Dead Wings Redux

Dead Wings

On this day in 1984, an eighteen year old rookie named Steve Yzerman represented the Campbell Conference in the NHL’s 36th annual All Star Game, held at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In doing so, Yzerman became the youngest player to appear in an All Star game. He not only appeared but factored. In the second period of the game, the Cranbrook, British Columbia native assisted on a goal to Detroit teammate John Ogrodnick, contributing to a 7-6 victory for the Campbell Conference. 

A rookie, that season, Yzerman was confronted with a mountain of a challenge. The fourth overall draft pick in the 1983 NHL Draft, he assumed the responsibility of leading Detroit out of the depths of “Dead Wings” era dormancy and into contention. When he arrived in Detroit, the Wings had failed to qualify for the Playoffs five straight seasons and fifteen of the past seventeen seasons, combined, dating back to 1966-67. 

Yzerman made an immediate impact. With 39 goals, he led the 1983-84 Wings in scoring. He also tied for the team lead in assists with 48 (Ivan Boldirev also had 48), thereby amassing a team-leading 87 points. He finished runner-up in the voting for the 1984 Calder Trophy, given to the league’s rookie of the year. More importantly, he led the team to its first playoff appearance in six years, setting in motion a chain of events that saw Detroit become a serious contender in the late eighties, then a dynasty, in the nineties. 

Thirty-seven years later, Yzerman now bears the responsibility for leading Detroit through its first rebuilding process since its Dead Wings Era. Then, Detroit chose Yzerman; this time, Yzerman chose Detroit. Now in his second year as Detroit’s General Manager, he is expected to orchestrate another rebirth in Hockeytown -- to bring the Dead Wings back to life, again.

It is a more complicated task, granted, but his impact, this time around, is less immediately apparent. After making the postseason for twenty-five consecutive seasons, Detroit has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs four straight seasons. Last season, Yzerman's first as General Manager, saw the Wings finish dead last in the NHL standings, a stat that fails to accurately summarize their levels of ineptitude; their goal differential for the 2019-20 season, at -122, was more than double that of the second worst team in that category. If Detroit misses the postseason again in 2021, their futile slide would equal the one snapped by the 1983-84 Red Wings in Yzerman’s rookie year. 

Dead Wings Redux: Wings Losers of Six Straight

Avoiding that infamy seems improbable. Only ten games into the 2020-21 season, the Red Wings are fading fast. After starting the season 2-2, the Wings are, following Sunday’s 3-2 loss to Florida, losers of six straight. At 2-6-2, they sit alone at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. Only two teams have allowed more goals than Detroit. Their goal-differential, at -15, ranks second last in the NHL. Only 1-6-1 Ottawa sits below them in the league standings. 

Dylan Larkin also has a tall order as Yzerman’s heir apparent. Named captain by Yzerman this January, Larkin scored first in Sunday’s contest at Little Ceasars Arena, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead in the first. On a nifty feed from Giovanni Smith, the Waterford native made a beautiful move in front of the Florida net, deking to his backhand before flipping the puck over Panther’s goalie Chris Driedger’s left pad, top shelf. 

In the second period, however, the Wings’ bugaboo, their penalty kill — a unit that allowed two goals in Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Florida — failed them again. Florida went to the powerplay twice in the period and capitalized each time. They got the first at 2:03 from Patric Hornqvist, his fifth of the young season, and the second at 15:04 from Aaron Ekblad, his second of the season. At full strength, Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner 8:09 into the third period. An Anthony Mantha blast cut the deficit to one with less than two minutes to play, but a late Red Wings push with an extra attacker failed, subsequently. 

Thomas Greiss took both Friday and Sunday’s losses in goal, extending his winless streak to five. He stopped 27 of 30 Florida shots in Sunday’s game. At 0-4-1, he remains winless in a Red Wings uniform despite admirable play. Implausibly, the Red Wings are now winless in thirty straight games when Jonathan Bernier does not start, a streak that extends back to November 1, 2019. 

As the season turns to February, the road does not get any easier for the Red Wings. They embark on a two-week Southern road trip that starts Wednesday, February 3. They play a pair of games in Tampa Bay, where the Super Bowl-festivities will be in full swing, this week, before traveling to Florida for two more, next week. Tampa is the defending Stanley Cup champion, while Florida sits atop the Atlantic Division. A pair of games at Nashville round out the road trip. 

Fans in Hockeytown better start anticipating the NHL Draft Lottery again. Many expected Detroit, who finished dead last in the 2019-20 standings by a longshot, to be more competitive this season, but not many signs indicate that will be the case. Instead, Red Wings fans are experiencing flashbacks to the Dead Wings era. Call it Dead Wings Redux. Patience and continued faith in the “Yzerplan” offer their only recourse.