they pick and choose as part of their haves versus have-nots). Even if they put more chips on Lyon, he may get injured (or might still be battling a lingering injury), so it’s important to find more insurance in the net. As for the centers, while they have significantly improved this season, we saw the results after Larkin, J.T. Compher, and Joseph Veleno were injured. The likelihood of all these players being injured again at the same time isn’t great, but it’s well above zero.
To ensure they have enough depth, they need to get a center. Ideally, a top-six center, but those are difficult to come by in trades. If I’m Yzerman, I’m swinging for the fences. We’d have to part with a top defensive prospect and possibly even a young, non-NHL center. If the playoffs are truly the goal, these are the two bare minimum acquisitions.
Surely, there’s more of a down-the-middle approach and countless other options. However, it seems like Yzerman has his hands in a lot of candy jars. Sometime, sooner than later, he will have to commit to one path.
Much like Mulan, these Wings have to decide who they want to be and take action accordingly.
Training Montage
Goaltending has become a sour spot (again) for the Red Wings this year. On more than one occasion, my eyes told me the Detroit Red Wings didn’t have a great game, but when I went to check their stats afterward, it was a goalie issue.
As frustrating as that can be, the players cannot change who’s in the net. Only the coach and management can. As such, the Red Wings’ skaters (not just defensemen) can only control how they play in front of their goalie. Whether it’s trying to do too much to overcompensate for their netminder, something that stems from a lack of confidence overall, injuries, inexperience, or something else, the skaters haven’t looked great regardless of the numbers. Unfairly to these skaters, they have to play mistake-free.
It’s a near-impossible task, but it’s a requirement moving forward if the playoffs are the goal this season.
As significantly as being defensively sound, the team has to begin to gel. Whether it was the introduction of Patrick Kane, a result of injuries, or some curse, the Wings have to get back to playing for each other. They are incredible when they stand up for each other and focus on their teammates.
Letting go of the pressures and just having some fun again are things they are lacking as well.
If the Detroit Red Wings are more geared towards building from within, I anticipate trades as the season goes along to free up space for the prospects to play in Detroit. Maybe this is the case and the right trades haven’t come across Yzerman’s desk or the timing isn’t quite right, we shall find out sooner than later.
Maybe if they get General Li Shang involved, the leader of the greatest troops of all-time according to Shang, he can show the Detroit Red Wings how to be an all-time swift as the coursing river, have all the force of a great typhoon, have all the strength of a raging fire, and be as mysterious as the dark side of the moon.
Face their Villains
The Red Wings’ villains seem more fearsome than Shan Yu, the antagonist in Mulan, at times. In due time, retribution will come to the Ottawa Senators—primarily Mathieu Joseph. It took a while for the Wings to clap back at Claude Lemieux and the Colorado Avalanche. When it rained, it poured, and I anticipate the same over the next few seasons for this budding rivalry. However, I don’t think the Wings’ biggest rival is the Senators. Instead, I think the Wings’ biggest rival is themselves.
I can’t tell you the number of ridiculous penalties I’ve watched veterans take. Game after game without any accountability. Neither from the coaching staff nor from the players themselves. How does it do your team any good for you to be lazy, emotionally short-sighted, or just plain silly?
If I had a quarter for every time the Red Wings work exceptionally hard to get the puck from the opposition only to turn it over, pass it to the opposing team, or throw it to no one, I could make it hail all over the darn country. Nobody on the team has an allergy to the puck that I know of, so I’m not sure why they act like they do at times (like all the time recently).
The puck is the most valuable item on the ice, it would be nice to see the Wings treat it with the respect it deserves.
These obstacles make up the Wings’-version of The Hun Army that is pictured in Mulan.
True to Your Heart
As we reviewed in the training montage portion, I vote the Wings have some fun.
Yes, it’s important to make the playoffs; yes, it’s important to play well; yes, it’s important to win games. What’s the point of any of this if the players aren’t having fun? I understand it can be difficult to have fun when things are challenging, but this is a kid’s game that these players get to play for a living. For the love of God (in my best John Keating impression, borrowing one of Chris Osgood’s specialty ties), have some fun!
The Wings need to have faith in themselves, have some fun, and don’t stop believing as anything is possible. When this team is on, they can win any game, anywhere, against any opposition.
“When you’re true to your heart, then you’ve got all you need to make it through,” as the ending credit tunes go in Mulan (beautifully sung by the great Steve Wonder and 98 Degrees).
No matter what happens this season, the Wings will be much better off to have experienced these struggles now. As they get going again, as I suspect they will, I anticipate they will bloom as beautifully as any flower. It may not be as quickly as anyone wants, but these adversities will make it worthwhile for the Wings to look themselves in the mirror later on.
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