Wallowing Wings continue their winter woes

I'm sleep-deprived and in need of a nap but I haven't written here in a week and that's too large a gap for me. I blame it on the Wings' play right now, since they had lost five straight games before last night's shootout "win" against St. Louis (you can hardly call it a win when you need more than 65 minutes to beat the Blues and were outshot 33-21). But that's no excuse for not mentioning Henrik Zetterberg's brand new 12-year contract and his now-cemented spot as a lifetime Red Wing.

What Ken Holland and the Red Wings management pulled off is nothing short of amazing. I wanted to use miracle in place of amazing, but I'll save that one for when Kenny signs both Hossa and Franzen for multiple years (and I still think he will, one way or another). But that's in the future. Now back to Z.

Zetterberg is one of the premier players in the NHL. Offensively, defensively, off-the-ice, everything. There's a reason why Holland said the team sees him as a future captain. To get him signed for the rest of his career (he'll be 40 when the deal is up) and to do it for an average of only $6 million per year is remarkable, considering the amount of money that teams are willing to pay the big stars nowadays. He's not the most flashy player but he's incredibly consistent at a high level and comes through at the most important times of a game. And that's all without mentioning his playoff beard, which is legendary in itself and could warm an entire nudist colony in the depths of winter.

Unfortunately though, since signing his life away to the Wings, Hank has yet to play. He's missed three straight games with back spasms since he got hurt (back when the Wings played Columbus on Jan. 27). I'm honestly not worried though, since his back always seems to flare up at certain points in the season but doesn't keep him from dominating the league's best players in the playoffs. Take your time Z, we'll call you when we need you.

Seriously though, the team needs to get it together soon. They can pull out a win against the Blues while they're half asleep but with February games coming up against the Penguins, Avalanche, Ducks, and Sharks, they need to wake the hell up! Not to say the Pens or Avs are really all that great this season but the Wings' embarrassing losses to them earlier this season means that I want retribution. Now.

They finish the last couple months with games mostly against divisional opponents like the Blues and Predators, and those kinds of games will only hurt their playoff preparations. So, I want things to shape up immediately. So lose a few more, get it out of your system, and then show the league who's boss. Ready? Break.