It was Todd Bertuzzi's birthday on Thursday, and while you might think the Detroit Red Wings aren't overjoyed every time the odometer clicks over on one of their players, this development put Mike Babcock in a playful mood.

“I think it's his birthday today so happy birthday Bert,” the Wings coach pronounced in the middle of his media session before the Wings' 4-3 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks. “He told me he turned 28 today.”

In reality, the big fella Bertuzzi turned, yikes, 37. Still, if the Red Wings have proven anything this season, they've proven the numbers on their birth certificates are irrelevant.

The Wings are the oldest team in the NHL. They also own the best record in the league. Ten of their regulars are over 30 – Bertuzzi is only the third-oldest Wing – and the age things is so distorted in Detroit that Drew Miller, a relative baby of the group at 27, is greyer than Kenny Rogers.

I mean, it's like a Steven King novel: The Hockey Team That Never Grew Old. Except they're real and they are again in a position to win the Stanley Cup, just as they've been every year for the last 20 years.

“We like an old team,” shrugged GM Ken Holland.

Apparently so.

Thursday night, the Methuselas from Motown outlasted the Canucks in a stirring affair that offered further proof that while the Wings may be old, they're not quite ready for the Depends and a walker. Playing their second game in a four-game roadie, they blitzed the Canucks over the first 40 minutes, outshooting the second-place team in the West by a surreal 30-11 count while opening a 2-1 lead.

True, the Canucks would make a game of it with a spirited third-period rally but the Wings were still the better team in overtime and beat Roberto Luongo in the shootout in just two rounds, largely because it's mathematically impossible to win it in one.

The Wings now lead the NHL in wins, goals and sit atop the ridiculously tough Central Division by five points. This season, in the minds of more than a few observers, was supposed to be the year when the Wings succumbed to the ravages of time.

Let's just say that presumption has proven erroneous.

“Winning is fun,” said Babcock. “When you lose every night, the season is 164 games long and when you win, it's 41 games long. That's a big part of it.

“But, we're no different than anybody else. You're scared every day. How long can you keep it going?”

And the rest of the NHL is waiting for an answer.

Holland, for his part, points to a number of things to explain his team's demographics.

For starters, the Wings have turned to veterans as much out of necessity as choice. Want a stunning stat? Since 1992, the Wings have picked in the top-20 in the draft exactly once, in 2005 when the lottery spat out the 19th pick coming out of the lockout.

As such, their organizational philosophy is to draft skill and let it marinate in the minors over time. And it's been that way since the extraordinary '88 draft changed the course of the franchise.

“We try to find players who really fit our system,” said Holland. “We like skill and hockey sense. Sometimes we're not big enough. Sometimes skill is enough. I don't know if you can address every need in the cap world.”

Still, they come close. The Wings ability to find impact players where most teams are lucky to draft AHLers is, of course, at the root of their success. They didn't have a pick in the first three rounds in '04 but took Johan Franzen with their first pick, 97th overall. Franchise goalie Jimmy Howard was taken 64th the year before. Henrik Zetterberg was the 210th selection in '99. Pavel Datsyuk went 171st the year before.

The Wings have also been adept at plucking players off the NHL compost pile and turning them into solid contributors. Bertuzzi looked done a couple of years ago but, if he hasn't turned back the clock in Detroit, at least he's slowed it down.

“I think it's maturity,” said Holland. “When you're younger it's about personal stats. Here it's about winning. Steve Yzerman and Igor Larionov passed that on to Zetterberg and Datsyuk. It's strong now.”

Has been for a while. Looks like it will be a little longer.

ewilles@theprovince.com

twitter.com/willesonsports