2005 Detroit Redwings Preview
Welcome to the 2005 Detroit Redwings Preview page. The NHL Hockey Season is around the corner and what better way to remind the public how exciting the NHL can be with a 2005 season preview from Maddux Sports. Remember if you are betting on NHL hockey look no further, as we are one of the few sports handicapping services that offers NHL picks against the hockey betting line and can help you be a winner this NHL betting season.
2005 Detroit Redwings Hockey Season Preview
The Motor City, Motown, and Hockey Town are all descriptors
associated with Detroit, a city that takes its cars, music,
and hockey seriously. In Detroit the sport of choice is definitely
played on ice and it is played by some of the finest in the
game.
When you read the Red Wings’ roster it’s tough not
to get goose bumps. There’s perennial excellence at just
about every position. Chelios (defense), Draper (center), Holmstrom
(left wing), Lindstrom (defense), Schneider (defense), Shanahan
(right wing), and, of course, Yzerman (center) are names that
define their positions.
Then there’s Brett Hull—no longer a Red Wing. And there’s the guys whose names you may not know such as center Robert Lang who had 79 points in 2004-03 (most of those with Washington) and recently signed Pavel Datsyuk who earned 68 points at center for Detroit.
The fact is the Red Wings, who finished the 2003-04 season with more points than any other team in the league (109), did not make it out of the second round of the Cup playoffs. In that series the Hockey Town goaltender was primarily Curtis Joseph. This year’s tending chores go to Manny Legace who held the goalie position for a majority of the 2003-04 season but was replaced by Joseph after a 2-2 start in the playoffs against Nashville. Legace’s first two games were fine and he won both, but in the next two he gave up a total of six goals. For the rest of the first and the entire second round against Colorado Joseph led all tenders with a 1.39 GAA and a .939 save percentage. The problem was his teammates scored most of their 13 goals in the Colorado series in two games.
The question for Legace is can he get back to his pre-Stanley Cup performance level of play where he gave up a little over 2 goals per game and posted a .920 save percentage? If he can do that, there’s little doubt that his teammates will do what they normally do—score goals at will and shoot themselves back into the playoffs. In Hockey Town they expect nothing less.
