Puck Amok

Star-studded Red Wings run like well-oiled machine

Brett Hull has continued to fit in nicely with the Red Wings thanks to his recent scoring binge. AP

By Dave Wallace, Special to CNNSI.com

In an arena named for Joe Louis, it's only fitting that the Detroit Red Wings have dished out many beatings this season. The team has lost only four times at home -- and only nine times overall -- leading to a record 10 points better than the best competition entering the final games before the All-Star break. After a hiccup in December, when it lost five of its first seven games, Motown’s favorite team began firing on all cylinders again.

Make that all eight cylinders, because a Hall-of-Fame V-8 makes Detroit go offensively. The team’s ninth future Hall-of-Famer, goalie Dominick Hasek, provides Volvo-like defense. Scotty Bowman, straight Hall of Fame himself, presses the accelerator. It looks like a concept car that somehow made it onto the street.

Here’s a rundown of the features off the sticker.

The engine

Sergei Fedorov lends versatility playing forward or defense. As long as he’s playing forward, fantasy owners are happy. Defense makes him a liability as a fantasy forward.

Igor Larionov is a sure bet for the Hall of Fame, but his fantasy days are probably behind him. He should not be on a fantasy roster.

Nicklas Lidstrom is the rear-wheel drive leading the Red Wings power play up ice. His goal production dropped for some unknown reason this year, but his assists are still there. Perhaps with so many top players, he doesn’t have as much pressure to produce. That could be a shared theme.

Luc Robitaille is the prime example. It seems weird that a guy on pace for 35 goals could be a disappointment, but Lucky Luc’s assists dried up. If he gets an assist in each of the Red Wings’ 30 remaining games, he’ll still have 10 fewer than last year. This is where too many stars spoil the fantasy soup. Robitaille will drop more than 30 points from last year. If you have a better alternative, bench the ex-King.

Chris Chelios leads the league in plus/minus, which alone makes him worth playing. Fifty-eight penalty minutes say he’s still ornery. Twenty-three points place him in the category of offensive defensemen. And as of last Friday, Chelios is the best 40-year-old defenseman in the league.

What can be said about Steve Yzerman, except that he’s one of the best to ever play? Among all these stars, and with 19 seasons to his credit, he ranks second on the team in points with 46 in 49 games. Awesome. However, this week he’s going into the shop, so you want him inactive until after the All-Star Game. With a sore knee, Bowman is sitting Yzerman out this week to give him 10 days off. With any luck, the knee isn’t serious and he’ll be back scoring 75 points this year. But given his injury history, monitor him closely.

Brett Hull filled up with high octane this month, scoring 15 points in 11 games as of this writing. He has 43 points on the season, enough to start on a fantasy team, and is plus-22, which mandates he not stay in the garage. He’s probably not going to be a point-per-game guy like last year, but he should get close to 70.

New for 2002

Safety features

Maintenance plan

Manny Legace might be a good pickup for the last 30 games, to play during any rests afforded Hasek. Even with key players sitting out, Detroit should win the vast majority of its games.

Those wins will be harder to some degree though, because Detroit is on a long road trip for the rest of the season. The puck drops only 10 times at Joe Louis Arena during the next three months. Of course, playing on the road simply means the Red Wings are less phenomenal than usual.

There’s one more nail lying in the road. I’ve said before that I don’t think the Olympics should hurt players’ production in March and April. I still don’t, but if any team will have that problem, it’s the Wings. Ten players are going to Salt Lake City, more than any other team.

The bottom line is that Detroit should still roll through the rest of the regular season, but slight drops in production could happen to just about every player. That’s something that happens with success in sports: the best guys rest. Not a big deal for most, but keeping an eye on Detroit players could help you make the move that nets an extra point or two in a close league race.

Detroit is a magnificent team, the closest thing to a fantasy team playing the NHL game.

With that, Dave Wallace turns the key to shut off this column. He knows it’s illegally parked.

 

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