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Red Wings' offense is getting scary again

Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 1993 by Larry Wigge

The signs are there. The Detroit Red Wings' powerful offense is beginning to get into gear. Just ask the Dallas Stars, who were thrashed by the Red Wings, 10-4, last Saturday.

The victory gave the Red Wings (9-5-2 in the last 16 games) a 10-10-2 record, the first time they have been at .500 since they were 1-1 October 8. And they still are missing Steve Yzerman, who will not return until January.

Those who jumped off the bandwagon when Coach Scotty Bowman couldn't get the Red Wings off to a good start made a mistake. Bowman simply faced a bigger job than most people realized.

Let us count the ways:

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* The locker room is filled with individualistic players who had to endure tough times together before Bowman could show them how to win together.

* Even with Tim Cheveldae, the goaltending is average at best. But after Cheveldae suffered a sprained right knee on opening night, the Red Wings were playing most nights in front of an empty net.

* Yzerman, one of the few leaders Bowman could count on, was lost after only eight games because of a herniated disk. He has just started working out again.

* Scheduling 16 of the team's first 25 games on the road was a mistake, especially when breaking in a new coach.

But Cheveldae is back in goal. Keith Primeau and Mike Sillinger have gotten opportunities to play in Yzerman's absence and have blossomed. Paul Coffey has shaken off his early-season injuries and is helping the other defensemen assert themselves in the transition game. And, most important, Detroit begins a stretch Friday against Ottawa in which it plays eight of the next 12 games at home.

"Our defensemen are catching the opposition flat-footed and enabling our forwards to go to the net," Bowman says. "The Red Wings led the NHL in goals and power-play goals last season. They did it when all five players went on the attack."

What's even more important is this team is more disciplined and beginning to understand its responsibilities better each day.

In other words, the Red Wings are getting scary again - and Coffey and Sergei Fedorov are leading the way.

Coffey credits a talk with General Manager Bryan Murray for a recent resurgence that includes one goal and six assists in three games after being scoreless in six.

"Bryan told me to be a little more selfish, stop passing so much and look to take a shot," Coffey says.

You can't say too much about Fedorov, who is on a pace to score 50 goals and have 60 assists. In his first three NHL seasons, he concentrated on shutting down some of the league's best scorers.

"When I was in Pittsburgh, I saw Sergei play head up against Mario Lemieux and some of the league's top scorers and do a great job," Bowman says. "But seeing him every night, I've seen a player who contributes much, much more. I've learned that he's a player who can play in every situation - power play, penalty killing, defense, scoring, you name it.

"He's a great player, the kind of player who takes pride in being more than just a good defensive player. He's right up there with the league's best centers - Lemieux, Gretzky, Gilmour, LaFontaine and Yzerman."

All of which has put the Red Wings back on the winning track.

"You can't let them get you backing into your zone," Blues right wing Brett Hull says. "The last time we played them, it looked like we were playing a prevent defense against them in the third period. And you know how often a prevent defense works in the NFL."

Sometimes when you're trying to shut down the Detroit offense, you just want to punt.

Difference

makers

The Rangers' 12-0-2 unbeaten streak ended against the Islanders last Saturday, but the Rangers are confident and won't stop there.

Coach Mike Keenan has the Ranger's believing in being responsible away from the puck to get chances offensively. And it has worked.

In their first 24 games, the Rangers averaged 35.3 shots per game and allowed 26.0. The shots-against total is the important one. Last season, the Rangers allowed a whopping 34.5 shots per game through their first 24 games.

Keenan has given a role to each player and it has been carried out.

"He's the catalyst behind everything," General Manager Neil Smith says of Keenan. "The biggest acquisition we made was getting him. He's dictating what style he wants them to play and I think they're doing it."

It isn't easy to get a lot of star players to buy into your system, but Keenan has. That's why he has been successful wherever he has coached.

Un-Finished

business

Winnipeg's Teemu Selanne has started the second quarter on a pace to score 44 goals. Not bad for some players, but far off Selanne's 76-goal rookie season.

"Last season, you saw the drive to the net and the willingness to take a check," assistant coach Andy Murray says. "We haven't seen that from Teemu lately."

One reason for Selanne and the Jets' slow start is that they already have played weight games in their new Central Division, a division that excels at the clutch-and-grab and frustrates fast-skating teams such as Winnipeg - unless they show a consistent second effort.

Red Wings' offense is getting scary again

Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 1993 by Larry Wigge

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