Two Towering Points of Contention

It’ll be great to see two big enforcers on our side for a change, tonight when the Wings play in St. Louis. Jonathan Ericsson—all 6 feet 5 inches of him—was called up from Grand Rapids along with big Aaron Downey, and I look forward to the guys in red and white not all being dwarfed by a taller, beefier opposition. This is also a nice response to Don Cherry’s rant on YouTube Saturday, in which he accused the Wings of being too soft.           I would say having a big physical force on the ice is out of character for Detroit, who really aren’t known for their ferocity—with the notable exception of Darren McCarty—but it is about time Babcock and Holland answered to the other teams’ enforcers with some of our own. Too often an opponent seems to resort to physically dominating the Wings and throwing its weight around in a game, without trying to beat the Wings through intelligent play.

           Since there are so many exceptionally talented Europeans on the Red Wings who I think would prefer to outwit an adversary rather than outdo him physically, what a relief that the focus can shift from what they lack in brawn to what they make up for in brains. In a lot of cases, I think this is the ultimate intimidation technique. But just for the sake of critics like Cherry and other anti-finesse fans, there are now two towering points of contention against anyone who says we are a wimpy team.