Monday, October 31, 2005

Red Wings: Notebook

Wings off to a record season start

Osgood, who played on powerful 1995-96 team, says today's group plays much better defense.

By Ted Kulfan / The Detroit News

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DETROIT -- Now it's early, and the Red Wings realize that. Hopefully the people who follow them realize it, too.

But the way the Wings are winning these days, at the clip they are, it's beginning to bring back images of the 1995-96 season.

The Wings were 62-13-7 that season, with 131 points, and broke numerous records.

After Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, a team the Wings seem to play every night these days, the Wings are 11-1-0 after 12 games.

It's the Wings' best start ever. In terms of the NHL, the start trails only the Pittsburgh Penguins' 11-0-1 start in 1994-95.

Goalie Chris Osgood was on that 1995-96 Wings team. He isn't ready to proclaim this team as good, but he is impressed.

"It's early (to start comparing)," Osgood said. "We dominated that year. But it has a lot of similarities. This team seems to be ready to play every night.

"We're a lot better defensively than in years past," said Osgood, noting the largest difference in the Wings from the past several seasons.

"We're playing more as a full unit of five. Watching on television, and now playing, I see we're so much faster, and the rules may have a little to do with that. There's not as much clutching and grabbing.

"The players we added, they're big guys who go to the net and that's what we need, not perimeter guys. We go to the net hard.

"This is the best I've seen this team play in a long time."

At a time in the NHL when no lead is safe, and routinely every evening, a team rallies from multi-goal deficits, the Wings have held on to numerous leads, something not easy in today's NHL.

Osgood is impressed by the way the Wings have played their most solid defense, usually in the game's final 20 minutes.

"We've defended so many leads this year," Osgood said.

Coach Mike Babcock is simply looking to Tuesday's game against, who else, the Blackhawks. The start, to Babcock, is what it is.

"We have 22 points in October, and that's a big deal," Babcock said. "The great thing about getting those points is, you have them now. It's a great start for our team."

Tame rivalry

The NHL is scheduling all these games within divisions to invigorate rivalries, hopefully that passion spill onto the ice.

Maybe that'll happen, but these first two games between the Wings and Blackhawks have been relatively tame for an Original Six rivalry.

Actually, the new NHL may have something to do with how these games are turning out.

"If the old rules were in place, the games would be more aggressive," Osgood said. "You might see more fighting, but that's just not in the game anymore, it's not in the rules. There's less physical confrontation. Seven years ago, with Ed Belfour (then goalie of the Blackhawks) and those guys, it would have been real rough and tumble.

"With (former Blackhawks) Steve Smith, and Keith Carney, and all those guys, Stu Grimson, it would have been out of control. There would have been a couple of fights for sure. Now, it's kind of tame. There's the odd hit here and there, but that's it."

Babcock thinks people are making too much out of these back-to-back scheduling quirks.

"As much as you want to make it something, it's a regular-season game, it's not the playoffs or a playoff series," Babcock said. "They're a desperate team that needs wins, and we're a desperate team that needs wins. We'll know each other pretty well by Tuesday night."

Ice chips

Babcock said Manny Legace will likely be back in net Tuesday against the Blackhawks.

...The legend of Mikael Samuelsson continues to grow. Signed during training camp, Samuelsson scored his seventh goal of the season Saturday in Chicago. That ties for the team lead.

"Sammy has a way he shoots it in the net, I don't why, but he does," Babcock said.

...The line of Kirk Maltby, Kris Draper and Steve Yzerman was effective Saturday, and accounted for a goal: Yzerman nicely set up Maltby, who was alone in the slot. Yzerman played 12 effective minutes in the game.

"Yzerman was really good, which is great to see," Babcock said. "As he gets going, that'll give us another guy who can make plays and that's a positive. Not just everybody makes that play (the pass to Maltby)."

You can reach Ted Kulfan at (313) 223-4606, or ted.kulfan@detnews.com.