Gorilla Crouch

Earlier today I was thinking about how a couple people were commenting over at the On the Wings blog during Game 5 about Dan Cleary’s prospects for being the series MVP. I agreed that he was deserving after he’d scored the first penalty shot goal in team history and then drew a penalty that resulted in a power play goal for Detroit.

But then this morning I read this entry over at George Malik’s Snapshots blog.

Player A played in six games and had two goals and two assists. Player B played in six games and had two goals, six assists, both his goals were game-winning goals, and Player B all but shut down Player A.

Nicklas Lidstrom contained Jarome Iginla in the Wings’ first round series with the Flames, and in a battle of Captains, Lidstrom asserted himself as the Red Wings’ unquestioned leader.
…
“We felt from the start of the year that we had the team to play against anybody. We got outplayed. That’s pretty much the way it was.” … [Calgary forward Alex] Tanguay suggested the difference in the series was Detroit’s mobile defence corps, which limited Calgary to three even-strength goals [and one short-handed goal] in the six games.

“They’re so good at getting the puck out of their zone,” said Tanguay. “That’s the key to their success — outstanding puck-moving defencemen. Every time we put the puck in their zone, they were able to break out and counter attack without us sustaining any pressure on them. Their defenceman are absolutely outstanding. That was the key to the series.”

And that was without Niklas Kronwall playing at all and Brett Lebda missing Game 6. So I decided to take a final look at the series and award three stars for the series. And yes, I’m totally vacillating on my opinion on the top player for the series.

Third Star - Miikka Kiprusoff

Larry MacDougal - AP Photo

Every single Detroit Red Wing when asked about the Calgary netminder heaped praise upon Kipper. There is no question this series would have ended earlier if not for Kiprusoff’s excellent play in goal for the Flames. As far as anecdotal examples go, there were probably about a half dozen times this series when a Detroit player scooped up a rebound in great scoring position but couldn’t bury the puck because of Kipper’s heroics. Here are the actual stats:

Saves: 237 - 255
Save percentage: .929

You can possibly argue he had a bad day in Game 5 (.868 save percentage) but he was easily Calgary’s best player. If not for him Detroit would have likely scored 4 or more goals in every game.

Second Star - Dan Cleary

Dave Sandford - Getty Images

There might not be a player on the Red Wings roster who benefitted more from Mike Babcock’s style and philosophy as head coach. While some players like Robert Lang and Mathieu Schneider have struggled with the style of play but have shown some nice signs of improvement, players like Dan Cleary and Johan Franzen fit easily into the system and - more importantly - have thrived. Dan Cleary set a career record in goals and has become a key member of Detroit’s third line.

Dan Cleary didn’t register much on the stat sheet during the series:
1 goal
2 assists
+3
15 hits

His impact was felt mostly by Calgary’s defensemen, as he was responsible for forechecking and keeping Calgary from getting clean breakouts from their defensive zone. One of his more memorable hits was on Dion Phaneuf in Game 3. The hit separated the Calgary defender from the puck. Cleary centered the puck to Kris Draper who scored a goal on the play. It looked like a momentum turning play but the Flames would come back to win the game.

He was also a key contributor on the penalty kill and scored his lone goal on a penalty shot he earned while the Wings were short-handed. Younger or newer players like Cleary, Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula are all players who are going to thrive under Mike Babcock’s system.

First Star - Nicklas Lidstrom

Jerry S. Mendoza - AP Photo

As I pointed out before the start of the series, Calgary boasted the #7 offense in the league in terms of goals scored. They averaged just over 3 goals per game in the regular season. The Red Wings completely shut them down, holding the Flames to 3 even-strength goals and one short-handed goal in a game that was already decided. In this series the Flames averaged nearly half the average of goals scored (1.66) that they averaged during the regular season.

It was a dominating performance and no defenseman played a larger role than team captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Jarome Iginla scored one goal directly against Lidstrom; his goal last night came when Danny Markov was covering him. Iginla registered 39 goals (11th in the NHL) and 94 points (tied for 11th) during the regular season. He was almost entirely a non-factor due to Lidstrom’s play.

The Red Wings defenseman also tallied two game-winning goals, leads all defensemen in the playoffs with 8 points, and was +2 for the series. He put on a performance that has done absolutely nothing to diminish his status as the odds-on favorite to win the Norris trophy.

Calgary Flames Dan Cleary Miikka Kiprusoff NHL Playoffs Nicklas Lidstrom Red Wings

April 23rd, 2007
Categories: Red Wings . Author: Dave

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