Even after the postseason on-ice clinic the Detroit Red Wings held on the way to their fourth Stanley Cup in the past eleven seasons, it is probably unrealistic to expect the team to pick up where they left off last June in Pittsburgh.
Virtually everyone had the summer off, but the Wings had the responsibility (and pleasure) of the traditional Tour de Cup through the provinces, states, and several European countries, giving family, friends and neighbors an opportunity to gaze upon hockey's Holy Grail—and in many instances, to drink from it.
The team's less-than-stellar start to a defense of their title might in part be attributed to the after-effects of such a summer.
After losing their two of their first four games (both at home), they are winning (9-2-2) almost on a pace with last season—just not as convincingly. Three of their wins, including Saturday's home victory over an injury-depleted New Jersey, have been by two goals.
The rest all by a single goal, including two in shootouts. The anticipated domination simply hasn't been evident.
Led by new addition Marian Hossa, the Wings have scored just enough to win—and at the end of the season, that's all that counts. But the defensive giveaways clearly have Coach Mike Babcock concerned, enough that he has temporarily benched Brett Lebda and his team-worst minus-nine from the third blueline pairing. The third-year player hasn't has a plus rating in any of his 11 games on the ice.
Another concern is one of last spring's big heroes, goaltender Chris Osgood, who—until his single goal-allowed effort against the Devils—had a goal-against average a full point higher than last year, when he (2.09) and since-retired Dominick Hasek (2.14) split netminding duties, and pushed one another to a fraction over two goals per game rating on the season.
There have been moments—starting with a shocking giveaway in the crease to Toronto's Pavel Kubina in the season's opening game—when some may have suspected that Osgood had forgotten the essentials of the "butterfly technique" he learned from Marc-Andre Fleury during his three-season banishment to Long Island and St. Louis. A save percentage of 0.892 is not exactly championship-caliber goaltending.
Confidence is high, however, that Ozzie—and, if given the chance, Lebda—can get back on track.
It should also be noted that perennial Norris Trophy-winner Nick Lidstrom (plus-three) and his blue line partner Brian Rafalski (plus-one) are unexpectedly low in the plus/minus rankings from their anticipated norms.
On the bright side, Hossa has been the offensive catalyst so far, with Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, and last season's break-out scoring star Johan Franzen (out with an injury the past five games) seemingly struggling to regain their championship form from six months ago.
What's the difference?
Too early to state anything definitively after 13 games, but right-winger Hossa, a member of the Stanley Cup runner-up Penguins, wasn't on the Tour de Cup this off-season. And his whole reason for coming to Detroit as a free agent—instead of taking a higher salary elsewhere—was because he'd anxious to take that Tour himself.
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