41 replies to this topic

[Mabuhay Red Wings]

http://www.mlive.com...d_sweep_fi.html

Positives (per mlive article)

-The depth came through in the series against the Coyotes. 16 players have at least one point
-The depth also shows through how spread out the TOI is, especially for the dmen
-Offense in general isn't an issue
-5 on 5 defense is good
-Rest for the wounded
-Did the article forget any?

Potential Negatives (from what I gather around multiple Wings forums)

-PK a little bit worrisome
-Will everybody continue to play as hard with Z and Mule integrated back into the lineup?
-How well can the Wings infamously inconsistent (regular season) defense play against a team like SJ who has significantly more and better offensive weapons?

[Konnan511]

Other positives:
Lidstrom is 100% rested after taking a beating in round 1 (goes along with rest)
No more Doan

Negatives (LGW):
While it's nice to sweep, facing a little adversity isn't always a bad thing and the first lost this place will go nutty.

[syntax]

I have to admit, I was 7000% wrong about the Wings in the first round. I thought it would take 6 for us to put away the Yotes. I'm very surprised the Wings put together 4 good games in a row after looking great and then dreadful every other game (seemingly)during the end of the regular season.

I thought everyone was really good (especially Pavel, Helm and Kronwall), and seeing Salei come out and have an awesome game in Game 3 was really great.

If I had to complain about anything, it would be that the PK. Specifically, I don't think the forwards on the PK are challenging the point fast enough to force the opposing PP point men to make an imperfect play.

Obviously, in the 2nd round we will face a much better team than we did in the first round....but (hopefully), we will have Z and Mule back 100% to offset this.

[Blood On The Ice]

I have to admit, I was 7000% wrong about the Wings in the first round. I thought it would take 6 for us to put away the Yotes. I'm very surprised the Wings put together 4 good games in a row after looking great and then dreadful every other game (seemingly)during the end of the regular season.

I thought everyone was really good (especially Pavel, Helm and Kronwall), and seeing Salei come out and have an awesome game in Game 3 was really great.

If I had to complain about anything, it would be that the PK. Specifically, I don't think the forwards on the PK are challenging the point fast enough to force the opposing PP point men to make an imperfect play.

Obviously, in the 2nd round we will face a much better team than we did in the first round....but (hopefully), we will have Z and Mule back 100% to offset this.

That has been my biggest complaint for years. They are inconsistent there. Some games the challenge point, far too often they just watch the opposing team set up and shoot. When you just let them shoot, eventually the puck goes in.

[brett]

My only negative is rust from the break

[RedWingsRox]

Our boys are too experienced to let the rest negatively affect them. Wonder what they are doing this long weekend

[Konnan511]

Our boys are too experienced to let the rest negatively affect them. Wonder what they are doing this long weekend

Same thing they do every playoff, impregnate their wives/girlfriends so their children are never born during the playoffs.

[VM1138]

My only negative is rust from the break

I thought this, too, but the Wings have dominated whenever they've had a rest. The start of the season, the first round, and there was a point in February I think where they had a week off and came back on fire.

[egroen]

I tend to believe the PK was weaker than possible because Babcock was resting Lidstrom and those games were mostly in hand - but the Wings have had playoff PK difficulties since 09, and they have suffered almost 1 PPG per game since then. It's a definite problem, and could really hurt them against a defensive team.

That's it though - this team looks better than most, I will say.

Edited by egroen, 22 April 2011 - 09:34 PM.

[GMRwings1983]

I tend to believe the PK was weaker than possible because Babcock was resting Lidstrom and those games were mostly in hand - but the Wings have had playoff PK difficulties since 09, and they have suffered almost 1 PPG per game since then. It's a definite problem, and could really hurt them against a defensive team.

That's it though - this team looks better than most, I will say.

Especially if we play San Jose, who has a dominant powerplay and one that owned us in last year's playoffs.

They're a lot more talented than Phoenix too.

[dropkickshanahans]

Especially if we play San Jose, who has a dominant powerplay and one that owned us in last year's playoffs.

They're a lot more talented than Phoenix too.

I honestly hope we play SJ next round. The more terrible goalies, the better.

[S_Whitney]

phoenix's lack of offensive power made us look good defensively...(weak PK shows that)

[Konnan511]

People need to realize that Lidstrom and Zetterberg rarely play on the PK now. Wings need to do something else to improve their PK

[Mabuhay Red Wings]

Some weeeeird signs/numbers my brother told me about.

Wings haven't swept their first round series and won a Stanley Cup since 1955. Although that one makes winning a cup sound as if it happens more often than it does.

But in this era, each of the Wings four cup wins began with a 4-2 series win. Spooooky.

[Barrie]

The PK will be better with Zetterberg back.

I honestly hope we play SJ next round. The more terrible goalies, the better.

I want to play SJ next round, it's time to get revenge for their guttless diving act they showed last year! Plus it's always fun to see Thornton cave under pressure.

[Barrie]

phoenix's lack of offensive power made us look good defensively...(weak PK shows that)

I think that has more to do with Phoenix being more worried about hitting us hard, than trying to outscore us or trying to stop us from scoring.

[Chunkylover]

During the regular season the Wings had three four-game win streaks and their longest was one five-game win streak. Not sure if that says more about their disinterest in the regular season or their ability to step up in the higher pressure, higher stakes environment of the post-season. Additionally, they accomplished this without some key contributors.

I wonder if this series will have been enough to get the completely focused for a good long run, or if dispatching the Coyotes as (seemingly) handily as they did will cause them to be overconfident or not fully engaged in playoff mode.

[Mabuhay Red Wings]

"It's funny how it goes," Cleary said. "When an important player like (Zetterberg) is out, it's almost like you play smarter, play harder. You realize you're missing your top offensive guy. Certainly our depth was key for this series. We're going to need that as time goes on.''

http://www.nhl.com/i...m?id=2010030174

Said defenseman Brad Stuart: "We can’t let up a little bit. Sometimes that’s the tendency when you get a key player like that back. We just got to continue doing what we’ve been doing and he’ll make us that much better."

http://www.mlive.com...gs - MLive.com)

This might be the biggest challenge for the Wings. They get Z back and have to find a way to keep the machine going. We've seen them struggle with this during the regular season but the playoffs is a different environment.

[HankthaTank]

Z is a machine. I think their focus is as high as it has been in a playoff in some time. They have to get that hunger and realize people around the league are still bringing up the same old tired crap. Too old, goalie can't handle, their defense wasn't good enough this year. The rust could be there but honestly, it's rest. They needed it and will be able to completely recharge the batteries. This is what we all wanted and this site turns it into a negative somehow

[dragonballgtz]

I agree with the OPs positives.

For the negatives add to the fact that we kept letting PHX into the games down the stretch of each game. We allowed them to score a lot of goals in the 3rd period of each game in the series to make the game closer than it should have been.