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.