Helm

Let's just take a moment to reflect on the fact that Darren Helm played a grand total of 16 games for the Wings this season -- 23 games for his entire regular season career. His career +/- is -9.

He was the best player on the ice last night.

How is that possible? Credit must go to the Red Wings organization. As mentioned before, they do an incredible job at putting players in a position to succeed. The Grand Rapids Griffins employ the same puck-possession style, and the management has little turnover (Griffins' GM is going on his 13th straight season). When Helm got the call, he could slot right into a familiar role. Last year, he averaged a mere 7 minutes per game in the playoffs. Last night, he played 16+ and was the games 3rd star (after Ozzie and Huet). While I praise the organization, the majority of the credit should go to Darren Helm himself.

Helm is also a rare statistical anomaly - he's played more games in the playoffs than the regular season. Both last year and this year, the team asked Helm to jump into the lion's den with extremely little on-the-job training. He served as the Draper replacement - skate fast, disrupt the opposition, fight for turnovers and hope for a breakaway. Mission accomplished.

During the playoffs last year, the star players carried the wings. Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen led the team with 13, 10, and 13 goals respectively. Nobody else had more than 5. (It should be noted that Franzen's '08 playoffs made him a "star player.") This year, Filppula has 13 assists, Cleary notched 8 goals, and we all know about Samuelsson's clutch scoring. It's been a balanced attack. With so many stars injured, the team had no choice.

A writer on ESPN.com wonders if the injuries will be the teams undoing. Last night, the Blackhawks dominated possession for long stretches, and the Pens are even more offensively talented. The defensive skills of Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Ericksson, and Draper will be crucial. If they don't return, it's up to the Helms of the world.

RIP Chicago
Gotta give some credit to the Blackhawks. They took a more experienced wings team to 3 overtime games. They're an absurdly youthful team with an average of like 15, so they've got a bright future. My one quibble would be with their management. They traded Steve Wisniewski to the Ducks for Sammy Pahlsson. Pahlsson notched 5 points in the playoffs. Wisniewski, meanwhile, with his dominant physical play, brought the Wings to the brink of elimination. Pahlsson's a fine player, and he's won a Cup. But, man, Wisniewski is exactly the type of player that Chicago lacked - big, strong d-man. Those guys, more than goalies, carry teams through the playoffs. The Wings had Kronwall and Stuart. The Hawks had... Seabrook? He's the closest and could turn into a dominant player, but he's very, very young. Wisniewski would've helped.

Et tu Sergei, pt II
Chris Osgood offered some insight into the Fedorov saga. Earlier this week, I postulated that Fedorov left Detroit because he would get $10million/season. Osgood felt Sergei had different motives:

After a while players get stagnant and they want a change of scenery.

That's an interesting take. Ozzie felt Sergei was, in general, misunderstood, and that definitely appears so. If Sergei did want a change of scenery, I certainly couldn't blame him. He had been in Detroit over a decade, won three cups, and a Hart trophy. Why not try his luck elsewhere? Especially since the fan base never forgave him for holding-out with contract disputes. The move out of the D didn't help his career at all, but perhaps he was happier. Fare thee well, Sergei. You may get that #91 in the Joe's rafters some day. But will you even care?