Let’s take a quick poll:

Is anyone concerned that the Red Wings have only won 2 out of 7 pre-season games thus far? And that they’ve dropped the last 5 consecutively?

I’ll be honest: it’s a little disturbing to see the same trend that plagued the Red Wings last year rear its head again. That trend was playing 20 to 40 minutes of a game, usually either starting slow or falling asleep in the middle, and cranking it up in the third.

The goaltending I’ve seen so far also hasn’t done a whole lot to inspire confidence. Howard has been what I expected–inconsistent and not extremely solid. Larsson looked to be fighting pucks a bit the two games I’ve seen him in. McCollum looked nervous in the one I saw. Pearce has yet to play, as far as I’m aware, which is a little odd since he hasn’t been cut, either. Greg Eno wrote a piece on the promise Osgood made to never have as season like 08-09 again, and to be better prepared this year. Oz isn’t looking awesome so far. He’s certainly not playing like he did just a few months ago during the Finals, but does anyone really expect that? He knows this is pre-season, and he’s not going to blow his groin out to make a save now. But I think he’ll be ready when the puck drops for real. I believe in Oz.

What concerns me more is the defense. I watched the game they played against the Leafs on Friday, and while they iced mostly regulars, it was not Red Wings defense that I saw. Kronwall’s played about 4 or 5 games, but he still looks like he’s figuring a few things out. As is Ericsson, but that’s more expected given that he’s had fewer years of experience. Meech and Lebda are absolutely killing me and I fear for the third pairing on the back end.

Babcock knows all this, but still he’s not freaking out–too much:

“You always wonder, ‘Geez, what’s going on?’ But you just watch and see how things go.”

And Kirk Maltby makes a blindingly obviously, yet still astute comment that basically sums up what they need to do:

“…we need to start getting into regular-season mode now and not wait until a month into the season.”

Tweet