Detroit Red Wing fans will remember their team started this year terribly. Then they got hot and started winning. Then another slump.
Not long ago, they set the all-time NHL record for most consecutive wins at home. There's no doubt they're a highly skilled hockey team, with a mix of veterans, young players, and supposedly a lot of "depth", though I'm somewhat skeptical of the latter. They've got a lot of bodies, but...... Regardless, to set that record involved a certain degree of luck. A bounce here, or a deflected puck there, that goes the other way -- and it doesn't happen. And there were a few "shoot-outs" involved that went their way as well. Whoever knows how THOSE will turn out?
Yet, the whole time all that was going on, the Wings were only so-so on the road. It leaves one to wonder-----
Most of these guys have probably been playing hockey since their baby teeth started falling out. (Losing their adult teeth prematurely under quite different circumstances might be a topic for another day). Even teenage sensations such as Wayne Gretzsky or Sidney Crosby don't make it to the NHL until they've played in literally hundreds of different venues over the years, many times to fans who taunt them unmercifully. One wouldn't think the slightly different configurations of NHL arenas on the road would be that big of a deal. Should the home town fans in attendance really make that big of a difference pumping up their team when it comes to professional athletes performing at a high level?
Hard to say, but it seems so for the Red Wings. Maybe they should talk to the NY Giants about winning on the road. Look what they did leading up to the Super Bowl..... Marching into Atlanta like Sherman, knocking off the mighty Packers at Lambeau, the 49ers way out in Alcatraz land, then following it up with a convincing victory over Tom Brady and the mad genius in the hoodie in the Super Bowl? Now THOSE guys were road warriors. Obviously, hostile crowds didn't faze them. Whatever Eli and company were eating and drinking in the last month of the season should be on the Red Wings' menu.
Yes, the Wings have suffered a rash of injuries lately to many key players, and their recent record is reflective of it. Thing is, they were relatively injury free up until a few weeks ago -- unusual in the NHL -- but they didn't take advantage of it on the road. Hence, their current predicament, which looks like they'll be a 3 or 4 seed in the Western Conference entering the playoffs.
Even assuming all those players are healthy soon, and get some serious game time under their belts to shake off the "rust" before the playoffs start -- that "home ice" thing might come back to bite them.
Right now, the Vancouver Canucks, while flying under the radar, are the class of the field in the Western Conference. St. Louis is cruising along, and let's not forget what those pesky San Jose Sharks have done to the Red Wings come playoff time in recent years.
Yours truly thinks the Wings getting bounced from the playoffs in the first or second round is not only a definite possibility, but a probability.
But who knows? In a couple months maybe Red Wings' captain Nick Lidstrom will be hoisting the Stanley Cup at Joe Louis Arena, or even, gasp, on the road somewhere. But I wouldn't bet on it.
For Red Wings' fans, it kind of like what Dirty Harry once asked.
Do you feel lucky, puck?
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