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Worst of all...

At the end of the day, Detroit's only moves were to keep free-agent defenceman Kyle Quincey, a guy they'd hoped to jettison at the start of the day, for two years and $8.5 million, more than Ehrhoff got from the Penguins.

And another gem

Clearly, there's an image problem afoot for the Wings.

They skate in one of the NHL's most ancient facilities. The view most outsiders have of Detroit is the bleak one presented on the nightly news. They are coached by a demanding, micromanaging taskmaster in Mike Babcock and that's not a quality many of today's pampered athletes seek in their bench boss. Post-season participants for a league-best 23 straight springs, the Wings aren't winning when it matters most - one playoff series triumph in three years, five straight springs absent from the conference finals, their longest drought since 1989-94.