Jeremy Laura: Red Wings give up 3 in 2nd period, team falls 4-1 to Panthers

Yeah... I wasn't optimistic for the rest of the season with that schedule. Just brutal.

But on a more happy note...

GO WMU BRONCOS !! Playing for the NCAA national championship tomorrow. They have 8 NHL draft picks on the team. First time ever to frozen 4. Best team they've ever iced. I loved going to games when I was at school there way back in the early 90's. They've knocked off defending champ Denver... have to think they are the favorite to beat Boston University tomorrow. WMU is a serious well oiled machine with a ton of talent. It's great to see how far their hockey program has progressed.

Yeah... I wasn't optimistic for the rest of the season with that schedule. Just brutal.

But on a more happy note...

GO WMU BRONCOS !! Playing for the NCAA national championship tomorrow. They have 8 NHL draft picks on the team. First time ever to frozen 4. Best team they've ever iced. I loved going to games when I was at school there way back in the early 90's. They've knocked off defending champ Denver... have to think they are the favorite to beat Boston University tomorrow. WMU is a serious well oiled machine with a ton of talent. It's great to see how far their hockey program has progressed.
- Vladdie_Kon1

I was actually a Resident Advisor over at Western from 96 to 98. I interviewed Jeff Blashill for the college hockey examiner when they won the CCHA championship (and when he was interviewing for the Wings). I love the program, i had the big book of tickets when I was there. It’s a huge deal for them. They are one of the schools I hope doesn’t get bit by the NIL bug because it’s such a great environment for those players.

The cards were stacked against the Wings. They had the toughest schedule in the league from Four Nations on, and March and April hockey is very different than January & February hockey. When your top three defensemen are 24 and younger, when all three goalies are semi-descent backups, and when the guys you signed to be part of your top six (Compher, Copp and Tarasenko) representing $15.5 million (and 20% of skater salaries, combined for a whopping 30 goals this year, it's just not a recipe for March & April success. To put it in perspective, rookie Kasper had more than half the goals those three had combined this season.

I don't think they'll be in a position to compete for the playoffs next year, as they should be younger, and probably not the next, but I think the 27/28 team should have pretty high expectations. Not to win a Cup, but to be in the hunt all year. By the way, in 2018, Ken Holland said a full rebuild takes 8 to 10 years, on that, he was correct, although his end of Wings career drafting set them way back.

The cards were stacked against the Wings. They had the toughest schedule in the league from Four Nations on, and March and April hockey is very different than January & February hockey. When your top three defensemen are 24 and younger, when all three goalies are semi-descent backups, and when the guys you signed to be part of your top six (Compher, Copp and Tarasenko) representing $15.5 million (and 20% of skater salaries, combined for a whopping 30 goals this year, it's just not a recipe for March & April success. To put it in perspective, rookie Kasper had more than half the goals those three had combined this season.

I don't think they'll be in a position to compete for the playoffs next year, as they should be younger, and probably not the next, but I think the 27/28 team should have pretty high expectations. Not to win a Cup, but to be in the hunt all year. By the way, in 2018, Ken Holland said a full rebuild takes 8 to 10 years, on that, he was correct, although his end of Wings career drafting set them way back.
- bluelineenforcer

Oh, for sure the final stretch was brutal. Like I’d said, hardest in the league per many people. Still, the return from the 4 nations was bad. The energy was low and the team had lost everything they put together. I’m still wondering if Larkin has been nursing an injury from the tournament, we’ll find out after exit interviews. My concern for next year is the even more condensed schedule. Possibly 84 games instead of 82 (still being debated as far as I know), but 3+ weeks off for Olympics plus all star weekend. They didn’t add 2 or 3 weeks to the season, so squeeze in all the back to backs combined with the injuries at the Olympics and how much of the league just sitting for 3+ weeks. I know the players fought hard for the Olympics but just the responses in back to back games show a drop in viewership, let alone shutting it all down for that long. Very excited about the kids. Sandin-Pellikka and Michael Brandsegg Nygaard face elimination tomorrow. MBN had a 2 goal game a couple games ago. Would love to see them join GR for the post season.

Sending the NHL back to the Olympics is just plain stupidity. I still hate the idea of sending NHL stars to the Olympics. I don't like the fact it interrupts the regular season and the risk of injury to top players. I remember when Yzerman got injured in the Olympics and he was out the rest of the season.

Sending the NHL back to the Olympics is just plain stupidity. I still hate the idea of sending NHL stars to the Olympics. I don't like the fact it interrupts the regular season and the risk of injury to top players. I remember when Yzerman got injured in the Olympics and he was out the rest of the season.
- Vladdie_Kon1

We lost Z once too. And the ice is NHL size this time. So add more speed and physicality. When I saw the release that it would take up one more week than the 4 nations and they were still going to do an all star game but try to add 2 more games to the schedule I couldn’t believe it. Those condensed schedules, taking almost a month out of the schedule, could cause a lot of injuries too. I know the players fought hard to go, but at some point if it messes with the NHL you’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot.