Old Wings, young Leafs collide
Detroit hoping outdoor game provides boost
The sight lines at BMO Field will likely seem better, but no one will dare compare the experience to the Big House, where the Leafs and Red Wings last clashed in the great outdoors.
Ticket sales have been a challenge — a concept once considered impossible for NHL hockey in Toronto — but a reflection of many factors including prices, big-event overload and outdoor game indifference.
And the prospect of nursing a new year’s hangover with a cold wind off Lake Ontario? Not for everyone.
If you want some buzz for Sunday’s Centennial Classic, however, look no further than the home team. By almost any measure, coach Mike Babcock’s Leafs have exceeded expectations, both for this season and in the overall turnaround/rebuild since the 2014 Winter Classic three years ago.
Winners of four in a row, on the road, the Leafs are very much in the Atlantic Division playoff picture, which can be discussed in such context with a straight face sooner than many expected.
Auston Matthews is worth watching just about any time he steps on the ice (though perhaps not the $200 plus for this game), the rookie-heavy lineup plays with eye-catching speed and enthusiasm, and the result has been the most inspiring run in the early days of the Babcock era.
But while the Leafs continue to trend up, the Wings have veered in the opposite direction. They will head into the kickoff event of the league’s 100th-anniversary celebrations having slipped into seventh place in the Atlantic Division and 24th overall.
Predictably, talk is heating up that the Wings’ magical run of 25 consecutive playoff trips will finally expire this April. They won’t go down without a fight, but the aging Detroit roster is nowhere near as competitive as it was a decade ago.
“Yeah, it’s new, but we’re in (that position),” Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said Friday following his team’s quick practice on the pristine and fast BMO Field ice surface. “We’ve got to deal with it. Just got to keep on playing.
“Most teams when they rebuild, they tank for a few years. We try to do it a little differently, mix in younger players. It’s not going to be easy for us and we all know that. It’s not like we have the team we had in the mid-2000s. But you won’t have those teams forever, either.”
The Wings got first crack at BMO on Friday, giving the playing surface rave reviews. Leafs players had access to the temporary rink for a family skate and will have their lone pre-game practice Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, the Detroit predicament couldn’t be in greater contrast to the Leafs, a youthful team with speed and vigour and nothing but upside. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think Babcock saw the signs in Detroit and bailed at the right time.
Only five players remain from the team that beat the Wings in a snowy shootout three years ago in Ann Arbor, Mich.: Tyler Bozak, who scored the winner, James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner.
Once the holidays are digested, the world juniors are over and the Leafs get some proper home games, there may be a legitimate playoff race to get interested in.
“They’ve definitely changed a lot,” Detroit winger Drew Miller said. “They’ve got some big talent there and obviously that’s bright for their future. When you have players like that that you can count on to put up points and be that young, it’s got to be exciting for them.”
As for the Wings, they’re hoping another trip to the spotlight of a Jan. 1 outdoor game will provide a spark heading into the second half.
There are issues, to be sure — the league’s least productive power play, goaltending and an overall lack of consistency. But even with those shortfalls, the Wings (16-164) are just three points behind the Leafs and six points out of a playoff spot.
They might get into another playoff race yet — but it won’t come easily.
“I’m not done yet, even though some nights I feel I am,” Zetterberg said. “I don’t think any player wants to go through a rebuild or a tank or whatever you want to call it. You want to go out and win games.” rlongley@postmedia.com twitter.com/ longleysunsport