On the Wings

I did not write this, it was posted by a member of a Red Wings e-mail list and he let me post it here. I think it’s the best commentary on the current Red Wings situation I’ve seen. It’s long but well worth a read. I’m going to start posting his recaps here because mine aren’t very good.

The Red Wings fell for the second straight time to the Mighty Ducks to
fall behind 2-0 in the opening round series with a 3-2 loss at Joe Louis.

This time around, and this series has only one thing in common with last seasons’s terrible start, they’re behind 2 games to none. After that, everything is different. Last year the Wings as a team, from Hasek on but, stunk. They pretty much all played poorly while the Canucks played well. Everyone knew going into game three that both Hasek could outplay Cloutier, and his team could play much better hockey. This year neither is true. Vancouver had a much stronger offensive capability than the Ducks but weren’t as tough defensively nor do the Ducks have a goalie that will crumble at the first sign of trouble. Give them credit, they have a plan, they are working it, and believe in it. The Red Wings are(sadly) playing right into to it too! Bad, bad combination. They also have Giguere. Without his excellent play, we wouldn’t be seeing nor facing what we are: First round elimination. A very real possibility.

The Wings played well. They totally dominated most of the game. At times the ice was slanted down toward Giguere. Cujo made some good saves but I can’t say I believe he can play better than Giguere. The Red Wings themselves controlled the game from the drop of the puck until the fatal 8 minutes. I thought at times the game was completely one sided. There in lies the rub though. While I think the Wings can do things differently with aspects of their game, I’m not so sure they can actually play much better as a team. Last year there was no doubt the Wings as a whole could play much better.

Certain players can certainly do more and play better though.

Number one is Cujo. He is being thoroughly out played by Giguere. Excuses aside, I thought two of the three goals he gave up were bad goals for a goalie with his capability. No excuse for the opener on Chistov. He looked exactly like Osgood on that one. In fact Oz gave one of those up last night in his game with the Canucks. A cheap, bad angle, short side goal that never should have gone in the net. Gave the Ducks hope which is a bad thing in the playoffs. Especially considering the Wings had already given them plenty of hope by blowing game one. IMO, the Wings blew game two as well. Teams that blow games at this time of year are almost always fated for the hockey playoff dust bin, particularly when they blow so-called “must win games”. Make no mistake, the much loved Red Wings blew this game, and may have sealed their fate by doing so.

Other players who aren’t playing playing well enough are Fedorov, Hull, and Schneider. I’m very disappointed in Schneider. He’s been burnt twice in this series that have lead directly to goals. His man down low beats Cujo. Yesterday it was Krog. Tough play I admit but Krog got totally behind the Wings defense on Schneider’s side with Matt fumbling around up by the hash marks. Nice pass though from Niedermeyer though and really, a good effort by Krog to use his speed. It marked the beginning of the end. Hull is going through a period which all big time scorers go through, unfortunately, happening at the wrong time. Pucks are going off his stick or set up passes are slightly off target, his line mates trying to do too much. Both are youngsters though and hard to get down on them. Both have bright futures with the Wings.

Sergei Fedorov. Is there something wrong with Sergei?? Don’t know. He was missing for several minutes in the 3rd. I noticed _nothing_ either before he disappeared or after his return that would indicate an injury of some sort. I have noticed that Sergei has a very good case of frustration going on. Rucchin and Carney have done a fine job of closing down the lanes and frustrating Sergei at ever opportunity. Fedorov simple hasn’t adjusted. So much for my theory that Sergei would bring his A game/attempt to win the Conn Smythe game to the rink. Guess not. Right now Fedorov is struggling and his team with him.

Maybe the most important factor(and scariest) in all of this is, the Wings are simply catching no breaks at all. The little things that were going so well/right for them the last couple of months simply aren’t now. Passes are just a tad off the mark. Shots that were going through are now getting blocked. Shots that beat the goalie that were finding the mark, are now hitting the post or finding a way not to go in. Schneider had one of those yesterday. Soon after the Chistov stinker, Schneider drifted into the slot and took a perfect setup pass, easily beat a moving(keyword BTW IMO when it comes to this guy, as in the Wings aren’t getting him moving) Giguere 5-hole…..only to watch the puck bounce out off the post. Other instances of the same kinda thing are common. Those were sure goals no more than a week ago. Now they aren’t and that fellow Wings fans scares the hell out of me. Luck always plays a big role in who wins and who loses. Talent and skill and all of that are of course big time players obviously but if lady luck isn’t with you….. all the skill in the world will not save you. Right now, she’s on vacation for the Wings and that, unless it changes, could very well be fatal. The Ducks are good at taking advantage of frustrated teams.

Does all of that opinion mean it’s a lost cause?? Of course not! Lady luck is fickle. One day she loves you, the next, she hates your guts!! Can Giguere keep making seeing eye saves?? Don’t know. Can the Ducks hold up with a two game to none lead?? Don’t know. If the Wings keep taking it to them as they have been can the Ducks withstand the pressure over and over?? Don’t know that either. Just exactly how long can they hope that Giguere can save the games for them?? When will those close calls start going against them?? We’ll soon find out! The one thing I DO know is, the Red Wings MUST start getting Giguere moving in that crease. If they don’t……..

I have to say though, I thought that the call on Dandenault in the 3rd period that started the downward spiral for the Red Wings was a very cheap call. Sure, he took his man out but that had been going on all game long from both teams. There was nothing different or unusal about it. What was a no call prior to that suddenly became a penalty at exactly the wrong time and at a crucial point in the game. Salei had done exactly the same thing minutes earlier with nary a wince from either ref. Suddenly the exact same thing deserved two minutes?? Cheap and costly penalty. Still hard to put the blame for this HUGE loss strictly on a bad call. The Wings should never have been in the position to be in a one goal game by the time that happened anyway.

Long shots aren’t going to beat Giguere. Shots with little to no traffic aren’t going to beat Giguere, don’t care if the Wings take 50 of them. To turn this series around the Red Wings are going to have dig deep and start gettting their hair mused. Drive to the net, get traffic on this guy, work, work, work, and work some more along the boards and in the slot.. Quit trying to be so damn cute. Passing the puck around the perimeter for 5 minutes isn’t going to score goals on a team that collapses around their netminmder. Makes it worse in fact. Taking ill advises shots from 30′ with no traffic against a team that collapses around the netminder isn’t going to work either and in fact helps them clear the puck. Giguere squares up constantly. Giguere hits his knees during the wind up of most shots he faces. If he’s squared up and on his kness he can’t be very lateral, IMO. Yet, time after time the Wings would try to beat the guy as if he were going to whiff on the shot. I don’t think so. He’s a good quality netminder who rarely is going to blow shots he can see coming a mile away. Detroit is playing right into Babcocks game plan as if they have none of their own. Recipe for a stunning first round exit for the defending champions.

Last word is about the Captain. Great game and effort by Yzerman. He worked his tail off all game long. He tried to do what he has done so many times in the past for the Red Wings:lead by example, try to literally will the Wings to victory. I thought Steve was just about the best player Lewis put out. To bad that Steve Yzerman can no longer do this by himself. Heneeds Cujo, Fedorov, and the team to help him out, starting immediately.

From the drop of the puck, every minute of every period, through the final horn, in every game.

We are stuck with the old cliches now. To turn this around the Red Wings must start by winning one period at a time. Otherwise the road to Stanley will be minus one major stumbling block for the Avalanche. Who turned their game around by working their respective tails off while getting Rolosson(sp) to move.

Three Stars-
1. J.S. Giguere
2. Rob NIedermeyer
3. Steve Yzerman

Gerry B.