I took a quick detour from “The Winged Wheel” to talk about Detroit falling to 4th overall in the draft.
To recap the series so far, a href="https://hockeybuzz.com/blog/Jeremy--Laura/The-Winged-Wheel-episode-1/275/106128">Episode 1 of “The Winged Wheel” was filled with optimism as prospects seemed to be coming into their own. Episodes two and three look at the preseason game against St. Louis and the first 11 games of the regular season. Episode 4 could be labeled “Elation or Frustration”. There’s no in between. For Episode 5 the word “Oasis” comes to mind. That being the case, episode 6 is a trip back to Death Valley. Episode 7 feels like a glimpse of good things to come, and then the season was shut down by COVID19
In those last few games, the roster was getting “resettled”. Mantha was back in the fold, Bernier was keeping the team in it, and Fabbri and Bertuzzi were finding a good stride again.
In 52 games, Fabbri had 14 goals and 17 assists. 6 of those goals were on the power play. That tied him with Mantha for the most PP goals on the team. Looking at Fabbri’s career stats, his 13.5% shooting average with Detroit is only slightly above his 12.8% career average. In the 18-19 season, it was 4.7%, which was his only season under 12%. If Fabbri can keep the momentum going, that could be a big positive for the team.
One of the other pleasant surprises from this last installment was Gustav Lindstrom. After collecting his first career point in a win, he was given the “game puck”. The big Swede’s speech ended with, “one in a row, let’s keep it going!” The room laughed. You need that guy for sure. Candid, loosens up the room a bit.
The “what might have been” lingers a bit, and takes us to the present. I was looking forward to seeing Seider play some games with the club. Having our top line back together for a stretch was exciting. There are glimpses of forward motion, but so many areas that need attention.
We now find ourselves waiting for the official restart. A small part of me wonders that, had the post season simply been cancelled, the regular post season start wouldn’t be that far off. We now have a five or 6 month wait for a return to action. The actual draft may be in November, and then Free Agency opens up. With no cap number as of yet, not much is going to be happening in the way of signings.
We’ll do our best to continue to keep tabs on what the organization as well as hockey as a whole are doing. Keep a light on, the Red Wings will be back.
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