It's like the Red Wings are trying to erase all the goodwill and happy memories they've provided over the years with this one craptastic season to forget.
Once again blowing a late two goal lead, the Red Wings lost in overtime to the Phoenix Coyotes. The loss gave the rival Coyotes two massive points and further distanced themselves from the Wings.
When the Wings miss the playoffs - it's time to accept the inevitable - they can point to this key stretch in the season. It's a sequence of 4 straight games that the Red Wings squandered third period leads, often squandering two goal leads.
Who to blame? Where to focus the anger?
Osgood? He's always the best place to start, but he was on the bench. Howard? He was relatively helpless and actually did a good job stalling the attack as long as he did. Lidstrom? Nah, the dude had two goals! Stuart? Perhaps. He failed to clear the puck late. Ericsson? Maybe. Another game of turnovers. Rafalski? 3 turnovers from him alone. All told, the Wings turned it over 19 times versus 5 for Phoenix. A complete mental breakdown and, to be fair, some old fashioned bad luck.
Of course, when it happens four straight games, it's no longer bad luck. It's just a bad hockey team.
The maddening thing is that you started to feel good about the game. There was less than 3 minutes left....up by 2 goals. The thing that sucked was that, against your better judgement, you (secretly) felt they were going to win this game.
ReplyDeleteThen they panicked.
And we felt like crap.
WTF.
Indeed. I actually felt confident of a win. I normally reserve the impending sense of doom for the Tigers (or, gasp, the Lions). Must I now apply it to the Wings? The one shining light in the world of Detroit sports?
ReplyDeleteSay it aint so!
I'm going to wait to burry them until after the olympics. If they can stay close I fully expect them to regroup after the games and go on a MASSIVE run with everyone finally healthy.
ReplyDeleteHope you're right, TBM. Unfortunately, the results from this season do not give me hope. Healthy or not, they're not playing like an elite team. I still have a hard time believing that Hossa and Hudler meant that much. From a team that reached the Stanley Cup Finals two years in a row, the core came back!
ReplyDeleteWhy wait? Bury them now. Avalanche fans all over the world will help with a demonic smile on their faces. We are basking in glow of your grief. We now have the young talent base to bring you more grief for seasons to come. Red Wings Suck! Say it loud, say it proud. Go Avs!
ReplyDelete