5 Things

 

This week, with the playoff picture shaping up and the regular season games winding down, I’ll take a look at each Atlantic Division squad and give five thoughts on where they are, where they’re headed, what impresses (or doesn’t impress me) about them, and whatever else pops into my head.

 

Let’s begin with the Detroit Red Wings, who have a shot at locking up their 23rd straight playoff spot when they face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.

 

1. “Tradition is the illusion of permanence.” – Woody Allen

As noted above, the Wings are just one point away from locking up a playoff berth for the 23rd straight season, the longest current tenure of any NHL team. After years of coasting through the regular season without much worry, the past two seasons have brought a new kind of challenge to Hockey Town and head coach Mike Babcock. They’ve been, to quote one of my roommates, “struggle city” in prolonged spurts throughout this year in their first season without captain and blue line anchor Niklas Lidstrom, which is compounded by the fact that they’ve been without mainstays like Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen, new captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall for long stretches. This quote by Woody Allen sums up Detroit’s season rather nicely, because if the Wings have learned anything this season, it’s that regular season success is not a hockey God-given right; it’s earned.

2. “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” – Aristotle

The fact that Detroit is most likely going to make the playoffs yet again this season after all the injuries and all the ups and downs is remarkable in itself. What has other Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference teams shaking in their proverbial boots, however, is where this team is likely headed. With the veterans they’ve relied upon for years like Datsyuk and Zetterberg out more often than not this season, it’s fallen to guys like UMaine product Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and netminder Jimmy Howard to carry the load and continue their impressive run as a franchise. With these guys seemingly coming into their own earlier than even the organization itself thought they would, it’s almost scary to think how good this team could be in the next few seasons. Nyquist and Tatar seemingly came out of nowhere to pace the offense without the presence of their proven vets. They lead the team in goals with 28 and 19, respectively, and in a nice bit of foreshadowing, essentially saved their playoff chances with their individual performances against the Boston Bruins last week. I wouldn’t bet against these guys continuing their playoff streak.

3. Hey, old guys can get it done too.

Lost in the shuffle of this apparent youth movement, injury debacle and playoff hunt have been the veterans who actually suited up more times than not. The biggest story for Detroit coming into the year was the acquisition of proven winger Daniel Alfredsson, formerly of the Ottawa Senators. Alfie, still a spring chicken at 41 years of age, has played in 66 games this season (24 more than Datsyuk and 21 more than Zetterberg) and is tied for the team lead in points with Kronwall and the captain with 48 (18 goals, 30 assists). The young guns have been getting all the press, but it’s been the quiet presence of Alfie and others that have provided a nice foundation and security blanket for the new blood to thrive.

4. A little Black Bear love.

Go Big Blue.

I couldn’t go an entire post about the Red Wings without at least mentioning the obvious UMaine connection with Nyquist and Howard and the pivotal roles they’ve played for Detroit this season. “But Jon, you already mentioned that Nyquist was a Maine product two paragraphs ago.” As if that does it justice. Nyquist, who wasn’t even on the Wings’ opening day NHL roster this season due to contractual issues (he currently yields a two-way contract, meaning he can be placed in the minors without having to pass through waivers, which is convenient if the Wings want to keep a different player active who can only play at the NHL level contractually), suited up for the Black Bears for three seasons from 2008-2011. He led the nation in scoring with 61 points in 2009-2010, and it seems he’s found his niche at the professional level as well this season. He is just two goals away from his first 30-goal season, and one shudders at how good his numbers would have been had he been playing alongside Datsyuk or Zetterberg for most of the year.

Howard played under former UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead from 2002-2005 before joining Detroit, including a sensational 2003-2004 campaign where he set NCAA records for goals against average (1.19) and save percentage (.956). He’s had better years in Detroit – 37-win seasons in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 – but Howard remains a solid backstop (arguably a top 10 ‘tender in the NHL) with 21 wins in 49 starts to this point in the season. What will it take for Howard to make the jump to the next echelon of NHL netminders (currently and tentatively occupied by LA’s Jonathan Quick, Boston’s Tuukka Rask, the Ranger’s Henrik Lundqvist and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne)? Playoff performance. If (and when) Detroit locks up that top wildcard spot – which would set up a first round date with the Pens – it will be up to Howard to determine how far they can go.

5. So about that thing called the playoffs..

As I mentioned literally one sentence ago, the Wing’s are in the driver’s seat when it comes to their playoff destiny, and their likely seventh-seed finish would set up an opening-round matchup with the Metropolitan Division-winning Penguins (which, as a side note, creates a “playoff preview”-type of feel to tonight’s game). Hockey is great in that, when the puck is officially dropped on the postseason, seeds usually don’t matter. The LA Kings were an eight-seed when they won the cup two years ago. Boston was a three-seed the year before that. Chicago was the President’s Trophy winner last year.

Detroit has a legitimate shot at beating the Pens in a seven-game series, not just because Pittsburgh’s roster is more suited to the regular season than the playoffs, but also because the Wings have the talent and the playing style to match up with the Penguins five-on-five. It will be a good series – and I won’t embarrass myself by trying to play the role of prognosticator (do I look like Joe Lunardi to you?) – but I still feel the Pens are built to win now, whereas the Wings (as currently constructed due to injury), are better suited to win down the road.

Crazier things have happened, though. And as a Bruins fan, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if the Pens were knocked out before the conference finals.