Detroit Red Wings: Heading Into the All-Star Break, Team Looks To Deserved Rest

After last year's rash of injuries and an early playoff exit, every player on the Detroit Red Wings roster was coming into this year feeling rested and fully healthy.

The first time in a long time.

After a blistering 12-4-2 start out of the gate, the first injury hit.

Mike Modano suffered a freakish injury in game No. 20 on the schedule, Friday, November 26 in Columbus. His right wrist was cut by the skate blade of R.J. Umberger.

Though Modano was a huge loss to the Red Wings depth department, out until mid-March, it was something the Red Wings could overcome.

They still had their core.

Nicklas Lidstrom started the season remarkably, performing like the perfect human he is. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg were back to the EuroTwins they once were from the season before last. They were getting scoring from Dan Cleary, Johan Franzen and from the defense in general.

But on December 22nd, the Red Wings season took a turn for the worse.

In a game against the Vancouver Canucks, Pavel Datsyuk went down with a broken hand; luckily, he didn't need surgery.

Two games later, Dan Cleary went down with a fractured ankle after taking teammate Brad Stuarts shot off the ankle in a game against Minnesota.

Two and a half weeks later, Tomas Holmstrom went down to a broken hand as well.

Adding onto that, a week prior to the Holmstrom injury, Brad Stuart was a part of a blind side hit that broke his jaw.

Also, Chris Osgood who had battled a groin injury earlier on in the season, played through the injury, but than couldn't anymore. He needed sports hernia surgery and he as well as Stuart are on the shelf until mid-March, along with Mike Modano.

The fears of what Detroit went through last year rushed back again this year.

The battles of barely making it into eighth place ran through the minds of Red Wings fans nationwide.

But the difference between last year and this year? Detroit's solid start to the season.

Detroit suffered injuries last year early and often at the beginning of the year. This year Detroit was fully healthy and able to jump out to a 12-4-2 record before the injury bug hit.

Another remarkable thing is that even with the loss of Pavel Datsyuk (who was leading the team in points before he went down to injury) and Dan Cleary (who was leading the team in goals before he went down to injury), is that Detroit have still been able to hold onto first overall in the Central Division and second overall in the Western Conference with a 30-13-6 record, heading into the All-Star break.

The Wings lacked depth last year, which seemed to be the demise of the team.

With the injuries this year, unlikely players such as Patrick Eaves, Darren Helm and Drew Miller have stepped up, something that was not there last year.

This year, the depth has paid dividends.

Also, Jimmy Howard couldn't have asked for a better game heading into the break after only letting in one goal against the suddenly red-hot Devils.

He looked like the Jimmy Howard that was in the running for the Calder trophy last year.

If there is any current healthy Red Wing that needs this break more, it's Henrik Zetterberg.

Zeta has been playing with a bad back, though you wouldn't notice it. Zetterberg has 17 points in the 16 games since Datsyuk went down.

This year's All-Star break is much deserved as it was last year (though last year, it was the Olympic break).

Detroit plays it's first game after the break on February 2, against the Ottawa Senators, and should be welcoming back Dan Cleary and Pavel Datsyuk.

Shortly after that, Holmstrom should be making his return.

The Wings will be getting stronger right out of the gate into the second half of the season.

With the depth returning to Detroit, should we expect the late run like the team did last year?

There are more than twenty games remaining in the season, but it should be a treat to watch as the playoffs draw much closer. 

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