Pure Michigan Sports

After the first three games the Red Wings were left for dead, the Sharks made them appear old, slow and simply not good enough.  However things have slowly changed for the Red Wings and they have come alive the past three games.  They have chipped away at the Sharks, and eventually found chinks in their armor.  Despite being outplayed for large chunks of games four and five the Red Wings found ways to win the little battles, and eventually created their own opportunities.  Tonight the Red Wings applied pressure early and often, refusing to go down without a fight.

In order to win in the playoffs a team needs contributions from up and down the roster.  The first three games the Red Wings had little help from anyone, but the previous three games everyone seems faster, more aggressive and eager to do whatever it takes to win.  It’s been amazing to see how much better the entire team has played, refusing to give in to another early playoff exit.  However the two Red WIngs that have stood out the most have been Niklas Kronwall and Jimmy Howard.

When Kronwall hasn’t been delivering bone crushing hits he has been joining the rush creating and capitalizing on excellent scoring chances.  He has also made the little plays and stayed within his game not forcing the issue.  Often times he has been held back by always looking for the big play, but his steady effort has made a huge difference on both ends of the ice.  Meanwhile Jimmy Howard has established himself as an elite goaltender this series.  Howard has silenced any doubt regarding his ability to carry this team, and has done everything possible to keep the Red Wings in every game in this series, whether they deserved to be or not.  Without Howard the Red Wings could have easily been swept, instead of heading to San Jose for game seven.

While it’s certainly no surprise to see this series going seven games, it has been great to see the Red Wings respond when they had few reasons to believe.  This team has relied heavily on experience, determination and confidence in themselves.  While coach Babcock may not come across as an active leader or a voice for the team to rally around they sure have taken to heart his words of wisdom after game three:

‎”I believe in being positive. That’s how I live my life. That’s how I deal with my family. That’s how I deal with every game. In other words, I just think that I’m going to disarm the bomb. I’ve always thought that. That’s how a coach thinks. Whether that’s selective memory, whether that’s being hard-headed or that’s just not being that smart … whatever you want to call it, I’m just a believer.”

Game 7 is Thursday night at 9pm and will once again be on Versus and Fox Sports Detroit.

The Detroit Red Wings have fallen into some trouble down 0-3 in their second round of the playoffs, but this series has shown they have issues that extend into the future as well.  While the Red Wings have lost each game by just one goal, their inability to control the game and take advantage of opportunities has been alarming.  The Sharks have sucked the passion out of the Red Wings, beating them to every loose puck, finishing every check, making the most of lucky bounces, and punishing them for their mistakes.  All that being said, one of the main advantages the Sharks have has been their young talent. The Red Wings displayed their excellent depth in the first round against the Coyotes, but their depth has been neutralized and trumped by the Sharks.

The Red Wings are and will continue to built around Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Franzen, but they have lacked scoring from their young players.  For the most part they mainly rely on their young players to provide energy and occasionally points, but the Sharks have a youth movement that easily trumps the Red Wings.  While Helm, Abdelkader, Filppula and Hudler have all progressed this season they certaintly aren’t on the same level as Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Devin Setoguchi.  The Sharks talented trio is contributing impressively in the present and gives the Sharks an impressive blue print for the future.   Meanwhile it would be hard to argue that the Red Wings could rely on their current players to eventually replace their veteran core.

The Red Wings now face the tall task of  trying to come back from being three games to none, but whether they win or not the Sharks have exposed them going forward.  Whenever the Red Wings offseason arrives it will be a far more challenging time as this team must find ways to provide speed and scoring in the difficult cap world.  Obviously it helps having such a strong core, but they still have many questions to answer; will Nick Lidstrom return, can Dan Cleary and Tomas Holmstrom still be difference makers, will Filppula and Hudler every take their games to the next level, do they have future stars in prospects such as Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Jakub Kindl or Brendan Smith?  HockeyTown nor the Red Wings have any interest in another early playoff exit, but they now find themselves in serious trouble and life won’t get any easier once the offseason does begin.

After two games in San Jose the Red Wings find themselves down 2-0 and with few answers.  While they may have only lost each game by one goal the Sharks dominated them for majority of both games.  Last post-season when the Sharks eliminated the Red Wings with relative ease many pointed to the team being worn out from a long season of injuries.  However this time around the Sharks just appear to be better.  The Sharks have played stronger, smarter, faster and have given the Red Wings few opportunities to take control.

As impressive as the Red Wings looked in the first round they have looked equally unimpressive in the 2nd round.  The power play has been pathetic and they have received few quality scoring chances unless the Zetterberg and Datsyuk like has been on the ice.  All season the Red Wings have consistently relied on the ability to play four lines that could also produce quality chances and excellent shifts.  The Sharks have neutralized the Red Wings depth with their youth, speed and hunger.  The 3rd and 4th lines have been non-existence, unable to provide a spark or their usual agitation.  Not to mention they have provided little support to their goalie Jimmy Howard.

Entering the playoffs the spotlight was on Howard and whether he was up for the challenge of leading this team towards a long playoff run.  However, Howard has simply stood on his head, keeping the Red Wings in both games.

The Red Wings main issue has been making life too easy on Antti Niemi.  While he has played well, he hasn’t faced half the pressure that Howard has seen.  Against the Kings in round one (a team that scored the 4th fewest goals in the Western Conference) Niemi allowed over three goals a game and was pulled from two games for his subpar play.  There is no reason the Red Wings shouldn’t be able to get inside his head in a similar fashion.  Certainly it will take tweaking of lines, increased effort from their stars and supporting cast alike, but also a major get check.

The Red Wings have been pushed around and the Sharks clearly have their number, but without a dramatic change and this team will once again be ousted in the second round.  Despite being down 0-2 in the series the Red Wings must treat game three as a game seven, falling behind 0-3 likely makes a comeback nearly impossible.  I’d expect coach Babcock to split up Zetterberg and Datsyuk, in hopes of spreading out scoring chances and not allowing the Sharks to zero in on their other lines so easily.  Hopefully the Red Wings can get on the board early and build confidence that can make this a series.  Obviously the Red Wings will also need Howard to stay locked in, but that seems to be the one area they don’t have to worry about.

For the second year in a row the Detroit Red Wings will be facing off against the Phoenix Coyotes in round one of the Stanley Cup Finals.  Last year these teams battled through seven games before the Red Wings eventually advanced, one would have to imagine another long series is in store for these two teams.  For the most part both teams are returning virtually the same teams, and their styles of play also remain the same.  These two franchises couldn’t be more different as the Coyotes have spent the entire year with a for sale stuck outside their arena desperate for interest and support, while they actively look for a new home.  The Red Wings reside in HockeyTown where they have made the playoffs 20 years in a row and are looking for the 12th Stanley Cup in team history.

Key Factors:

Special Teams-

The Red Wings hold an extreme advantage  with their 5th ranked power play match up against the Coyotes 26th ranked penalty kill.  While the rankings become irrelevant in the playoffs this is a match up neither team ignore.  They power play unit will be missing Henrik Zetterberg for the foreseeable future (not encouraging to hear he isn’t skating), but the Red Wings have more than enough talent to still produce on a high level.  Not to mention, numerous injuries over the past two seasons has made this team very flexible.  The one bright side for the Coyotes is that they were the 23rd least penalized team in the league, so if they can stay disciplined they could neutralize a potentially dramatic advantage for the Red Wings.

Style of Play-

Claus Andersen/Getty Images

In any playoff series controlling the style of play goes a long way towards deciding a series.  The Coyotes prefer to grind out games and have no problem letting their opponent out shoot them (out shot 52 times).  While the Red Wings prefer to control the puck and score early and often.  The past two seasons the Coyotes have concentrated on picking their spots and rely on a team attack to score goals, not to mention the Red Wings continuously struggle with turnovers that lead to great scoring chances.  However allowing the Red Wings to control the puck will give them the opportunity to control their own destiny.  If he Red Wings can cycle the puck and limit turnovers they should be able to have many opportunities.  Certainly it will be no easy task scoring, since the Coyotes have a goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov who can stand on his head and shut teams down regardless of the number of shots he faces.

Difference Makers-

Keith Yandle: The Coyotes have a clear cut offensive leader in Shane Doan, but as mentioned before they mainly rely on a team attack.  However they do have a special player on defense in Keith Yandle.  While he is far from Nick Lidstrom he is the Coyotes version of him as far as what he provides on both offense and defense.  He finished the year with 48 assists and has a knack for slowing down his opponents top scorers.  The Coyotes don’t have a lot of depth behind him so they will rely heavily on him, but if the Coyotes are to pull the upset Yandle will be a big part of their success.

Darren Helm: The Red Wings will need a big series from their stars, especially with Zetterberg out of the lineup, but Helm will play a large role in deciding this series.  It’s no secret the Red Wings aren’t built with speed, but few have the jets to match Helm.  His speed, big play ability, (as well as his new found ability to finish) and aggressive make him very special.  Throughout the year the Red Wings fourth line has been their most consistent and Helm was a major reason for that success.  If Helm can continue his break out success he will give the Coyotes fits, with his speed, agitation, and grit.

Prediction:

The Coyotes may be the under dog in this series, but the Red Wings fizzled down the stretch and now find themselves as one of the forgotten teams in the playoffs.  While the Coyotes are more experienced this time around, the Red Wings ability to control the puck, along with their offensive depth should make the difference in this series.

Detroit 4 – Phoenix 2*

*It is Important to note, if the Red Wings plan on taking the Coyotes for granted they will lose this series.  While the Red Wings have plenty of talent, they don’t have enough to play ‘flip the switch’ hockey whenever they want.  Not to mention they need a big playoffs from all of their defensemen.  The unit as a whole turned the puck over far too frequently and should  error on the side of conservative play.  Turnovers in their own zone will create opportunities that the Coyotes thrive off of and will take advantage of.  Also it would be great if Mike Babcock played Jonathan Ericsson as little as possible, it would be great if he played up to his potential, but it’s becoming clear that he isn’t there and may never be the player they want or think he can be.

The Detroit Red Wings are entering the playoffs for the 20th straight season, looking to bring home the 12th Stanley Cup in the franchise history.  This veteran team is very aware of what it will take to make another deep run into the playoffs, but no matter who they match up against in round one they will find no easy path through the Western Conference.  Although the Red Wings have one of the deepest teams in the league offensively, their very average defense will have to step up to avoid another early exit.

David Guralnick/The Detroit News

Playoff hockey becomes far more defensive, which slows the game down and will mask the Red Wings lack of speed, but they will still need to be better defensively.  While they have one of the best defensemen of all time in captain Nick Lidstrom, they lack good defense beyond him.  The team has seen Brad Stuart elevate this game this season, but they will need more from Niklas Kronwall, Brian Rafalski, Jakub Kindl, Ruslan Salei and (gulp) Jonathan Ericsson.  With one game left in the regular season the Red Wings have allowed more goals than any other playoff team, and have committed an alarming number of turnovers from their defensemen in their own zone (If the NHL kept track of turnovers the way the NFL does interceptions, Jonathan Ericsson would be the second coming of Scott Mitchell).

Obviously the Red Wings cant expect their defenseman to become dramatically better when the playoffs start, there are little things they can do to improve.  All too frequently the Red Wings defensemen play far too offensively and leave Jimmy Howard out to dry.  While the Red Wings will need stellar goaltending from Jimmy Howard, they also need to do a better job of making his life easier.  Limiting turnovers, cutting down on the number of breakaways allowed, and clearing rebounds will be crucial to staying in games and should help buck the trend of falling behind 0-2 in games.

Every great playoff run has its share of unlikely heroes or players who take their game to the next level.  The Red Wings will need at least one of their unlikely heroes to come from the defensive end. Whether the Red Wings receive a defensive boost or not expect the team to devote their offseason to improving the defense.

Most seasons the Red Wings receive tremendous efforts from their two stars, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.  This year the Red Wings have had to rely more on Henrik Zetterberg as Datsyuk has only played in 52 games this season because of injuries.  While Zetterberg has stepped up to the challenge and the team has stayed atop the standings, the Red Wings are far better with Datsyuk.

David Guralnick / The Detroit News

Obviously it’s far from breaking news that Red Wings are better off with Datsyuk on the ice, but his absence has shown how much better the team is with him on many different levels.  The Red Wings record without him has been very average, as they went 18-15 during his two injuries.  Without Datsyuk even the Red Wings style of play is altered. They play far less efficiently, turn the puck over at a higher rate and get dominated within the neutral zone by their opponents.

Datsyuk is one of the most dynamic players with the puck, and has made a habit of leading the league in takeaways.  His tenacity to control the puck is something the entire team buys into, and has helped make them a puck possession team.  This style allows the Red Wings to play with far more confidence and dictate the flow of the game.  When Datsyuk is not in the lineup the team’s passing game isn’t as crisp and they are often chasing the other team for the puck, becoming more of a dump and chase team.  The change in style of play forced the Red Wings to play more high scoring games, which can wear the entire team out.

While Datsyuk will play in his lowest total of games this season, it has given the team extra opportunity to allow other players to emerge and for the team to appreciate Datsyuk on a far greater level.  Hopefully he has had his last injury and will be able to keep this team playing at their best with the playoffs approaching.

The Detroit Red Wings stumbled into Nashville yesterday afternoon, licking their wounds from a disastrous 3-10 loss at home to the St. Louis Blues.  They were desperate to put that game behind them and avenge prior struggles against the pesky Predators. The team fell behind 3-0 early, and looked to be headed for another long game.  However the Red Wings fought their way back into this game with help from Justin Abdelkader’s two goals and Todd Bertuzzi’s two fights.

Sanford Myers / The Tennessean

Abdelkader has had many opportunities to score throughout the season, but has struggled with finishing.  Yesterday he found that missing touch, and was a big reason the Red Wings won a huge game on the road.  While it was great to see Abdelkader breakout, the Red Wings got just as big of a boost from Bertuzzi.  The team has been pushed around by Nashville, and Bertuzzi finally had enough.  He squared off against Predators defenseman Shane O’Brien early in the first period and second periods, video here.   These fights didn’t last very long, but the message Bertuzzi sent to O’Brien, the Predators and his teammates was huge.  Bertuzzi rarely drops the gloves anymore, but these fights ignited his team, and definitely played a huge role in the Red Wings rallying back to win in over time.  This physical play not only inspired his teammates, and also got the attention of his coach who spoke proudly about his effort to the Detroit Free Press’ Helen St. James after the game:

“I think you’ve really got to compliment Bert,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought Bertuzzi was great today — I mean, through two periods he hardly got to play, but he was physical, he was standing up for his teammates. Fighting isn’t going to happen in the playoffs, but more than the fighting, it was just standing up for yourself and getting involved in the game.”

Despite all of the Red Wings talent and desire for another Stanley Cup they haven’t played up to their ability of late.  As the regular season winds down, these fights from Bertuzzi and comeback effort against the Predators should help wake this team up and get them amped up for the playoffs.  This game could also add extra intensity to what currently stands as a first round match up between the Red Wings and Predators.

The past few seasons the NHL has seen an alarming increase in the number of cheap shot hits that occur throughout the course of the season.  While hockey will always be a very physical game there is no place for the head hunting shots that have been taking place.  Oddly enough majority of this foolish play has coincided with skilled fighters becoming virtually extinct.  Many critics have felt for a long time that cutting down on fighting was essential to many the game safer, however it has been having the opposite effect.

Associated Press

The increased speed of the game has forced all players to become more multi-dimensional, which in turn has seen most teams steer away from fighters.  However the decline in the number of skilled fighters willing to drop the gloves has been one of the main reasons for the cheap shots.  While players need to stop skating with their heads down through the neutral zone, cheap shot hits wont go away if there are no players on the ice to police them.  Granted the NHL has finally made an example out of Pittsburgh Penguins’ Matt Cook’s latest dirty hit by suspending him 10 games, plus the first round of the playoffs, but it remains to be seen if suspensions or fines will be handed out correctly and appropriately.

In the past majority of the league had at least one player who was always ready to throw down, keep the opponent honest and protect the stars of the team.  Not to mention it adds an extra element to the game that keeps things interesting and entertaining.  The Red Wings were a team that always understood the importance of a quality fighter with players like Bob Probert, Darren McCarty and Brad May, but even they know find themselves without a true fighter/protector on their roster.  Now these players are few and far between, and unfortunately has forced players who really shouldn’t be fighting to drop the gloves.  The few quality fighters that do exist in the NHL often chew up and spit out lesser fighters, which has made fighting seem more dangerous.  Where all the fighters have gone and if they will ever re-emerge remains to be seen, but in their own strange way hockey is much fighter with more skilled fighters on the ice than without them.

The Detroit Red Wings have struggled through a few slumps this season, but how poorly they have played during those stretches has become concerning.  The team has had major issues with slow starts, and has easily set the record for most 0-2 deficits in one season.  The Red Wings have lacked energy and consistently lose battles for the puck in the neutral zone.  While many have and will blame the teams problems on their age, it doesn’t appear age has much to do with it.

The Red Wings have been far better on the road (24-10-4) than at home (19-12-5), aside from Nicklas Lidstrom and Brad Stuart the defensive pairings have been shaky, Jimmy Howard has struggled with rebounds and it seems the Red Wings top scorers are always in a slump at the same time.  Not to mention over the last several weeks the Red Wings best line has been their fourth line,  led by Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader.  While It is great to see the Red Wings taking advantage of their youth and depth, its beyond concerning to see the Red Wings spend another season lacking the consistent heart and desire of a champion.

David Guralnick / The Detroit News

When this team is running on full all cylinders they are easily one of the best teams in the NHL, but despite understanding they cannot simply flip a switch and take over games, yet its exactly how they are playing.  As a team the Red Wings must amp up their defensive intensity.  Coach Babcock has not been shy about shuffling his defensive pairings, but can he get more out of Kronwall, Rafalski, Kindl, Salei and Ericsson? Kronwall and Ralfalski have been solid contributors offensively, but must do a better job of picking their spots and pinch more conservatively.  Jakub Kind lis gaining confidence and has been outplaying Ericsson on a regular basis, which could make turnover happy Ericsson the odd man out in the playoffs.

Offensively this team has too much talent and depth to find ways to score, but their inconsistent defense may lead to another early playoff exit.  It’s easy to say the Red Wings still have eight games to re-focus and get back on track, but these issues may require offseason changes to correct.  The Western Conference is stacked and no matter who the Red Wings play it will be a battle to simply get out of the first round, but now it’s time to see what this team is really made of.