Dabura

My point is that speed is how you beat the Bruins. Doesn't mean you're going to beat them. It's just the one matchup they tend to struggle with. Their own fans and pundits say so.

If you look at Game 1 and the first period of Game 4, we were more than holding our own. Was it because we were crashing the net and crushing them in their corners? Not at all. What we were doing was playing a quick, efficient transition game. We didn't mess around in our end. As soon as we regained possession in our zone, we were pushing up the ice, transitioning from defense to offense like *snap* that. For the most part, we haven't done that. We've given them free time in our zone because we want everything to be pretty and perfect and because our forwards aren't consistently making themselves available for breakout passes. Puck possession and management on our half of the ice (including half of the neutral zone). This is where we really miss Lidstrom and Rafalski. It's not just that they were great at defending in their zone. They were possession monsters. If they had the puck, the entire opposing unit backed off, because they knew something was coming, somehow, some way. Lidstrom and Rafalski made brilliant first-passes, drove our possession and attack. They made plays. They made things happened. They generated. They dictated. They owned the puck, we owned the ice. That's why the Bruins are trying to throw Smith off his game. We're counting on him to drive possession, because the numbers and even the simple eye test say he can be that kind of player for us. Unfortunately, he's also young and jumpy and he makes mistakes. Get him off his game and you cripple our attack.

I dunno, I'm not really buying it. I mean, sure, we do have to get bigger up front. But boiling this series down to "The big fish eats the little one" rings hollow to me. If small and speedy can't beat the Bruins, why do the Habs give them fits?

To be fair, they owned OT. If it hadn't been an insanely "lucky" couple of bouncees (I don't necessarily believe in puck luck), it would've been a straight-up skill play, probably. For me, there was definitely a feeling of inevitability, of impending doom.

Props, Barrie. There's nothing worse than falling short of the Cup when you're a serious contender. We all know what that feels like. '95. '96. '99. '03. '04. '06. '09. This? This whole really-young-and-iffy-team-losing-to-one-of-the-better-teams-of-the-salary-cap-era thing? This falls on the other end of the spectrum. Suddenly, we're the young upstarts. Suddenly, everyone agrees that we'd make a great Cinderella story. I became a Wings fan in '94. So, this is pretty much new territory for me. I'm trying to rewire myself to understand that being knocked out of the playoffs isn't the end of the world. For the first time in forever, if we draw the Habs, we're the underdogs. The Habs. And we'd be the underdogs. (The Montreal Canadiens. Them. The favorites. Montreal. You can't make this stuff up.) I've stopped s***ting on Ken Holland. I mean, I still hate him, because you're not a True Wings Fan unless you hate Ken Holland. But, seriously, spend some time on SB Nation, go through the NHL chapters. We are so blessed it's disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. We've made the playoffs for 23 straight seasons. This last little bit is the only stretch where we haven't entered the dance as a heavy favorite - and even now, no one really wants to face the Red Wings in the playoffs if they can avoid it. Fans of every team hate their ownership and management and coach and underachieving, over-the-hill veterans. The difference with us is we're flat-out spoiled rotten. We really, truly are. I'm not saying I don't take issue with any of the decisions made by Holland or Babcock. I'm not saying I have total faith in The Plan. I'm saying, all things considered, we as Wings fans have it as good as it gets in the world of pro sports. Like I said, this will probably be our lowest point, yet we're still a very good postseason team. While I don't think, say, adding Sproul and Ouellet on the back end next season would make us an elite team, our prospect pool is stupid-good and has already paid off in a big way. And free agents and trades are always an option.

Speed and skill and youth is the new school. This season is our decisive shift in that direction.

I was devastated last night. Now? Not so much. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are nowhere near 100%. Ericsson is out. Smith is a kid, DeKeyser is a kid, Quincey is terrible, Kindl is terrible, Lashoff is terrible. Pretty much all of our forwards have disappeared. Our goaltending has been inconsistent. We're young and inexperienced in key positions. And yet, last night could've gone either way. We could just as easily be tied in the series. And we're dealing with the class of the Eastern Conference, quite possibly the best team in the league, maybe even the best team we've faced in the playoffs in the salary cap era. They're built to obliterate all challengers. And we've shown we can hang with them. They're beating us because they're the much better team, but I'm not putting a ton of stock in that. Meaning, I don't think we suddenly have to blow up the team and fire everyone and start from scratch because the best team in the league is going to make short work of us. We won the first game because we had a transition game. We didn't mess around in our zone. We got away from that and basically handed them Games 2 and 3. Last night, we got our up-tempo transition back, and then we backed off and got lazy and cute and stupid in our end again. We're beating ourselves as much as they're beating us. And that, to me, is encouraging, all things considered. The Bruins have pretty much hit their ceiling; they're about as good as they're going to be. We're going to improve until we're a legitimate contender, which could be as soon as next season. I think this will be our lowest point. Losing to the Blackhawks and then the Bruins will be our lowest point. Not being a lottery team for five straight years. Losing to much better teams in the playoffs for two or three seasons. So, I think it's gonna be ok.

I hope this series burns Mike Babcock up inside and he hints that he won't be re-upping with the organization unless changes are made. I feel like we have an opportunity to be really good. But Holland has to be aggressive, creative, proactive.

I knew the game was lost when we went up 2-0.

Was it me, or did we look absolutely gassed in OT? Where's the conditioning?

The Bruins are worlds better than the Pens and the Ducks. Not an excuse. Though, it is. There's a lot to like about our team, but there's a lot not to like. We're not built for a deep run, even with a healthy roster.

Learn how to keep a lead, you f****** bums.

Watch, we win 4-0.

Oh man. Stress factor just increased 500%.

It's so weird seeing Titus Welliver do light humor.

Granted, 94% of them think Alex Ovechkin and Pavel Datsyuk are the same person.

I hope he gets a hat trick tonight.

I also like the idea that if anyone touches Z, they might die. This possibly being Bert's last game and all.

Who is this Zetterberg character? Is he any good?

I'm ok with this. Bert's a graybeard, he knows what's up, he's not going to be remotely intimidated, and hopefully that rubs off on others. Speed and skill is great, but we do need a heavy, someone who's not afraid to park his ass in front of Rask. And, credit where it's due, he's a goal scorer. Andersson is not a goal scorer. There's also a funny bit of irony here: Bertuzzi in his prime basically paved the way for Lucic.

Fine, throw in Lashoff.

Said it in the GDT, saying it again here: we need a Wayne Simmonds like whoa. Franzen, Kindl, Pulkkinen, Almqvist for Simmonds?

Read my mind about the Carlyle thing. I was trying to imagine what Babs's post-game rant would be, and I kept thinking of Randy Carlyle and his epic hard-on for Compete. But, really, that's what was so ugly about tonight, at least to me. I felt like we were never really giving it our all, or anything even close to it. What are we saving anything for? Down 3-1 and facing elimination in Boston? Is that when we're planning to "Leave No Doubt"? Blah. Check your heads and hearts, Wings. Tonight should be the mother of all wake-up calls.

Something in me says that we'd be putting in this kind of "effort" even if we were playing, like, the Bolts (RIP). I'm not trying to take away from the Bruins, they're the best team in the league. But I feel like at least 40% of this is just typical Red Wings bulls***. (See, e.g., 2012.)

Dear Red Wings, F*** off. Sincerely, Everyone