The veteran Detroit Red Wings have reinvented themselves as a young team this year. Well, young in the sense that they have been wildly consistent. As we roll into December, the team finally seems to have stabilized and returned to its winning ways with a very healthy roster. This has given the team a new buzz as people start purchasing Red Wings tickets again.
Bizarre Start
Many hockey gurus and fans were interested to see what the Red Wings management would do the last off season. The best way to describe many of the stars on the team is to call them “experienced”. This is, of course, another way to say that many of them are old and at the end of their careers. Although they may be older, it doesn’t seem to stop people from buying Red Wings tickets and supporting their team.
Early in the season, it looked like a good number of the veterans should have retired during the off season. The Red Wings started strong, but then took on the appearance of your daughter’s gold fish floating on top of the water after she forgot to feed it for a week. The Wings lost a staggering six games in a row for no appreciable reason other than they looked old, slow and tired. Many suggested time had caught up with them and it was time to rebuild.
We should have known better.
The Red Wings have become, well, the Red Wings again. They’ve gone 9-2 since the losing streak and are on a five game winning streak as I write this. The old veterans like Nicholas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Holstrom, Danny Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi are playing strongly again. This has pushed the Wings from the dregs of the standings back up into the fourth position overall and only two points behind the rebuilt Chicago Blackhawks who lead the Central Division. With this newfound glory, Redwings fans from all around have started demanding more Redwings tickets.
Injuries
For such a veteran team, the Red Wings are in surprisingly good health. The fact that the team is in good health has helped them continue to sellout of Red Wings tickets. None of the key players have any injuries that are keeping them off the ice. The biggest loss is role player Patrick Eaves who is out with a broken jaw. While a nice player, the loss of Eaves isn’t exactly going to be holding the Wings back moving forward.
Good Health To Last?
The real question is can the good fortune last through the season and into the playoffs? Of the Wings ten star players, only goalie Jimmy Howard is under the age of 30. The three players that the team absolutely cannot do without are all over 30 with Nicholas Lidstrom being 41 years old, Pavel Datsyuk a well worn 33 and Henrik Zetterberg coming in at 31. Opposing teams do their best to play as physical as possible with these three teams each game, so many fans are reluctant to buy Red Wings tickets for future dates because one has to wonder if they will remain off the injured list for much longer.
The truth of the matter is the Red Wings understand the risk they are taking. The management has clearly decided to make one last run for the Stanley Cup with this group of players. Once the team decides to rebuild, it is going to be a brutal few seasons as the team has no young talent to speak of and will have to essentially rebuild from scratch. Given this, trying to ride these veterans to one last Cup makes sense. The team is clearly good enough when healthy. The only question is can it stay that way in the long run?
I have my doubts.
