Another year, another loss to the San Jose Sharks. I think it's time Red Wings fans face the facts that they just ran into a better team, plain and simple. The Sharks outplayed the Red Wings for the majority of this series.
But there are still going to be those "fans," most of whom call into sports radio to give their "expert analysis," who place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one player and one alone - goaltender Jimmy Howard. These people are what are referred to as "WingFans"; they know nothing about hockey outside of their blind love for their home team. Anyone with two eyes and half a brain could see the Wings were outplayed as a whole this whole series.
I'd like to know what happened to our so-called high powered offense in the first two games? Where were goals from Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Cleary, and Hudler in San Jose? People can blame injuries all they want, but if you're that injured that you're a detriment to your team, you should be taken out of the lineup. Jiri Hudler was so afraid to shoot the puck, he dumped the puck right out of the offensive zone tonight instead of just sending it towards the net, and ended up scoreless in the series.
While Hudler was out there being useless, veteran Mike Modano sat on the bench. I wonder what an impact he might have had on this series had he been allowed to play in lieu of one of the non-performers.
Detroit's penalty kill was the worst of any team in the playoffs, and their power play also hovered near the bottom. In tonight's elimination game, they had four powerplays and not a single shot on goal in any of them. I suppose that's Jimmy Howard's fault, though.
They scored only one goal in the first two games, so unless your expectation is that Jimmy Howard should put up a shutout every night, that isn't his fault. In fact, anyone who watched the games in San Jose knows that Howard gave his team every chance to steal them both, particularly the first heartbreaking overtime loss. How many goals were the result of defensive breakdowns, such as the game-winning goal tonight which left a man wide open on a 3-on-2? WingFan is always quick to blame the goalie, but they say nothing of missed assignments or Jiri Hudler standing idly by while his man buries the puck in the net.
Howard, or any goalie, can only do so much. Considering the goal differential in each game was only one, does that mean that Antti Niemi sucks too? He gave up nearly as many goals, including an incredibly soft long-range backhander from Todd Bertuzzi in game four. That was as ugly as anything Howard let it and I'd be willing to bet there were plenty of Sharks fans calling into their local sports station when the series was wrapped up at 3-3 ready to throw him under the bus.
To be fair, and to show that I'm objective, Howard DID let in some soft goals in game three and one in game four. Yes, it is his job to be the last line of defense, but I'm not foolish enough to expect him to be perfect. You hate soft goals from any goaltender, but every goalie in history has given them up, and it strikes me as odd that NHL analysts are all praising the kid, while Detroit "fans" are ready to hang him out to dry - just like they did with Curtis Joseph, Chris Osgood, and Mike Vernon.
In all honesty, I can't be too disappointed about this year's playoff loss. It was expected, not because I have no faith in my team, but because the Red Wings dug themselves into a deep, deep hole with their horrible performances in games one and two, where they were dominated by the Sharks. There's a reason only three teams in the history of the NHL have come back from 3-0 series deficits, but I'm sure WingFan will still cite Jimmy Howard as the reason we failed to become the fourth.
All things considered, the Red Wings had a nearly insurmountable task, and they put forth a valiant effort, but it shouldn't take three losses before you wake up and start playing hard. If they'd played with the determination they had in games four through seven in even one of the first two, this series would have had a different outcome. If they hadn't taken stupid penalties at the most inopportune times, or their powerplay had been effective in the least, they'd be the ones celebrating right now, and to suggest otherwise or to blame a single player is both incorrect and illogical, as anyone who knows hockey will tell you.
The problem is that WingFan has the unrealistic expectation that the Wings are SO GOOD that they should win every year, and when they don't, it can ONLY mean the goaltender wasn't good enough. It was the same thing Chris Osgood went through, and to some degree still does from people who just love to hate him. Unfortunately for those of us who live in the real world, we realize that no one team is going to be a perennial winner. Sometimes you just get beat.
I'm still surprisingly proud of my Red Wings for the nail-biting comback they fought hard for, and fell just short of, and I take comfort in the fact that I know the San Jose Sharks will follow their playoff tradition of bombing out once more. In the meantime, I'll be rooting hard for Steve Yzerman's Tampa Bay Lightning who, since going down 3-1 in the first round, are undefeated and swept the #1 seeded (and grossly overrated) Washington Capitals in the second. Could they be a team of destiny? Let's hope so, for Stevie's sake!
