As most of my followers know, I am an avid sports fan and being from Michigan I am a huge hockey fan. Being a hockey fan from Michigan, the only team that is acceptable to root for is, of course, the Red Wings. I have been a fan of the Red Wings since I could remember and will never not be a Red Wings fan. As a Red Wings fan, I've been treated to some of the best hockey teams in the history of the game and one of my first hockey memories was of the 2002 team winning the Stanley Cup. However, as of recent years, the once great dynasty of the last two and a half decades has seen a drastic decline in performance and this year will be the first time in my lifetime that I will not see my team competing in the playoffs.

What are the factors leading to this decline?

While some may say the players aren't as good anymore while others blame the decline in coaching staff, I would like to point out another factor that I believe is the overwhelming factor as to why the wings aren't as good as they used to be.

The factor I speak of is Puck Possession. Since the early 90s, the Red Wings have been able to dominate games by simply controlling the pace of play and forcing other teams to adjust to their style of play. In fact, since the Red Wings last missed the playoffs in 1990, they have only been worse than 10th in puck possession percentage one time during their playoff streak while 3 of the 4 Stanley Cups they won during that stretch they led the league in puck possession.

So why exactly has their puck possession gone down? This is a combination of a couple factors, one being the retirement of most of the skilled players of the 90s and early 2000s and the different drafting style of the Red Wings in recent years. The Wings were masters of the draft during the 90s but have recently seen a change in their recent draft picks. They have been focusing more on drafting heavy checking North American players in recent years over puck possession dominant European players. I'm not saying the quality of players has gone down but the style of play that was so successful is no longer evident.

Coaching has also witnessed a decrease in the last couple years. Scotty Bowman and Mike Babcock focused primarily on puck possession and discipline and along with the players they had, their coaching styles were widely successful. Jeff Blashill, the current coach, focuses more on forechecking and aggressiveness on offense. The style he introduces, while successful with fast, hard hitting players, does not coincide very well with the skilled, well shooting players the Wings currently have (as most of their heavy hitters are still being developed in the minor league).

Looking Ahead

This year, the Wings currently have 11 draft picks in the upcoming draft and due to their record this year they will most likely end up with a Top 10 overall pick. I am interested to see how the Wings will prepare for the draft and who they will end up choosing. The main focus for them, in my opinion, is to start on the back end by selecting skilled defensive defenseman, something they have been lacking since the retirement of Niklas Lidstrom.

I'm also interested to see who the Wings will sign in the summer as they have talked about getting Tomas Vanek back and have shown interest in re-signing veteran Forward Drew Miller. Jeff Blashill will also be going into his third year as head coach so his system should be fully understood and implemented by the end of this summer.

It is also kind of fitting that this is the year the Wings will end their streak as it is the last season they will be playing at Joe Louis Arena. As much as I'd love to see them playing in the postseason, it is going to make the last game at the Joe just that much more special. Hopefully the Wings will be able to start up another postseason streak in the new arena this Fall.

Interesting Stats and Facts

I'm just going to provide some crazy stats about the Wings streak that I find interesting.

1. The 25 consecutive playoff appearances is the 3rd longest streak in professional sports history behind only two other NHL teams (Boston at 29 and Chicago at 28, both of which are not active streaks).

2. At the time when the Wings started the streak there were only 21 teams in the league including no Florida teams and only 1 California team; there are currently 30 teams, 2 Florida teams, and 3 California teams.

3. During the streak, the Wings are the NHL leaders in: Wins (1,133), Goals For (6,518), Playoff Wins (170), and Stanley Cups (4).

4. At the time the Wings last missed the playoffs, over half of the current NHL players were not even born yet.

5. Lastly, and the craziest stat of all in my opinion, is when the Wings last missed the playoffs (April 4, 1990) the World Wide Web was not yet available to the public (August 6, 1991).