Detroit Red Wings: Mad Men: Wings Start Season With a Chip On Their Shoulder

At the most basic of levels, you only need a few things to play hockey.

You need skates, a pair of gloves, a puck, a stick and a sheet of ice to play on.

However, to win at hockey you need something else.

Emotion.

Last season, amidst the injuries and physical fatigue the Red Wings suffered through, there was also, quite clearly, a lack of emotion.

Be it loving the game, hating to lose, or the joy of victory, a hockey team needs to be made up of players who are emotionally engaged, if winning is the intended outcome.

Love, hate, joy, those are all fine motivators.

Then again, just being plain pissed-off will work fine too.

Over the summer, there was talk of a return to dominance, of a re-awakened hunger, of a commitment to not succumb to the challenges of their collective age, but use their experience to their advantage.

That was all, of course, talk.

Whether or not any of that would translate into anything more than words, would be revealed once the season started.

Although there remains about 97 percent of the season left to play, it looks as if this team, that many feel are too old or past their prime to be serious Cup contenders anymore, are taking that assessment personally.

The signs came in their first game against the Ducks.

Not only were the Wings finishing their checks and pushing the play, they were willing participants in post-whistle scrums, and bench-front shoving matches.

During one such dust-up, Pavel Datsyuk decided to make a bid to take his name out of the Lady Bing running this season, and dropped the gloves against the Ducks' Corey Perry.

However, not all the apparent angst and fire this team seems to have started the season with, has been physically manifested.

Jimmy Howard, who many are still looking at sideways, expecting a second year slump, was aggressive, if not a little cocky, in net in the season opener.

He was square to the shooters and challenged them to beat him.  Additionally, if the Ducks got too close for comfort, he made sure to let them know with a shove of his blocker or a whack of his goal stick.

On Saturday night, the Wings faced the unfortunate task of trying to take a win out of Chicago on a night that saw the Blackhawks raise their championship banner to the rafters and their captain, Jonathan Toews, take the ice with the Stanley Cup, literally, in his hands.

The Red Wings didn't conduct themselves with the decorum the opening ceremonies would have suggested.

They conceded no quarter to the defending Stanley Cup champions and exploited a Blackhawks team that is, still, clearly trying to find their way around each other.

More importantly, a few Red Wings that have been challenged to be difference makers, and that by their coach, made the most out of the opportunity.

The second line of Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula and Todd Bertuzzi hadn't come together to Mike Babcock's liking during the pre-season, and he made sure they knew it.

Getting called out seemed to have worked. as this line accounted for all three goals in Detroit's win over Chicago.

Chris Osgood also has a fair amount of pressure on him, after two disastrous seasons between the pipes.

Though outwardly affable and cool as they come, Chris Osgood isn't happy with his performance the past two years, and isn't relishing the fact that most people, even Red Wings fans, have written him off as nothing more than a punchline in a bad joke.

Even at 37, Chris Osgood is having to prove himself to be a good goal-tender.  His play in Chicago did a lot to provide evidence that he still is.

Chris Osgood was challenging shooters, handling the puck, and holding his ground against the Blackhawks, most notably during three straight Chicago power plays in the third period.

Osgood seemed to have a sizable chip on his shoulder and his play definitely benefited from it.

In addition to looking more rested, fit, and in-sync with one another, the 2010 Detroit Red Wings appear to have re-engaged themselves emotionally, in a big way.

Maybe it's the disappointment of last season.  Perhaps, it's the doubters who think they're too old to win.

Whatever the case, the Red Wings appear to have started this season mad at something, and that should make their fans very happy.

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