The Pittsburgh/Detroit back-to-back Cup Finals in retrospect

[Sentinel]

The Wings were running on fumes even during their first two victories.

I still believe that with healthy Datsyuk, Lidstrom, and Kronwall this series ends differently and not particularly close.

 

[daver]

You failed to go further and explain why ‘09 was different than every other year in this regard.

If you asked anyone following at the time which team needed more rest they’d say the Red Wings. They advanced a day later, had a tougher series, were far older, and were decimated with injuries, including to two all-time greats. It wasn’t even close, everyone knew the Red Wings were in far worse shape. I can’t recall another finals like it, maybe Oilers/Isles ‘84?

Anyone but Red Wing fans would say who gives cares who needs more rest. That's what the off-season is for. Anyone but Red Wings fans would laugh at the concept that the league would give any consideration to injuries when trying to schedule any series.

You obviously don't get that their were unusual scheduling circumstances that could have clearly gone to benefit the Red Wings in terms of the # of days between the end of the CFs and the SCF. The Pens won in four so they got one more day off. The Wings didn't have to travel so that balanced things off.

You obviously believe the NHL purposely favoured the Pens so no amount of evidence to the contrary is going to change your mind.

 

[danincanada]

Anyone but Red Wing fans would say who gives cares who needs more rest. That's what the off-season is for. Anyone but Red Wings fans would laugh at the concept that the league would give any consideration to injuries when trying to schedule any series.

You obviously don't get that their were unusual scheduling circumstances that could have clearly gone to benefit the Red Wings in terms of the # of days between the end of the CFs and the SCF. The Pens won in four so they got one more day off. The Wings didn't have to travel so that balanced things off.

You obviously believe the NHL purposely favoured the Pens so no amount of evidence to the contrary is going to change your mind.

My post had a lot more than that but it looks like y0u're going to continue to reply this way. Highlight one sentence, miss my point(s), and pretend I'm just asking for special favours for the Red Wings because they were hurt. It's clear to me at this point that you won't reply to what I'm actually saying because you don't have a real rebuttal.

Everyone knew who this schedule would favour and it was more extreme than any other early finals schedule in history in terms of expediting the first 3 games. It doesn't matter if the NHL just gave in to external pressures or Gary and Sid made up the schedule together, the fact is that it was wrong to do it that to one of the teams who came so far and were defending their title. Not the time to come up with a "different" type of schedule that would make the teams play 3 in 4 right away. It's absolutely ridiculous and that's why they don't usually do it.

And you just can't let this "potential" start on the 28th go. It didn't happen! The other "potential" scheduling scenario that did happen, which was the 9 days off, was kicked the curb in favour the quickest jump into finals history. You're not thinking straight if you think the 28th was a given had both teams swept. The press release was pretty much worthless so it's a waste of time to focus on the Pens having to start on the 28th. It's another good way to avoid taking my argument head on though.

 

[daver]

The Wings were running on fumes even during their first two victories.

I still believe that with healthy Datsyuk, Lidstrom, and Kronwall this series ends differently and not particularly close.

And the Pens weren't also running on fumes? They had played one more playoff game that year after also playing in the SCF the year before. Not that "they were tired" is worth mentioning in the first place.

Do you really think the SCF hinged on the Wings only having two full days off between the CF and the SCF after playing just 16 games in 48 days prior to that?

And it's interesting that injuries to players seems to get overlooked by you when comparing players.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

And the Pens weren't also running on fumes? They had played one more playoff game that year after also playing in the SCF the year before. Not that "they were tired" is worth mentioning in the first place.

Do you really think the SCF hinged on the Wings only having two full days off between the CF and the SCF after playing just 16 games in 48 days prior to that?

And it's interesting that injuries to players seems to get overlooked by you when comparing players.

How many times do you have to ask these questions?

Clearly many of us feel altering the schedule impacted that finals, we have stated that for several pages. Mike Babcock made the point before they even started and this has been a constant drumbeat for years in terms of people pointing out how odd the league behaved in moving the schedule.

To a greater point when people want to remember this series fondly and the build up to it, then it must be pointed out that it was played in unusual circumstances and it could/should have been even better from a talent display but we were robbed of that in part because of a strange scheduling change by the league. It was a let down from that standpoint for some of us. You are entitled to feel differently but I am not sure with what seems to be your incredulous stance on it, clearly there are several people that found that change odd. It has also been pointed out several times just how extremely odd it was in terms of the 100 year history of the league. Curious to say the least, it doesn't change the winner or demand anything like that. Just an honest discussion of how unusual that was in the annals of the game and I still wonder why, we had built towards it all year, why make such a curious decision then, to this day it doesn't make sense to me...

 

[daver]

How many times do you have to ask these questions?

Clearly many of us feel altering the schedule impacted that finals, we have stated that for several pages. Mike Babcock made the point before they even started and this has been a constant drumbeat for years in terms of people pointing out how odd the league behaved in moving the schedule....

What was odd about it? Their hands were tied with a scheduling conflict. It was very reasonable that the league looked at an alternative to waiting nine or ten days after the Wings won on the 27th. They already were already looking at alternatives in between the original press release and the the 27th.

Wow, Babcock working things to try curry some favour for his team, what a shocker!!

All of this is white noise for Wings fans to not recognize they got beat by the better team that year.

 

[Sentinel]

How many times do you have to ask these questions?

It's pointless. If this man actually watched the Finals and didn't see that... I don't think we can change his mind. I do find it funny how he didn't address my point about "healthy Datsyuk, Kronwall, and Lidstrom changing the outcome of the series." I guess even he can't disagree with this one.

Pens won, and history can't be changed. Luckily the Wings fans have quite a few Cups to feel good about.

 

[daver]

It's pointless. If this man actually watched the Finals and didn't see that... I don't think we can change his mind. I do find it funny how he didn't address my point about "healthy Datsyuk, Kronwall, and Lidstrom changing the outcome of the series." I guess even he can't disagree with this one.

Pens won, and history can't be changed. Luckily the Wings fans have quite a few Cups to feel good about.

I thought I gave you the opportunity to not look completely hypocritical in considering injuries in some contexts but not in others. I guess you don't want to take it.

You know what would changed the outcome of the series? The Wings winning more games. Noone outside of Detroit cares who was healthy or who wasn't.

 

[danincanada]

Noone outside of Detroit cares who was healthy or who wasn't.

Really? You’re on the history board where often times every minute detail gets discussed. If someone is going to discuss this series they must mention injuries (Datsyuk was a Hart finalist that season!) and the once in 100+ year schedule the NHL produced. Would you like people to forget those parts of the story?

 

[danincanada]

Regarding Babcock, he had been around the block by then and it was his third finals. I remember when he took the podium for the pre-series interviews and he basically looked around and asked everyone what the hell they were doing there already. He gave that smile he uses when he thinks something is ridiculous. He compared it to the NFL and asked where the buildup would be and mentioned how the league broke their own agreement about how many days the road team should be in town to build up the series.

The Red Wings management and coaching staff were no dummies then and they knew it was unusually quick with 3 in 4 days to start, which was a first in NHL history. They complained but it obviously wasn’t going to change.

 

[daver]

Really? You’re on the history board where often times every minute detail gets discussed. If someone is going to discuss this series they must mention injuries (Datsyuk was a Hart finalist that season!) and the once in 100+ year schedule the NHL produced. Would you like people to forget those parts of the story?

If the insinuation is the Wings got screwed somehow? Yes.

 

[danincanada]

What was odd about it? Their hands were tied with a scheduling conflict. It was very reasonable that the league looked at an alternative to waiting nine or ten days after the Wings won on the 27th. They already were already looking at alternatives in between the original press release and the the 27th.

What exactly was the scheduling conflict? Conan premiered on the Monday. Don’t play that night and that conflict is gone. The “alternative” they decided on was the quickest start to the finals ever. Stop pretending that’s not worth mentioning. They probably had several options but they had to drop the stupid back to back game on a weekend scenario to do anything else. Why would they get so obsessed with that one year, but never did it before or again (yet)?

I’d like to query about the “potential” starting date of the 28th now, had both teams swept. Did they HAVE to do the back to backs and 3 in 4 then as well? That would make it even more unreasonable than what happened. That’s 5 days between the end of the CFs and game 3. It goes to show how stupid the NHL looked with this. If both series were a sweep what was stopping them from doing exactly what they did? It would allow for an extra day off so the race to game 3 would only tie the all-time record with 1940.

I’m not sure exactly where your opinions stand with this so I have these questions:

Do you think the schedule the NHL produced with an all-time quickest start to game 3 would be better for the Pens or Wings considering their state coming in?

Do you think the “potential” June 5th start with a 9 day layoff would be better for the Pens or Wings considering their state coming in?

 

[daver]

What exactly was the scheduling conflict? Conan premiered on the Monday. Don’t play that night and that conflict is gone. The “alternative” they decided on was the quickest start to the finals ever. Stop pretending that’s not worth mentioning. They probably had several options but they had to drop the stupid back to back game on a weekend scenario to do anything else. Why would they get so obsessed with that one year, but never did it before or again (yet)?

I’d like to query about the “potential” starting date of the 28th now, had both teams swept. Did they HAVE to do the back to backs and 3 in 4 then as well? That would make it even more unreasonable than what happened. That’s 5 days between the end of the CFs and game 3. It goes to show how stupid the NHL looked with this. If both series were a sweep what was stopping them from doing exactly what they did? It would allow for an extra day off so the race to game 3 would only tie the all-time record with 1940.

I’m not sure exactly where your opinions stand with this so I have these questions:

Do you think the schedule the NHL produced with an all-time quickest start to game 3 would be better for the Pens or Wings considering their state coming in?

Do you think the “potential” June 5th start with a 9 day layoff would be better for the Pens or Wings considering their state coming in?

I have no idea what the schedule would have looked like if it started on May 28th. If there was always going to be a conflict with Conan on June 1 then the league may have still done the three games in four nights or had two days off between Game 2 and 3. If it was the former, then the Pens would have had one less day off in between in the CF and SCF then the Wings did with travel from Carolina to Pittsburgh then travel from Pittsburgh to Detroit added to the mix.

In a perfect world, the series should have started three or four days after the end of CFs given both teams needed less than seven games to win their CFs. No team should really expect any more than that both teams are good to go nor should they expect more than one day off between games especially with no big time changes.

The only truly unusual aspect of this SCF was the back-to-back which both teams had to deal with. I will repeat that, neither team gained any benefit from this. Complaints that the Wings were "tired" coming into the series or were gassed after the back-to-back falls completely on deaf ears and has nothing to do with any injury issues.

There is zero reason to believe that the league favoured the Pens in their scheduling given they were prepared to start on the 28th.

As for your two questions, their respective "states" were their respective "states", champions battle through those. No look no further than last year's Pens team.

Regardless of scheduling, it is clear Wings fans were always going to play the "no way the Wings lose if not for injuries" card which I am sure would be well received on the Wings board but should not be in the HOH.

 

[danincanada]

I have no idea what the schedule would have looked like if it started on May 28th. If there was always going to be a conflict with Conan on June 1 then the league may have still done the three games in four nights or had two days off between Game 2 and 3. If it was the former, then the Pens would have had one less day off in between in the CF and SCF then the Wings did with travel from Carolina to Pittsburgh then travel from Pittsburgh to Detroit added to the mix.

In a perfect world, the series should have started three or four days after the end of CFs given both teams needed less than seven games to win their CFs. No team should really expect any more than that both teams are good to go nor should they expect more than one day off between games especially with no big time changes.

The only truly unusual aspect of this SCF was the back-to-back which both teams had to deal with. I will repeat that, neither team gained any benefit from this. Complaints that the Wings were "tired" coming into the series or were gassed after the back-to-back falls completely on deaf ears and has nothing to do with any injury issues.

There is zero reason to believe that the league favoured the Pens in their scheduling given they were prepared to start on the 28th.

As for your two questions, their respective "states" were their respective "states", champions battle through those. No look no further than last year's Pens team.

Regardless of scheduling, it is clear Wings fans were always going to play the "no way the Wings lose if not for injuries" card which I am sure would be well received on the Wings board but should not be in the HOH.

If you can’t even admit a rushed schedule was going to benefit the Pens more and a long layoff was going to benefit the Wings more then you clearly don’t have a problem looking ridiculous here. You would like to defy all rational and logic just because you don’t want it to be true. It was a simple question, but you know if you answer it properly it will sink your argument, or at least you’ll have a big hole in your boat and you’ll start taking on water.

The injuries had nothing to do with being fatigued? How long have you been watching hockey and sports? Datsyuk going down in game 2 against the Hawks equaled added responsibility and ice-time for the rest of the forwards. Lidstrom and Draper going down in game 3 against the Hawks equaled added responsibility and ice time for their defenseman (and again forwards for Draper). Ericsson needs emergency surgery after game 4 against the Hawks equals even more added responsibility and ice-time for their D in game 5. An example of how this impacted ice-time, in game 5 Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall and Lebda were all over 25 minutes and the game only went 4 minutes into OT. Yes, Brett Lebda the big minute cruncher. Then the finals start and lots of the healthy guys are more fatigued than usual, Lidstrom and Ericsson aren’t allowed the usual amount of time they should have to heal up and prepare for the finals, and Datsyuk is still out. When teams suddenly run into injury problems like that, it trickles down to affect the rest of the lineup. Some players get more opportunities than usual, which is good for them and maybe they can thrive, but you don’t replace guys like Lidstrom and Datsyuk so that will inevitably make it tougher on everyone. We're not talking about preseason here, every game is super intense by that stage of the playoffs.

The Red Wings already had enough adversity facing them with the injuries. What the NHL did was magnify and increase that adversity with the unreasonable schedule. What the NHL did, inadvertently or not, is kick them when they were already down. Did the Pens have to face any added adversity due to the schedule in the last two finals? Nope, standard finals, both had 9 days in between the end of the CFs and game 3. Must. Be. Nice.

You keep talking about the 28th like it was a sure thing so you can point to it and pretend the NHL would do that to the Pens. It was not going to happen, and it made even less sense than anything else. All this talk about starting with back to backs on the weekend and they didn’t think to proceed with the schedule they went with, had there been two sweeps? Please explain this to me on behalf of the NHL since you seem to think everything they were doing with the schedule was A-okay. I mean, they had all these scheduling conflicts, so they had to come up with this rushed 3 in 4 thing. That schedule was always there for them so why did they just start thinking about it when they realized it wasn’t two sweeps?

 

[danincanada]

In a perfect world, the series should have started three or four days after the end of CFs given both teams needed less than seven games to win their CFs. No team should really expect any more than that both teams are good to go nor should they expect more than one day off between games especially with no big time changes.

They could have easily made a schedule that was closer to the standard. The Joe was available Sunday so play game one then, then play game two Tuesday or Wednesday and carry on from there. With all the different scenarios they had it tells me the two arenas were not already booked all the time, so they had some flexibility.

The only truly unusual aspect of this SCF was the back-to-back which both teams had to deal with. I will repeat that, neither team gained any benefit from this. Complaints that the Wings were "tired" coming into the series or were gassed after the back-to-back falls completely on deaf ears and has nothing to do with any injury issues.

If the finalists got to flip a coin and whoever won got to have influence on the schedule the Pens would probably pick what they got because the Wings were clearly on the mend so it's best to hit them hard and often, wear them down more, and try to get the edge in the series. The Red Wings would probably pick the June 5th start because that would offer 9 days to mend, rest, and prepare. Perfect for a veteran and older team as well. It wouldn't even matter as much if it was 3 and 4 right away because of the time off. Extremely good for them but not good for the Pens because they are far fresher, healthier, and younger. So to me, tactically, the first is the Pens dream schedule and exactly not what the Red Wings want. The second is a dream schedule for the Red Wings and exactly not what the Pens want. Personally, I think it's the NHLs duty to not provide a dream schedule for one team and a nightmare schedule for the other, especially when you've never even went that extreme before. Again, what responsible league in their right mind would do that to their franchises and fans?

Now, what is your actual reasoning for saying neither team gained any benefit from the schedule? Or please tell me exactly where I'm wrong here.

 

[daver]

They could have easily made a schedule that was closer to the standard. The Joe was available Sunday so play game one then, then play game two Tuesday or Wednesday and carry on from there. With all the different scenarios they had it tells me the two arenas were not already booked all the time, so they had some flexibility.

Based on the original press release, playing in Pittsburgh on particular dates, likely June 5-7 seemed to be not an option. Why else would they have such a gap between potential start dates?

A May 28th start date has them in Pittsburgh from June 2nd to June 4th before the conflict; a June 5 start has them in Pittsburgh after the conflict.

When it looked like there would be a nine day gap between the end of the CFs, they revised the schedule:

BTW, the original schedule called for three games in four nights: NHL playoffs: Conference finals schedule (with TV)

There had to be a scheduling conflict at the Joe right? And the Pens would potentially had just a two day break including travel if they went seven games with Carolina.

So to sum up:

The original schedule called for either:

- if a May 28 start, a one day off including travel for the Pens, (and maybe three games in four nights?), while the Wings would have had three days off .

- if a June 5 start, potentially two days off for the Pens including travel and then three games in four nights

That the Pens won in four vs. the Wings winning in five earned one extra day off is fair. Based on what could have occurred, complaints of short turnaround times and three games in four fall on deaf ears. Conspiracy theories that the league favoured the Pens is outright embarassing.

Conflicts with arenas and accommodating NBC appears to have played a major role in how the scheduling played out in terms of start dates. Ask the players if they want to take a pay cut in order to have unrestricted access to their arena and no TV contract.

The irony is that the Wings should have lost Game 5 in order to give themselves a better chance to have more time between the CF and SCF.

 

[daver]

If the finalists got to flip a coin and whoever won got to have influence on the schedule the Pens would probably pick what they got because the Wings were clearly on the mend so it's best to hit them hard and often, wear them down more, and try to get the edge in the series. The Red Wings would probably pick the June 5th start because that would offer 9 days to mend, rest, and prepare. Perfect for a veteran and older team as well. It wouldn't even matter as much if it was 3 and 4 right away because of the time off. Extremely good for them but not good for the Pens because they are far fresher, healthier, and younger. So to me, tactically, the first is the Pens dream schedule and exactly not what the Red Wings want. The second is a dream schedule for the Red Wings and exactly not what the Pens want. Personally, I think it's the NHLs duty to not provide a dream schedule for one team and a nightmare schedule for the other, especially when you've never even went that extreme before. Again, what responsible league in their right mind would do that to their franchises and fans?

The league should not give two shits about what would or would not be a dream/nightmare schedule for either team so long as there is nothing inherently unfair to one team.

One team being older and more injured does not create the conditions for claims of unfairness.

If the Wings were so worried about getting rest and avoiding injuries, avoid going seven games with the Ducks and sweep the Hawks with no OT games. They weren't good enough to do that.

 

[daver]

It's incredible that there is such an uprour over scheduling.

All the league did was move up the original schedule, which called for three games in four nights and for a team to only have two days off, based on both CFs ending early. They actually added an extra day between two of the games (Games 5 and 6 and Games 6 and 7).

The "tired" Wings won all of the games they weren't supposed to and lost two chances to win after getting an extra day of rest.

 

[danincanada]

Based on the original press release, playing in Pittsburgh on particular dates, likely June 5-7 seemed to be not an option. Why else would they have such a gap between potential start dates?

A May 28th start date has them in Pittsburgh from June 2nd to June 4th before the conflict; a June 5 start has them in Pittsburgh after the conflict.

When it looked like there would be a nine day gap between the end of the CFs, they revised the schedule:

BTW, the original schedule called for three games in four nights: NHL playoffs: Conference finals schedule (with TV)

There had to be a scheduling conflict at the Joe right? And the Pens would potentially had just a two day break including travel if they went seven games with Carolina.

So to sum up:

The original schedule called for either:

- if a May 28 start, a one day off including travel for the Pens, (and maybe three games in four nights?), while the Wings would have had three days off .

- if a June 5 start, potentially two days off for the Pens including travel and then three games in four nights

That the Pens won in four vs. the Wings winning in five earned one extra day off is fair. Based on what could have occurred, complaints of short turnaround times and three games in four fall on deaf ears. Conspiracy theories that the league favoured the Pens is outright embarassing.

Conflicts with arenas and accommodating NBC appears to have played a major role in how the scheduling played out in terms of start dates. Ask the players if they want to take a pay cut in order to have unrestricted access to their arena and no TV contract.

The irony is that the Wings should have lost Game 5 in order to give themselves a better chance to have more time between the CF and SCF.

This is a lot of speculation, although we both do that with the schedule because we just don’t know. They played in Pittsburgh on the 2nd and 4th, and 9th and were supposed to play on the 8th and 10th. You’re trying to speculate the Pens booked their arena for 3 days in a row exactly when the finals usually take place? If that’s true then if anyone should suffer from the scheduling “conflict”, it should be them.

In the end, it doesn’t matter to me why the schedule they came up with was terrible. It was and it’s their job to not let that happen. What has more pull at those arenas than the Stanley Cup Finals?

Both CFs ended early, which almost always results in more downtime between series. in '09 they decided to do the opposite as if everyone lost their minds or they had a whole new league staff who didn’t check to see how they usually do things. You are always okay with all the odd things the NHL was doing simply because it benefited your team. That much is clear.

 

[danincanada]

The league should not give two ****s about what would or would not be a dream/nightmare schedule for either team so long as there is nothing inherently unfair to one team.

One team being older and more injured does not create the conditions for claims of unfairness.

If the Wings were so worried about getting rest and avoiding injuries, avoid going seven games with the Ducks and sweep the Hawks with no OT games. They weren't good enough to do that.

Are you being serious? The dream/nightmare schedule is inherently unfair to one team. That’s my whole point. How is it not unfair when the teams have no control over it and it increasing advantages one team has over the other?

Right, it’s the Red Wings fault they had to play tough series before the finals and they had to play in the tougher conference. They should expect an unprecedented schedule when they finish, right? This actually is your argument, which is why you’ve already lost this debate. It wasn’t right or fair, clear as day, and I’ve already shown why. You just don’t want to admit it’s true cause you feel it takes away from your teams Cup. It’s okay, they still won. They caught a huge break and took advantage of it. It’s okay to admit that because it’s true. It doesn’t even mean they wouldn’t have still found a way to win with a standard schedule, but many have their doubts.

 

[danincanada]

It's incredible that there is such an uprour over scheduling.

All the league did was move up the original schedule, which called for three games in four nights and for a team to only have two days off, based on both CFs ending early. They actually added an extra day between two of the games (Games 5 and 6 and Games 6 and 7).

The "tired" Wings won all of the games they weren't supposed to and lost two chances to win after getting an extra day of rest.

Why only an uproar over this year? Maybe there was a reason? Right, I’ve pointed out exactly why, but you continue to want to pretend it was okay but I have yet to see reasoning why it was okay. I’ve been a Red Wings fan since the late 80’s and there were lots of upsets and heartbreaking series along the way and the schedule never irked me. There’s a reason why people were talking about it before the series even started as well. They realized the schedule was ridiculous and it totally favoured one team and made it harder on the other team.

Playoff series are all about getting an edge on the opponent. The NHL adding to the adversity the Wings already faced helped give the Pens a physical and eventually psychological advantage in the series. As I stated before, that’s exactly what the NHL should avoid when making their schedule. They should do all in their power to go with a standard schedule when one team is already facing that much adversity that would be affected by a rushed schedule, not magnify the issues one team while at the same time helping the other team have more of an advantage that wasn’t from their own doing.

 

[quoipourquoi]

The “alternative” they decided on was the quickest start to the finals ever.

It wasn’t the quickest start though. In the years leading up to Detroit/Pittsburgh, 2004 Tampa Bay, 2000 Dallas, and 1996 Florida had the same turn-around time between the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. Looking back further, the 1976-1979 Canadiens had the same three-day gap in two of their wins and a two-day gap in another (games on May 5th and May 7th).

It wasn’t unprecedented to go from winning the Campbell Bowl on the 27th to the playing in the Finals in the 30th. And fortunately for them, the Red Wings were in Detroit for both. The Panthers had to go from Pittsburgh to Miami to Denver.

 

[daver]

This is a lot of speculation, although we both do that with the schedule because we just don’t know. They played in Pittsburgh on the 2nd and 4th, and 9th and were supposed to play on the 8th and 10th. You’re trying to speculate the Pens booked their arena for 3 days in a row exactly when the finals usually take place? If that’s true then if anyone should suffer from the scheduling “conflict”, it should be them.

OK, you don't want to speculate, here are the facts:

- they simply moved the original schedule ( NHL playoffs: Conference finals schedule (with TV) ) up when neither CF went seven games. The team that took more games to win their CF had less time off.

- there are plenty of examples since 2000 of teams having only two days off between the CF and the SCF (2014, 2004, 2000) or teams having three days off including travel. Clearly there is no standard time off between the CFs and SCFs, it is fluid.

- having a two day break between Games 5 and 6 and Games 6 and 7 was unusual. There have been six 7-game SCFs since 2000, three took the same amount of days to complete as 2009, two took a day less. There is nothing unusual here except the back-to-back. The Wings winning Game 5, their 5th game in 8 nights including two trips, in convincing fashion makes any talk of them being "gassed" completely lacking in believability.

- that the Wings had a "tougher" road to the SCF is not a fact

- that the amount of games it took to get the SCF was completely in the Wings' control is a fact

 

[danincanada]

It wasn’t the quickest start though. In the years leading up to Detroit/Pittsburgh, 2004 Tampa Bay, 2000 Dallas, and 1996 Florida had the same turn-around time between the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Finals. Looking back further, the 1976-1979 Canadiens had the same three-day gap in two of their wins and a two-day gap in another (games on May 5th and May 7th).

It wasn’t unprecedented to go from winning the Campbell Bowl on the 27th to the playing in the Finals in the 30th. And fortunately for them, the Red Wings were in Detroit for both. The Panthers had to go from Pittsburgh to Miami to Denver.

I know. This is the only series that had the two days off then jumped right into 3 in 4 days. Even in 1940 when they also had back to backs they had an extra day afterwards before game 3. 2009 is the quickest to game 3 after the CFs finished in the history of the league. I guess my team was just "unfortunate" when they limped into the finals and were handed this schedule.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

There's no rational way you can say that moving the schedule up didn't hurt the Wings. There doesn't have to be a conspiracy for that to be obviously true.