St. Louis Blues Opposition: The Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues had some of the most memorable rivalry games of the last 25 years. The fire has gone out of the matchup, but there is still a little ember burning.

The St. Louis Blues can thank the Detroit Red Wings for some awful memories. Some of the Blues’ best teams in recent history were made mere afterthoughts because the Red Wings were always just a bit better.

When the Blues had Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis and Brett Hull, the Red Wings countered with Sergei Federov, Slava Fetisov and Steve Yzerman. When the Blues had Keith Tkachuk, Doug Weight or even the newer crew like David Backes and T.J. Oshie, the Red Wings had Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Tomas Holmstrom or Pavel Datsyuk.

The Blues could never find that edge. The Red Wings always just seemed a step ahead.

From that standpoint, perhaps it wasn’t a rivalry on their end. They always seemed to come out on top.

For the Blues perspective, Detroit replaced Chicago as THE team to hate. The hatred for the Red Wings was so pure that the Blackhawks were not even an afterthought at the time.

Those times are gone now. The Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference in 2013-14.

The rivalry is still there for the fans, but there is not the same contempt as the rosters have turned over. Now it’s not much more than a TV special for NBC’s Rivalry Night.

The teams are much more on the same level now. There is even a hint they are headed in opposite directions.

The Blues have finished the last three seasons with over 100 points and in contention for division titles and conference titles. The Red Wings have struggled to keep their postseason streak alive.

The only thing that kept that streak in tact was playing in the weakened Atlantic Division. Detroit got into the playoffs with 93 points when the wild card teams had 100 and 96.

Detroit is currently in an odd position. They want to win now and keep bringing in veterans, trying to mix with their younger players coming through.

The problem becomes when there is no clear vision for the future. It’s an attempt to win now and see what happens tomorrow.

Key Additions

The Red Wings were quite busy this offseason. Even with the players they brought in, they were hoping for more.

Detroit was all-in for Steven Stamkos. They did their best to keep him from going across the border to Toronto.

In the end, neither team won that sweepstakes. Stamkos stayed in Tampa Bay.

The Red Wings did their best to pick up the pieces. They did not get any younger in the process though.

Detroit brought in Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott. All are potentially good players, but at the age where you run the risk of not getting what you hoped out of them.

Nielsen has not failed to score 40 or more points in a full season since 2009-10. He plays a solid, two-way style and still puts the puck in at a reasonable clip.

Sep 17, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Team USA goaltender Jonathan Quick (32) makes a save against Team Europe forward Frans Nielsen (51) in the first period during preliminary round play in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

He has shown no signs of slowing down and isn’t a banger, so he doesn’t have a bunch of physical miles on him. At 32, though, things catch up to you quickly.

Vanek is coming off a “failed experiment” in Minnesota. He still had 52 and 41 points, but the Wild expected to get the 40 goal scorer, so were unhappy.

The question for Vanek is simple. Is he already in decline at 32/33 or was he just never comfortable with the Wild and ready to break out again? Detroit is clearly hoping for the latter.

Ott is a bit of a surprise signing. The guy chucks his heart and guts out onto the ice every time he steps out there.

From a talent perspective though, there isn’t much left in the tank. He hasn’t had double digit goals since 2011-12.

He’s going to throw the hits. He’s going to be a great locker room guy.

If Detroit is needing more than that, they may have looked in the wrong spot. For the money – $800,000 – you can’t argue with it too much.

Key Losses

Normally you would have to say any general manager that sent Pavel Datsyuk to the Arizona Coyotes would be the biggest fool ever. Instead, Ken Holland is a genius.

This is because Datsyuk is actually headed home to Russia to play. Datsyuk’s contract belongs to Arizona so they could get themselves further from the cap floor.

April 17, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk (13) skates with the puck against the Nashville Predators in game four of the 2012 Western Conference quarterfinals at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Datsyuk had clearly lost a step at 37 and his numbers had gone down. Even so, he was still a threat to score – 16 goals in 2015-16.

The Red Wings are going to miss his presence and his calmness. He always seemed to come up with that magical stick handle that would create a goal or set one up.

Datsyuk’s departure almost seems to signal the end of an era. Detroit has been hanging on lately and with the Russian gone, it will be the first time since 1992 that the Red Wings will have neither Datsyuk or Lidstrom on their roster.

That’s a long time to have such good core players.

Brad Richards is also gone. However, at 35, it was unlikely his numbers were not going to take a dive from their already lowered stature.

Red Wings Outlook

It would be easy to say this is the year that Detroit misses the playoffs. However, given the division they play in, they’ll always have a chance to sneak into that top three spot.

There isn’t going to be much pressure from underneath. Only Montreal and Boston seem poised to make a jump over Detroit.

It’s going to be an interesting season though. Detroit brought in some good talent, but it isn’t young talent.

They’re hoping for a resurgence or at least the same production those guys had last year. That’s always a gamble when players enter their 30’s in such a fast game.

Detroit still has some good young players. Dylan Larkin looks like the next great Red Wing and he is only 19.

The Red Wings’ main problem may be defense. They were a -13 in goal differential in 2015-16.

They did not really address the problem in free agency. No trades were made to make a change there either.

There were rumors that the Blues and Detroit were trying to work something out. Kevin Shattenkirk was clearly the name on the Blues side and guys like Tomas Tatar or Gustav Nyquist.

Clearly, nothing materialized. Those deals would have helped out both teams, but Detroit seems the worse off for not striking on it.

My brain tells me Detroit will finally miss the playoffs. It’s never smart to bet against them though, so it would not be shocking to see them in the second season again.

After all, it is their final season at Joe Louis Arena. Emotions will be running high.

Blues Games

Given the Red Wings’ dominance in the 90’s, it’s surprising to see the overall record so favorably in the Blues’ hands.

St. Louis has the edge with a 112-107-25. Home ice has been big for these teams as well.

The Blues win 64.5% of the time at home. They’ve only taken the W 37.1% of the time in Detroit.

St. Louis will try to keep that home percentage up with the first game at home. Detroit visits on Thursday, October 27.

The Blues will not repay the favor for quite awhile. St. Louis will make their final visit to Joe Louis Arena (barring some big runs by both teams in the playoffs) on Wednesday, February 15.

What a better way to end their Joe Louis run and give a late Valentine’s present than to beat Detroit? Sadly, the Blues never seem to play well on NBCSN and that game will be on their Rivalry Night coverage.

The Blues lost both games by scores of 4-1 last season. It is time for payback in 2016-17.