Stanley Cup Playoff Preview: (2) Anaheim Ducks vs (7) Detroit Red Wings

We did it.

I use the term "we" because I am that guy. I am a fan who treats the Red Wings like they are a part of who I am and how I live my life. There are fan circles who detract others for using the royal "we" in reference to the team they support. My blog isn't affiliated with the Detroit Red Wings organization in any way. I've never met a player who plays for them. But I belong to a very large community online and offline that identifies with what the team represents and how they play the game. I've met a lot of great people who feel the same way about the Red Wings. This season, more than others, has brought our community together as the Red Wings struggled harder than they ever have to continue their playoff streak.

And they did it.

Twenty-two consecutive playoffs. It's an impressive feat, although nowhere near the record. For those curious, the longest postseason streak belongs to the Boston Bruins, who made it 29 seasons in a row before missing. Former Central Division rivals Chicago Blackhawks (28) and Saint Louis Blues (25) also have longer streaks, but during those streaks, neither team was capable of capturing the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings have been able to score six Stanley Cup finals appearances, four of which turned into championships.

The relief of continuing the streak has provided time for insight on the regular season and how to grade this team. I will be posting the second of the promised "The Good, Bad, and the Ugly" upon completion, but in the meantime, let's get to brass tacks and talk about the playoff series that begins on Tuesday evening.

The 2013 Detroit Red Wings Regular Season Finale

Worst. Shop. Ever.

In 1966, Italian director Sergio Leone directed the Spaghetti western classic "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly", or if you're feeling snobbish, "Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo". The iconic film, starring Clint Eastwood, is about three gunfighters battling for a secret fortune amidst the United States Civil War. It is the third and final entry into the iconic "Dollars Trilogy" that stars Eastwood. If you have never seen it, you should check it out. I'm sure it's on Netflix, OnDemand, or cable somewhere.

I mention "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" because I can think of no better term, phrase, or movie title to compare to the 2013 Detroit Red Wings season. Thursday night's 5-2 triumph over the Nashville Predators was the feel-good moment of the regular season. They looked like the Red Wings of old; the ones who could find themselves playoff bound for a 22nd consecutive year. Sadly, the entire season has not been this joyous. There's been injuries, overtime losses, and did I mention injuries? I don't even remember what Darren Helm looks like. Tomorrow, I will be running a full post on my review of the regular season. Meanwhile, we have a game to discuss.

We have reached the final game of the regular season, and the team's fate in its own hands. The showdown Saturday night in Dallas is (surprise) the most important of the season. A win means the playoffs; a loss means having to rely on Minnesota and/or Columbus losing in order to squeeze into the playoffs. The team will finish in 7th or 8th place, meaning Detroit will either face longtime rivals Chicago or the despised Anaheim Ducks. I remember the last time the 2nd seeded Red Wings were toppled by the 7th seed Ducks. The shoe would appear to be on the other foot this time around...and it happens to be ten years since the shocking series sweep.

The Red Wings find themselves crawling into the playoffs. A question I have asked myself several times the past month is whether continuing the streak is worth limping into the playoffs just to get bounced by Chicago or Anaheim. The painful, obvious, irrefutable truth for me is HELL YES. The *only* thing that matters is that your team makes it into the playoffs. The 2011-2012 Los Angeles Kings shattered the illusion that the 8th seed can't get the job done. They went 16-4 and absolutely dominated the playoffs in a way that I can't recall anyone else doing. Can the 2013 Detroit Red Wings do the same?

Tonight is going to be a big game. If Johan Franzen keeps playing like his playoff alter-ego, Jimmy Howard remains a rock in goal, and special teams capitalizes on mistakes, winning is going to be a hell of a lot easier. There's no time to be nervous, no time to hesitate. Win and we're in. Lose, and Columbus and Minnesota almost deserve to go over. I would rather cut my eyeballs out than watch another Minnesota/Anaheim series.

Tomorrow I will continue the "Good, Bad, Ugly" theme with a second piece about what parts of the 2013 regular season Detroit Red Wings I thought were good, bad, and ugly. Until then, GO WINGS GO.

Don't Stop Believing'.

The Wiz Biz: A Tale of Two Seasons

It has been a while since I piped up about the Detroit Red Wings on ice endeavors. Not to take away from the induction of Mark Howe and Mickey Redmond into the Hockey Hall of Fame, but there is much to discuss about the current Red Wings and their current push to reclaim the glory of seasons past. The season so far feels like a roller coaster for its fans and the standings reflect that.

On one hand, we can talk about the Detroit Red Wings team who started the season with five straight wins, including two shutouts, one of which was a 2-0 shut down performance against the Vancouver Canucks. The team that's currently riding a four game winning streak with two more shutout victories and has only given up a total of four goals in those four games. The team that features the dangerous combination of Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula who have 9 and 6 points in their last four games, respectively. We could also talk about how Nick Lidstrom looks every bit as good this season as he always has, and that another Norris Trophy is within the realm of possibility. Most impressive of all, we could talk about how Jimmy Howard has a 1.66 GAA, a .934 save percentage, and leads the NHL with 3 shutouts.

Or we could talk about the Detroit Red Wings whose power play is 18th, whose penalty kill is 24th, and whose five game winning streak was ended with a disastrous 7-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. The team that proceeded to lose 6 games in a row before righting the ship. The team that boasts the most complete duo in the NHL but yet both are struggling with offensive production. It pains me to say this but Pavel Datsyuk with 10 points and Henrik Zetterberg with 6 points 15 games into the season is a disappointment. There's plenty of time to turn it around, we'll get to that point, but it's time to be honest: what's going on there?

There appears to be two Red Wings teams battling each other from week to week. One week they look absolutely lethal on the ice, pumping the net full of goals at a fanatical pace and shutting down the NHL's most potent offenses. On other weeks, it looks like they have given up on their goaltender.

The losing streak should be an eye opener for Detroit. Yes, the start to the season was outstanding and the rebound has been just as strong. Yes, there was (is still?) a dark cloud that hovered over the team after losing Ruslan Salei, Brad McCrimmon, and Stephan Liv to the tragic crash of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane. Yes, the special teams has been horrific at times. Yes, Johan Franzen is elevating his game to a level we usually see in May. It's confusing to a fan and a blogger like myself.

The question is: where do they go from here?

Currently, they are riding a four game winning streak heading into a four game week. On Tuesday, Detroit faces division rival St. Louis (8-7-1) who are coming off of a 3-0 shutout of their own. The next three games are a West Coast romp with California's teams. Even though the Ducks (6-8-3) are having their own issues, these are three tough games, particularly the one against the Sharks (9-5-1) who have already defeated the Wings in a 4-2 game at Joe Louis Arena. Ty Conklin is likely to get a start at some point this weekend, too, which bodes ill of the fortune to come. Still, if Detroit comes out of this four game road trip 3-1 or better it will be promising given how awful the previous ten games have been at times. Then again, all four teams are beneath the Red Wings in the standings and will be hungry to crawl up the standings.

Getting back to Datsyuk and Zetterberg,

It may be early in the season to be panicking about a slide of six games, but reality is that a terrible first half of the season can dictate the second half of the season in terms of trades, signings, and even day-to-day gameplay. Thankfully it appears as though the ship has been righted.

To end on a high note, congratulations to both Mark Howe and Mickey Redmond for getting into the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's satisfying to see multiple news outlets acknowledging that Mark is getting in for reasons beyond his last name. What I love even more is how candid he was about the current NHL on television:

As for Mickey, all I can say is holy mackerel, look at that shake and bake!

The Wiz Biz: Retiring an NHL Number

How does a franchise decide what numbers to retire? What is the criteria? How much of an impact does it have on players currently playing?

These are all interesting questions that come up when hockey enthusiasts talk about the importance of a number. Some numbers are now immortalized by outstanding careers of certain players. For example, no one can ever wear #99 again. Not even you, Wilf Paiement. Below is a collection of fun facts related to retiring NHL numbers. Enjoy!

• Currently, the Anaheim Ducks, the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Florida Panthers, the Nashville Predators, the San Jose Sharks, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only teams without retired numbers. It seems inevitable that Anaheim will hang forward Teemu Selanne's #8 in the rafters and I suspect Tampa will consider retiring Dave Andreychuk's #25 now that he is VP in charge of fans. In due time, the remaining teams on this list will find their immortal player to raise to the rafters. Perhaps in due time Rick Nash in Columbus or Patrick Marleau in San Jose. Only time will tell.

• As rare as it is to have your number retired, only six players have their number retired on more than one team as a direct result of their service. The Silver Six:

• Bobby Hull: retired with the Chicago Blackhawks and the Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes
• Gordie Howe: retired with the Detroit Red Wings and the Hartford Whales (now defunct)
• Wayne Gretzky: retired with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings (league wide)
• Raymond Bourque: retired with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche
• Mark Messier: retired with the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers
• Patrick Roy: Retired with the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche

• The first number retired among NHL teams was Irvine Wallace "Ace" Bailey of the Toronto Maple Leafs. On December 12th, 1933, Ace was hit from behind by Eddie Shore and his career ended in an instant. An "all star" game was held on his behalf in 1934, where Shore and Bailey shook hands. The #6 remains in the rafters at the Air Canada Centre today.
  
  
• Aside from Gretzky's #99, the #77 of Raymond Bourque is the next highest number, followed by #66 Mario Lemieux, and #35 of Tony Esposito and Mike Richter. The number most frequently retired number is #9, which has nine players on eleven teams including defunct teams:
• Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens.
• Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers.
• Johnny Bucyk, Boston Bruins.
• Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets.
• Lanny MacDonald, Calgary Flames.
• Clark Gilles, New York Islanders.
• Glenn Anderson, Edmonton Oilers.
• Adam Graves, New York Rangers.
• Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers.
  

Now that I have polluted your mind with an excess of facts about retired number, it's time to discuss the questions posed at the beginning of the article. If you take a glance at all of the names that are listed here and on the "List of NHL Retired Numbers" page, at least 90% of the names belong to players you know about. The scorers, the legendary goaltenders, the multi-time Stanley Cup Champions, and the legends of a time no one can remember. Some names that appear on that list are unrecognizable to even the most hardened hockey buffs. Who is Barry Ashbee? Bob Gassoff? Michel Brière? The latter two had their careers cut tragically short from accidents, while Ashbee was struck by in the eye and later died of leukemia.

The criteria for retiring a number is entirely dependent on context. Players who have been mediocre scorers or had only menial impact on the ice, all due respect to them, have had their numbers retired. Statistics do not matter as much as you would think they should. The retiring of a number is about more than the game itself. Men who have been deemed the "heart and soul" of a team, those who have died tragically or had their careers cut abruptly short, and those who served their team loyally have earned their place in the rafters of the home team arena.

The perfect example to demonstrate my point is New York Islanders forward Bob Nystrom. Dubbed "Mr. Islander" and beloved by Long Island fans, Nystrom's career statistics are not by any means mind boggling: in 900 regular season games, Nystrom scored 235 goals, 278 assists, 513 points and 1248 penalty minutes. In 157 playoff games, Nystrom had 83 points and 236 penalty minutes. His statistics are somewhat comparable to Tomas Holmstrom with the except of Nystrom's seemingly fearless attitude towards taking penalties. But he will always be remembered for the goal.

Skip to about 1:30 to get to the good stuff. Tonelli to Nystrom, back of the net. The beginning of a dynasty. Nystrom would remain a central piece of the Islander dynasty that would go on to dominate the NHL for four years before the Oilers finally toppled their empire in 1983-1984. Nystrom's play would peter off after the successful run of the Islanders until he retired in 1986. Nystrom was a power forward who was not afraid to get physical, but more important to his legacy are the four playoff overtime winners and his dedication to the Long Island community. After retiring he remained with the team in a number of positions, including Director of Special Projects, Director of Community Relations, Director of Amateur Hockey Development & Alumni Relations, and finally Director of Corporate Relations. His jersey was retired in 1995.

Nystrom wasn't the power scorer like Mike Bossy, but one could argue no one was or will be. He also wasn't the two way dynamo that was Bryan Trottier. He may not even have been as strong a power forward as Clark Gilles. Yet all four men have their numbers retired by the Islanders, rightfully so, and Nystrom will not be forgotten by Islanders faithful for being the man who put the puck in the net for their first championship. It's players like Nystrom who belong in the rafters alongside the Potvins and the Bossys. The easy choices are always the trophy winners, the all-time scorers, or the legendary defensemen. The best choices are the players who represent the heart of a team and the soul of the community.

Who is the NHL's Best Player Below 21?

They aren't old enough to drink (in the United States) and their playoff beards are typically pitiful, but the NHL has a healthy crop of players below the age of 21. Below is a list of under-21s from each team to consider:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler, 19

• Strong rookie season for Anaheim (GP 73-G 9-A 29-P 38)
• Has a gold medal from 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships (United States)

Atlanta Thrashers: Evander Kane, 19

• Already has 135 games experience and 68 points under his belt.
• Has a gold medal from the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships (Canada)

Boston Bruins: Tyler Seguin, 19

• Struggled this season (GP 71-G 11-A 11-P 22)
• Has been compared to Steven Stamkos in terms of development

Carolina Hurricanes: Jeff Skinner, 18

• Calder-like season (GP 79-G 29-A 29-P 58)
• One of the youngest All-Stars in professional sports in North America

Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, 20

• One of Colorado's best players already with 117 points in 157 games
• Been compared to Yzerman, Sakic; a real franchise player

Edmonton Oilers: Taylor Hall, 19

• Was the leading Calder candidate until injury (GP 65-G 22-A 20-P 45)
• Plenty of junior hardware proves pedigree, will be face of Oilers franchise like Gretzky was

New York Islanders: John Tavares, 20

• Back to back 24 goals or more seasons, plenty of points with 118 points in 158 games played.
• Has the junior stats and hardware, appears to be the next Trottier/Yzerman of the NHL.

New York Rangers: Derek Stepan, 20

• Great rookie campaign (GP 79-G 20-A 22-P 42) as well as good college career
• One of only four players to score a hat trick in the first game of their NHL careers

Ottawa Senators: Erik Karlsson, 20

• Already has several years of professional hockey under his belt
• Off to a good start in the NHL with 71 points in 135 games on a rebuilding Ottawa team

Toronto Maple Leafs: Nazem Kadri, 20

• Limited experience with Leafs thus far, but dynamic on the ice
• One of very few blue chip prospects in the Leafs system

So whom among these ten prospects has the brightest future? At this point in their careers, John Tavares has proven to be a natural leader on the ice with the Islanders and it won't be long until he dons the "C" for captain. A few other players on this list might wind up wearing a letter in the coming years, but few will have the Yzerman-like impact on their team as Tavares. There's something to be said about Jeff Skinner's dynamic play as well as his status as the youngest player on the list. In interviews he has come across as a very mature person for his age and should fit in well on a young Carolina team that should get into the playoffs next season.

So who do you think is the best player on this list?