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Head coach Mike Babcock has said he doesn't evaluate his team from game to game, but looks for patterns that emerge after 10-game segments of the season.

As we are now at the beginning of the last of those segments, there are plenty of patterns we'd like to see before the Red Wings head into their 20th-straight playoff appearance.

In general, the Wings have had a very good season.

However, that doesn't mean that any success they've had to this point is going to transfer into the playoffs.

In fact, if you were a little worried about the Wings' potential for an extended playoff run, such concerns would be well-justified.

The Wings' commitment to defense has been off-and-on all season, Jimmy Howard has been relatively solid in net, but has underperformed compared to last season and, key players like Johan Franzen, have not dominated as expected.

The Red Wings are still a championship-caliber team, to be sure; but whether or not they can live up to that potential is far from certain.

While how a team goes into the playoffs (hot or cold) isn't always an indicator of how well they'll fair in the second-season, the habits and trends one observes at the close of the 82 game schedule are worth noting as they'll likely continue on into round-one of the playoffs.

The following list ranks the ten trends we'd like to see start (or stop, as they case may be) as the Red Wings wrap up their season.

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