Catching up on the Roundtable

As you may have noticed, I inadvertantly threw a monkey wrench into our Red Wings Blogger's Roundtable over the weekend. I was not able to post when I was supposed to, and everything went straight to Hades. Actually, it was a minor glitch, and I'll be finishing up the Roundtable now on Friday.

Anyway, to compensate for my failure, On the Wings and The Production Line both posted yesterday.

On the Wings's question was:

Throughout the year, one topic of discussion among Wings fans was the “off” season Nick Lidstrom was having. Not that he was actually playing badly, but there was a sense he was less playing superhuman than he had been. I remember a feeling from early on that the Norris wouldn’t be his at the end of the year, not because he wasn’t still the best defenseman in the League, but because the drop-off in play was enough to give voters an excuse. He stepped it up in the playoffs and demonstrated incredible toughness in playing through that injury, but the fact that he something of a lesser season and is nearing the big 4-0 has me thinking. Was Nick’s off year a product of his age or the same post-Cup malaise that seemed to affect the rest of the team? Do you see him returning to perfection this season, or will the sight of a mistake on his part become a more common occurrence? If the latter, is the rest of the Wings’ defense ready and able to step in to fill the gap? Where do the Wings go if Nick is finally slowing down?

The Production Line's question was:

The last time the Red Wings went to a Final and lost, it was 1995. The loss came at the hands of a Devils team that thoroughly dismantled an offensive juggernaut in Motown. The Wings won the President's Trophy, and led the league in goals-for with 180 in a strike-shortened season. The leading scorer that season was eventual Norris winner Paul Coffey.The Wings only lost two post-season games going into the Final but were swept. Our question is this: how do you expect this 2009-10 team to fare rebounding from the loss to Pittsburgh? Compare the scenarios faced by the '96 and '10 teams, weighing the coaching staffs and rosters - and evaluating which squad stood/stands a better chance of going the distance. Obviously the '96 Wings didn't win the Cup either, losing in the Conference Finals. But we all know what happened in '97 and '98. Are we on a similar track right now?

Click both links for more brilliance from your dedicated Red Wings bloggers.

Babcock's Death Stare should be hosting today with Abel to Yzerman stepping up to the plate tomorrow. Motown Wings will follow suit on Thursday and I'm wrapping things up on Friday (no seriously... I'll post this time, promise.