Ever since the Wings’ playoff slogan was announced, I’ve felt it’s best read in a tone of relief or at least with “Finally!” I understand it’s part of a larger effort by the team to reach out to its fans and encourage participation (“Come grow with us!”), but I can’t help but see it as a commentary on the regular season, the series of games that so evidently bored the team.
As the slogan announces, that season is now past, the beards are returning, and the team now faces the challenge they’ve apparently been looking toward since October: the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and their repeat bid.
Tonight we get the first batch of evidence for or against the only theory on the Wings’ season-long malaise that makes sense in the framework constructed by the organization’s success over the past two decades: they were saving themselves for meaningful games. The other explanation, that they’ve lost their will to win the hard games altogether after too many years at the top, will also get tested.
I think it’s both good and bad that the team is to start the test against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bad because the Jackets have all the reason in the world to bring the kind of transcendent game that leads to sports Cinderella stories, and because the Wings have been dancing on that knife edge of failure long enough that another mockery-inducing playoff disaster at the hands of young upstarts seems entirely possible.
That said, it’s those same bad qualities that can be turned on their head and made good. The Jackets are sure to bring their best and more, which ought to bring out the best in the Wings as well, assuming Theory 1 holds and they’ve been waiting for this moment. If the Jackets bring Detroit at all close to the edge, the recovery shock could be enough to propel them through this round and the others.
The outcome of this series depends almost completely on the Wings’ mental state.* The Jackets have the personnel to give the Wings significant amounts of grief, but if the men in the Winged Wheel get their heads in order, the Jackets’ first trip to the playoffs should be a short one.
That’s developed into a big “if” and if you’re like me, the argument that follows it became a kind of security blanket over the course of the regular season. That blanket got smaller and smaller with every half-hearted loss as I kept looking to the next game for the turnaround, and then the next, and the next, and so on. I’m tired of using it. This series needs to blow that “if” away, finalizing that argument with “since the men in the Winged Wheel have gotten their heads in order, …”
The Jackets have the personnel to make this interesting (a sports euphamism for “terrifying”), and it goes beyond young Steve Mason and Rick Nash. Kristian Huselius, Fredrik Modin, Raffi Torres, Jason Chimera, and some others all have it within themselves to wreck havoc, particularly if the Wings don’t flip that much-discussed switch right off the bat. Even if they do flip the switch, they’re in for a challenge.
That brings me to a quote from Ken Hitchcock:
“I found going back to the final the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through as a coach. I found that to be the most difficult challenge I’ve ever had in coaching, to try to convince the players to climb the mountain again.”
Hitchcock’s been around the block, and dealt with some hefty challenges over the course of his career. That he singles out motivating a pretty good Dallas team to repeat as the most difficult career obstacle he’s faced is pretty telling. Babcock has very obviously faced the same challenge with his players this year. By the usual markers such as records and goals, he’s been pretty successful. But they’re barely off the flood plain, so to speak.
The real mountain climb starts tonight, on a peak that looks deceptively easy. I’m confident that they have what it takes to get to the top of this one, but I have a feeling the first leg is going to be a little rough. Wings in 5, after losing Game 1.
One last thing: The title this post is a reference to the Hitchcock comment, but it’s also one to a song containing the line: “Spill your blood on this place it only echoes through, all through the days.” I’m on board with Bill’s sentiment that this is the Wings’ chance to cement their legacy and establish the dynasty. They just have to be willing to make the same sacrifices in blood and sweat that they made last season.
*I say “almost” because of that x-factor known generally as “bounces,” which could nix the repeat despite the team’s best efforts.