I try not to diss other people’s points of view here. I don’t feel that it improves the conversation that TMR tries to start by saying, “Well, this is utter bullshit.” But I’m pretty close to suggesting as much regarding Daily Faceoff’s Hunter Crowther’s assertion that the Red Wings’ GM is about to be fired because the team is in revolt or something, per a set of power rankings:
25. Detroit Red Wings
Record: 12-14-4, -16
Last Week: 26th (+1)
Hunter’s Rank: 25th
Scott’s Rank: 24thHunter [Crowther]: Too often I hear the phrase “the murky middle,” which usually refers to the “No Man’s Land” of professional sports where teams aren’t good enough to compete, but aren’t bad enough to tank for a draft pick. I’d say the Red Wings are closer to being a bottom feeder, but they still have moments where you wonder, “maybe they’re not that bad.” But believe me: they’re bad. And after chatting with my partner whose whole family is from Windsor, Ont., which shares a border with Detroit, when Steve Yzerman comes up, it’s not a matter of if he’s losing the plot, but a matter of when he loses his job.
Please understand: Steve Yzerman is going to be the Red Wings’ general manager for the foreseeable future. He’s an easy scapegoat for the Wings’ struggles as the rebuild’s buck stops with him, but even Yzerman has tempered expectations for his team’s on-ice performances throughout his free agency signings…
And I just don’t understand this whole, “Yzerman is going to be fired!” dynamic when the reality of the situation is that he is, for better or worse, the GM for as long as he wants to be the GM. That’s how it works in the Ilitches’ organization, and that’s how it’s going to work.
My hockey-obsessed relatives in Metro Detroit insist that they have the inside track on what’s going on with the Red Wings’ airtight nuclear submarine in terms of rumors of air bubbling to the surface…
But the Red Wings’ ship runs silent and runs deep, never needing to surface to replenish its air supply, so we are all left to speculate as the GM very purposefully doesn’t share clues as to his motives or machinations.