Diagnosing the Red Wings - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

I made a "Hillary Clinton/Detroit Red Wings" analogy in my go at The Ice Sheet last week. To that end, losing to Dallas and Marty Turco yesterday -- and extending the Wings' losing streak to six games -- was like Obama sweeping the Chesapeake Primaries. They're on the ropes at a critical time, mired in an historic losing streak just as GM Ken Holland heads to the GM meetings in Florida to figure out what could be a panacea for this team (or if it even needs one). How historic? John Niyo of The Detroit News explains:

To put that in perspective, the last time they were deep-sixed like this in the regular season winless and worrying -- Howard was in kindergarten, Mike Babcock was coaching in Spokane and Nick Lidstrom was still in Sweden. "It's terrible -- what can you say?" the Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom said. "We've just got to find a way to get out of this big slump."

Having watched most of yesterday's 1-0 loss to Dallas, a few things were clear about Detroit and its struggles.

Even though the Red Wings created some offensive pressure on Turco, too many shots didn't result in second chances. Matt Saler of On The Wings said it right: Detroit played well enough to win, but couldn't solve the Dallas back-checkers and its last line of defense. If there's a tenacious forward on the block who enjoys setting up shop near the crease, Holland should start sewing his letters on the sweater. Occasionally, Holmstrom's going to be on the pine instead of screening the keeper or collecting rebounds.

I'm not sure I understand this notion of the Red Wings suddenly being too small to win. It's something Pierre McGuire floated on NBC and repeated by Vartan Kupelian in a Detroit News analysis. I don't recall it being a pressing issue when the Wings were administering an Edward Norton curb stomp to anyone not in their division. Rather, injuries are the reason behind the swoon. The Chief over on Abel To Yzerman sees a Detroit team that's "lost two of your top three dmen, arguably your fourth best forward, your starting goaltender." George James Malik on Snapshots pins the problem on injured defensemen Brian Rafalski and Nik Kronwall:

The Red Wings are missing the outlet passes that Rafalski and Kronwall provide, and while Chris Chelios, Andreas Lilja, and Brett Lebda stepped up their play tremendously on Sunday, all the outlet passes in the world are worthless if you can't convert on them.

Indeed. Six losses in a row, with the injured-but-dangerous Avalanche tonight -- and Dallas closing in. But I still believe this is the best team in the NHL; it's just that, like any other team, staying healthy means the difference between a predestined President's Trophy and the worst losing streak since the Herbert Walker Bush Administration.