I’m assuming you disagree with the 4th best overall finish in the conference (not the NHL) prediction. With Kronwall being out for the season, the age of the Wings, the lack of toughness on the Wings, and the goaltenders being a bit of a question mark, it would be bold to place them in the top one or two spots in the conference. Bab***** will push them to excel and overachieve. Maybe they’re more like a 6th place team? Who really knows? The rule changes are really drastic and could help Detroit more than many teams.

I think by Christmas, we’ll all have a better idea of where these teams stand. Drastic roster and rule changes haved turned the NHL upside down.

You said, “unreasonable measures this team has made to their roster this offseason” For the Red Wings the off season was more about establishing which players to keep and which to let go because when you have to cut your payroll in half it will be hard to impress the hockey world with acquisitions as they had been able to do in the past. As far as keeping Schnieder and Chelios goes I think we will have to see just how well those Dmen balance out being able to defend against speed and being able to make those outlet passes to spring their speedy forwards the other way. I think with the new rules to much focus has been put on speed at the forward position and not enough focus on outlet passing from down back to spring them.

Now to the net. Yes I remember that shot Osgood let in that from the red line. I think it was JR who made that shot which Ozzy somehow gloved it but, it came out with enough momentum to just trickle in past the goal line and The Red Wings lost what I think was a game 4 to knot the series at 2-2 in 98. Although that shot was some what frustrating to cope with at the time. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because every opposing team was taking shots from the neutral zone for the rest of the playoffs and when players take shots from the neutral zone there is no way for teammates to get rebounds and it is easier for the goalie to make the stop because of no screen or deflection and the ones that miss the net turn the goalie into a 3rd dman in the corner without a oppositional pressure. Now as far as post season net minding tandems go. Unless you have a crystal ball to tell who will be the 06 version of Jean-Sebastien Giguere or Miikka Kiprusoff,a Turco/Brodeur or a Hasek/Khabibulin combo then all any team can do is hope for the best there. Is it possible that Legace could be the 06 Giggy or Kipper? Who knows?

The fact that the luxury of buying out on all the good free agents is no longer with them is feasable enough evidence for this. Even with 3 star-studded lines and arguably the best defense in the league, they *STILL* couldn’t contend. Of course, that was with a different coach than what they have now (Lewis), but still: with the league’s highest payroll (I read that it was some $70 or so), the team had absolutely no excuses to be the odd-man out the last 2 post-seasons. CuJo didn’t even have to be at his best in either of the 2 years he’s been there (okay, *MAYBE* in 2002-2003 being up against Giguere. 03-04 on the other hand…); a mere 2nd rate performance could’ve won that team a Cup like Osgood did the year he let in that red line shot (I think we all remember that).

Also, you have to take into account the unreasonable measures this team has made to their roster this offseason. Bringing back aging vets like Schneider, Chelios, and Yzerman won’t measure up to the kind of permance that fast, younger teams like Tampa and Nashville are capable of on the ice. If I were Ken Holland, I would bring back Stevie Y and MAYBE Schneider, but Chelios? Isn’t the team old enough as it was before signing him? I thought that would be the same question that would be sticking in their heads beforehand. Also, just about every player on the roster thus far is age 30 or higher; too much leadership and not enough speed and youth to make as big of an impact as several others are saying.

And finally, we have Osgood-Legace. Good regular season pairing, but neither seems to hold up well in the post season under pressure, that’s the problem, and this one may be a costly one at that.

The bottom line: will they make the playoffs? Sure. Will they contend? No, I kinda doubt it. Just my 2 cents.

If the Wings ever get into a slug fest, watch out. There’s just not much toughness on this team. After Shanahan and possibly Fischer, the Wings have nothing in the fistcuffs department. That puts a lot of pressure on Shanny to be the team’s policeman, when he’s really needed for his size in the corners and goal production.

The new rules do favor skating and playmaking, but you know there will be that odd game where all hell breaks loose.

Instead of adding a Cleary or a Samualsson, I was hoping Detroit could have picked up someone like a Chris Simon to help out with the banging and fighting, and chip in some goals. If push comes to shove, there’s always Daryl Bootland in Grand Rapides, but he’s a middle weight at best with few NHL-level skills.

The goaltending will become much more of an issue this season due to the wide open style we’ll be watching, as well as the reduced goaltending equipment size and the shoot-outs. Osgood and Legace is just not a convincing combination. Osgood is a good goaltender who will give up the odd soft goal every game or two. Legace is strictly a backup, and a good one at that. When given the starting job in the Nashville series, he was hot for a while, but began to crumble as the series went on. It could be he just wasn’t used to the work load? Cujo bailed him out of that series. Jimmy Howard is just too green to be relied upon at the NHL level for now. I think he’ll be a good one in another year, though.

It’s difficult to know where the Wings will end up with all of the changes on every team. The NHL has an entirely new landscape. My guess is the Wings might be the 4th best team in their conference who may win one round in the playoffs – a very good team, but no longer a real contender.

Howard can step in and can give you what you said the Wings didn’t have (“I’d be much more enthusiastic if we had some young, talented, unproven guy to roll the dice with. That’d at least be exciting”) This kid is exciting and will be the backup till Osgood gets back

The Kronvall injury hurts since this kid looked great during pre-season and he looked like he could be one of the Wings top 4 dman this season

The Wings might not have a superstar goalie anymore or the awsome depth they had on fowrard but i think they have enough talent to get them in the playoffs and then once in who knows but i don’t consider them as favorite for the cup this year but they still have a shot at winning it and injuries as always will be a main reason at how good or far any team goes this season and post season

just my thougts anyone else?