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unsaddleddonald

The Missed Chances: '03, '04, '06

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I was thinking about those playoff fumbles today and maybe for the first time truly appreciating how big of missed opportunities they were.

'03: with Colorado out, I would've liked our chances vs. Dallas/Minny/Vancouver

Giguere - 1.62 GAA .945 S% in playoffs

'04: I like us against "new to the party" San Jose

Kiprusoff - 1.85, .928

'06: IMO the Wings were the only power team in the West

Roloson - 2.33, 9.27

Was it really just 3 goalies having career moments coupled with Pav and Hank not being *playoff* Pav and Hank soon enough?

It just feels like such a waste now when you consider the state of the team now and reflect on the glory.

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I was thinking about those playoff fumbles today and maybe for the first time truly appreciating how big of missed opportunities they were.

'03: with Colorado out, I would've liked our chances vs. Dallas/Minny/Vancouver

Giguere - 1.62 GAA .945 S% in playoffs

'04: I like us against "new to the party" San Jose

Kiprusoff - 1.85, .928

'06: IMO the Wings were the only power team in the West

Roloson - 2.33, 9.27

Was it really just 3 goalies having career moments coupled with Pav and Hank not being *playoff* Pav and Hank soon enough?

It just feels like such a waste now when you consider the state of the team now and reflect on the glory.

I wouldn't say it's because Pav and Hank weren't good enough playoff players (Pav was a bit of a late bloomer) but we had Feds and Shanny still up there. We lost because Dave Lewis and Babcock got outcoached combined with the goalies strong performance as you mentioned Edited by kickazz

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I wouldn't say it's because Pav and Hank weren't good enough playoff players (Pav was a bit of a late bloomer) but we had Feds and Shanny still up there. We lost because Dave Lewis and Babcock got outcoached combined with the goalies strong performance as you mentioned

We only had Fedorov for '03. I think Pav and Hank being not quite elite when our older players left/declined was part of it, but not much.

'03 I think was not being mentally prepared enough, overconfidence maybe, maybe some fatigue from the previous year, plus facing a tight trap and a circus tent stuffed with king size mattresses in goal.

'04 I have to give full marks to Calgary. Kiprusoff was fantastic and their defense did an amazing job boxing out, blocking shots, and clearing rebounds. We certainly could have been better, but I don't think we were bad.

'06 is the most disappointing. Even though Edm went on their run afterward, I didn't think they were that good against us. We just mostly sucked. Babs has to take a lot of blame. Didn't know how to coach a good team yet.

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We only had Fedorov for '03. I think Pav and Hank being not quite elite when our older players left/declined was part of it, but not much.

'03 I think was not being mentally prepared enough, overconfidence maybe, maybe some fatigue from the previous year, plus facing a tight trap and a circus tent stuffed with king size mattresses in goal.

'04 I have to give full marks to Calgary. Kiprusoff was fantastic and their defense did an amazing job boxing out, blocking shots, and clearing rebounds. We certainly could have been better, but I don't think we were bad.

'06 is the most disappointing. Even though Edm went on their run afterward, I didn't think they were that good against us. We just mostly sucked. Babs has to take a lot of blame. Didn't know how to coach a good team yet.

Good catch on Feds. Ofcourse Dats and Hank weren't elite yet but we still had plenty of elite players for a good run. The issue came in when the opposing teams goalies and coaches out did ours.

03 - Giguire

04 - Outplayed

06 - Outcoached. Pretty badly too.

Edited by kickazz

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Man I took those losses hard back then. Didn't want to talk to anyone for days. Good old college days.

'03 - was very embarrassing. We were the defending champs. We still had that HOF roster. We played against the Disney Ducks. Getting swept was the worst part of it all. I couldn't look anyone in the eye for some time after that. I think we could have gone past the other teams in the West, but we'd probably lose to Jersey. They had a great team that year.

'04 - Got out of the first round, but that game 5 against the Flames screwed us. I still think we'd win the Cup if that puck doesn't hit Yzerman in the eye. San Hosay were playoff chokers who'd never get to the Finals. Tampa may have beaten us, but at least we'd be in the Finals.

'06 - What a stinker this was. Yzerman's last hurrah was hard to watch. Roloson was like 50 years old and we made him look amazing. In turn, Lilja made Lidstrom look like Aki Berg on that pairing. Having Draper on the top line was a joke. Maybe this was the worst of the three considering it was the third choke in a row. We'd probably lose to Anaheim in the following round, though. They had our number.

Looking back at it, all the teams we lost to went to game 7 of the SCF so there's something to be proud of. Also, I always thought the WIngs would be harder to beat if they got out of the early rounds. We'd do better against established teams than teams full of no-name jobbers relying on some super goalie. Too bad we never got to find out.

Oh and Shanahan was awful in all those playoffs. Probably the main reason the team didn't keep him.

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One thing that always rubs me the wrong way about 03 and 04 were the people who blame Joseph for those loses. In a four game sweep, he had a .917 SV% and a 2.08 GAA. How anyone could blame the goalie for that, is just crazy to me. Then in 04, .939SV% and 1.39GAA, we were ******* anemic offensively against Anaheim and Calgary and that's why we lost. The performances of Kiprusoff and Giguere were just unreal.

2006 really bugs me, Ozzie was getting close to returning and re-injured his groin. I know we didn't lose just because of Legace, but he was brutal. And GMR is right too, Shanny was horrendous in those six games. Zetterberg was great, so was Yzerman despite only playing 4 games, and I'll agree Babs was out coached too.

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Man I took those losses hard back then. Didn't want to talk to anyone for days. Good old college days.

I hear ya man. I'm a couple years older then you, so I was a couple years out of college then, but it was those 3 playoff years when I decided I can't let the losses effect me so much anymore.

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2009 was the most disappointing of all the losses and the one I remember the most. I wouldn't say it was as embarrassing as those other losses, though.

Agreed. That was probably the most disappointing loss I have ever experienced as a fan. I can still remember standing there in the Joe with arrogant Pittsburgh fans all around me.

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2009 was the most disappointing of all the losses and the one I remember the most. I wouldn't say it was as embarrassing as those other losses, though.

Definitely not embarrassing, but easily the hardest to swallow of all of em. Put a few buddies in headlocks for talking s*** after Game 7 that year to be sure :lol:

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Definitely not embarrassing, but easily the hardest to swallow of all of em. Put a few buddies in headlocks for talking s*** after Game 7 that year to be sure :lol:

That's one where five or six moments play over and over in you head that could have changed the series. I guess you can do that for 2003, 2004 and 2006, but we'd still have several other rounds to win in those years. In 2009, there were no other rounds left. We were that close.

Edited by GMRwings1983

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You guys have better memories than I. I remember being crushed in '06, I even went to a playoff game, but don't remember too many specifics other than it was yet another repeat of the stellar opposition goalie.

2004 I don't even remember at all. I sort of took a year off from watching each and every game. I think the worst were '03 and '09. I was so sure we'd repeat in '03, so damn sure. Same in '09. 2009 made me mad, though, because it seemed like the team was on autopilot until the very last couple games, and by then it was too late. Lidstrom's post shot in the dying seconds will forever haunt me in my nightmares.

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Agreed. That was probably the most disappointing loss I have ever experienced as a fan. I can still remember standing there in the Joe with arrogant Pittsburgh fans all around me.

Imagine having them around 24/7. That's my life. lol It was disappointing mostly because the Wings were definitely the better team. Nothing went our way. We had a grueling 7 game series going back and forth across the country against Anaheim, then had to play a tough series against the Hawks just to make it to the Finals. Meanwhile over in the East, the Hurricanes took out two of the teams that would have given the Pens a hard time and then they got to whoop the crap out of them in the Eastern Finals. Datsyuk, Hossa, Lidstrom, Ericsson, Osgood, and Rafalski were all injured, the Pens were completely healthy. It just wasn't meant to be, I suppose.

In regards to the original post, 2003 was most disappointing. Defending Cup team, very similar to that team. We should have gone far. Instead we had to deal with the Michelin man and his enormous "no way those are regulation size" equipment. I remember Shanny saying that when Giguere dropped to his knees, his shoulders were even with the crossbar.

Edited by xtrememachine1

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2009 was the most disappointing of all the losses and the one I remember the most. I wouldn't say it was as embarrassing as those other losses, though.

After Crosby snubbing Lidstrom, my #2 painful memory from that game 7 are two awful plays by Brad Stuart - turnover to a goal, penalty to a goal. We were out coached the entire series with Pitt being more adaptable, but it really was ours to win or lose. Had Stuart not played like a ditz in that game, we might have our second 2 cup streak. You will not convince me - Stuart should have committed seppuku after that one.

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The name Talbot will always haunt my dreams after 09. That being said, that 09 team is miles better than this one now. I miss those days. I really miss that 97-98 team. A whole lotta talent mixed with a whole lotta bruising coupled with a chip on their shoulders. That team had a lot to prove and they did it back to back. I guess you can say those losses stung but I remember the Devils Cup sweep and our amazing year in 96 only to be stopped by the scummy Avalanche and those really pissed me off. That 02 team was stacked though. Can't win them all I used to tell myself. Good times. Now it hurts that we barely squeak in and are out in a round every year.

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'07 as well comes to mind for me. Who knows how it would have turned out if Schneider didn't get hurt. Winning 1-0 pretty much all of game 5 against the Ducks before they fluked it out to tie and then win in OT. Probably set the table for '08 but really could have been three straight finals appearances.

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'07 as well comes to mind for me. Who knows how it would have turned out if Schneider didn't get hurt. Winning 1-0 pretty much all of game 5 against the Ducks before they fluked it out to tie and then win in OT. Probably set the table for '08 but really could have been three straight finals appearances.

That hurt too but 2007 was, by all accounts, a success.

We atoned for the prior three playoff chokes by getting to the Conference Finals. We lost to one of the best teams of the decade in Anaheim. Yes, I often wonder about what would happen had we won game 5 (we were so damn close!), but the experience of those playoffs helped the Wings in the next two playoff runs.

You could argue that if we won in 2007, we wouldn't have won the Cup in 2008 or made the Finals in 2009. It's just hard to get there every year, even if you have the best team on paper.

Edited by GMRwings1983

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It's kind of crazy to think but...

Between 1995 and 2009 we could have won 5 more cups had it not been for the reasons we just mentioned...

1995 NJ sweep was sad.

2003 Only if we could have beaten Giguere..

2006 Our team was too good to lose to Edmonton (who went all the way)

2007 Wish we could have beaten the Ducks in game 5 - we would have won it all

2009 that game 7...

Could have had 9 cups in 14 years if things went our way. Even if 1995, and 2003 we're a stretch that would have been still 7 cups in 14 years that we could have gotten.

Edited by kickazz

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It's kind of crazy to think but...

Between 1995 and 2009 we could have won 5 more cups had it not been for the reasons we just mentioned...

1995 NJ sweep was sad.

2003 Only if we could have beaten Giguere..

2006 Our team was too good to lose to Edmonton (who went all the way)

2007 Wish we could have beaten the Ducks in game 5 - we would have won it all

2009 that game 7...

Could have had 9 cups in 14 years if things went our way. Even if 1995, and 2003 we're a stretch that would have been still 7 cups in 14 years that we could have gotten.

I'm one of those people like GMR that views this with a catch: if we win in '95 or '96, do we ever trade for Shanahan?

If we don't light Roy up to kingdom come in '96, does he end up in Colorado?

Butterfly effect type stuff

Edited by unsaddleddonald

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I'm one of those people like GMR that views this with a catch: if we win in '95 or '96, do we ever trade for Shanahan?

If we don't light Roy up to kingdom come in '96, does he end up in Colorado?

Butterfly effect type stuff

Yep. Other than Montreal (and that was in a smaller league) no one has won 7 Cups in 14 years. Playoff games tend to be close, so it's natural there will be some near misses.

I think the Wings maximized their Cups, but yes maybe they could have sneaked a few more in there. It's just unlikely.

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