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Abel to Yzerman

The Pain Will Be So Very Good

by IwoCPO on 06/15/09 at 10:45 AM ET
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It was a tough weekend for all of us.  But it’s over and no matter how many times you imagine it differently, none of the shots taken the final 16 seconds went in.  And no matter what, that’s really all that counts.

The task at hand now for Tick Tock and Uncle Mike?  First…figure out what happened in Games 6 and 7.  The Wings essentially played two periods worth remembering, both 3rds.  And, as usual, they only really turned it on when both situations were at their most dire.  No matter the fatigue, or the injuries or the pressure or whatever.  Someone needs to figure out how to get this team away from that kind of malaise.

Oh, fatigue had a bit to do with it.  But not entirely. It happened all year.  Now that we’re done we can all look back and admit that the ferocity and the surgical precision with which the Wings played right off the hop against Columbus surprised, even shocked, most of us.  They really could “flip the switch”.  And they did.  But the shelf life ran out two games too soon.  The switch came unflipped at the same time the Wings faced off against a Pens team that had nothing to lose after getting spanked in Game 5.  They were hungrier, grittier and—in those two games—better. 

Now?  The Wings have to deal with it.  Now the players can head home and occasionally remember what they were doing last year at this time.  They can consider where the Cup is now, and where it would have been had they been able to sustain the energy from Game 5 for just three more periods.  Hopefully the same pain you feel as a fan is consuming them.  Hopefully it’s ten times worse.  While you and I can escape it, Marian Hossa won’t be able to. And if he stays, that will be a good thing.  Same with Brad Stuart and even Chris Osgood, who will think of Talbot’s second goal all summer. 

And now?  Decisions have to be made.  A roster has to be formed and in Tick Tock’s mind I’ll bet it already is.  You already know who I believe will be on it…and his sweater includes the numbers 1 and 8 but not the name “Maltby.”  Who else?  Remains to be seen.  I’m hoping Andres Lilja, but we literally have no idea about that.  Had he been aboard for this run?  Could have been different.  Just look at the PK in Game 3 and 4 and imagine Lilja in there.  Come to think of it, could have been worse too.  Insert a smiley face there if you’re so inclined.

So Ken Holland and Mike Babcock have to find a balance, especially if keeping Hossa is a priority…which it should be.  They have to reconcile the idea of losing a popular Jiri Hudler and an inconsistent but at times clutch Mikael Samuelsson.  Questions have to be raised about a sudden lack of depth on the blue line and whether Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader are actually ready for the big time.  Another question may center around why there seems to be some institutional mandate that Jimmy Howard be granted a roster spot he hasn’t earned. 

But most of all, these two architects need to put their heads together and determine how they’re going to re-introduce the hunger of ‘08 to the team of ‘09, while keeping in mind that this team has played more hockey the last four years (include the Olympics in there too) than any team in NHL history. 

While they’re at it…this:  Time to tell Brad McCrimmon goodbye.  Interestingly, he’s never been fully identified as the guy behind the Wing penalty kill.  But I think it’s safe to assume that he is.  Uncle Mike needs to find the best penalty killing mind in the business who isn’t an NHL head coach and get him to Detroit STAT.  Chris Osgood was the best goalie in the playoffs, yet our PK was disgusting.  And it had been all year.  It wasn’t a blip or a ten-game stretch.  It was an abomination all season long and that needs to be rectified.  Find a genius Mike. Find him and bring him to our home.

I don’t know if the Cap is going to decrease.  I don’t know what moves the Wings will have to make in order to keep Hossa.  I’m also not positive that Hudler and Samuelsson have to be the guys who leave.  Darren Helm has to have the organ-I-zation considering a few more options other than the obvious.

So changes are in order, but here’s the thing that is going to gnaw and nag at you all year.  It makes no difference what kind of shakeup Holland orchestrates, or what kind of change in motivation this team has over the next ten months if Pavel Datsyuk, Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Kris Draper all get hurt at roughly the same time like they did this season.  If they had all been healthy for the Final?  Who knows.  If Sergei Gonchar had been completely healthy maybe our PK would have been exposed far more than it was. 

Changes are coming. The roster’s going to be different.  And I would bet that the intensity is going to be off the charts, and not just in late Spring of 2010.  I would think that the Wings have one wish, and it’s very specific. Not just a return to the Final, and not just Cup #12.  I’m betting that soon, once the physical hurt wears off, an entire organ-I-zation is going to do whatever it can to keep a deeper pain alive until a chance at redemption presents itself.  Every move made this summer should be accomplished with that in mind. 

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977.  No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y.  Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation.  There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature.  Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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