GG Wings

Even though this is the eve of my next chemo session, this post has nothing to do with my health. Instead I want to reflect back on the Red Wings season. We lost game 6 of the series 4-3 to Anaheim, falling in the Western Conference Finals 4 games to 2. We certainly had a valiant effort, as we were down 4-1 with nine minutes to go in the game, and rallied, putting the Ducks back on their heels. We just simply ran out of time.

Way back in October, I went with Wooley and Drew to a Red Wings/Sharks game in San Jose. The Sharks dominated the game, winning 5-1 and dropping the Wings to 3-6-1 on the season. I commented to the boys that the Wings seemed to lack any continuity on offense, and reminded me of the Minnesota Wild - we'd win some games with our defense and goaltending, but likely wouldn't be able to score enough to make a legitimate run at the Stanley Cup.

Well, the Wings got a little bit of a run going. They got the power play clicking, and the Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Holmstrom line started rolling. I still had my doubts, but we were playing well (especially at home) and I was enjoying the ride. Dom Hasek stayed healthy, and when we swept a home-and-home with Nashville in early March, I knew we could do something special. Part of me wanted us to finish second in the West, though, as I didn't want any piece of Calgary in the first round. Well, we won the West, and tied Buffalo for best record overall...and along with it a date with the Flames in the first round.

Even though we were the #1 seed, and Calgary the #8, our history of first round failures were weighing heavily on us, and the so-called "experts" were split on how the series would turn out, but we outplayed them in every game, and registered the most lopsided six-game series I'd ever seen. We followed that up with a hard-fought six-game series win over San Jose in another series the "experts" labeled us as underdogs. And though we fell short against Anaheim, we outplayed them in four of the six games, and would have won game 6 had there been three or four more minutes on the clock...

This season has been up and down, and I can't hide the disappointment in the loss tonight. That being said, after a few days of grieving, I will be able to look back and realize what a successful season this was. Sports Illustrated predicted us fifth in the west. ESPN sixth. TSN said we would be lucky to make the playoffs! I have been spoiled over the last 15 years, with all of the Stanley Cups, and President's Trophies. But as it stands, we get to raise another Division Championship Banner to the rafters of the Joe, and can say we were one of the last three teams standing after seven and a half grueling months. And with Datsyuk and Maltby re-signed, and Hasek saying he wants to come back for one more year, there's no reason not to expect to see the Wings playing into the Conference Finals again.