Wings-Sens preview up at AOL FanHouse
A few Wings and Sens bloggers chipped in their thoughts about tonight’s game by answering some questions thrown to us by Greg Wyshynski at AOL FanHouse. Due to some space restraints/editing, not all of our answers to each question made the post so here are my answers that weren’t posted in their entirety:
Why, in your admittedly partisan opinion, is your team so damn good this year?
When you’re talking about the Red Wings, it’s hard to point to one single player or move by the organization that has made the team this good. Goaltending. Defense. Offense. Coaching. It’s all good. From the Crazy Czech (Dominik Hasek) to the newly re-signed Chris Osgood, the Wings have been alternating goaltenders every other game because both players have been performing so well. Detroit leads the league in goals against, 2.04, due in part to the great goaltending and the solid defense, which also allows the fewest shots per game in the league (23.3).
Our defensive duo of captain Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski have the most offensive points of any defensive pair. They are highly effective with their power play time because Lidstrom shots lefthanded while Rafalski shoots righthanded so their passing and shooting can be done even quicker increasing their success rate. Including defensemen Lidstrom, Rafalski, and Niklas Kronwall, the team has 10 players with at least 20 offensive points. That’s pretty impressive. Studs like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk lead the team in points, but play great on both ends of the ice.
If I had to pick one thing, I guess I’d say that it’s finally Mike Babcock’s team this season. Gone are the players who didn’t quite buy into his system. He’s no Scotty Bowman, but the way he does some things certainly reminds Wings fans of how Scotty coached. The team may be the oldest and smallest team in the league, but their hard work, puck possession style play, and smart level of play is what makes this time so good. It also didn’t hurt that most of the team got to taste the Western Conference Finals (and finally showed that they could play a physical game) and are now hungry to go all the way.
In what is the closest comparison to a Patriots/Cowboys game for the NHL, why do you believe Red Wings/Senators hasn’t been pimped at Ovechkin/Crosby levels by the League?
I must say I am surprised that this game hasn’t been played up since it features such strong teams from goaltending to the offense to the defense. I think it would have been a great opportunity for the league especially with how big of a draw Detroit can be here in the US. I believe it simply falls back on the fact that neither team has that huge star. Certainly the Sens have big names in Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza, and Ray Emery. And the Wings are no slackers with the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Nicklas Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Dominik Hasek. However, the focus of these two teams are their puck possession style and team effort. Because there is no one huge star or dynamite personality, I think it may be slightly harder for the league to market the game, but they certainly should have taken that challenge head on.
If Dominik Hasek, Chris Osgood, Ray Emery and Martin Gerber were all entered into a WWE-style battle royal, what would be the order of elimination over the top rope and who would be the last man standing in the ring?
Martin Gerber would be the first one out. Despite being the Crazy Czech, Dominik Hasek would be the next to go as he’d probably just aim for his opponent’s feet like when he made Minnesota’s Gaborik fly or when he wanted to fight Patrick Roy, but simply fell instead. Chris Osgood has experience in goalie fighting after defeating a bigger Patrick Roy back in the late 1990s. Ray Emery would be the last man standing because he certainly has experience fighting goaltenders and other positions including a teammate in a practice this week.
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