The Red Wings are an injured bunch right now. But even before the players started dropping like flies, the Red Wings weren’t all that healthy.
This is an organization, once revered, that has fallen down a notch or two, overall.
The Pittsburgh Penguins came to town on Saturday night. It wasn’t too long ago when a Penguins-Red Wings match at Joe Louis Arena would have been the hottest ticket in the city.
But the Penguins, who played the night before, took the game so seriously that they started their backup goalie.
That was the latest indicator of how far the Red Wings have fallen as a franchise. For 20-plus years, it was unthinkable to put anyone less than your No. 1 goalie between the pipes when facing the Red Wings, especially in Detroit.
But the Penguins looked at the game on the calendar for December 14 and felt that they could be just fine with starting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury opening and closing the door to the bench all night.
Why wouldn’t the Pens feel that way? With Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin et al. up front, the Penguins have more than enough firepower to subdue the Red Wings. So w ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Greg Eno
Time to Face It: Detroit Red Wings Old and Crumbling
December 15th, 2013 by Greg Eno Leave a reply »
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