Why are the Wings still here?

[The old geezer]

Got me to be honest. I’m not superstitious about picking my team to win when the playoffs come around but even I had picked the Flames to beat Detroit in the playoff pool. Sorry to have ruined what was supposed to be an “epic Western showdown†between the Flames and Avs as one prognosticator wrote but we’ll do our best to at least put up a fight against the so far dominant Avs.

My congratulations to the Flames and GM Matt Kershaw on a good series.

With dreams of a good draft pick long gone (I think 27th is the highest Detroit will draft now) I might as well enjoy what has happened so far before we have to face an Avs team that boasts an average of 4 goals per game and is currently 8-1 in the playoff’s against some good opponents.

So without further adieu here are the top 3 reasons the Wings are still alive:
(1) Henrik Lundqvist – 13 games in and still boasting a .941 save percentage (none by shutout). Versus the Stars he kept regular season leading goal scorer Jonathon Toews to one goal in 7 games and versus the Flames improved his playoff series record to 2-0 when facing former Red Wing backup goalie Nicklas Backstrom at the other end.
(2) Health and stability – After having a healthy roster for a mere 6 regular season games the team has been able to ice a full lineup for all 13 playoff games (now I’ve jinxed it). With the line combinations clicking the GM and coach have resisted the temptation to tamper and have been rewarded with some relatively balanced scoring.
(3) Voodoo – all praise Bufu

No matter what happens all expectations have been surpassed for the Wings and there is no one on this team that won’t rightly walk away with their heads held high. As a bonus the playoff experience this relatively young team is gaining will be important in future years.

All that said the Wings haven't come this far to just roll over now. Bring on those Avs!

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[Ohio Jones]

What baffles me is how the Penguins *aren't* still here, after posting a much better goals for *and* goals against in the playoffs so far than Montreal, along with better special teams most other measures.

Kudos to the teams advancing - yes, even Drew's Wings. It will be fascinating to see which of Buffalo or Florida can round out the Final Four. Could it be an all-Northeast Division Conference Final?

 

[MatthewFlames]

(3) Voodoo – all praise Bufu

Well thats what I was doing wrong... I was praying to Loco. Well, at least my garden is looking great!

Big props and congratulations to Drew and the mighty Red Wings! I couldn't figure out how to win - I tried different line combo's and systems and all to no avail. As Ville said to me on chat today "Not that the team is all that scary on paper, but if they can beat you they can beat me..."

It may not have been the epic match-up some expected, but I still think it will be Epic West final - David vs. Goliath.

Good luck Drew - since my pool is devastated (no teams left except the Avs, and I don't have them in the finals) - hopefully you can win it all so I can claim to have been beaten by the Stanley Cup champs two years in a row....

The Flames are still relatively happy - It was the Flames best ever regular season finish, 4th, despite having fewer points than last year and I didn't have very high expectations to get past the Canucks - so that alone was a success and it was a decent season still.

I think that I may have gone the wrong direction at the trade deadline - in retrospect I should have added another top 4 defenceman. Phillips and Sekera struggled and Phillips was all but benched for two games, and the injury to Hamhuis pretty much did me in, as well as the total lack of secondary scoring in the second round...

The off-season is upon us. I was looking at moving Beauchimen this summer but now it seems I'll have to hang onto him and look to add a replacement for Rafalski.

I'll look to move one of my goaltenders, Reimer, DiPietro or Budaj - probably for some help on draft day as I don't picks in the first two rounds, and only one third.

Other than that - I might actually be busy in free agency with that much needed defensive depth & will try to find a better fit on the wing for my third line.

 

[HFNHL Canadiens]

What baffles me is how the Penguins *aren't* still here, after posting a much better goals for *and* goals against in the playoffs so far than Montreal, along with better special teams most other measures.

Kudos to the teams advancing - yes, even Drew's Wings. It will be fascinating to see which of Buffalo or Florida can round out the Final Four. Could it be an all-Northeast Division Conference Final?

It is baffling to a degree, however if anything I think we were lucky to beat the Flyers, more so then the Penguins.

First, the GF/GA ratio for us is a little misleading. In both series, we had one game where we absolutely shat the bed, 6-1 against the Flyers and 7-0 against the Penguins. If you remove those two games our GF/GA ratio is 25-19 which would be good for 4th in the playoffs. Obviously you cannot completely dismiss those games, however they do not accurately reflect the teams ability as a whole.

Second, besides the 7-0 loss against the Penguins (28-32), we out shot the Penguins by a pretty healthy margin in every other game. In total, we out shot the Penguins 220 - 168, which averages out to 37- 28 per game.

The reason why this series was so close has to come down to goaltending. Our team save% was a .905% while the Penguins posted a 0.945% save%, it is quite clear that Bryzgalov was the difference maker for the Penguins.

All in all, both series against the Flyers and Penguins were quite close and exciting. I'm not sure who is a more challenging opponent, the Sabres or the Panthers? We will surely have our work cut out for us either way.

 

[Ohio Jones]

It is baffling to a degree, however if anything I think we were lucky to beat the Flyers, more so then the Penguins.

To be sure, not taking shots at your team (the only shots I'm taking are on the golf course at this point in the playoffs...). It's interesting to see how different a picture the numbers can paint. Twain was right: "there's lies, damned lies, and statistics."

I don't think anyone can reliably guess what's going to happen in the next round (never mind the final!). Either way, you're in tough against two teams who have both been to the SCF in the HFNHL.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

Don't ask me. I clearly don't know what the hell is going on around here.

 

[Brock]

I'm not sure who is a more challenging opponent, the Sabres or the Panthers? We will surely have our work cut out for us either way.

At this point, I'm just not sure it'll be. I'm now missing 3 of my top 9 forwards due to injury (including the main cog on my Richards/Parise line...Jason Blake). I got beat up pretty good last game when these injuries happened, so at this point, I'm not sure how much confidence I have.