Mats Sundin hates the Stanley Cup

The first thing that entered my mind when I heard that the Wings nabbed Marian Hossa for a 1-year, $7.45 million contract was, “what the hell is Mats Sundin thinking?” And to be clear, I’m psyched about the Hossa-signing. He has more goals than any other player under 30. He’s a fantastic two-way player who just finished playing the best hockey of his career in the playoffs. He was probably the most coveted free agent available. I just find it peculiar that Sundin didn’t jump at the chance to play for the Wings like Hossa did.

Hossa turned down an $81 million contract from the Edmonton Oilers to sign with the Wings. His motive wasn’t a mystery. He came to Detroit to win the Stanley Cup. What makes such a motive so astonishing, though, is that Hossa is only 29 years old. His career is only half-over. Yet, at the pinnacle of his earning power, he passed up $73.55 million guaranteed just for a chance at the Stanley Cup. If he suffers a career-ending injury next year—or even just career-altering—that will amount to paying more than $70 million for one shot at the Cup. I don’t want to make it sound like Hossa’s giving up every penny he owns to save the world. Counting his deal with the Wings, Hossa will have earned more than $34 million in his NHL career by next season. Decisions—like passing up $70 million guaranteed—are a lot easier when you have $30+ million in the bank. Still, there aren’t too many people—sane or otherwise—who would give up that much guaranteed money.

And then there’s Mats Sundin... Sundin is 37 years old. He has never even made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. By next season, he will have made more than $80 million in his career. If there’s anyone who should be Cup-hungry, it’s Sundin. If there’s anyone who should be money-hungry it’s Hossa. Half of this odd role-reversal can be attributed to Hossa’s desire to win the ultimate prize in hockey. People do crazy things to win the Stanley Cup. I just can’t figure out what the other half entails. Few would argue that the Wings will have, by far, the best chance of winning the Cup next season. It wouldn’t take more than one or two seconds for Sundin to realize the Wings were his best shot at winning the Cup. He should’ve contacted the Wings as soon as the season ended. Instead, he waited for Ken Holland to give him a call and when it came down to it, Hossa jumped at the offer and Sundin didn’t. Why?

Maybe I’m not fully informed on the way things transpired. I suppose that it’s possible that both Hossa and Sundin wanted to play for the Wings and Holland chose Hossa. However, if that were the case, I’m guessing we would’ve heard about it by now. Maybe it’s possible that Sundin just doesn’t value the Stanley Cup as much as the average NHLer. It could be all about the Olympics for him. He won four Gold medals with the Swedish National Team (three World Championships and one Olympic). Hossa has come up empty in his international-career with the Slovakian National Team. Maybe that’s the difference between Hossa’s willingness to give up $70+ million for a good shot at the Cup and Sundin’s apparent indifference.

Regardless, Hossa’s “sacrifice” (I don’t want to get too carried away here) is refreshing because too many professional athletes pretend that their number one priority is to win a championship only to sign the contract with the most zeroes attached. Hossa—amazingly and perhaps crazily—is not all about the money. I don’t fault Sundin for taking a more practical approach. If he can get $20 million over two years from Vancouver, then more power to him. I’ll be very interested to see what he ends up doing. If he signs with a team that gives him more than what the Wings were offering (which I’m guessing was $7.45 million) and then says his motive is to win the Stanley Cup, then you’ll know he’s blowing smoke up your ass. In the meantime, I wish the rest of the NHL “good luck” next season because it looks like it’s going to need it.

Wings are present and future of NHL

With the Tigers tanking worse than Speed Racer, it’s refreshing that we can almost always count on the Wings to give us something to celebrate. No franchise in professional sports has won more championships over the last 15 years. For all of the post-season disappointment the Wings have provided in recent years, there is no question that they have more than made up for it by winning four Stanley Cups. Those who were watching the Wings closely through the first three rounds of the playoffs could tell that there was something different about this team. Whatever wasn’t there to get them past Anaheim last season was certainly there this year. I’m inclined to believe it was simply a little more experience and maturity. Nonetheless, this Wings-team was really good. The Salary Cap-era means there are fewer stars per team. So, it’s a dicey proposition to compare this team to its $100 million brethren of the 90’s. All I know is that the Wings were better than the average Cup-winning team. They are the first team to win the Cup by winning the first two games of every series and never trailing in any series since the ’88 Edmonton Oilers.

As good as the Wing were this year, they wouldn’t have won the Cup without Henrik Zetterberg. Chris Osgood did a good job in the playoffs but the Wings had the best defense in the NHL and I’m not sure it was close. That certainly decreased Ozzie’s degree of difficulty. Zetterberg, on the other hand, is playing at an all-time level. He won’t have an all-time resume but there is a good chance that he’s the best player in the NHL right now (more on this in a little bit).Watching him reminds me of a really good hockey player in a video game. You know the kind that; are faster and stronger than all of the other players, destroy the other players with vicious checks but can never be checked themselves, and get off impossible shots with a d-man in perfect position? Well, that’s Zets. He was the best player on the ice at all-times throughout the playoffs and in the finals.

What makes that interesting is that Sydney Crosby—the reigning Hart Trophy winner—was also in the finals. There is no doubt that Crosby is great but Zetterberg was the superior player offensively and defensively. Zetterberg led the playoffs in shots, goals, points, short-handed points, and plus/minus all while providing suffocating defense. That’s the most telling comparison between the two. Pittsburgh tried to do all it could to keep Crosby off the ice when Zetterberg was on it. Detroit? The exact opposite. Zetterberg is probably the best defensive forward in the NHL. He proved his worth throughout the playoffs helping Detroit to a fantastic 86% penalty-kill percentage and the fewest shots and goals allowed per game. He was especially effective on two crucial 5-on-3 penalty kills against Pittsburgh. Crosby is only 20. He has a point and award-laden career ahead of him. There is no question that when his career is over, it’ll be vastly more spectacular than Zetterberg’s. However, if Crosby was considered the “best player in the NHL” before this season, then I think there needs to be an amendment. There is no question in my mind that, right now, Zetterberg is a more complete player. If there’s a more complete player in the NHL, I haven’t seen him. There might be one or two players who are better offensively (and I mean might) but none of the best offensive players can touch Zetterberg’s skill on the defensive end. Hopefully winning the Conn Smythe Trophy will get him the recognition that he deserves moving forward. It has been a long, long time since the city of Detroit could boast that it has the best player in a sport. Barry Sanders might have been at one time or another but the last player that you could say was unequivocally the best was probably Gordie Howe. It certainly won’t be unanimous but a more complete player does not exist in the NHL.

Amazingly, Pavel Datsyuk isn’t far behind. In fact, Zetterberg and Datsyuk are easily the best 1-2 combination in the NHL. They were the highest scoring teammates in the regular season and they’re both up for the Selke Trophy given to the top defensive forward. It’s amazing that one team can claim two players as complete as Zets and Dats. The Crosby/Malkin combo is really the only other duo that comes close and we just saw how big of a difference there is between the two. Zetterberg and Datsyuk were a combined +29 in the playoffs. Crosby and Malkin were a +10.

The rest of the Wings are certainly worth talking about in detail but in the interest of time, I’ll close with Nicklas Lidstrom who became the first European Captain to lead his team to a Stanley Cup. That might sound trivial—it did to me at first—but it’s important. Even after the Wings won the Cup, Don Cherry insinuated that European Captains are inferior by nature. Lidstrom’s win should become a stereotype-busting accomplishment. Lidstrom now claims four Stanley Cups, soon-to-be six Norris Trophies, soon-to-be nine 1st Team NHL All-Star selections, and a Conn Smythe Trophy. No player in NHL history can boast that resume. He is the most decorated defenseman of the last 30 years and probably the second best defenseman in NHL history. If Lidstrom is selected to the 1st Team again next season—and there’s no reason to think he won’t—he will only trail Ray Bourque and Gordie Howe for most selections all-time. Lidstrom is the second greatest Red Wing of all-time, the second best defenseman of all-time, and among the 15 greatest hockey players in NHL history. The question is: does anyone realize it?

As if this hasn’t all been exciting enough, there is no reason to think this was a one-time deal. The Wings became the first team to win the Cup before and after the Salary Cap-era. Ken Holland proved his worth as the best GM in the NHL and has the Wings in excellent position cap-wise. Virtually the entire team will be back next season with few exceptions. Dominik Hasek’s future is up in the air. Regardless of whether he re-signs for significantly less (which isn’t likely), or retires, the Wings won’t have to carry around a $4.1 million-hit to the cap like they did this year. That money, along with the cap room that they already had, will allow them to pursue a player in a pretty good Unrestricted Free Agent-class. Brad Stuart, Chris Chelios, and Andreas Lilja are the only other significant UFAs. It won’t take much to re-sign those players even if Stuart re-signs at $3.5 million annually. However, the same cannot be said for next season. With Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, and Mikael Samuelson becoming UFA’s next season, Holland will need a stockpile of money to keep them in Detroit. Hopefully, he signs them to extensions before next summer thus bypassing all of the breath-holding. Who knows, maybe they’ll be willing to give the Wings a Lidstrom-inspired home-team discount. While it’s always exciting to see the Wings upgrade in the off-season, I can honestly say I’d be more than happy if things were unchanged going into 2009. The Wings will be the best team in the NHL heading into next season. In fact, the Wings might be the best team in the NHL heading into the next five seasons.

Memo to the NHL

If you’re trying to increase the popularity of hockey, you might want to try as hard as possible to not make it suck. If you haven’t noticed, you’re now the ninth sport listed under the dropdown list on ESPN behind such fan-favorites as “Women’s College Basketball”, “ESPNU”, and, the very generic, “Racing” (not to be confused with NASCAR). The NHL has plummeted in fan support and is less marketable than ever. Still, your league is in the midst of an exciting playoff with a possible Detroit-Pittsburgh dream series in the Stanley Cup Finals. A Zetterberg/Datsyuk vs. Crosby/Malkin tag team match-up is more firepower in one series than the you could’ve ever hoped for.

Instead of allowing its fans—and the curious observer—to focus solely on the star-power that has taken over the playoffs, the NHL has given its fans every reason to tune out per usual. The latest example of good hockey sabotaged by shoddy officiating happened in game four of the Detroit/Dallas series. The game was tied 0-0 in the second period. Detroit had been playing marvelously throughout the period and had all the momentum. The Wings appeared to take the lead on a lethal shot by Pavel Datsyuk. Instead of rewarding the Wings with the goal they legitimately scored, the referee called it a no-goal because he claimed Thomas Holmstrom had been in the crease with his foot or butt or something. A quick overhead replay showed that Holmstrom didn’t have either skate—or any part of his body—in the crease when the shot came in. It was a phantom called that directly affected the outcome of the game. The score went back to 0-0 and Dallas picked up the first “official” goal of the game minutes later. Nobody knows for certain how the game would have ended but Dallas hadn’t been ahead in the series up until that point. The Wings certainly would’ve played differently with a 1-0 lead and likely would’ve put an end to the series.

(An overheard replay angle is shown at the one-minute mark.)



The biggest crime here is that the Wings were punished after playing a brilliant stretch of hockey which culminated with Datsyuk putting the puck in the net. Playoffs are about rewarding the best and the Wings were “the best”. They had dominated the second period and they capitalized on that dominance with an apparent goal. Momentum changed significantly after the goal was disallowed and the unfairness of the whole thing simply made the game unwatchable from a fan-perspective.

As if that wasn’t enough to sour the game, the Wings apparently got the puck across the goal-line for a second time but the play was blown dead on a terribly premature whistle by the referee. Once the whistle is blown, the play is dead. Nothing after the whistle can count or be overturned via replay. The ref’s early whistle meant he eliminated the possibility that the Wings had scored before he even knew what happened. I’m not saying that the play should’ve resulted in a goal. I’m not well-versed enough with the rules to know whether Pavel Datsyuk sliding into Marty Turco would’ve been grounds for a no-goal. However, the replay clearly showed that the puck had crossed the line. Instead of holding off on the whistle and going to replay to see exactly what had transpired, the referee immediately called it a no-goal and made no attempt whatsoever to see if the puck had cross the goal-line. Who wants to watch a sport where goals are arbitrarily allowed and disallowed for seemingly no justifiable reason? For the first time in a long time, I was glued to my TV watching hockey. It took all of two plays to turn me off.

The worst thing that can happen in a league is for officiating to negate a scoring play that was completed legally. Every possible measure should be taken to avoid such a catastrophe. The NHL has a gazillion cameras that hold the answer to what happened on every play. It’s unfathomable that the NHL would’ve ever thought it was a good idea to deny a booth-replay for goalie interference or crease violations. The last thing the NHL needs is for it to make its sport appear even worse than it already does. Unfortunately, that appears to be one of the things it is very good at.

The Wings look like Champions

At the risk of jinxing things (which I totally don’t believe in), I would like to recognize what the Wings have been doing in the playoffs. Although, I forgive if you forgot the playoffs were still going on. The NHL—in its infinite wisdom—has sucked all of the momentum out of what has been an otherwise exciting Stanley Cup Playoffs by inserting a four-day break between rounds. Said break isn’t fair to the Wings who easily dispatched of the Avs in four games. Dallas played a grueling six-game series (including a 4-OT game six) against San Jose and instead of having to come back two days later to play game one of the Western Conference Finals, Dallas gets four days of rest. Meanwhile, the Wings were forced to wait seven games in between games. Nonetheless, the Wings have looked fantastic. Games three and four in the Nashville-series brought back bad memories of recent playoff-failures but, even then, the Wings regrouped and took care of business in six games. They proceeded to destroy Colorado and have a ton of momentum going into the Conference Finals.

As good as the Wings have looked, it’s important to note that they have been a huge benefactor of the re-seeding rule. As the #1 seed in the conference, the Wings earned the right to play the lowest remaining seed in every round (which essentially means the second round). That meant a second-round tilt with Colorado (the 6-seed) instead of Dallas. Colorado was without the services of Peter Forsberg for most of the series and proved to be a much easier opponent. Plus, the Wings would have had to play Dallas and San Jose in back-to-back series which would’ve been brutal. Dallas and San Jose were forced to duke it out in a grueling second-round series. Dallas ended up knocking off Detroit’s biggest threat in the conference which probably doubled their chances of winning the Cup.

Mike Babcock took a lot of heat for his first two playoffs in Detroit. The Wings were the #1-seed each year and failed to make it to the Finals both times. However, he inherited a fairly young team and I think he finally has his guys playing the style that he prefers. Babcock’s Anaheim–team that crushed the Wings 4-0 in the First Round in ’03 is exactly what Ken Holland envisioned when he brought Babcock to Detroit; and I think Holland finally has what he was looking for. This team is hard-nosed and efficient. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are playing as well as any Red Wings-duo that I have seen. They are seemingly in on every Wings-goal having both notched 13 points in just 10 games. Zetterberg leads the playoffs with a +10. Datsyuk is fourth at +7. It wasn’t that long ago when local columnists branded Datsyuk a playoff-choker. He has 29 points in his last 28 playoff-games so I think that overreaction can be put to rest. Then there’s Johan Franzen who has inexplicably turned into the best player in the playoffs. Franzen has been a huge boost for the Wings who desperately needed someone to step up as a third bona fide-scoring option in the playoffs. I’m not buying Franzen’s seemingly overnight transformation into a hockey superstar for the long term. This is a guy who has scored just 84 points in 221 regular season games. None of that matters though. The Wings don’t need this to last forever. He just needs to keep breaking franchise-records long enough to get the Wings their fourth cup in 11 seasons. The Wings have a perfect mix of talent and grit which is the combination that produced the first two Cups.

Then there’s Nicklas Lidstrom who is quietly staking his claim as the second greatest defenseman of all-time. Passing Bobby Orr as the greatest is pretty much out of the question but a run at Doug Harvey for the mythical second-spot is certainly in play. A Norris-win this season would put Lidstrom within one of Harvey’s total. He is a finalist, and an overwhelming favorite to win the award this year over Zdeno Chara and Dion Phaneuf. He’s also a lock for a ninth First Team NHL All-Star selection which would also be within one of Harvey’s total. It’s tough to imagine Lidstrom slowing down anytime soon since he is playing the best hockey of his career. There are some who believe he should’ve been a finalist for the Hart Trophy this season. A fourth Stanley Cup would put his resume among the greatest of All-Time at any position. If Lidstrom plays another five seasons at an All-Star level, he’ll end up as one of the top ten players of all-time if he isn’t already. As much as I love Stevie Y, Lidstrom has to be considered the second greatest Red Wing at the very least. Where Lidstrom stands in a comparison with Gordie Howe depends entirely on how you view the respective worth of a defenseman and a forward.

While Dallas won’t be a pushover, the Wings couldn’t have hoped for a better opponent in the WCF. There are a number of reasons why the Wings have to be elated to be playing Dallas. 1). Dallas struggled to a 4-10 finish to the regular season. 2). The Wings won the season-series 3-1 outscoring the Stars 12-5. 3). Marty Turco has two wins in 18 starts against the Wings. 4). Dallas is the 5-seed and—more importantly—not San Jose or Anaheim. 5). Dallas doesn’t have a line that can touch Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom. I’m going to forgo putting “Detroit has home-ice advantage” as the 6th reason because, if that meant anything, these Wings would have like 10 Cups by now. However, it’s worth noting that the Wings had the best home-record in the NHL this year and are 5-0 at home in the playoffs. Last season’s loss to Anaheim in the WCF was an enormous disappointment because the Wings were so close to winning that series. A similar result this year would be even more disappointing because the Wings have clearly been the better team in the regular season and in the playoffs. I think last year’s Anaheim-series will pay dividends this time around.

Detroit is Hockeytown Sportstown

I received an email from a friend the other day. Said friend is a diehard Boston-fan. The list of boy names for his first child was narrowed down to “Boston” and “Beckett”. When a girl popped out, she was promptly given the middle name, “Lynn”. Only he knows if that was purely a coincidence or inspired by the first player in MLB history to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Nonetheless, the email went as follows:

First, a thought has been bugging me for some time now. How annoying are Boston
Sports fans right now. Isn't it approaching a ridiculous level? Are people
outside of New England just completely sick and tired of Boston sports? It is
impossible for me to tell since I am such a huge Boston Sports fan, but the fan
of all things sports is screaming to me that Boston Sports must not be playing
well in the rest of the country…Still, if I were an objective witness, I would
loathe the Patriots, and the Sox story would probably be wearing thin. I think
the Celts probably get a pass this year, because they have been down for so long
and they are one of the NBA's great franchises. People seem glad that they are
relevant again. Like I said though, it doesn't really matter to me. I make no
apologies for the success of my teams. I would be crazy to. I only bring it up
because it's something I have been noticing lately in conversation with other
sports fans.

Clearly, my friend isn’t a “jerk” fan. He has perspective and that—in my opinion—is the most important attribute to being a good sports fan. There is no question that Boston is rollin' right now and it very well could be the case that America is growing tired of it. I pondered a response to his questions for all of about five seconds before replying that he had written to the wrong person if he was trying to find someone who is jealous of Boston’s sports success. I reminded him that Detroit is second-to-none when it comes to sports even if most people outside of Michigan don't realize it.

The Red Wings are the best team in hockey. The Pistons are one of the three best teams in the NBA. The Tigers are one of the three best teams in MLB. The Lions are terrible but so are the Bruins (and every team in Chicago). Michigan football was already one of the premier programs in the country and that was before all things stale were removed. Michigan St. basketball is poised for its annual run at the Final Four. No city or state—not even California with its 15 professional sports teams—can match Detroit’s sports “mojo.” There is a decent chance that the best NHL, NBA and MLB teams all play in Detroit. Given that free agents avoid Detroit like the plague—that is remarkable. Clearly, the fact that Detroit’s worst team is in the most popular sport in America and its best team is in the least popular sport in America hurts the profile a bit. Boston has the luxury of claiming the opposite. And, given the choice, who wouldn’t rather have an elite football team over an elite hockey team?

The biggest difference between Detroit and Boston is that Boston has turned regular season success into championships more recently. The Red Sox won the World Series. New England is well on its way to winning the Super Bowl. Until Detroit can get back to winning championships, Boston will get the headlines. But, Detroit doesn’t play “little brother” (not even with Michigan St. football in the house =)) to any city when it comes to sports. Anyone who doubts this may want to check back in June when Detroit is the epicenter of the sports world. It won’t be a surprise to those who have been paying attention because this isn’t a new phenomenon.

Of course, winning never happens by accident. Detroit has the best collection of front office personnel in professional sports. There isn’t a better GM in baseball than Dave Dombrowski. His track-record is near-flawless. Joe Dumars took over an organization in disarray and turned it into a championship-team within three seasons. Ken Holland is the best GM in the NHL and it might not be close. Tom Izzo is easily one of the five best coaches in college basketball and John Beilein, Rich Rodriguez and Mark Dantonio have great reputations as well. Unlike Boston, NY, or Chicago, Detroit never has the luxury of signing high-priced free agents. Nobody wants to come to Detroit. Detroit has had to build its franchises through savvy trades, unheralded free agent signings, and solid drafts. There is no question that there is a much greater degree of difficulty for Detroit to field competitive teams than any other major sports city. While it’s certainly not ideal that the city can’t attract star-power via free agency, the fact that the blue-collar reputation of the city is replicated in its sports teams makes it all the more rewarding as a sports fan.

Interestingly, as successful as Detroit sports has been over the last few years, the failed playoff-runs seem to trump the regular-season success and that is understandable. I know I’m guilty of looking at the narrow picture too often and I think most fans are as well. But, if we step back for a minute I think we’re fortunate to be in the middle of such a motown sports revival if you will (shameless, I know). I’m not sure if sports fans across the country think that Detroit sports fans are obnoxious as my friend suspects is the case with Boston fans. However, if they’re sick of Boston, then they should be sick of Detroit, too. Boston might be getting the pub, but Detroit just keeps trucking along as the best sports city in America.

Holland had to do it

The first two things that come to mind when I think of Pavel Datsyuk are: 1) I can’t believe he is almost 29 years old already, and 2) he isn’t as good as he is skilled. Nowhere in even the first minute of thought (or ever) on the subject of Datsyuk does the idea of him being the franchise player enter my mind. I’m not trying to knock Datsyuk. I just won’t be confusing him with “Stevie Y” until he adds a new dimension to his game. So, I understand to some extent why there was a fair amount of backlash from the Detroit media with regards to Ken Holland’s decision to sign Datsyuk to a seven year contract extension worth close to $47 million. That comes out to an annual salary of $6.7 million which would have been among the top 15 salaries in the NHL this season. I don’t think Datsyuk has proven to be that type of player, yet.

It certainly seems a bit illogical to pay top dollar for a player that isn’t a top-dollar player. But, I think the Red Wings absolutely had to make the decision to re-sign Datsyuk. I don’t think it’s a question of right or wrong. To borrow and slightly alter a line from the immortal Chainsaw from Summer School, “Resign Datsyuk. Had to be done.” The NHL is not the NBA. There is no such thing as a luxury tax in the NHL. The Red Wings can’t throw millions at players in free agency anymore and expect to land a superstar; there are 29 other teams trying to do the same thing with the same amount of money. As a result, the Wings have to keep whatever semblance of star power they have.

The NHL is also not like the NFL. There aren’t 22 starters in the NHL like there are in the NFL. The Detroit Lions traded one of the top cornerbacks in the league (or so Dre Bly has been dubbed) because they know that losing one or two players doesn’t usually make or break a franchise in pro football. The same cannot be said for the NHL. The Colorado Avalanche lost Peter Forsberg and they’re out of the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers lost Chris Pronger and they’re out of the playoffs, too. It is so difficult to replace “skilled” players for a reasonable price in the NHL because of the hard cap. This makes it of the utmost importance to develop and keep your skilled players. The Tigers have done a fantastic job of this by keeping the likes of Jeremy Bonderman and Carlos Guillen under contracts for a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price—and MLB doesn’t even have a cap.

The Red Wings have been fortunate enough to have two of their own draft picks develop into highly skilled players. In the present day NHL, that is half of the equation. The other half is keeping those players. Who wouldn’t love to have Sidney Crosby? Unfortunately, he is not available. All that’s available is Datsyuk and a crop of marginal free agents looking to break the bank. As a result, the Wings had to keep Datsyuk or risk the uncertainty of free agency. Every NHL team has the same dilemma. Do they slightly overpay to keep a player they know is pretty good or, do they let the player walk only to enter a bidding war that will almost surely result in paying even more money for a player that isn’t as good as the player you let walk in the first place? It is my guess that the teams that choose the latter are the teams that will be at the bottom of the NHL standings and vice versa.

The local media has lambasted Holland for the signing. The number one reason for said lambasting has been Datsyuk’s failures in the postseason. Granted, Datsyuk hasn’t done much of anything in the playoffs but the Wings as a team haven’t done much of anything either. The Wings have secured the #1 or #2 seed in the Western Conference in each of the last three postseasons without as much as a trip to the Conference Finals to show for it. Based on that track record, there isn’t a player on the roster that should be re-signed. Obviously, that isn’t true. Players struggle. I always loved how Barry Bonds was ridiculed for years for his postseason failures when he only amassed 97 postseason at-bats in his first 16 seasons. Similarly, Datsyuk is widely recognized as a playoff choker after playing only 21 playoff games in three years (he played 21 playoff games in his rookie year when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup but wasn’t a front-line player yet.) Steve Yzerman didn’t start having team success in the playoffs regularly until his 12th season and we know how that turned out. It is way too early for a final decision on Datsyuk’s legacy.

Some may argue that it is similarly way too early to be handing out a $47 million extension. Unfortunately, that decision was made because of the league’s financial parameters. You have to “play the cards you’re dealt” and by the rules that govern the game. The Wings can’t go out and sign Joe Thornton for $200 million. Nor can the Wings afford to go out and pay $45 for a fringe player just to appease the fan base anymore. GM’s now have to moonlight as financial wizards. As hard as it is to believe, Ken Holland probably saved money in the long run by tying up Datsyuk now. In fact, Holland has been masterful in virtually every move he has made since the initiation of the hard cap which should be reason enough to give him the benefit of the doubt on the Datsyuk signing. If you’re like the Pat Caputo’s of the world and think three playoffs over 21 games is enough to cast a player as a playoff choker for the rest of his career, then you probably don’t understand this move. If you’re one of those people that would have gladly accepted A-Rod for a couple of minor leaguers after his choke-job in the playoffs last season, or understand the new obstacles presented by the NHL’s hard cap, then you probably understand why this move had to be made.

If you were looking for the perfect move (i.e. trading four tooth picks for Todd Bertuzzi), then you were asking the impossible. I could make a laundry list of complaints about the Datsyuk signing. Seven years from now he’ll be 36 years old. That’s more than enough reason to blast this move. However, that would be a waste of time. The only thing that makes this move a good move or not is whether it was better than the alternative. For instance, if a robber holds a gun to your head and demands your wallet, you will probably give him/her your wallet. I can think of a number of awful consequences of giving up your wallet but those consequences hardly matter since it was better than getting your head blown off thus making giving up your wallet the right move. If you can’t offer a better alternative, then signing Datsyuk was the right move. The ultimate compliment to this move would be convincing Dominik Hasek to play for five more seasons.

Quasi-Hockeytown

The Detroit Red Wings are playing second fiddle to the Detroit Pistons this season which is a big change from years past. Granted, the Wings didn’t have the same draught that the Pistons went through in the mid to late 90’s which probably makes Pistons fans happier than Red Wings fans. However, this season has been much different. The Pistons have taken all the attention. Sadly, the NHL has only itself to blame. The lockout that cost the entire 2005 season is having detrimental effects that will linger well beyond this season. It’s not so much that people are angry with the players or owners. Some people might be but my guess is that they are in the minority. The real problem is that when a professional sports league misses out on a whole season, people learn to live without it. Each season piques our interest and leaves us wanting more for the next season. There was no 2005 season so nobody was left wanting more. The NHL was already the league that could afford a lockout the least. Yet, they want on with it and now face a situation where even the marquee team in the league struggles to make the headlines.

The situation is unfortunate for the Detroit Red Wings because this has been a remarkable season. The diehard fans know all about it. But, how many hockey diehards do you know? Just to get you caught up, the Wings have set two notable records this season. They set the NHL record for road wins in a season. They also tied the record for best start in league history. Since January 10, the Red Wings are 30-3-5. The Wings are 20-0-3 since March 4. They have eight players with at least 20 goals. They lead the league in points. They’re second in goals for. They’re second in goals against. They lead the league in Power Play percentage. They’re second in Penalty Kill percentage. The Red Wings have dominated the NHL in every conceivable way this season. Yet, few people expect the Wings to win the Stanley Cup. Sure, few would be surprised if they did win the Cup but nobody really expects it to happen.

The Wings have been in this position too many times entering the playoffs without anything to show for it. The 1995 season is the precedent that Red Wings fans might want to remember going into the playoffs this season. That team dominated the regular season like no other in NHL history. Although that team made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, the run came to an abrupt end at the hands of the New Jersey Devils. Regular season domination is a great story but it hardly means anything come playoff time. The 1995 season wasn’t the only year the Wings fizzled come playoff time. More recently, the Wings took gaudy records into early round playoff match-ups against the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames only to be bounced from contention.

I can’t tell if there were obvious differences between the Red Wings teams that bowed out of the playoffs with gaudy regular season records and the Red Wings teams that won Stanley Cups without the gaudy records. It almost seems like the teams that finished first in the regular season never won in the playoffs. It’s also possible that the Wings just ran into hot goalies at the wrong time. I have to say that I don’t feel particularly good about the Wings chances this year compared to the field. Don’t get me wrong, the Wings are an excellent team but I think Ottawa, Dallas, and Carolina have just as good of a chance as do a few other teams.

I question the Wings actual dominance compared to what their record would seemingly indicate. The Red Wings play in a division that features three of the five worst teams in the NHL. The Wings are 21-1-2 against Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus this season. Not surprisingly, the Wings have the easiest schedule in the NHL this season and it’s not even close. Also, the Dallas Stars are 20-10 against top ten teams in the NHL according to the Sagarin Ratings. The Wings are 14-10. The Carolina Hurricanes are 9-5. The Stars are 29-14 against top 16 teams while the wings are 24-14. Carolina is 19-9. No other team in the NHL is anywhere near Dallas, Detroit and Carolina in these categories. In fact, there are only three teams in the entire league with winning records against the top ten. Even more unbelievable is that there are only seven teams in the NHL with winning records against the top 16. This speaks for a league rampant with mediocre teams beating up on each other. That is precisely how teams like Detroit manage to put up gaudy numbers which in turn makes them appear invincible. The league leader in points in the 2003-04 season (the season before this one in the NHL) had 109 points. Second was 106 and third was 104. This season already has point totals of 124, 112, 111, 111, and 108. There are four teams this season with more points than the best team of 2003-04. That speaks for the overall mediocrity of the league. It doesn’t take much of a stretch to say that Dallas, Ottawa, and Carolina would’ve had something close to 124 points had they been in the same division as three of the worst teams in the NHL.

All this does nothing to say that the Wings aren’t good or that they aren’t capable of winning the Stanley Cup. The fact is that the season has gone by unusually quiet for the Wings this year especially for a team that has dominated the NHL. The lockout is largely to blame but so is the sense that although the Wings have accomplished a lot this season, they really haven’t accomplished anything.