Red Wings

[jaadam4]

Signed Conklin to a 1 year, 1 mil contract. He'll fit in well here and atleast we know he can play. Ozzie was on the IR the whole time last season.

[gjdodger]

Drapes announces his retirement. Tomorrow.

http://deadspin.com/5824479/this-is-how-kris-draper-ends-not-with-a-bang-but-a-premature-photo-caption

[FCRhodes]

Best dollar Ilitch ever spent.

[chemiclord]

Won't deny that at all.

But it really was time for Draper to hang them up about three years ago.

[jaadam4]

Best dollar Ilitch ever spent.

Yeah no doubt. I still cant believe that trade.

[Tom]

(Please forgive my long-winded rambling)

It was weird hearing that Draper is now 40 (or approaching 40), that Osgood was almost 40, that Lidstrom's been with the team about 20 years. Watching the guys leave the team is kind of sad; knowing that a great era of hockey is ending.

I feel pretty lucky to have watched some great teams and players in Detroit. The 84 Tigers were special (Whitaker, Tram, Parrish, Gibby). The 89-90 Pistons were dominant for a short stretch (Zeke, Laimbeer, Dumars, Rodman, Mahorn, Microwave, and the rest). The 2006 Tigers were a welcome sight after a long drought. The 2004 Pistons shocked a lot of people by beating the Lakers. The 97 Wolverines were fun to watch being led by Charles Woodson. The Mateen led Spartans brought glory back to East Lansing. The Lions of the 90's had their ups and downs but with Barry Sanders, Moore, Spielman, Blades, Crockett, Lomas, and Perriman, there were some good times.

But I'm pretty sure nothing will compare to the Wings of the past 20 years. I started following them in 86-87 and watched them lose back to back conference championships to Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers. I've hated the city of Edmonton ever since (I was 12 at the time but the hatred stuck with me). I watched them tumble to the depths of the NHL in 1990 and then start to rise. In 1990 they missed the playoffs and drafted Keith Primeau with their 1st round pick. That offseason Sergei Fedorov joined the team. The year after that, Vladdie and Lidstrom were added. From there, they just seemed to wheel and deal and slowly build the team.

They finally made the Finals in 1995 only to be swept by the Devils and the following year they got spanked in the conference finals by Roy and the Avs. I actually started to lose faith at that point and thought maybe being a Wings fan was like being a Lions fan (plenty of talent just not enough to get you over the top).

It finally came together in 97 with the acquisitions of Rouse, Shanahan, and Murphy. The glee of the championship was cut short by the tragedy. But the Wings regrouped and went out to win a 2nd straight championship. The team stumbled a little after that but they went all out in 2002 and were able to win a third championship.

A couple of people close to me (my cousins who were and still are Oilers fans) said the Wings won only because they could outspend most teams. And while it was hard to watch the Wings lose to Edmonton again (2006?), it was doubly sweet to watch them cruise to a championship in 08 after the salary cap was implemented and then come within a game of winning again in 09.

A great era of hockey is ending. This team will still be in the hunt come next spring but once Lidstrom hangs them up, they could find it difficult to maintain their glory.

Anyway, I started to think about the players that were here and what we've witnessed and I just think "This has been awesome":

Forwards: Yzerman, Fedorov, Shanahan, Kozlov, Larionov, Holmstrom, Draper, Maltby, Lapointe, McCarty, Brown, Dandenault, Kocur, Gilchrist, Ciccarelli, Burr, Sheppard, Yseabart, Primeau, Carson, Hull, Robitaille, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Cleary, Franzen...

Defensemen: Lidstrom, Konstantinov, Coffey, Fetisov, Chelios, Kronwall, Fischer, Rouse, Murphy, Howe, Ramsey, Stuart, Ward, Macoun, Duchesne, Olausson, Rafalski...

Goalies: Vernon, Osgood, Hasek, Joseph, Howard

(They weren't all champions and they weren't all superstars, but I rooted hard for all of them while they were here and it's been a blast)

[chemiclord]

I honestly don't think the Wings will miss Lidstrom as much as you think. His "role" has been steadily decreasing, and we saw several times last season where it was Kronwall's pairing against the top opponent's line rather than Lidstrom's.

I think the Wings have been steadily preparing for this transition for a few years. There will be a drop-off once Lidstrom retires, of course, but the Wings are as prepared for it as they could possibly be.

[Tom]

I think the loss of Lidstrom hurts a lot unless they can acquire some talent to offset his loss. I don't think the current defensemen can do it by themselves (unless one of the young guys we haven't really seen steps up).

[chemiclord]

We're already seeing the transition. I would argue at this point Kronwall is the team's best defenseman. He's the one getting the PK time, not Lidstrom. He was the one seeing the opponents' top line more and more as the season wore on.

They have a very highly thought of prospect in Smith ready to come up, and they'll no doubt seek a big name in FA as well.

Losing Lidstrom will hurt, obviously, but it's not going to cripple the team.

[froot loops]

When teams are paying Jovanowski 4 years 16 million, then yes losing Lidstom is going to be a big hole. You just can't find guys on the open market that fill that big a hole. Sure Kronwall might be nearly as important, but they've relied on Kronwall for a long time now. It isn't like Kronwall's ice time increases if they don't have Lidstrom.

Having Lidstrom makes signing guys like Ian White and Mike Commodore good signings. You don't have to spend that much to get guys who can fit in. But they can fit in because they have a guy like Lidstrom.

As far as Smith, lets see some proof first. Brendan Smith isn't the first highly thought of Red Wings defenseman. In fact a lot of the highly touted defenseman wash out with the Wings. I've heard he's very raw in Grand Rapids. Plus even really good defenseman take a few years to be good. Most young defenseman are garbage until they hit their late 20's.

[chemiclord]

I'm not saying it won't be a loss. I'm not saying it won't be a hole. I'm not even saying they can completely fill it.

But they aren't going to drop off the map and struggle to reach the playoffs without him. They'll still be a roughly 100 point team, and still make some deep playoff runs. The Red Wings will still be a good team, and still be a contender.

The sky will not fall when Lidstrom retires, Chicken Little.

[froot loops]

Two years ago they do not make the playoffs without Lidstrom. He had to carry the team for a good stretch when they were injured. I didn't agree with your post when it was first written by Jeff Moss, I still don't agree with it. Sorry, it will be a big loss and thats why Ken Holland was fretting the Lidstrom might retire, especially after Rafalski retired.

[chemiclord]

Two years ago isn't now, Froot.

They're a better team than one person retiring sending the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Holland was worried because yeah, having to replace Rafalski AND Lidstrom in the same offseason would probably be a little much.

People were so terrified it was the end of the road when Konstantinov was crippled. They were apoplectic when Yzerman retired, wondering who was going to fill his leadership role.

The Chicken Littles were wrong then. They're wrong now.

The Red Wings will be okay. I promise.

[lions&tigers&wings...yea]

yea the reason it's not going to hurt as much is because we'll have to replace 2011-2012 Lidstrom and not 2001-2002 Lidstrom....going to be hard but the brain trust has rarely failed me

[chemiclord]

That's about it.

Holland has had a good, stable rotation of talent for the last twenty years. Of course you're not going to fully replace the best defenseman of this era. Yes, the Red Wings are going to miss what he gave. But it's not going to be the end of the Red Wings world. They'll make do. They'll adapt. And they'll continue to be one of the best teams in the league.