A changing of the guard for the Wings?

As NHL training camps officially open up, there is that anticipation that goes with it. There is the knowing that Red Wings hockey is not too far off. Around these parts, that has meant a team setting the standard for success at hockey’s highest level. Success begets expectations. So, what do we expect from the 2011-12 edition of your Detroit Red Wings, besides all the winning?

Maybe that isn’t even a fair place to start. Two years ago, Mike Babcock told me early in the season that he felt making the playoffs was going to be a challenge. I thought it was early season coach-speak, but turns out the ol’ bench boss knew the type of season his squad was in for. The Red Wings had been to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back campaigns and the toll of that feat was taxing, and it showed. Nick Lidstrom typified the team’s long season malaise, returning to form late, finishing strong and moving onto the playoffs.

Last season Lidstrom and the boys started strongly, reinvigorated by the challenge of taking control of their season from the outset. Turns out Lidstrom led the way, playing at a very high level as we’ve become accustomed, eventually winning his seventh Norris Trophy for his efforts. He was fourth in the NHL in defensemen scoring, becoming the oldest D-man ever to amass at least 60 points. More inspiring to me is that Lidstrom played in every game for the second straight season and led the team in time on ice again last year, all as he was turning 41 years old.

Three paragraphs in, you see the dilemma for the Red Wings — what starts out about the team ends up about Lidstrom’s importance. Entering his 20th season, the team’s success cannot continue to flow thorough him. Yet, it does, still. But, obviously, long-term, it can’t. And maybe it shouldn’t. After all, Lidstrom was a minus player for the first time in his career despite the prodigious offensive numbers and Norris hardware. Even with Brian Rafalski retiring with one year remaining on his contract, this seems like the appropriate time to move away from Lidstrom as the linchpin.

Look, it is no easy task. He is one of a handful of the best defensemen to ever grace the ice. I look forward to seeing him patrol the blue line with precision yet again. Still, I’m equally anxious to see to what degree the coaches give quality minutes to others in key situations.  Can the staff transition Nick Lidstrom from being invaluable to merely valuable? I believe it is central to this season and beyond. It’s the perfect time, too — and not just because of Father Time. New assistant coaches Bill Peters and Jeff Blashill come aboard to run the special teams and according to Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg both, the team will tweak its style of play a little bit.

As the Captain put it at Hockey Fest down at the Joe, “We will still be a puck possession team, but with a little more puck pursuit built in. I think it’s a good thing we’re going to camp without knowing exactly what’s going to happen.” Zetterberg chimed in with, “Some things needed improvement. That’s the goal — to get better. The thought of some new ideas is exciting.” So, change is afoot. GM Ken Holland knows it’s needed.  He has infused this roster the last couple of seasons with more youthful legs and a 27-year-old starting goaltender in Jimmy Howard.

That is an ongoing process because the core vets of Lidstrom, Niklas Kronwall, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Holmstrom, Dan Cleary, Johan Franzen and Todd Bertuzzi still put the Red Wings in the elite-team conversation. To continue the dialogue long-term means introducing some new terms and new faces in expanded roles. The trick is in the transition. Seeing how it plays out has me excited for the season … and it’s just around the calendar corner.