from Keith Gave at FoxSports Detroit,

At the halfway mark of this NHL season, we know two things for sure: The Red Wings can go ahead and print playoff tickets for the 24th straight season; and their fans should brace themselves for something more than another abbreviated post-season run.

The former is a virtual lock if these Wings play even remotely close to their level of consistent excellence they showed in accumulating 53 points through 41 games. And the latter is based on more than wishful thinking.

Maybe General Manager Ken Holland is right (he usually is) when he tells anyone who will listen that we shouldn't be at all surprised by what this team is doing. After all, with essentially the same roster as last season -- only a lot healthier one -- this team is on pace to improve its point production by 13 points over the 93 it earned in 2013-14. That, by the way, was just three points behind a New York Rangers team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals last spring.

To be sure, the stars aligned nicely for the Wings in the first half, when they played 23 of their 41 games at home. They also stayed relatively free of the kind of debilitating injuries to key players that crippled them at times last season.

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