Injuries cause adversity

As you might remember, last year's regular season was a remarkable one for the Wings... they won the President's Trophy with the league's best record, had an unusually high ability to win on the road, and in many ways, blew through the regular season to the playoffs... where they seriously stalled and got knocked out in the first round by eighth-seeded Oilers. Coach Babcock pinpointed the issue immediately - they hadn't faced any adversity during the season and now that push came to shove, they weren't able to be tested.

This season... well, not exactly the same. There have been many issues. Losing streaks... Losing Yzerman and Shannahan... and now, facing injuries to many of their top players. Zetterberg, Hasek, and Samuelsson are injured, and it shows. The line that Hank centers has been responsible for 40% of the Wing's goals of late and having him out hurts. Despite these problems, the Wings are still just a few points away from being on top of the Western Conference, have played strongly lately, and should have most players back before the playoffs. Perhaps the testing that these injuries have provided, combined with the new level of physical play that Bertuzzi will bring, will ultimately serve the Wings nicely come playoffs (only a month away!).