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Wednesday, November 8, 2000
One last try before rebuilding
By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell
Special to ESPN.com
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Funny how it always seems to be that everyone figures this will
be coach Scotty Bowman's last year behind the bench – any bench – but
particularly Detroit's. However, it truly does seem that with an aging roster
of stars, it makes sense that Bowman and the Red Wings plan to make a
full-scale run at the Stanley Cup this year before rebuilding looms.
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Wed., Sept. 27
These guys don't need very much. Their veteran players are going to have to pace themselves to be ready for the playoffs because what they do in the regular season isn't really going to matter. The Wings will judge themselves by only one goal: Winning the Stanley Cup. They can't run out of gas before the postseason begins. And they need to stay healthy. The younger players – Jiri Fischer, Mathieu Dandenault, Darren McCarty – will have to play a more prominent role. |
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Sergei Fedorov will turn 31, Chris Chelios is 38, Nicklas Lidstrom is 30,
Doug Brown is 36, Larry Murphy is 39, Pat Verbeek is 36, Brendan Shanahan is
31, Steve Duchesne is 35 and so is Steve Yzerman. Enough said.
In other
words, the time is now. And heaven forbid, the Wings would watch the
impressive-but-hated rival Colorado Avalanche win the Western Conference. For
most of the old-school veterans, that would be a fate worse than death.
Left wing Slava Kozlov recently re-signed with the club and the
28-year-old will help the Red Wings' cause after having a disappointing year
last season.
Bowman is hoping to blend the multitude of veteran players with such
young up-and-comers as center Yuri Butsayev, defenseman Yan Golubovsky and
the gigantic defenseman Jiri Fischer.
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Bottom Line on the Red Wings
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Strengths
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Weaknesses
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Coaching
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Speed on defense
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Special teams
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Toughness on defense
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SEASON OUTLOOK: This is a club you can never count out with a coach who is
famous for his adjustments. The question mark is whether the young players
the club has brought in can make an important enough impact. It's not
realistic to think that the huge group of 30-somethings can carry
the entire fortune of the Red Wings on their aging backs. |
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe writes a weekly national NHL column for ESPN.com.
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