Stanley Returns To Hockeytown; Red Wings Flying High Again As Dynasty Looms

    The Red Wings are back at it again. As they clinched their 4th Stanley Cup in 11 years, many of the players are excited about the prospects for next season. Indeed it might seem that this team's flawlessness are leading the Wings to become the "Yankees" of Hockey. However before this Stanley Cup winning season, many of the Red Wings were facing retirement or the last year of their contracts. Chris Osgood (2 year extension), Kris Draper (3 year extension), Nick Lidstrom (2 year extension), and Dan Cleary (5 year extension); are just four Red Wings who signed extensions to prolong their careers in Detroit.

    The Red Wings will retain everyone from this years championship squad except the now "officially retired" Dominik Hasek. "Dom" or "The Dominator" as many have come to know him as will surely be missed. He posted hall of fame like statistics in GAA and save % as well as wins and shutouts throughout his career and is a shoe-in for First Hall of Fame Ballot.

    As for the rest of the Red Wings, they know that the road will not be easy to repeat in 2009. It should be noted however, that they have repeated in '97 and '98 and there are still 4 players that have lifted all 4 of the cups in recent memory. The Wings have shown that it doesn't just take experience. It takes team work and talent and the desire to win. They have that and more with the top line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Holmstrom. That line has been the Red Wings go to line throughout the season and the playoffs. Because they are so talented, Coach Mike Babcock was able to split up the line to play with other players. This gave other teams fits trying to cover them in the offensive zone.

People say "Defense wins championships." This is true especially in light of recent Stanley Cup winning teams like the Ducks last year. But the Red Wings, with the arguably the top four defensemen in the NHL (Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, and Stuart) showed throughout the season that it takes an entire team effort on defense to chalk up the win. Zetterberg and Datsyuk gave other teams problems in the defensive zone as well as their offensive zone. They are both up for the Selke Trophy.

    For all the reasons above, the Red Wings will be just as formidable next season with Chris Osgood backstopping them. He made an appearance in the All Star Game with then league leading totals in GAA and save %. The Wings have up and coming players in the likes of Tomas Kopecky, Jiri Hudler, Mark Hartigan, Valtteri Filppula, Darren Helm, Johnathan Ericsson, Derek Meech, and others. The Wings are often faulted for their “oldness” but one can rest assured that come 2009, they will be skating, shooting, checking, and defending, just as well as the rest of the younger NHL teams.