Red Wings Rumblings
Welp, it’s over. The Red Wings gave a strong effort in last night’s loss to Montreal, which all but eliminated them from the playoffs. They’re technically in it still, but the chances are so slim that it’s not even worth wasting energy on.
So we’re about a decade removed from Detroit’s last Stanley Cup Playoffs berth. That’s really depressing, especially when you consider that every other major team in the city of Detroit has gotten its act together. What’s wrong with this team? Is it a culture thing? Bad players? Bad luck? Not enough aggressive action from the front office? All of those things can be true at the same time. I still believe that this season is on Steve Yzerman — for waiting too long to fire Derek Lalonde and for ignoring a downright awful pro scouting staff. Also doesn’t help that Vladimir Tarasenko was an absolute bust of a signing, Justin Holl is incapable of playing at the NHL level, players like Jonatan Berggren can’t seem to take a step forward, and JT Compher had a wide-open net… Those are just my gripes at surface level. But again, not willing to waste my energy on it.
Still a handful of games left on the schedule… Will you be watching? I’ll probably pay more attention to the Grand Rapids Griffins, honestly.
In more encouraging news, Detroit’s 2024 first-round pick Michael Brandsegg-Nygard had himself a game yesterday against Brynas in the SHL postseason. Two goals for the young forward. Axel Sandin-Pellikka did not register any points, but he was a +3 with 2 SOG in just a shade under 20 minutes of playing time. Catch the highlights here, courtesy of LGRWProspects on Twitter.
Back to the Wings — whatever your mood is today, we should all find a little happiness in the fact that younger players played a big role for the team this season, and looked damn good doing it. Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, Simon Edvinsson, and Elmer Soderblom all look like they’ll have a long runway in the NHL.. Plus more players are on their way. Remember, we didn’t even get to see Carter Mazur. Who knows what he would have brought to the table if he didn’t get injured in his NHL debut.
Wish I had more to say but I don’t. This is dumb and I would like to see my team play postseason hockey. Take care of yourselves, friends.
