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DALLAS — It isn't so much a myth about the Detroit Red Wings as a half truth — the reason for their consistent, year-over-year success is that they choose well in the later rounds of the NHL entry draft.
Yes, the players that make a difference offensively for the Red Wings now were all selected in the afterthought regions of the NHL entry draft. Pavel Datsyuk was 171st overall in 1998; Henrik Zetterberg 210th in 1999; Tomas Holmstrom 257th in 1994; Johan Franzen 97th in 2004.
But drafting players is one part of the equation and developing them is another, and this is where Detroit doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves for the organization that it has in place. Datsyuk wasn't a finished product when he arrived; he scored just 11 goals and 35 points in his first season. Zetterberg started with 44 and 43 points in his first two seasons, before evolving into better than a point-per-game player following the lockout. Franzen was drafted as a 24-year-old; passed over in six consecutive entry drafts and projected by the Red Wings as a possible third-line centre. He became an overnight sensation, starting in March, when he scored six game-winning goals, playing on the top line in place of the injured Holmstrom.
Identifying those types of latent talents — and then bringing them along — is the truest test of an organization's strength, and the reason why Detroit, year after year, seems immune to the ebb and flow that other teams endure.
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"I learned this from Scotty Bowman," began Red Wings' general manager Ken Holland. "Scotty Bowman loved veteran players because he knew what to expect from them.
"But the other thing veteran players do is, they coach the younger players. They teach them how to be pros. When you come to Red Wings' camp and practice is over and Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper hit the stationary bike, where are you going to go?"
If you plan to stay, presumably you jump on the bike right next to them.
Holland is talking, while watching the end of a Red Wings' practice at the American Airlines Centre. Most of the players have left the ice, only a couple of extras remain. One is defenceman Jonathan Ericsson, a prospect who played briefly for them in the regular season and they project as a regular next season and for years to come.
"We got him with the last pick of the 2002 draft," said Holland. "A lot of teams had packed up and gone home by then. He played two years in the minors and he had a chance to make his mistakes down there. Halfway through this year, he stopped making mistakes."
If Chelios retires or Brad Stuart signs elsewhere in the off-season, Detroit has a ready-made replacement, waiting in the wings. In the Red Wings' organization, Ericsson has had a chance to learn from Lidstrom.
Datsyuk, star of Monday night's 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars, which gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference final, was mentored by fellow Russian Igor Larionov when he first arrived. Under different circumstances, in a different organization, would Datsyuk have evolved into the player he is today? Maybe not.
Slow and steady was the answer for all of them — as it is for new generation of emerging young players, Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler, both of whom are playing as top-six forwards on the Red Wings in these playoffs. Hudler scored the winner on Monday to put the Stars on the ropes and move Detroit to within one victory of a berth in the Stanley Cup final.
According to Zetterberg, he and his contemporaries were given a certain level of responsibility in their first years and gradually, over time, worked their way up the depth chart.
"I think it's because we always have a good team here," explained Zetterberg. "That makes it a lot easier to have patience with your draft picks. You can leave them a year longer in your farm club or back in Europe; and when they play in the NHL, and you still have a good team, so you're among good players and you get eased into it.
"My first year, I probably averaged about 14 or 15 minutes. For sure, I wanted to play more, but it was a really good start for me. For each year I've been here, I've had more responsibility. I get more ice time. I play more in critical situations. And when you do, it's good for your confidence."
The confidence builds naturally, over time.
"You don't have that big amount of pressure as a rookie here," said Zetterberg. "If you compare it to some other clubs, when they draft a guy, he's right away put into the line-up and he basically has to be really good right away. It's not often you can have that. You've got the Crosbys, the Ovechkins and the Malkins, but other than players like that, it can be really tough for you."
Detroit is not exactly a garden spot, but they've enticed some players to come as free agents and convinced most of their big names to stay. It isn't because of the weather.
"They come for the hockey," said Holland. "We have nothing else to sell but the hockey. Some people don't like our program; we're not for everybody."
No, only for those that want to win — or compete for championships every year.
