Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland was too slow introducing young players to replace aging veterans to whom he had become too attached, stunting the franchise. Blashill was too reluctant to give young guns ice time as fading veterans were making mistakes as bad as promising novices needing experience.
I don’t hear that narrative anymore. What happened? Well, we began the season with a roster dominated by young guns, particularly on defense, whose ranks were decimated with injuries. So we glimpsed the future as not only Dennis Cholowski but also Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, and Libor Sulak launched us.