There’s a fair few things I could say about the Red Wings’
game tonight. I could go with the one most in vogue, “the last time the Red
Wings weren’t in the playoffs I was…” I would finish that sentence with “not
born.” I was born about a month after the 1990 playoffs ended, so I really have
no experience whatsoever with a playoff season the Wings were not part of.
I could
go with the downer’s favorite: “the Wings don’t deserve the playoffs this year
anyway.” Neither do quite a few teams. The Southeast division will only appear
in the playoffs on accident, Minnesota is trying to choke their way out after
the two biggest signings of the offseason…but they’ll make it. Why shouldn’t
we? This is a playoff system set up with a fun little failsafe; over half the
teams make it. You can be below average and play postseason hockey. Add some Bettman points in and there’s no such thing as a team
that “doesn’t deserve” playoffs, just teams that fell apart slightly less than
the next one.
I take
that back. We’ll always have the Panthers. They’ll never deserve it.
I’m
going to go with the realist’s analysis of the situation: If we win tonight, we
very effectively stay alive. If we lose tonight, well…there’s a proverbial
oversized woman warming up and practicing her musical scales. The past is the
past. The other games are over, we can’t fix them. Let’s live in the now, let’s
win in the now and move on in the now.
So what
do we need to do? Well, anyone who’s watched even a couple of games in this Red
Wings’ season can answer that very easily:
Above
all else, that team has to want it. I’m hoping and praying to the hockey gods
that from Hockey Olympus on High (or Sweden) Nick Lidstrom called down to Z
today and reminded him what’s on the line, reminded him that the Winged Wheel
does not quit. The legends of the past two decades did not play through hell
just to watch a bored, uninterested team destroy their streak the first season
they went un-monitored. And that’s that.
Oh, a more
tangible need for the game you ask? We absolutely must not take stupid penalties.
They are killing us this year, and there has been no sign of improved
discipline. If a guy is giving his all, sells out on a play and accidentally
hooks someone…maybe it’s excusable. But that’s not been the case. Laziness and
ineffective defense has led to idiotic penalties, guys rushing back because
they missed coverage or gave the puck away, guys not paying attention to where
their stick is at…all rookie, all fixable. Phoenix is gunning for this spot,
too. We can’t allow them any extra advantage in the battle or the war.
The
other things we need to fix are also all so fundamental I feel almost silly
writing them. Then I remember it’s the Wings’ fault they have failed on
fundamentals, not mine. Smart passes, setting up good screens, not shooting the
puck into a wall four bodies thick, clear the front of the net for Howie…etc.
All basics, all things we have consistently failed to do that we now MUST do.
Because tonight, as much as I hate
to be so melodramatic, is our season. The product we put on the ice tonight is
going to decide whether or not we get to keep controlling our own fate and is
going to go a long way to sealing or breaking our playoff streak. Tonight, for
the first time this season, we better get serious. No more blaming refs,
injuries, missed signings, etc. Tonight, we win or lose on the basis of our ability to score and defend. In the here and the now, we are responsible for
what’s left of our season, playoffs or not. That's it, it's so simple. Play hard, win, and we keep going. No more Mulligans. No more second
chances. This is it. Go big or go home, fellas. And as always, let’s go Red
Wings!
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