Monthly Recap: The Dog Days of March

Let me start by saying that the Red Wings are NOT going to miss the playoffs. That said, a 5-8-2 record during the month of March is not exactly a momentum builder. With the team piling up losses and weaknesses mounting throughout the lineup, is there any hope of this team actually being effective come playoff time?

Mike Babcock is the single most demanding coach in the NHL. His relationship with the team is reminiscent of Scotty Bowman, of who Steve Shutt once said; “You hated him for 364 days a year. And on the 365^th day you collected your Stanley Cup rings.” It is incredibly difficult to play 82 games in the NHL, and it is even harder when your coach is Mike Babcock. While his defensive tactics are ingenious and compensate for the team’s weakness on the blue line, it also is incredibly demanding on the players and specifically the forwards. On the West Coast trip, matching up against the league’s best teams, it was easy for the team to bring the focus and effort necessary to be successful. After collecting these victories and essentially securing a playoff spot, the players, unsurprisingly, relaxed. It was the dog days of March, playoffs were still a month away and the team started to feel as if there was nothing to play for. As a result, the team’s effort dropped, and the team’s success suffered. Entering March, the Red Wings had a Score Adjusted Fenwick For of 53%, 8^th best in the league. However, this number fell all the way to 49.8% during the month of March thanks to the lack of effort and a few key injuries.

The lack of effort was also apparent on the penalty kill, as the team’s Fenwick against per 60 minutes rose to the highest values of the season. The PK gave up 11 more unblocked shot attempts per 60 minutes than they had during the impressive run at the start of the season. Under the heavy workload, both on the kill and at even strength, Jimmy Howard cracked and his adjusted save percentage dropped to his lowest mark since 2009. One of the potential reasons for this may be his need for a break to readjust and stay focused. Yesterday Nick Cotsonika quoted Jimmy as saying the problem was mainly “keeping your eye on the puck at all times and not losing sight of it.” As Cotsonika states this may be another case of a player struggling to retain focus in the middle of a long season, “It really might be that simple. Play an NHL season, and it becomes work to find the puck. You start guessing just a little bit, and you miss it.”

In conclusion, a lack of work rate and a number of injuries led to poor possession numbers and Jimmy Howard has struggled to maintain his focus under the pressure. The good news is that these problems are easily fixable and are beginning to be fixed naturally as the team sees the playoffs approaching. After returning from the Florida trip the team earned very impressive wins against both St. Louis and Tampa Bay while poor goaltending and costs them two points against both San Jose and Arizona. Even last night in a poor showing against Ottawa, Babcock was quick to point out the team’s focus and effort was good, it was just unable to compensate for loss of key players. The team has finally started to battle again and as players get back from injury, the results will follow. With the extended break, Jimmy Howard has every opportunity to work on his game and regain his mental focus before April 11^th rolls around. This is the same team that once sat atop the Eastern Conference standings. With no dominant team in the East, the team’s seeding will be completely irrelevant. As the 3^rd seed in the Atlantic or the 2^nd Wild Card team, this team still has the ability and opportunity to make a deep run come late April.