Red Wings are 'softest team in the league', says Darren McCarty

Four-time Stanley Cup champion Darren McCarty has been pretty measured with his comments about the Detroit Red Wings during his time as a hockey analyst with Woodward Sports. Lately though, with the Red Wings missing the playoffs for the 10th straight year despite a 12-point cushion in late January, McCarty has been shooting from the hip and leaving no doubt how he feels about this year's team. "We're (Red Wings) the softest team in the league," McCarty said on Woodward Sports.

"Is there another softer team? No. To me, that has to be addressed first.

What I heard, and I didn't hear what it was going to be, but I heard from Steve Yzerman (season-ending news conference) something's going to happen. " McCarty, who scored 21 career playoff goals with the Red Wings in 167 games, including the game-winning goal in the Cup-clinching goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1997, said Yzerman will definitely make changes. "He's going to find guys that hate losing more than they like winning," McCarty said.

"Because it's not in the room. They're not bound together like other teams, you know, going to war, persevering and playing for each other. You've got to get tougher to play against.