The Top 5 New Year's Resolutions for the Detroit Red Wings

Every year people around the world party during New Year's Eve. It is a time of celebration and reflection, and many people use the night as a last hurrah before starting off the new year right.

Many people say they will eat better, exercise more and so on, but NHL teams like the Detroit Red Wings have areas in which they can seek to improve upon for the new year.

The Red Wings may be one of the better teams in the league, but here are the top five resolutions for the year 2015.

Consistency from the Youth

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The Red Wings have been successful over the last two decades because of the inclusion of young players throughout the lineup. This season Riley Sheahan, Gustav Nyquist, Danny DeKeyser and Tomas Tatar have been at the forefront, but for the new year a resolution to be kept is consistency.

Although these players have added value to the lineup, consistency is something that is needed because from time to time players have dropped off the radar. For example, Nyquist has had three stretches in which he went four or more games without scoring a goal. 

Consistency is what helps teams remain successful, and that is something Detroit will look to grasp in the new year.

Health

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For the new year, the Detroit Red Wings will make a resolution that hopefully involves good luck when it comes to health.

Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Stephen Weiss have missed time because of injury, and all are key parts of the team's forward corps. The Red Wings have overcome injuries in the past—see last season—but the team ultimately would love to have a clean bill of health for the new year.

In addition to the above forwards, Jimmy Howard has missed some time, and he's a key player Detroit will need for the playoffs. He's back in the lineup, but for how long remains to be seen.

The team ultimately has little control over when a player gets hurt because of the physical nature of hockey, but that doesn't mean it won't be something that Mike Babcock and general manager Ken Holland won't cross their fingers about.

Scoring Goals in the Shootout

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During the shootout this season, only six goals have been scored by the Red Wings, and they have come off the stick of three players. Nyquist has three, Datsyuk has two and Tatar one. Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Jurco, known puck wizards, have zero.

The Red Wings have a 1-7 record in the shootout, and the inability to put pucks in the back of the net is a big reason why they have struggled in this area. If the Wings can find ways to put pucks in the net, good things will happen, but that isn't the only resolution when it comes to the skills competition.

Stopping Goals in the Shootout

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As bad as the Red Wings are when it comes to putting pucks in the back of the net when it comes to the shootout, they are even worse when it comes to preventing them.

Howard is a solid netminder, but he seems to fall under the spell of Dr. Jervis Tetch when it comes time for the shootout. For those non-Batman geeks, that is the pseudonym of the Mad Hatter, and Howard just acts plain batty when it is just him and another shooter.

Petr Mrazek, on the other hand, has been much better in the shootout with a .750 save percentage.

If he can continue that performance, the Red Wings will win more shootouts and pick up extra points in the standings. Ultimately, the Wings would prefer not to have any more shootouts, but that is something that is not 100 percent preventable.

Pick Up Wins in Regulation

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The Red Wings currently have a four-point advantage over Toronto and a six-point advantage over Boston in the Atlantic Division standings. However, Toronto has the same amount of regulation and overtime victories, and Boston trails Detroit by one.

In the event of a tie in the standings, regulation and overtime wins is the first tiebreaker. For the rest of the season the Wings need to continue to pick up victories here, because they ultimately will help them if they falter toward the end of the season.

They have left seven opportunities to pick up a win in the "ROW" column after falling short in the shootout, so this is something they need to take advantage of going forward.

Stats via NHL.com and The Hockey News.