Does regular season really matter to the wings?

[DatsyukianDeak 0]

Does the regualr season really make our Red Wings hockey? We are usually so dominate in both regular season and playoffs. Does it really matter that we share a little bit of the glory and hype with another team whose coach was brought up in our philosophy? I know that it means home if advantage but we are the Red Wings and that won't matter come playoff time.

EDIT I mean more of the trophies and things that encompass being the best in the west. They will make the playoffs, but do the regualr season trophies matter to you?

Edited January 19, 2009 by DatsyukianDeak

[Mike 0]

You cannot make the playoffs without the regular season, so it better matter to them.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Mike

[titanium2 867]

This year they don't have the edge that a team normally has after losing in the playoffs, because, well, they didn't lose. Usually a team comes out swinging hard, kind of like the Red Wings of last year and San Jose of this year.

They know the big picture and they know that they have to play their best hockey at the right time. With that said, they still have to win regular season games for a high seed and home ice advantage or what have you. They're pretty much trying to balance the Stanley Cup hangover with their long-term goals.

Does the regular season matter to the Wings? Heck yes it does, gosh! Does it matter so much that they're willing to go all out and play every game like a playoff game? Ehhh... Not really. They want to win the games, but not if it leads to serious injuries. But they're not "coasting" through the regular season. They're playing hard, but they're still trying to find that level of intensity they need to be at in order to win now while bearing in mind the playoffs and June. They know how hard to play when the playoffs arrive. But it's a process. They're building up to that level and that doesn't happen overnight it takes time and patience.

[lets go pavel 2]

Depends on what you mean. Do the regular season accolades, i.e. the President's Trophy, matter on a personal level? Probably not a whole lot. Does our level of play matter? Absolutely. I think home-ice is worth having too. Our PK is great at home and horrible on the road, and that's enough to make the President's Trophy worthwhile to me ...

[stactum 4]

I do think regular season is important and we have a little bit left to drop some bad habits and figure out how to play defense. I would love if Wings can get #1 seed on the West, just because the way things stand right now (and it may change), Cup Finals will go through San Jose (if they still around) and I am not sure if I want to play in Shark tank with their insane record over there.

[Cruiser008 37]

I'm gonna go against the grain and say hardly. The 1st round exits of 2001, 2003 and 2006 are my evidence.

[DatsyukianDeak 0]

You cannot make the playoffs without the regular season, so it better matter to them.

More of less winning the conference. Plus we are the Wings. Illitch won't allow them not to make the playoffs

[dat's sick 1,002]

I think this regular season has a little bit of a "just get it done" feel to it for many players. Other than Datsyuk and Hudler no players have really performed on their top level consistantly. And still we have an amazing record compared to other cup winning team's hangover seasons. I think ours was like the 5th best ever after 40 games, and if that was our "bad half" of the season than I'd say things are looking very good for us. I wouldn't be surprised if we're standing there at the end with the President's Trophy again.

More and more players seem to be starting to get things going again, and I'm confident that as the playoffs come closer this team will start to really focus and tighten up their play even more.

Obviously when you've won several cups as many on this team have, it's hard to get excited about playing Atlanta or Minnesota in round 33 of the regular season.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Does the regualr season really make our Red Wings hockey? We are usually so dominate in both regular season and playoffs. Does it really matter that we share a little bit of the glory and hype with another team whose coach was brought up in our philosophy? I know that it means home if advantage but we are the Red Wings and that won't matter come playoff time.

EDIT I mean more of the trophies and things that encompass being the best in the west. They will make the playoffs, but do the regualr season trophies matter to you?

I'd bet the players and the staff, Babcock especially care very much about the regular season.

When you are as proud as the Wings, losing any given night is a disappointment. These guys are flat out used to winning and used to being tops. They don't take losing lightly. They expect to win.

Babcock said it the year they didn't win the Pres. Trophy. After they were ousted from the playoffs and they took the team photo, he said it sure would've been nice to have the Pres. Trophy at least in that photo.

Finishing 1st overall. Securing home ice for the duration of the West playoffs, not too mention perhaps for the start of the Finals. I bet its really important to them.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

No.

It hasn't for a long time now. I don't watch these games with any kind of intensity at all. Once the playoffs begin, I'm on the edge of my seat.

And where we're seeded doesn't matter to me either. Playing the 8 seed in the first round hasn't been easy for the Wings in a long time.

[Nev 1,085]

It sure mattered last season. The whole regular season was a warm-up for the playoffs as Babs got them playing Playoff Hockey from game 1. They also had an edge, something to prove - that they weren't too old, too soft and too European to win the cup. They carried that style of play over into the playoffs and I wasn't the least bit surprised as they steamrollered their way to the cup.

This year...not so much. I'm worried about the playoffs. Too many nights with 30+, 40+ shots against.

[VM1138 1,921]

I know technically that the Wings think every game is impotant, but I wonder sometimes if they breeze through the regular season. In 2007 and 2008 they seemed to completely transform and crank up the heat in the playoffs, and I'm hoping they do that again this year. Unlike the Wings teams of old, I think the team of the last few years was born for playoffs.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

To a degree, yes the season obviously matters.

You obviously want to win, and want to get as high of a seed as possible for the playoffs, as any home-ice advantage in the playoffs certainly helps, though it isn't the ultimate end-of-all-end solutions to winning the playoffs and Stanley Cup obviously.

Would I like the Wings to win all of their regular season games and just dominate everybody 24-7-365? Without question. Is that going to happen though? Not a snowball's chance in hell. It is impossible to bring your best effort or just dominate in a season that is 80+ games long. Doesn't matter if the team is the Red Wings or anybody else in the league, you're going to have some crappy nights. I know that I have days at my job where I haven't bought my best, it's impossible to avoid no matter who you are and what job or career you work in.

Fortunately, the Red Wings are a good enough team to where they can usually get away with not playing their best every night and still do well enough to make it in the playoffs without too much difficulty.

[cusimano_brothers 1,655]

Yes, it does. You just can't "mail it in", you have to play the games. But it's also a matter of timing; with the Club meshing entirely as a unit leading up to and extending into the playoffs. They've been there before with enough veterans who have seen how both sides of the playoff run can go.

[Ms_Hockey 0]

Is the regular season important? Yes. Would it be nice to get the Presidents' Trophy? Absolutely.

Is a regular season loss as heartbreaking as a playoff loss? Absolutely not.

While the regular season matters - it doesn't matter NEARLY as much as playoffs do. It matters more to the teams who are fighting to make it into the playoffs - not so much to the teams who have a secure place barring out a major blunder.

[C-TownWing 0]

And where we're seeded doesn't matter to me either. Playing the 8 seed in the first round hasn't been easy for the Wings in a long time.

While the part about 8 seeds is true, seeding is what forced Dallas to go through Anaheim and San Jose last year while we got to destroy injury-decimated Colorado in the second round, and I think that ultimately helped us once the WCF started. Sure there are plenty of cases where teams overcame a seeding disadvantage, but I'll take everything I can get.

That said, as long as we're 1 or 2, I don't care about losing out on the President's Trophy or the #1 seed in the west. The only reason I even care about the division is because losing it would mean we're the 4th seed.

[Guest Shoreline]

It would be astonishingly stupid to take the regular season and standings for granted. There are fans of many teams who, year-end-and-year-out don't even get to see their team in the playoffs, never mind be in the smug position of contemplating disregarding the season and looking forward to the playoffs with half the season over.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Shoreline

[Kevvie 0]

One word....MOMENTUM

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

It would be astonishingly stupid to take the regular season and standings for granted. There are fans of many teams who, year-end-and-year-out don't even get to see their team in the playoffs, never mind be in the smug position of contemplating disregarding the season and looking forward to the playoffs with half the season over.

That's why it doesn't apply to the Wings. Nobody is taking it for granted, I'm just saying that it's not something we have to worry about with this roster.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

One word....MOMENTUM

Sounds like somebody forgot the 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006 playoffs.

Momentum means nothing.