A Call for Detention: Wings Winless thru 5

Before I even begin: Yes, that was a terrible no-call on Koivu.

Also: Yes, that was a terrible no-call on Setoguchi at the exact same time as Koivu.

Now, with that aside, I want to begin by saying that I am extremely volatile over what transpired last night in the Red Wings' 2-1 OT loss to the Wild.  Someone last night said it best: "The Wings deserved better, the Wild deserved less."

With that said, there's an argument to be made here.  The argument doesn't just span last night's...whatever it was resembling a game, it spans this whole 5 game winless skid we've got going on.  Anyone think I'm wrong in saying the Wings have been a completely uninspired and unfocused group lately?  Barring a rare few players, there's no jump in the skates, there's no ferocity in the corners, no drive to get to the net.  Detroit is lacking the urgency to win that most teams have all the time, minus the talent to put it to good use.

You think Columbus is feeling urgent to win some games? You damn well know they do.


And with the loss last night, the squandering of our best start in 30 years is complete: 5 up, followed by 5 down.  10 pts after 5 games, and 11 points after 10.  Pathetic and, more importantly, unacceptable in these parts.  Change is needed, but it's not the roster or the personnel.  It's the work ethic, the grit to play the same way and at the same high level at minute 60 as you did at minute 1.  The scorers need to shoot more, the checkers need to hit and grind more.  He who hesitates is lost, and the Wings have shown every time through this trek in the wilderness of losses that their easing off the gas is killing them.  Errant passes--or simply throwing the puck at no one at all--landing on the other team's sticks, half-assing defensive assignments, an unwillingness to just put the puck on net.  These are all things can can be remedied as long as the team actually works to remedy them.  They say it, oh they say it plenty, but I've not seen the boys act on all the things they've been saying they can do to get out of this rut.

When Johan Franzen was asked by Ken Kal how the Wings can improve before last night's game, he answered, "Shoot." three times.  That was three more times than Franzen actually shot at the net during the game.

See what I'm getting at...?

Class dismissed.