Gameday articles
Taking a quick tour the morning of Game One…
Manny Legace offered up his thoughts on each of the teams remaining in playoffs in Ray Slover’s blog over at the Sporting News. Here is what Manny had to say about Detroit.
This is a solid team, with great leadership and a nucleus of players who have won championships before. Sure, it’s a different game now, but these guys know how to win and can do it. It won’t be easy, but leadership and talent are keys to victory. Whether it’s Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg or Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, they’ll attack the Sharks all series long.
His commentary on the Red Wings is the most interesting perspective he offers given his familiarity with the team. Slover’s predictions on the Western Conference matchups can be found here.
Former Red Wings head coach Jacques Demers is impressed with what Detroit has done this year. This article is over at USA Today.
The credit goes to their system of play and their management.
The Red Wings have changed the way they play over the years. They play a tight-checking system and are very disciplined in the neutral zone. They are anchored by defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who I think should win the Norris Trophy again this year. They are extremely stingy at giving up scoring chances.
While my prediction differs from the former coach’s, I agree with his belief that it will be a series that will be remembered for a long time. I really expect it to be a great matchup.
Michael Rosenberg over at the Free Press takes a look at Dominik Hasek’s legacy. Rosenberg briefly reviews the decision both Hasek and the Red Wings faced last summer:
[Hasek] practically had to beg for an offer last summer, even though his numbers in Ottawa (2.09 goals-against average, .925 save percentage) were stellar.
When the Wings signed him, we said they took a chance. How can you take a chance by signing one of the best players ever after an excellent season?
Well Mitch Albom definitely saw it as a risk. He wondered why the Red Wings didn’t try to sign Terry Sawchuk. Because apparently Hasek was as good as a guy who’s been dead for 37 years. To be fair the Red Wings viewed Hasek as a measured risk that was high on reward and low on risk. It’s the type of deal Ken Holland has excelled at making.
Steve Schrader also over at the Freep has some funny quotes from Mike Babcock regarding the Sharks. Here are some quips from the head coach:
Asked what strategy he would use to stop the Sharks’ offensive stars, Babcock said the NHL is “a cookie-cutter league…Whoever’s got the best idea, the rest of us steal it,” Babcock said. “R and D.”
Oh, research and development? “Rob and do.”
That’s one of his favorite lines.
That’s true of most professional sports leagues, particularly the NFL. So you can be sure the Red Wings coaches have taken a look at what Nashville did to successfully curtail a very potent Sharks power play. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Wings will use it or - if they do - that it will be as successful due to different personnel. But that kind of R&D is pretty cheap and is capable of being rolled-out pretty quickly as far as implementation.
Speaking of R&D, Bruce MacLeod over at the Macomb Daily rolls out an article that started as an entry over at his blog. In this article he points out that Detroit has been successful when they have been good at laying the body.
Not noted as a physically intimidating team, the Red Wings traded body checks with the Calgary Flames in the first round. The style of play proved successful with the Red Wings eliminating the Flames in six games.
…
“I think a lot of hockey experts didn’t think that we could play as physically as we did,” said Detroit forward Kirk Maltby. “You don’t have to run a guy through the boards to be physical. Finishing a check, making a guy stop and start and just take him out of the play a little bit is just as effective as knocking a guy over. I thought we did a great job. Collectively, five guys at a time, we were tough and strong and physical. It showed in the end.”
Dion Phaneuf found that out pretty quickly when Dan Cleary and Pavel Datsyuk gave as good as they got in that first round series. That couldn’t have sat well with Grapes…
Matt over at On the Wings has his Gameday post up.
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[…] Update (11:30 AM): Dave at Gorilla Crouch has a great post up in which he takes a “quick tour” through a number of articles relating to Game 1. Be sure to check it out. - Matt […]