Future looks fine for Red Wings

By Jim den Hollander

Midwest Hockey Editor 

Despite a valiant seven-game effort, the Detroit Red Wings’ season wrapped up at the end of the opening round of the NHL postseason.

A month later, Head Coach Mike Babcock ended a season long media hyped process when he ended his 10-year association with the Wings and moved four hours north to Toronto where he will coach the Maple Leafs.

The Wings have qualified for the post season at the end of each of the past 24 seasons, but have made quick exits both times it moved on since switching to the NHL’s Eastern Conference.

So, is the team starting to slide? Not at all if a steady stream of incoming talent has anything to do with it. While the Red Wings themselves finished early, both of the team’s two feeder pro teams enjoyed solid post season runs.

As this is written, the Grand Rapids Griffins are all even at a win apiece against the Utica Comets in the American Hockey League’s Western Conference championship series — the lone Midwest based team remaining in the post season there.

Bolstering the lineup there is Dylan Larkin, drafted by the club in the First Round (15th Overall) last summer. Since then, Larkin, a native of Michigan, played his first and ultimately only season with the University of Michigan Wolverines, giving management an opportunity to keep tabs on him easily.

He finished the season there with 15 goals and 32 assists and helped USA at both the World Junior Championships and later, the World Championships before showing up in Grand Rapids where he scored twice in the team’s 4-2 win at Utica. Before this season he played AAA Hockey with the Belle Tire AAA organization, then moved on to play with the US National Development Team which is based in the Detroit area as well. Wow–talk about living out the Michigan Hockey Dream.

And he is just one of the many top notch prospects currently in the Wings’ organization. The Griffins are currently among the final three remaining teams in the AHL (As this is written, Manchester Monarchs have already advanced to the Calder Cup Championship Series).

Back in August, a lot of attention was being given to the Wing’s top pick from the previous season — Anthony Mantha who was projected to be the first player to advance straight from juniors to the NHL. That trek ultimately got sidelined thanks to a broken leg, suffered at the Detroit Red Wings’ Rookie Tournament in Traverse City in the days leading up to the opening of training camp. He recovered and is also in the post season with Griffins currently along with a number of other players, some of them already having adorned the Winged Wheel jersey this season.

The Griffins are looking to wrap up its second Calder Cup Championship in three seasons and while there are no doubt a number of Griffins players who previously hoisted the grail, the core of that team is now in Detroit. One constant though is Coach Jeff Blashill who was behind the bench then, is behind it again now and likely will step behind the bench in Detroit as the team’s Head Coach this fall.

Also, the Toledo Walleye, another affiliate of the Wings was the final Midwest-based team to exit the ECHL post season following an amazing and busy run — but that’s another story.

So, while recent history may not paint a rosy picture for the Detroit Red Wings, there is no reason at all for fans in the Motor City to be anything but confident its long playoff run will not only continue, but improve from this point on.