The Red Wings have been a great team for a long time, but they were not so great this season. They finished eighth in the Eastern Conference and got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Most of this was because of injuries.

The Red Wings finished the season with 93 points. They had 39 wins,28 losses, and 15 overtime losses. This year, the Red Wings called up many players from their minor league affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. Those players include Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist played like a superstar this season, getting 28 goals and 20 assists in 57 games. He was supposed to be a short-term replacement. Detroit would have had a better season, but injuries made it hard to play.

Red Wings players missed a total of 421 man games. If the players weren’t injured, Detroit would have easily made it to at least the second round of the playoffs. They were expected to be among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they did below expectations and had a disappointing season. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg hurt his back in the Olympics and missed the rest of the season. Pavel Datsyuk, Darren Helm, and Johan Franzen each missed at least 35 games each.

Detroit almost ended their playoff streak. They barely made it to the postseason, as a wild card. They won the first game, but then lost the next four to the Bruins and got knocked out. Jimmy Howard was inconsistent and couldn’t play games four and five because of illness.

All in all, the Red Wings had a decent season. The season would have been better, but injuries made the season harder. Detroit did all that work and just to get knocked out in the first round.

Better luck next year.

By: Mustapha Elghoul

Unis Middle School