Bigger Picture Question - What was the deciding factor?

[RedWingsRox 614]

It's the day after and it still feels empty ... don't want this to be Lids' last year but ...

Don't know if it is too early to assess but just stepping back a bit and wondering why we lost to same team 2 years in a row. When Chicago did it to Vancouver, there were some serious questions asked. Some say that Canucks retooled specifically to beat Chicago in the playoffs. So, from the bigger picture perspective, we loss to the same team in round 2 twice ... what was the deciding factor? With all due respect to Babs, was it that SJ had a better overall coaching staff? Was it injuries (a bit of a weak/lame excuse)? Was it that SJ just had better and deeper roster?

My initial thinking is that although we got one of the best head coaches, SJ's coaching staff was a bit sharper than ours. Our special team and defensive coach needs to be re-evaluated. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if we picked up another power forward who can score 20+ per season.

[Berry 2]

Destiny. It was a battle between 2 similar teams. Detroit was more injured than SJ but this makes no difference (playoffs don't stop...).

I'm proud to be a fan of this team, big hearts, big guys.

[Johnny Law 15]

Logan Couture, we simply don't have second tier scoring like that with Franzen out of the lineup.

Injuries certainly didn't help and Abdelkader and Hudler were not very good.

[Guest Crymson]

Is everyone forgetting the horrible bounces that lost games one and three for us?

[hockey&beer 16]

I don't recall who said it last night in the pre-game but, "either team could have won any of the games". These two are so evenly matched that there isn't anything the Wings could specifically change to alter the out come of the games.

When all is said and done, the only real difference was SJ was better than Detroit on special teams. Their PP converted and won them games 1-3 and, obviously, w/o their PP goal and shutting the Wings down on their opportunities, game 7 would have ended differently.

[Konnan511 1,736]

I think the biggest factor was size and speed of their players. Ericsson has size but zero strength. Kronwall and Stuart hit like Mack Trucks, but aren't able to knock people off pucks in the corners. Datsyuk and Lidstrom use their superior stick work to get people off the puck. Bertuzzi does a good job of jamming pucks loose.

We just need one or two big DMen who can skate fairly decent and can deliver a decent outlet pass. As long as Kronwall and Lidstrom and Rafalski are on this team, those bottom DMen don't need to be point producers, they just need to be strong DMen how play a very sound defensive game. i think that would have won us the series in 5 games or less.

Of note: I still think we had a great shot at winning this series in 6 or less if a bounce or two would have gone our way. That Ferrio (sp) goal and the Pavelski mid air bat goal are perfect examples of the bounces going their way in key situations that turned the series in their favor.

[VM1138 1,921]

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the teams as a whole. San Jose dominated often (like they usually do) because of their size and reach of their cycling game. But they weren't deeper, our stars are better than their stars. Let's look back at the series, shall we?

Game 1: Decided entirely by refs. Probably should have gone to Detroit.

Game 2: San Jose outplayed Detroit, deserved to win. Series tied 1-1.

Game 3: Very even game, Detroit could easily have won, but of course it needed the storybook ending of the team being dominated scoring an easy overtime goal. Series could be 2-1 either way at this point, but let's cede this to the Wings without the underdog reffing in the final minutes.

Game 4: Detroit eked out a win. Detroit up 3-1.

Game 5: Four and five were very evenly played, so we'll say the Sharks win this one. The Wings got pretty lucky, so 3-2 Wings at this point.

Game 6: The Wings dominate, close out the series. Wings win 4-2.

So no, I wouldn't say San Jose was obviously a better team in any way. Our powerplay sucked and the team got off to a bad start.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Logan Couture, we simply don't have second tier scoring like that with Franzen out of the lineup.

Injuries certainly didn't help and Abdelkader and Hudler were not very good.

Mostly this.

The media is probably already writing the revisionist history about how good Thornton was most of this series, but the big guns on San Jose - Thornton, Marleau and Heatley didn't do much. Pavelski too, who I feel is often a Wings killer, was pretty quiet. At the beginning of the series if you had told me those guys were limited to as few points as they were, I would definitely have liked the Wings chances.

But Clowe, Setoguchi, and Couture stepped up big time. Boyle too. Other than Thornton's faceoffs, those other guys were the heart of that team against Detroit.

Franzen, Bert, Cleary, Hudler were too injured and/or could not compete at that level. Datsyuk and Zetterberg can only do so much.

It also shows that regular season wins do matter when they give away what should be easy points. If the Wings had picked up one more win in the regular season, they would've had home ice against the Sharks. Not sure how much of a difference it would've made, but it wouldn't have hurt. Especially in game 7 when early on they were getting dominated in the faceoff circle.

[Nev 1,085]

I think the biggest factor was size and speed of their players. Ericsson has size but zero strength. Kronwall and Stuart hit like Mack Trucks, but aren't able to knock people off pucks in the corners. Datsyuk and Lidstrom use their superior stick work to get people off the puck. Bertuzzi does a good job of jamming pucks loose.

We just need one or two big DMen who can skate fairly decent and can deliver a decent outlet pass. As long as Kronwall and Lidstrom and Rafalski are on this team, those bottom DMen don't need to be point producers, they just need to be strong DMen how play a very sound defensive game. i think that would have won us the series in 5 games or less.

I agree. Their 2nd + 3rd lines were bigger, stronger, faster and better than our 2nd and 3rd defence pairings.

Edited May 13, 2011 by Nev

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I agree. Their 2nd + 3rd lines were bigger, faster and better than our 2nd and 3rd defence pairings.

I'm guessing that's why Babcock had mixed up the pairings this year. Stuart and Lids never really played particularly well together this season, but it mixes up some size and physicality on the pairings. It's not like the early years when Murphy and Nick could handle the Legion of Doom line by playing the puck and not the body. It's been a continuing strategy for the Wings with having guys like Schneider and now Raf on the top pairing, but the reality is that Lids and Rafalski are getting up there in years and have lost a step, so against a team like San Jose it would be too hard to battle around the net.

Stuart and Kronwall can hold their own fairly well. Assuming we keep Ericsson he still needs to play more physical. More like he did in the first round. And Salei has apparently stopped playing with an edge. Kindl's got good size, but it'd be nice to have someone big that will really make guys pay around the Wings net.

Edited May 13, 2011 by haroldsnepsts

[EastLansingNative 1]

Our superstars need to score like superstars, and our depth needs to surprise everyone with tons of offense.

We've won cups with one or the other, or both, it's tough to win without either.

That, and yeah, the bounces were rough...

[Majsheppard 203]

Well last year it was the refs, this year was that they wanted it more.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

Our superstars need to score like superstars

Agreed with your entire post except this part. Our superstars were incredible for us this series.

[MGreenberg 105]

It was depth. Guys like Couture, Setoguchi, Clowe out played pretty much all of the Wings second tier forwards.

Edited May 13, 2011 by MGreenberg

[Shaman 713]

A coin flip series ended in a coin flip. I think if they played 700 games against each other it would have ended 350 wins each or in that ball park, these two teams stack up really well against each other. And heres my question:

What if the Wings only have 4-5 days off between games? not over a week? Would they have come out stronger?

[Jersey Wing 1,521]

We had two chances to win ONE overtime game. We lost them both. With a win in just ONE of those games it's over in 6 games.

Overtime games are opportunities. The Wings didn't capitalize on those opportunities.

[Grypho 195]

I get lambasted for this a lot, especially by Sharks fans, who just want to play the mindless we-were-simply-the-better-team card, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Despite several games where the score did not reflect the shots, scoring chances, or superior performance by one team over the other, everyone knows our series was a virtual coin-flip throughout, right down to the final seconds of last night's game. (and I agree with those who called it a 1 game edge to the Wings)

I think the Wings were victims of their early success against Phoenix, as they were forced to ramp their playoff intensity and stamina back up (as they definitely did) from their extended rest period after sweeping the Yotes. That rest obviously helped injured players like Z and Mule, but I think it hurt the overall team far more than helped, and made all the difference in a series that I thought should otherwise have gone convincingly to the Wings in 5 or 6.

The Wings had 9 days off, the Sharks had only 4, but I predicted that the Wings would bring an increased level of intensity to each successive game in the series, which reached an astonishing peak in Game 7, which finally revealed the intense Wings seen in all four games against Phoenix.

I'm still compiling playoff history data to see if there's anything statistically meaningful, but looking only in terms of the level of intensity and stamina each team brought to each game, relative to themselves and their previous games only, and not the scoreboard or the other team, this series went the way I thought it would.

Yeah, I don't think that the Sharks could have been swept by Chicago last year if the Sharks had not had 8 days rest. At best we would have given them a run for their money, and a longer series at least. The Sharks were on a too-little-too-late ramp as well. But I don't think the Sharks would even be facing the Nucks now if the teams had both had 4 days of rest, because I thought the Wings were the better team this year overall.

A coin flip series ended in a coin flip. I think if they played 700 games against each other it would have ended 350 wins each or in that ball park, these two teams stack up really well against each other. And heres my question:

What if the Wings only have 4-5 days off between games? not over a week? Would they have come out stronger?

Oh, wow, I posted but missed this, sorry.

Yes, with 4-5 days off, I absolutely believe that the Wings would have been an unstoppable juggernaut against the Sharks.

FINAL EDIT:

I think it's fortunate for the Nucks that the Preds gave them a harder time than they expected. By Sunday, the Nucks will have had 6 days rest. The Sharks will have had 3. Not a big difference, but I consider 4 days the maximum before "rust" (a steady bleeding decrease in playoff stamina and intensity) starts to set in. Small advantage to the Sharks for at least Game 1. And again, I'm not talking about what happens on the scoreboard, but in how well these teams skate against one another over 60 minutes of play, and then comparing that to what each team brings to the next game relative to their prior capacity.

Edited May 13, 2011 by Grypho

[The Secret 304]

Deciding factors in game 7: Yet another slow start 1st period + 0 shots on net for 4 whole Power Plays

Over-all Sharks capitalized on more chances and had some good luck helping at times. They seemed hungrier and better poised much more consistently. I thought on paper we had more depth but their 3rd and 4th liners were there for them also.

Edited May 13, 2011 by The Secret

[Taylorov 37]

Game 1 - Refs

Game 3 - Lucky bounce

Game 7 - PP sucked & Injuries

[StayClassy 38]

I don't like to make excuses, but I am going to blame injuries for this one. All these one goal loses and Franzen getting 0pts. I have to believe a healthy Mule puts them over the top.

[Dimaline312000 51]

Last night after the game while I was lying in bed I got this feeling of what I call summer feeling. I get it every year but it's usually after all the playoffs are over but this time I happened after the Wings were eliminated. I'm pretty sure I've said this before but I hate summer and when I got that feeling I just feel sick. However I stand by my orginal statement as this loss has nothing on the horrible feeling as the 09 Cup Finals where we lost in Game 7 at Home. Summer may not have officially started yet but that feeling is here and I'm sure it will get stronger when all the playoffs are over. Now I probably shouldn't feel this bad becuase over the years I have taped a bunch of Red Wings and other Hockey games and I have them to watch during the summer months and that does help ease the pain a little. I'm not really sure what happened other than the fact I think San Jose just out played us. The Wings could have very well been swept by the Sharks but they dug in and played hard it just wasn't meant to be for us not this season. I don't think San Jose has any better coaching or more depth I think it was just a case of them out playin us again.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Whatever became of the Ruslan Salei that rammed an unsuspecting Mike Modano into the boards years ago?

Not saying this team needs thugs, but we could certainly use some added size/grit on this team at both forward, and defense.

Honestly I think he just got old and injury prone to play that style anymore. Too bad because I was hoping he would bring some sandpaper to this team.

[gcom007 1,465]

We almost beat this team with numerous significant injuries. I doubt Z was 100% and at the very least had some rust to deal with starting out. Dats had the wrist issue, despite still being the best player in the series without a doubt. Franzen was just a mess. That's your 3 top offensive players dealing with injuries.

Then you think about the fact that we did take it to game 7, and consider that in that game, already playing with no Franzen, an injured Datsyuk and maybe still an injured Z, you lose Cleary and Bertuzzi completely. And still, you're in the game to the final seconds and lose by one goal.

Give me a break.

The Sharks are living on a strong prayer named Antti Niemi and the Wings didn't have the firepower to finish them off.

I have no problem admitting that the Wings aren't perfect and have problems, and I am probably one of the few here that genuinely respects and admires other teams in the league. But I won't for a second say that the better team won that series. I don't believe it at all. We had some bad luck with injuries...that were at times caused or exacerbated by Joe Thornton cheap shots. I'm not going to give my respect or props to the Sharks. They won, that's far more than they deserve for their efforts, and I don't think they'll get to 16, let alone 12.

But we will be back.

[HankthaTank 1,100]

We almost beat this team with numerous significant injuries. I doubt Z was 100% and at the very least had some rust to deal with starting out. Dats had the wrist issue, despite still being the best player in the series without a doubt. Franzen was just a mess. That's your 3 top offensive players dealing with injuries.

Then you think about the fact that we did take it to game 7, and consider that in that game, already playing with no Franzen, an injured Datsyuk and maybe still an injured Z, you lose Cleary and Bertuzzi completely. And still, you're in the game to the final seconds and lose by one goal.

Give me a break.

The Sharks are living on a strong prayer named Antti Niemi and the Wings didn't have the firepower to finish them off.

I have no problem admitting that the Wings aren't perfect and have problems, and I am probably one of the few here that genuinely respects and admires other teams in the league. But I won't for a second say that the better team won that series. I don't believe it at all. We had some bad luck with injuries...that were at times caused or exacerbated by Joe Thornton cheap shots. I'm not going to give my respect or props to the Sharks. They won, that's far more than they deserve for their efforts, and I don't think they'll get to 16, let alone 12.

But we will be back.

Spot the f*** on up and down this post. A+

[Guest Crymson]

We almost beat this team with numerous significant injuries. I doubt Z was 100% and at the very least had some rust to deal with starting out. Dats had the wrist issue, despite still being the best player in the series without a doubt. Franzen was just a mess. That's your 3 top offensive players dealing with injuries.

Then you think about the fact that we did take it to game 7, and consider that in that game, already playing with no Franzen, an injured Datsyuk and maybe still an injured Z, you lose Cleary and Bertuzzi completely. And still, you're in the game to the final seconds and lose by one goal.

Give me a break.

Good words.