Detroit Red Wings: Preseason Play Provided Some Answers, but More Questions

Before we get started here, let's enter the land of make-believe and pretend the following are true:

• Jimmy Howard had two shutouts and three wins in the preseason.
• Chris Osgood's goals-against was 1.89 in the preseason.
• The Hudler-Modano-Cleary line combined for 12 points in the preseason.
• Johan Franzen led all players with 11 goals in the preseason.
• The team finished 7-1 and beat Pittsburgh 6-0 in the final game.

Now, if all of this did in fact square with reality, how pumped would you be for the season to start on Friday?

You'd be walking around, chest puffed out, flaunting your winged-wheel jersey in front of all of your non-Red Wings -fan friends.

You'd be taunting anonymous posters on blogs and sports news sites with "Let's Go Red Wings!" battle cries.

You'd be just this side of convinced that the regular season and most of the playoffs were bound to be merely a ho-hum past-time, delaying the inevitable: the Red Wings' 12th championship in team history.

In short, you'd be busting.

However, at some point someone would say three little words that would bring all of your glee crashing down to Earth: "It's the preseason."

Now, remember those words when you consider the following:

• Jimmy Howard had no shutouts and looked good but not great in the preseason.
• Chris Osgood's goals-against average was 4.67 in the preseason.
• The Hudler-Modano-Clearly line combined for 4 points and played just twice in the preseason.
• Johan Franzen had one goal in the preseason.
• The team finished 3-5 and was beat 5-1 by Pittsburgh in the final game.

As I've opined before, there's really no point in trying to handicap a team's regular season success using its preseason performance.

The games are meaningless and so are the results.

However, if one is looking for information on the health, effectiveness, and abilities of individual players... well, the preseason can be of some use.

The preseason allows coaches, teams, and even the fans to get a glimpse of prospects, new players, returning players, and players hoping to return.  Beyond this, the preseason doesn't hold any significant predictive powers.

Detroit made some significant moves over the summer, the kind which create high expectations, hope, and excitement for the upcoming season.

Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and look for immediate gratification in the preseason, and if you're one of these people, I'm sorry.

Through eight preseason games there wasn't much to get excited about, not a whole lot of hope fulfilled, and perhaps a few reasons to lower your expectations for the 2010-11 Detroit Red Wings.

But, again, it's the preseason.

While it would be masochistic to attach your hopes or your fears for the upcoming season to the eight practice games (which is all they were) the Wings just concluded, it is reasonable at least to create a list that includes some answers to questions that existed prior to training camp, as well as questions that won't be answered until after the season begins in earnest on Friday.

You can think of this as a kind of study guide, the kind of thing your high school economics professor handed out before finals, taunting you with something like, "If you remember these answers and answer these questions, you should do fine on the exam."

Just like back then there are more questions than answers, but remembering both will help to identify exactly what you should be looking for and noticing as the Wings take the ice to battle the Ducks in the home opener.

Let's start with the good news first:

Answers:

• Jiri Hudler looks more than ready to play. Hudler had two goals and two assists in three games played and looked good getting them.
• Drew Miller is in, Mattias Ritola is out.  While exposing young talent on waivers (something the Wings did on Monday with Ritola) is never something to be happy about, knowing for sure you made the right choice is.  In keeping Miller, the Wings definitely made the right choice.

Yeah, by my count those are the only real answers we have at the end of this preseason.  Now, on to the, gulp, questions.

Questions:

• Is Jimmy Howard going to hold up as the No. 1? To be fair, Howard could have posted a shutout in each preseason game he played, and this would still be a question.  Howie looked solid, but let's see how things shake out once the games are for real.
• Will the Hudler-Modano-Cleary line come together? It should, as they get acclimated to each other. However, they didn't get a lot of time to work out any kinks in the system which means they'll be doing it on the fly.
• Is Modano going to adjust to being a Red Wing? Modano still doesn't look comfortable in red and white, which is understandable given his life-long tenure with the Stars.  Modano as a Red Wing is still a work in progress, but how long it will take to complete is anyone's guess.
• Does Detroit have second-line problems? The preseason play of the the Franzen-Filppula-Bertuzzi line didn't do anything but disappoint .  Bertuzzi doesn't look sharp, and though Filppula has looked strong, he and Franzen have a way to go in the chemistry department.
• Is Brian Rafalski close to 100 percent? In a word, "no." Just how severe his recurring back injury will hamper his play this season remains to be seen, but it will be something to keep an eye on, if not fret about.
• Is Jonathan Ericsson a bust? Let's just say it's a good thing Jakub Kindl has made the team, because Ericsson still looks uncomfortable and hesitant as a regular NHLer.

In summation, while a healthy, productive Hudler and a solid fourth-liner in Drew Miller are great things to have established going into the season, the remaining questions will need to be answered, and soon if the Red Wings are to deliver on the expectations, hope, and excitement they've generated over the past few months.

The Wings have their study guide and their first assignment is due Friday.  Mr. Hutter will have his red pen out but will hope he doesn't have to use it.

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