Of NHL season preview-related note this morning:
- The Athletic’s Sean McIndoe posted “oddly specific predictions” for each and every one of the NHL’s 32 teams:
Detroit Red Wings
Patrick Kane comes into the season only 31 points away from tying Mike Modano for most career points by a U.S.-born player, and 48 points back of Brett Hull for the most by an “American” player. He’s got a good chance to hit both marks, but we’re going to go with something far less likely. Did you know that of his 1,343 points, only one has come short-handed? That was an assist back in 2009, meaning one of the most dynamic forwards of his generation has played 18 NHL seasons without ever scoring a short-handed goal. It’s going to be tough ask for a guy who never kills penalties, but I’m saying he gets one this year. (And if that goal also breaks one of the scoring records, I’ll retire this column permanently.)
2. USA Today’s Mike Brehm mentions the Red Wings in a roundabout way in his NHL preview articles, saying this about the Wings’ situation…
The Detroit Red Wings hoped they addressed their goaltending concerns by adding John Gibson.
3. And ranking the Wings’ two 21st century Stanley Cup-winning teams fairly highly…
4. 2002 Detroit Red Wings
Regular season: 51-17-10-4, 116. Playoffs: 16-7
Here’s the list of future Hall of Famers on this team: Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Brendan Shanahan, Brett Hull, Sergei Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Pavel Datsyuk, Luc Robitaille, Chris Chelios and Dominik Hasek. Coach Scotty Bowman, already in the Hall, made everything mesh. The Red Wings won the Presidents’ Trophy and were resilient in the playoffs. Bowman retired after lifting the Cup. Hasek stepped away, too, though he eventually returned to the league.
3. 2008 Detroit Red Wings
Regular season: 54-21-7, 115. Playoffs: 16-6
This team also got a rare Presidents’ Trophy/Stanley Cup double and did it during the salary cap era. They ranked third in goals and first in goals against. Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg and Datsyuk dominated in the playoffs. Chris Osgood had a 1.55 goals-against average. This core also went to the 2009 final, losing to the Penguins.
4. I’ll just mention that the Red Wings are listed in the “Murky Middle” of USA Today’s Mary Clarke’s team watchability rankings…
5. The NHL Network posted a short Atlantic Division preview…
6. And Sportsnet’s Ryan Dixon posted a set of power rankings this morning:
21. Detroit Red Wings: Now-or-never time, right? Change is coming if Detroit misses the second season for the 10th straight campaign.
