Robert Lang

 Dan Cleary

  Kyle Calder

   Have you seen reports or read about the possibility of Robert Lang not being in a Red Wings jersey next year because of not contributing?  Will stop right there with that nonsense.  Robert Lang and his line had a fired up and energized Dan Cleary on before he went down eight games ago with injury.  Now Robert Lang is in a way posting some personal statistics and he has on his line another player who was written off by some as an "under achiever", this would be Kyle Calder.

     Kyle Calder and Robert Lang have only combined for more than 15 points in the nine games that Calder has been a Red Wing.  This line will be only more potent when Dan Cleary is back from injury before the playoffs and when the time comes to put a contract before Lang next year his ability to bring has beens like Cleary and Calder back to being the type of players people inside the game expected, the Wings organization will want to keep Lang around for a while.

     Now this brings us to Kyle Calder and the line with Robert Lang and Daniel Cleary.  It will be potent with passing and shooting the puck.  These guys all three are determined, hard working players with drive to win.  That cannot be beat and checked out of them.  They will work harder then to puck in the net for a score.  They do not care about personal production first, they do, only after team success is meant and that is more important goal than the combined points for each player at the end of the season.

     As people did not think that either Dan Cleary and Kyle Calder would have personal success to begin with, so this has only come to be present in the Red Wings playing the type of hockey that most thought was lost when Shanahan went to New York.  The Wings have proven they are still the tough domineering team they once were. 

     When Todd Bertuzzi wears the Wings jersey for the first time in a game it will be on the Zetterberg line with Pavel Datsyuk the other forward. 

     The revived Robert Lang line has made sure of that.  They are tough enough.  Look for the Wings to have four very strong lines when each player returns from injury and come playoffs they will focused and driven together as a team that no one expected would be tough and domineering at this time of year and doing the unexpected that a few NHL "insiders" did not have them doing at the beginning of this season, being in the playoffs and potentially winning those tought games.  Thanks to the revived Robert Lang line this is a reality.