from Keith Gave of Fox Sports Detroit,

Without question, this Wings team -- which was widely predicted to fail to make the playoffs for the first time after 23 straight appearances -- is one of the surprise teams in the NHL. But the most amazing thing is, they're doing it with a roster almost completely made up of what the front offices likes to call "pure Red Wings."

Heading into Sunday's game against visiting Vancouver, only two players on their 23-man roster -- Daniel Cleary and Stephen Weiss -- didn't begin their NHL careers with Detroit. And those two have watched more games from the press box this year than they've played, by a wide margin.

Eighteen players on this team were drafted by Detroit. Three others were undrafted free agents signed by the club: defensemen Danny DeKeyser and Brian Lashoff, and center Luke Glendening.

In other words, history seems to be repeating itself. That same build-through-the-draft mentality that founded the nucleus of those teams that started this playoff streak more than two decades ago is having a profound influence on a new generation of Red Wings charged with making sure it doesn't end on their watch.

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