When their chance to repeat as champions ended in the waning seconds of the Stanley Cup Finals, it was possible to forget the Detroit Red Wings have been the NHL's most consistently successful franchise for well over a decade.
Despite work stoppages and economic model changes, the Red Wings have found a way to remain an elite organization, winning four Stanley Cups, four Presidents' Trophies and nine division titles since 1996-97. And no one will be surprised if they add to the collection this coming season.
It isn't getting easier, though. In part that's because the Red Wings are feeling some heat in their own backyard, with the other four Central teams now good enough to make this division perhaps the most competitive in the league. Then there is the salary cap, which is starting to put a crimp on the Red Wings' style despite the creative way its front office has managed to make deals in recent seasons.
• Team preview | Depth ChartThe Red Wings did lock up key players Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen in the middle of last season, but those moves left them with no room to bring back Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Tomas Kopecky. Detroit could end up without Jiri Hudler as well if the young center is ruled eligible to join the Russian league that offered him more than the Red Wings in arbitration.
In theory, the loss of that much offense should be a pretty serious concern, but the Red Wings have shown a remarkable ability to find players ready to step in over the years. And the efforts turned in by youngsters Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Ville Leino in the playoffs suggest the Red Wings won't necessarily suffer by opening up full time spots for them.
Detroit filled some holes by recycling veterans Todd Bertuzzi, Jason Williams and Patrick Eaves with bargain deals, but what matters for the Red Wings is that the very good core remains intact and ready for another run.
Here are five things to know about Detroit.
1. The focus around Detroit this summer has been on the scoring power it lost, but the more critical departure might be the one that largely went under the radar. Backup goalie Ty Conklin left as a free agent for St. Louis, taking with him 25 wins, nearly half the Red Wings' total of 51. But the number is only part of the story because of the way Conklin carried the load as starter Chris Osgood spent two-thirds of the season trying to get his head in the game. Detroit expects Osgood to have his act together at the outset this time, but the veteran, who turns 37 in November, will likely need to be spelled on a fairly regular basis. And Jimmy Howard, who gets the backup job now by default, hasn't convinced Red Wings coach Mike Babcock he's an NHL-caliber goalie.
2. Sometimes you can have too much talent. OK, not really, but in the Red Wings' case having nearly half the regular roster potentially end up on national teams at the Olympics next February has its downside. Detroit is already the oldest team in the league, a factor some believe hurt the Wings when the Finals went to seven games in a compacted time frame. This season, the Olympic break means the regular season schedule will be even more compressed and grueling, which could catch up with the players if they get deep into the postseason again.
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CBSSports.com's Wes Goldstein, Greg Cimilluca and Erin Brown preview the Central Division. 3. Speaking of the Olympics, one Red Wings player who won't be there is Osgood, despite a second consecutive strong postseason that many observers thought would earn him the kind of respect someone with his career stats deserves. Osgood needs only 11 wins to become the 10th 400-game winner in NHL history and he would have been a Conn Smythe candidate had the Red Wings won the Cup. His turnaround after being sent home midseason was impressive enough to fuel speculation he'd be invited to Team Canada's summer orientation camp because Red Wings executive Steve Yzerman is running the show and Babcock will be behind the bench. But Osgood wasn't among the five goalies invited to the camp, which seems to say something about the faith Detroit's brain trust really has in him.
4. If offense really is harder to come by this season for Detroit, then the Red Wings need to find a way to tighten up the defense, which ranked 20th in the league last season after being third the year before. The penalty killing had its issues as well, finishing 25th after being eighth in 2007-08.
5. The Jiri Hudler saga continues as training camp approaches because the 25-year-old forward has not yet received a transfer card from the International Ice Hockey Federation. Hudler signed with the Moscow team in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League for $10 million tax free over two seasons despite getting a two-year, $5.75-million arbitration award this summer, but faces sanctions if he plays in Europe without his card. KHL head Alexander Medvedev believes the holdup is moot because the Red Wings have given permission for Hudler to play for Moscow, as well as leaving the door open for the Czech-born player to return. Should Hudler be forced to play in Detroit this season, it would put further strain on the Red Wings, who are already over the salary cap.
