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Complete Fallacy

August 18, 2013, 9:43 AM ET [32 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Detroit Red Wings have had themselves a buzz worthy summer.

They shocked the hockey world by recruiting former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson to the Motor City. They also signed UFA sniper Stephen Weiss to add more goals and ammunition to their already potent offense for the upcoming season.

With the new realignment strategy in place for the coming season, moving the Red Wings from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference is going to be a bitter pill for teams like the Sabres, Leafs, Bruins, Senators, Canadiens to swallow. Making the playoffs just got tougher now that Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and their Red Wings have moved into the Atlantic division.

Earlier this week, Wings GM was asked point blank in an interview with a Detroit radio station (Detroit Sports 105.1) if his ultra-skilled, not-known-for-its-fighting Red Wings will be able to stand up to the physical demands of the Eastern Conference.

“A good team in the West is a good team in the East,” Holland said
.

Holland made it clear that he thinks that its a a “complete fallacy” that Eastern are big and strong, while the teams in his former conference are smaller. Holland countered the argument with two examples of Western toughness: the LA the Kings and St. Louis Blues.


Thanks, Detroit Sports 105.1

Holland has become the E.F. Hutton of NHL GMs. When he talks, people in the room listen. Holland's track record for success is impeccable.

He and his hockey operations team have always had an uncanny knack for building winning teams. Its been years since they employed heavyweight champs like Probert, Kocur, and McCarty. The Wings formula now is to play team tough, meaning everybody will contribute to the cause by pounding the body and staying out of the penalty box. Mike Babcock and his PP units love when opponents take stupid penalties against them. They love to bait aggressive opponents into taking dumb penalties, then they take great delight in scoring PPGs that win games.

For years, Holland has found success in building four strong forward units that can skate, hit, finish checks, score, and lock down opponents. Their D corps was compromised last season by the retirement of all-world D Nik Lidstrom, however, the Wings were still good enough without the future Hall Of Famer to take the Chicago Blackhawks to game seven of the Western Conference Finals. The Wings held a commanding 3 games to 1 lead against the Blackhawks in the WCF. One bounce their way could have sent them to the Cup Finals.
The Wings added Alfredsson and Weiss to an already lethal offense. They'll have a more polished D group which will support a more confident Jimmy Howard in their net.


Do you honestly think Holland is worried enough that he's losing sleep over whether or not his team is "big enough" to compete in the East?


The Red Wings are an interesting case study in how to build the better mouse trap. For years, Sabres GM Darcy Regier has cited Holland's template for Detroit's success. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and teams in both conferences are always studying the Holland-Babcock model to improve their own squads. Look at all of the Babcock disciples around the NHL. Lindy Ruff, Barry Trotz, Ken Hitchcock, and Dave Tippett all want their teams to play the Holland-Babcock way: puck possession team, with forwards who can skate, hold pucks, and penetrate the enemy D; aggressive fore check which creates zone time, heavy neutral zone pressure, with all five men coming back to their end of the rink to protect the fort. There's no denying the success of Holland and Babcock. They've built the perfect NHL Frankenstein that all other GMs and coaches want to copy. Its not that easy. Not every team has a Datsyuk, a Zetterberg, a Franzen, a Lidstrom, a Holmstrom, a Chelios, a Rafalski at his disposal.

In Buffalo, I like that Ron Rolston and Darcy Regier are saying goodbye to undersized players like Derek Roy and Nathan Gerbe, and that they are focusing on adding more size and skill to their lineup. Look at their past four draft classes for evidence. Tyler Myers is 6'8. Nikita Zadorov is 6'5 and growing. Rasmus Ristolainen is 6'5. Brady Austin and Brayden McNabb are 6'4. Jerome Gauthier-Leduc is 6'2. Jake mccabe is 6'1. Marcus Foligno is 6'3. Zemgus Girgrensons is 6'2. Mikhail Grigorenko is 6'3. Joel Armia is 6'3. Justin Bailey is 6'3. Justin Kea is 6'4. Gustav Possler is 6'0. Tim Schaller is 6'2. Corey Tropp, Colin Jacobs, Nick Baptiste, Logan Nelson, Connor Hurley, Judd Peterson and Christian Isaackson are all 6'1. Phil Varone, Johan Larsson, Dan Catenacci and JT Compher are 5'11, however, they play much bigger than their height suggests.

The Sabres have one of the top two prospect pools in the entire NHL. These kids can compete hard, skate well, score, defend, play the 200 foot game, and make life miserable for opponents.

The Sabres are heading in the right direction. Out with the old, in with the new.

Rolston will have success with his re-vamped lineup in 2013-14. Size does matter in the Eastern Conference. Rolston has plenty of size and skill at his finger tips and more in the incubator in Rochester.


Holland will be exposed to the simple truth that the hockey is heavier in the East.

I'll be watching the Red Wings closely this season to see how they stand up to the pounding and physicality that will be thrown at them by their new division foes the Bruins, Leafs, Sabres, Canadiens, Senators, Lighting and Panthers.


I betcha Holland acquires a hammer of an enforcer at the trade deadline.
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