Central Division breakdown-Detroit Red Wings...

Brian Ralfalski,Chris Osgood,and Kris Draper all retired,with a possible retirement of Mike Modano seems to say that the Red Wings are getting younger... very true,but if there is a general manager,who knows this team,inside and out,it is Kenny Holland,and an assistant general manager,who meshes well,with Holland,it is Jim Nill... both are the best 1-2 punch,in any front office,in the NHL... Mike Ilitch's first hire,when he bought the Red Wings,in 1983,from the Norris family,was Holland... why bring this front office up? simply because without this combination of people,there is no way that the Red Wings made playoffs,consecutively,for the last twenty years... four Stanley Cups,in six attempts(losing to New Jersey,in 1995,and to Pittsburgh,in 2009,in a brutal seven game loss)... many Hall of Fame members(Steve Yzerman,Brett Hull,Larry Murphy,et al),and many future Hall of Fame members(Nicklas Lidstrom,Pavel Datsyuk,and Henrik Zetterberg,et al)have been under Holland,and Nill...
there is one weakness,in Detroit's armor,this year:back-up goaltender,but they have a glut,at goaltender,in the American Hockey League,that has some playing time,in Detroit,over the last two years,when injuries hit the Red Wings,so the cupboard is not so green,and/or bare
the scoring core,of the Red Wings are intact... all three aforementioned players should be better with their seasons,with Pavel Datsyuk,missing 25,or so,games,with broken hand;let me tell you this:he was on a 100 point season run,when he was injured,and Henrik Zetterberg,had an off year,in scoring goals,and Nicklas Lidstrom may be long in the tooth,but he won Norris Trophy,for seventh time,as the best defenseman,in NHL,and who could forget Tomas Holmstrom,who is the best puck tipper around the net,in NHL... the scoring will take care of itself...
defense in their own zone,around Jimmy Howard,does worry me,because they gave up too many third period leads,in entire season,and losing after having a two goal lead,in third period does sucketh,and they did it too many times,last season,including in the playoffs,against the Sharks(the reason they lost,in seven games)... if they improve that weakness,in defense,they should fight for the Division,with the Chicago Blackhawks,and on the almighty grit factor,they may be lean(reputation)but they will drop the "nice guy" persona,and will rough it up with best physical teams,in NHL...
too many penalties,at critical times,just killed them,last year,so i suspect that Mike Babcock,will drill it into them,to be more disciplined,during the season,and with Datsyuk,Zetterberg,and Lidstrom,in tow,they will be better,in that respect,this season...