No franchise in NHL history has lived an all-or-nothing existence quite like the Detroit Red Wings, and the days are only getting darker for a franchise already nearly 10 years removed from its most recent playoff showing.
No three-word chant cuts to the bone quite like the “Sell the team!” cries we heard while the first adult beverages of the season were still being poured at the Wings’ home opener on Friday. Detroit dropped that game 2-0 to the New York Rangers and by the time the Wings fell behind the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 five minutes into the second period — eventually losing 3-2 — on Sunday, it felt like Little Caesers Arena might just implode.
In between those games, we learned from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that unsigned defenceman Simon Edvinsson — a stud in waiting — would prefer a trade out of town. Of course, former captain Dylan Larkin long ago made his feelings known on that front and Detroit fans responded in kind by booing the bleep out of him when — thanks to an upper-body injury — he was introduced wearing street clothes before the game on Friday night.
To borrow from a favourite meme, “NOT GREAT, BOB!”
In its history, Detroit has been dominant for decades at a time. The Wings were a perpetual contender from the early 1940s basically through the end of the Original Six Era in 1967, then made the post-season for 25 straight years beginning in 1991. Between those heady days, though, the “Dead Things” of the 1970s and early '80s made the playoffs just twice in a 17-year period at a time when the incredibly inclusive NHL post-season format would have almost made a futility streak like that seem mathematically impossible.
32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
Latest episode
Now, after the previous five years have at least brought some bright spots in terms of top-end young players to build around, the team of Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe seems sapped of all fight and spirit.
What’s the solution for a club helmed by an interim GM in Shawn Horcoff? (Geez, welcome to the big chair, Shawn.) Hard as it is to hear for Wings supporters, it might be a one-step-back approach in the hopes a leap forward can be made soon.
Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell stuck to his guns and was able to land what he wanted — an impact NHLer — when he got Matthew Knies from the Toronto Maple Leafs for disgruntled Kirill Marchenko. But how many deals of that nature are there to be made?
Understanding Detroit doesn’t want to dim the light at the end of the tunnel given it hasn’t had a playoff game since 2016, there’s a middle ground between landing established NHLers and a bundle of draft picks that won’t be any help for another handful of years. Find teams — because they do exist — looking to improve the roster right now by using prospects in the pipeline who could be making a meaningful impact at the NHL level between six and 18 months from now.
The Wings should strongly consider acquiring assets like that in the hope it can get the organization back up on its feet with serious forward momentum a short time down the road. Detroit once made its bones by being the type of progressive organization that went in on talented Europeans like Nick Lidstrom before the rest of the league got wise.
If the Wings are ever going to make it through to another period of positive puck, they must be astute and open-minded.
Weekend takeaways
• Victor Eklund celebrated his 20th birthday the right way, recording his first NHL goal (and an assist, to boot) in Saturday’s 6-0 Islanders' thrashing of the New Jersey Devils. One year after Matthew Schaefer had an all-time debut season for the Isles, New York might see more signs of future hope from Eklund and sophomore Calum Ritchie.
• You figured Chicago would be happy to tread water until Connor Bedard comes back, but this has quickly become a struggle for survival. After losing their first two games of the season by a combined score of 11-2, the Hawks blew a 2-0 lead and one-goal third-period advantage to leave Buffalo with a 4-3 loss on Saturday. Tuesday’s home opener at the United Center versus the St. Louis Blues feels like a must-have for this swirling young club.
Red and White Power Rankings
1. Montreal Canadiens (1-0-1) The Canadiens play their first three home games of the season this week and need to find their ‘A’ game at the Bell Centre. Despite not enduring a 60-minute loss, the Habs have yet to put forth a three-period effort.
2. Ottawa Senators (1-0-0) The Captain Thomas Chabot Era began as blissfully as any Senators fan could wish for: with a 3-2 win over the Leafs in Toronto on Saturday.
3. Edmonton Oilers (2-0-1) Edmonton heads to California for three games this week and it already feels like goalie Devon Levi has a chance to grab the starting gig and run with it.
4. Winnipeg Jets (1-0-1) Could this be the year Cole Perfetti performs like the Jets always hoped he would? The 24-year-old had a goal and two apples — all on the power play — on Sunday afternoon when the Jets downed the Wings in Detroit. The 10th-overall pick from 2020 inked a five-year pact with Winnipeg in the summer and, one year after beginning the season sidelined with injury, Perfetti is flying out of the gates.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2-0) Tuesday’s home game versus Nashville feels like a sneaky-important match for the Buds. Win that one and you head out on a roadie — they see old friend Mitch Marner on Thursday in Vegas — feeling pretty good at .500 as all the new pieces fall into place. Lose to a mid Preds squad, though, and you’re suddenly 1-3-0 to start the year with four home games already in the books.
6. Vancouver Canucks (2-2-0) What a start to Paul Cotter’s Canucks career. The former New Jersey Devil — who inked a one-year deal with Vancouver in the summer — scored his fourth goal of the young campaign during Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights. There’s been a lot more fight in the Canucks than many expected and Cotter — along with a suddenly feisty Elias Pettersson — are leading the way.
7. Calgary Flames (0-3-0) Losses were expected, but a minus-13 goal differential after three outings is not what any team wants. When Seattle has hung six on you twice already, it’s time to dig in.
The week ahead
• Tuesday night brings a rematch of the Eastern Conference Final, as the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Bell Centre in Montreal’s first home game of the season. Meanwhile, the “Battle of New York” at Madison Square Garden that same night should have some juice, with the Rangers having won three straight and the Isles coming off their shellacking of the Devils.
• It’s official: Wednesday will be Alex Ovechkin’s final home opener in the NHL. How appropriate, then, that he’ll face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins that night, with both players now in their 22nd — and, for Ovie, final — NHL campaign.
• The Oilers will see an old friend on Saturday when their California trip takes them to San Jose for an afternoon affair versus Darnell Nurse and the Sharks. That same night will see the Robertson brothers — Jason and Nick — square off in Pittsburgh when Dallas comes to town. Nick is the unlikely leader in goals among the siblings, sniping two while Jason is stuck on a goose egg.
