It’s very early in the season, but it’s clear the Detroit Red Wings are struggling. In a five-game winless streak the Wings have looked listless, slow and disorganized at times, with an anemic power play. They’re sitting in 12th place in the West, with a 5-4-1 record.
And the Red Wings power play, led by perennial All-Stars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, is slogging along at a 14.3 percent clip , which ranks 21st in the league.
Coach Mike Babcock is understandably not pleased and quite concerned. He’s put them through intense practices to sharpen things up, and has even moved Datsyuk and Zetterberg to different lines. Datsyuk is at a minus-5, with Zetterberg at a minus-4 so far.
“They’re not going to be together,” "Babcock told the Detroit News. “I just played Pav and Z together nine straight games. Through that time, we haven’t done enough, so I’m not playing them together.
“We need more people going. Maybe they can help them get going. They have to help themselves as well. We have to change some things up and see if we can’t do a better job.”
Former player and current television analyst Jeremy Roenick also is wondering out loud what’s wrong with the Wings.
“…Now it just seems that the Red Wings’ puck movement is off and their positioning is off,” Roenick writes in his blog on NHL.com. “I think coach Mike Babcock needs to sit the team down and really go over their systems, go over what has made the Detroit Red Wings so good for so long, and get back to the basics with the team, because when things start going downhill, it’s very difficult to turn them around both mentally and physically.
“Even in saying all that, people need to understand that I still think the Red Wings will have a good season, that they will make the playoffs. This is a dynasty team that can still do it, but they need to nip this in the bud right now….”
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