The shortened NHL season has forced us to almost analyze a teams chances on a nightly basis because there are so many shifts in the league standings.  Chicago has already proven through the first third of the year that they are the best team in the league and because of their depth they figure to be at or near the top of the Western Conference all year.  The Red Wings....like all but a handful of teams....are going to be up & down....but what they have done so far has been pretty impressive.  I know 9-7-3 is not a stretch that makes one dream of playing for a Stanley Cup, but when you're doing it with guys like Cory Emmerton, Brian Lashoff, Joakim Andersson, Damien Brunner and Tomas Tatar it's impressive.  When you're battling in the middle of the pack in the West without key contributors like Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson, Darren Helm, Carlo Colaiacovo and Johan Franzen, it tells you the job Mike Babcock and his staff have done so far to keep this team afloat and relevent.  The five I mentioned may not all be rookies, but had a combined 87 games played at the NHL level coming into the year with 73 of those games logged by Emmerton (71 last year).  Tatar and Lashoff are 22 years old, Brunner is 26, and Andersson and Emmerton 24. The five vets I previously mentioned have a combined 2,877 games under their collective belt (not counting playoffs) with 668 goals and a much needed 208 power play goals.  Granted, sometimes a youthful exhuberance can keep a team on edge and give them that needed energy they otherwise might be lacking on a tough road trip or on a tail end of a back-to-back, but teams would trade that for experience in a shortened season every time.  I've been encouraged with the youngsters on the Wings and I've enjoyed watching them play-a lot.  I can see the new chapter in Detroit's impressive hockey novel, but the vets out of this lineup are sorely missed on the ice in certain situations and in "the room" in every situation.