As the team plays its home opener Monday, it marks the beginning of the final chapter at the iconic Joe Louis Arena - home to the Red Wings since 1979.
The team is set to move into its new home next season, the Little Caesars Arena, but will first bask in the final year at The Joe, the old barn that oversaw the Red Wings become the NHL's model of success.
Under the tutelage of general manager Ken Holland, at the helm since 1997, the Red Wings have established a winning culture, as evidenced by the club's 25 straight postseason berths, including four Stanley Cup wins over that time.
The Joe has also been the only home to team owner Mike Ilitch, who bought the Red Wings in 1982. Under his watch, the Red Wings have missed the postseason on just three occasions.
“It just had a special feeling, that the crowd was going to help you as much as they could,” Scotty Bowman told Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News.
Bowman, of course, is the legendary bench boss who coached the Red Wings to three Stanley Cup championships.
The first Cup, in 1997, ended a 42-year drought for the Red Wings. The next, in 1998, stands as the NHL's most recent back-to-back championship. He won his third with the Red Wings in 2002, and captured a fourth in 2008 as part of Detroit's front office.
In addition to Stanley Cups, Red Wings fans have witnessed many a star grace The Joe over the years, from former captain Steve Yzerman to elite blue-liner Niklas Lidstrom, as well as star forwards Sergei Fedorov and the recently departed Pavel Datsyuk.
On Monday, the Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators in what will be their final home opener at The Joe. No doubt the franchise that defined excellence will look to begin its "Farewell Season" on the right note.
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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Monday, October 17:
Line Stacks
LW Gabriel Landeskog (25K), C Nathan MacKinnon (50K), D Tyson Barrie (38K), Avalanche (at Penguins): It's a little too early to tell, but the Avalanche's top line looked sharp despite it being Joe Colborne with the bulk of the offense. Expect more MacKinnon and Landeskog Monday as they make life difficult for Penguins G Marc-Andre Fleury.
C Mark Scheifele (75K), RW Patrik Laine (28K), D Dustin Byfuglien (27K), Jets (vs. Bruins): Scheifele is more expensive than he likely should be, but his salary is mitigated by the relative bargains of his teammates. Scheifele likely isn't a point-per-game player, but Laine could be close to one already. With potentially still wounded G Tuukka Rask in net for Boston, the Jets are a solid choice.
LW Mike Hoffman (25K), C Kyle Turris (51K), RW Mark Stone (25K), Senators (at Red Wings): With two goals in two games, Turris is scoring above his usual pace. Expect the assists to take precedent as early as Monday with Hoffman and Stone benefiting. The Red Wings have allowed 10 goals in two game, though the return home is in Detroit's favor.
Bargain Plays
C David Krejci (25K), Bruins (at Jets): Krejci has opened the season relatively quietly with a lone assist to his name through two games. Krejci has been one of Boston's steadiest producers for years, quietly bordering on point-per-game status since 2008-09. When the Bruins score, there's a great chance he's feeding the puck to the scorer.
LW Gabriel Landeskog (25K), Avalanche (at Penguins): Landeskog is too cheap to ignore, even if you elect to forego the Avalanche stack mentioned above. He can score and he can feed the puck, though he's always prone to point-less outings. He's one of the Avalanche's top power-play options and is worth the measly investment required.
RW Gustav Nyquist (25K), Red Wings (vs. Senators): The Senators, and G Craig Anderson, have not done an expert job of keeping the puck out of the net through two games. Nyquist has been featured on the power play early on and has been playing alongside a rejuvenated Thomas Vanek. Take a tournament flier on Nyquist.
Top Fades
C Darren Helm (50K), Red Wings (vs. Senators): Consider this a fade based on alternate options. Helm's linemate Nyquist will cost half as much and is the more likely candidate to put points on the board. Go cheap if you go with Detroit.
LW Chris Kreider (74K), Rangers (vs. Sharks): Kreider's salary, even in a home game against a team traveling coast-to-coast, is far too high relative to the other options. Kreider's four points over his first two games are the definition of small sample size and he could be a massive fantasy disappointment against San Jose.
Contrarian Options
C Logan Couture (44K), Sharks (at Rangers): At his mid-range salary, Couture could get passed over because of the road matchup against a quality defensive team in the Rangers. Don't fret. Couture is centering an under-the-radar trio with RW Joonas Donskoi and LW Mikkel Boedker, cementing the Sharks' scoring depth.
RW Nikolaj Ehlers (39K), Jets (vs. Bruins): Ehlers has skated close to 20 minutes in both games so far and should continue to see a bunch of time with the Jets' second line and first PP unit. The second-year forward is a potential breakout candidate, and he may get lost in the shuffle early on with his salary firmly in the middle.
G Tuukka Rask (75K), Bruins (at Jets): Rask is dealing with an undisclosed injury and cracks in the facade of his game showed fairly regularly a year ago. Still, his .915 save percentage in 2015-16 is pretty stellar for a career-worst. He set the bar pretty high. With all goalies priced the same, if he nets you a win he won't be heavily rostered.
"It was phoned in to our trainer - he had to go out," said Oilers coach Todd McLellan.
Gustavsson had been sprawled out when Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson fell backward, landing on the netminder's head and back.
The Oilers bench was soon informed that Gustavsson needed to leave the game to undergo the NHL's concussion protocol.
The move returned Cam Talbot to the Edmonton crease, who had been pulled after allowing four goals midway through the game. He allowed two more in the third period as the Oilers went on to a 6-2 loss.
Every Monday, theScore's NHL editors will shine a light on three teams and three players that made headlines - for good or bad reasons - over the past seven days. Welcome to "The Power 3."
Teams
1. St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues reeled off three straight wins in four days to open the season, and the victories weren't against pushovers.
St. Louis beat three teams that made the postseason last year: Chicago (away), Minnesota, and the Rangers. After allowing only 40 shots over their first two games, the Blues looked tired Saturday against New York, but backup goalie Carter Hutton made one hell of a first impression, stopping 33 of 35 shots in his debut with his new team.
Even more encouraging is the play of Paul Stastny so far. After scoring only 10 goals last season, and failing to hit the 50-point mark for the second straight season with St. Louis, he now has two goals and four assists in three games.
If this is Ken Hitchcock's final season, it appears the Blues are hell-bent on making it count.
2. Edmonton Oilers
If the playoffs began Monday, the Edmonton Oilers would be taking part. And that's something, yeah.
In all seriousness, while the club played a stinker Sunday against Buffalo, the fact remains: Edmonton has the league's highest-octane offense, with 14 goals through three games.
Having that Connor McDavid guy certainly helps, and joining him in the top 10 in league scoring are Leon Draisaitl (five points) and Jordan Eberle (four points). Sure, it's early, but when you're the Oilers, you take any and all positives you can get your hands on.
Cam Talbot hasn't been good yet, but the silver lining is that he can't be much worse than he was Sunday against the Sabres. The Oilers remain one of the more fascinating teams to watch. They even canceled their day off!
The Pittsburgh Penguins picked up where they left off last season, winning back-to-back games to open their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Like the Blues, the Pens beat a couple of very good teams in their archrival Capitals and Ducks.
While all signs point to Crosby's latest concussion not being too serious, any head injury to No. 87 is enough to give anyone involved in hockey - whether professionally or as a fan - pause. And that means questions about the captain's health won't subside until he's back playing in games that matter.
Let's face it: Whether the Penguins are winning or not, Sid is missed.
Players
1. Auston Matthews
Obviously.
Four is the magic number. Four goals in Auston Matthews' first two periods of NHL action, and now, none in his last four.
How the kid responds to adversity will be one of the more interesting storylines to watch, because make no mistake, they're the Toronto Maple Leafs, and adversity is in their blood.
2. Richard Panik
If you had Richard Panik being tied for the league lead in goals through the first five nights of the season, you're lying.
Panik has always teased with his speed and skill, and after stints in Tampa Bay and Toronto, it would be very Chicago for Panik - only 25 - to find a permanent and productive home with the Blackhawks. He's making only $875,000 and is a restricted free agent in July.
Marc-Andre Fleury is back in the Penguins' net to start the season, and he looks like the Stanley Cup-winning goaltender that he is.
The 31-year-old, whose days in Pittsburgh appear numbered due to financial reasons and the coming expansion draft, is the No. 1 until Murray returns from a broken hand, and, well, who knows what happens then.
Fleury's stopped 73 of 77 shots he's faced so far. It's a busy week for Pittsburgh, with four games in six nights, beginning Monday against Colorado, which means it's a busy - and important - week for Fleury.
Honorable Mentions
The Panthers and Lightning are a combined 4-0, and Florida's allowed only two goals.
Jonathan Marchessault is loving life on the Panthers' top line - he has two goals and two assists in two games.
The Calgary Flames have allowed the most goals in the league. The more things change ...
After a collision with Carolina Hurricanes forward Joakim Nordstrom in the third period Sunday, Virtanen took finishing his check too far, slamming Nordstrom's head into the boards as Nordstrom was helplessly on the ice.
No penalty was called on the play. The 'Canes blew a 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 in overtime.
Down 3-1 heading into the third, Markus Granlund brought Vancouver within a goal 1:11 into the frame, and Ben Hutton tied the game with slightly under six minutes to play.
Brandon Sutter played hero in overtime, going upstairs blocker side with a beautiful wrister past Eddie Lack to win it.
The goal was Sutter's first of the season, and the Canucks improve to 10-6-6 in the forward's 22 games with the club, according to TSN 1040's Jeff Paterson.
The Edmonton Oilers are talking about practice. And the game.
A 6-2 spanking at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, in particular. And while the team was supposed to be off Monday after games Friday and Sunday, that's no longer the case:
Oilers players cancel mandated day off tmw to practice, at the behest of coach.
Head coach Todd McLellan was very critical of his team after Sunday's game, saying the club "has some foundation and fabric things that we have to continue to fix. Stupidity is one of them."
The Oilers outshot the Sabres 33-24, but Cam Talbot had a game to forget, stopping only 17 shots. He even allowed a goal from center ice.
