Why the Red Wings (so far) have the best chance of taking it all

Actually completely in agreement. It will eventually be Wings and Canucks. I actually would prefer the Wings face Nashville and then Chicago as these West coast games are killing me…but there is no way the Canucks are losing three straight games to the Hawks.

Ultimately it will be the Wings in the finals…and Philly will go down at the hands of the Wings yet once again. Won’t be a sweep like last time, but the other teams in the league have got to be sweating bullets knowing what just happened to Phoenix withOUT Zetterberg, and Mule in Game 4.

On a side note…love your av. I have those on my sleeves right now as well, though I’m hoping to get one added next spring.

The match-ups in the East are at least as interesting (if not more so) than those in the West, and Philadelphia looks good so far. Have you notided, however, that Pittsburgh is leading Tampa Bay WITHOUT Sid the Kid and Evgeni Malkin? Also, have you seen the way Montreal is playing lately? You’re probably right about the Flyers taking the East, but I’m holding out for Montreal, simply because I’d love nothing more than an Original Six match-up for the Stanley Cup Finals.

Good luck making Senior…I’m close to retirement, and I’m CAT B Reserve, so a promotion means another move. I’m happy where I am and I’ve moved four times in the last four years, so if staying in place means retiring as an E-7, so be it.

P.S. I also know where my towel is. “Reverse primary thrust, Marvin…Open airlock number three, Marvin…Marvin, can you pick up that piece of paper? Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and they ask me to pick up a piece of paper…”

I am very confident in this Red Wings team and not as confident that what we saw of the late regular season Sharks and of the Canucks this year can keep up the playoff mentality.

That said every team remaining in the playoffs is defensively tough and able to score goals. There is no easy route to the cup anymore. That’s why getting through the first round quickly is so important.

Very proud of my team for accomplishing htis.

…and I just have a few comments to make on what you said:

1. Yes, Stanley Cup winners CAN score. You don’t win games if you don’t score, and the fact that 13 of the 19 players other than Jimmy Howard have goals is VERY encouraging. My big concern going into this playoff season was the defense. I’ve heard it said before that offense wins you the President’s Trophy but defense wins you the Stanley Cup, and I’m inclined to agree. If you had asked me about the defense in the last 10 regular season Wings games (last game against Chicago at the United Center notwithstanding), my reply would have been “Defense? WHAT defense?” I was worried that the defense would fall apart in front of Jimmy Howard as it did in front of Manny Legace when the Wings were eliminated in the first round against Edmonton — was that ‘03? Thankfully, the Wings are getting back to the fundamentals that have made them playoff contenders for the past 20 years — back-checking, blocking shots, shutting down shooting lanes, etc. I guess it isn’t either offense or defense that produces winners over time — it’s a combination of both.

2. Don’t forget that three of the ten goals scored by the Coyotes were actually “given” to them by misdirections off Wings’ defensemen. That speaks even more to Howard’s ability to mind the net and make key saves at key times as you indicated, but on the flipside it indicates another area the Wings have to be careful about — protecting the puck on both sides of the ice.

3. Either the penalty kill has to get A LOT better and FAST or the Wings have to stay out of the penalty box. Good luck with the latter — we all know the Wings were one of the least penalized teams in the NHL during the regular season, and then we see SIX or SEVEN penalties in one game?!?!! I think the Wings are playing with a considerable level of discipline right now, but they could really help themselves if they straightened up just a little and avoided taking some stupid penalties. See, I’m not about to whine about penalties when I see the replays and the infractions committed by Wings players are pretty freaking obvious. They need to rein that in.

4. If the Wings have to play San Jose in the next round and Vancouver for the conference finals, it’ll be tough but it can be done. I daresay the Wings are the only team in the West that can stand up to the Canucks (even though their performance in Game 4 against Chicago should be coined “Disaster on Ice”). If there’s an upset in the West I’m betting on Nashville taking out Anaheim, and I don’t see either the Ducks or the Preds beating Vancouver. Let’s hope the red-and-white wheeled warriors get a chance to perform a British Columbia beat-down!

Not a lot to add to what has already been said. For me, the biggest difference between the regular season Wings and the playoff Wings has been their team defense. 5-on-5, they limited the Coyotes to very few quality scoring chances, as most of their damage was done on the PP. The emergence of Kronwall as a legit stud on the 2nd defensive pairing just made other teams realize that avoiding Lidstrom is not going to guarantee they have a good matchup.

I’m still worried that San Jose won’t be a serious problem this year.

…because I agree with all the reasons cited above. What bothers me now is Chicago has found new life, and I believe they have a very real chance of beating the odds and eliminating Vancouver. In all likelihood, that would mean San Jose faces Chicago in the semifinals, and the Wings would face the winner of the Anaheim — Nashville series. If this scenario plays out and we draw the Preds in the next round, the Wings are in for a VERY HARD road. Yes, the Wings can beat Nashville, but I bet that series would go to at least six games. After that, we would face San Jose or Chicago, NEITHER of which would I want to face for the Western Conference Finals. Our only hope there would be if San Jose advances but Chicago wears them down (more like BEATS them down) and exposes their weaknesses for the Wings to exploit. Heck, at this point I’d rather have the Wings facing Vancouver when the Canucks are bringing their A-game — at least that would be more evenly-matched and it would be more about playing disciplined, skilled hockey as opposed to throwing each other into the boards…

Don’t think for one second that I believe the Wings are going to handle their next opponent in a cake-walk fashion. Our choices for the semis are Anaheim, Nashville, and San Jose. While I wholeheartedly believe the Wings could beat any one of them, I believe the next round is going to be UGLY no matter which team we draw. I also agree that playing any team that has to go directly from the quarterfinals to the semifinals is going to be problematic after the Wings get rested. We’ve seen it too many times before — our beloved Red Wings sweep a series or finish in five, then they get some time off, but when the next round starts they look like an entirely different team (a good parallel would be the Vancouver Canucks in Games 1-3 against Chicago as compared to their performance in the last two games). Let’s not forget that the Coyotes fought and scrapped the entire way through four games, forcing the Wings to play better, smarter, and faster. Hopefully Coach Babcock will remind the Wings at least once every 10 minutes or so that it only gets tougher from here, and hopefully the team veterans will remember that exact lesson from past experience. We’re to the point now where even the smallest slip-up can cost a team a game, and the loss of one game can ultimately result in the loss of a series. The moment the Wings forget that, they may find themselves heading for the golf course earlier than expected.

As I mentioned before, I’m not so sure a long rest is a good thing (unless your name happens to be Henrik Zetterberg and you’re trying to get healthy so you can play in the next round). I agree that the “rest lag” should last for only one game tops, but it seems to me that rest periods have resulted in disaster for the Wings more often than not over the last decade. I also believe that momentum can carry from one series to the next. If the team we face in the next round has to grind it out to seven games, they could very well come in against the Wings operating at the same level as they did in the last, if not higher. I hope you’re right and the time off will allow the Wings to work on the weaknesses identified in the first series, as well as mend some wounds. I’m just concerned that the time off will result in the Wings losing that mental edge as well.