Hockeytown is Back!

By George B. Eichorn of the Downtown Detroit Monitor
Hockeytown is back!
A new Detroit Red Wings season at Little Caesars Arena starts Saturday, October 14 against the Tampa
Bay Lightning (7 p.m. on Bally Sports & WXYT-FM 97.1). Two days earlier, October 12, Detroit opens at
the New Jersey Devils.
The Steve Yzerman-led Wings could be playoff contenders thanks to off-season player acquisitions and
development of a young stable of players. While Yzerman dismissed talk of the new season becoming
“playoffs or bust” you know he and second-year head coach Derek Lalonde would like to end Detroit’s
seven-year post-season drought. Last year, the team was 35-37-10 and seventh place in the Atlantic
Division.
Owners of 11 Stanley Cup championships, it’s been several long and frustrating seasons for the
Hockeytown faithful. The Wings are again led by Captain Dylan Larkin, the Waterford and University of
Michigan center coming off a career-high 32 goals and 79 points season.
Gone from last season’s club are Filip Hronek, Robert Hagg, Magnus Hellberg, Dominik Kubalik, Alex
Nedeljkovic, Jordan Oesterle and Filip Zadina.
Detroit’s roster was still forming at press time. Here are key players: forwards captain Dylan Larkin,
Jonatan Berggren, J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp, Alex DeBrincat, Robby Fabbri, Christian Fischer, Klim
Kostin, David Perron, Michael Rasmussen, Elmer Soderblom, Daniel Sprong and Joe Veleno. Rookies
Marco Kasper and Nate Danielson saw much pre-season play.
Defensemen vying for roster spots are Ben Chiarot, Simon Edvinsson, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl,
Olli Maatta, Jeff Petry, Moritz Seider and Jake Walman; the last two form Detroit’s number one blueline
pairing.
Wings goaltenders are starter Ville Husso, James Reimer (San Jose) and Alex Lyon (Florida). Husso
recorded just one win in his final nine games last season yet recorded career highs in games played (56),
wins (26) and shutouts (4).
Newcomers DeBrincat (4 years, $31.5 million) from Ottawa, Compher (Colorado) and Sprong (Seattle)
are expected to improve Detroit’s woeful 24 th place ranking in goals scored a season ago. The Wings
need to stay healthy and to jell out of the gate. Getting Fabbri back is another key. He was limited to 28
games in 2022-23 following a third ACL surgery and a clean-up procedure in March.
The Wings cross the pond to play two games, November 16-17, in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of the
NHL Global Series against Ottawa and Toronto. The traditional Wings home game on New Year’s Eve
features Boston.
Broadcasting the Wings on radio are Ken Kal and Paul Woods, 97.1 FM and on cable Bally
Sports Detroit with Ken Daniels, Mickey Redmond, Chris Osgood, Jimmy Howard, John
Keating, Trevor Thompson and Larry Murphy. Thirteen Wings games are slated for national
broadcast on ESPN, ABC and TNT.