Until next time, Blackhawks

Game seven between Detroit and Chicago finally delivered a drama-filled contest for the ages. I was so impressed with the high-tempo. Both teams were in attack mode, playing defense almost not to shut down a scoring chance, but instead to quickly start one in the opposite direction. And just as exciting, the goalies were equal to the task. This was definitely a fitting final conference match-up between these teams.

I’m hugely impressed with Chicago’s ability to come back from a 3-1 series deficit, but I’m also deeply disappointed that Detroit could not close the deal. Mike Babcock was right when he said that before any games had been played the people of Detroit would have welcomed a game seven. That was all most Red Wings fans were really hoping for. Just don’t embarrass our tradition guys. But then they somehow pulled together and remind the Blackhawks that the playoffs are an entirely different beast. My expectations changed.

I’ve seen so many parallels between these franchises the past few seasons. They play the same style; a combination of speed, skill and hard work. They have young goalies trying to prove they’re the real deal. They both set up Marian Hossa for goals. But one of the biggest similarities has been the early exits from the playoffs.

While Detroit was slowly losing its place as an elite team since back-to-back finals appearances, Chicago has appeared to underachieve. Part of Chicago’s trouble had to do with the salary cap purge following the 2010 cup, but they still maintained one of the best cores in the league. However, the past few years I’ve wondered if the team has not been underachieving but in fact greatly overachieved when winning the cup in 2010.
 
The 2010 cup win seemed way ahead of schedule to me and I actually thought at the time it might not be the best thing for Chicago in the long run. After all, wouldn't a little taste of defeat be a big motivator to get truly committed to winning (cough, Kane, cough). Mario Lemieux was 25 when he won his first cup in his seventh season. Joe Sakic was 26. Mike Modano, 28. Steve Yzerman, 31. These guys spent years falling short before playoff winning was finally ingrained in them. Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane were 21.

In fact, the Toews led Hawks did not have to face a recent cup wining team on the way to the championship in 2010 and this group didn’t play in a game seven until the following season defeat to Vancouver. Wednesday’s game seven win was the first ever for Toews and Kane. These guys are so talented it’s easy to forget they’re still just 25 years old.

So we will soon see if coming back from 3-1 was what this group needed to propel the team to a new level and possibly another Stanley Cup. They are certainly going to need to play better to move past the Kings. L.A. has won six consecutive series and seems to be again firing all cylinders. This match-up would be a fitting cup final.

How did Detroit collapse?

I have to say I am impressed with the string of games the Red Wings put together. They certainly made me believe they could be the Blackhawks, but eventually the short-comings of the regular season caught up to them. Coming into this year having lost three of their top four defenders over two seasons I assumed they would have a hard time keeping the puck out of the net. This certainly happened in a few blowout games, but for the most part Detroit was surprisingly sound defensively.

Where the team was hurt most was the lack of scoring. Veteran depth scorers Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson, and Darren Helm played a total of 12 games combined. The benefit of these injuries was that it forced the Wings to play rookies like Joakim Andersson and Gustav Nyquist. But Detroit could not match offense with Chicago, who were first in goals scored on the season.

After Detroit won three in a row, it started to feel like they played not to lose. The focus was so strong on shutting down the top lines of Chicago, there was a lack of attack from Detroit's stars. Babcock said he thought the depth lines would be the difference. Finally in game seven Detroit's top lines tried to take some offensive initiative and that's why it was easily the best game of the series. But it was too little too late.

And the other concern about the defense returned. Detroit was 20 minutes from advancing in game six. And then Brendan Smith reminded us he was playing in only his 13th playoff game. Two plays, two goals, and Chicago was ahead to stay. And then came game seven. To start the season I wondered if any team could hope for much success if Nick Kronwall and Jonny Ericsson were its top defensive pair. While they raised their game and played their hearts out, their slow change to start the second period was the direct cause of the all-important first goal for Chicago And Kronwall's poor positioning and shot-block/deflection into his own net caused the overtime winner. I think we all knew a play like that was how Detroit's season would end this year.

But despite the epic collapse, there were still a lot of positives from the first non-Lidstrom season in 20 years. The Red Wings used six rookies in the playoffs. I really can't remember the last time that's happened. When Bertuzzi and Samuelsson were finally healthy enough to play, amazingly they could not stay in the lineup because Detroit's rookies were playing so well. A few different bounces and those rookies could have been playing in Detroit's deepest playoff run in four years.

Damien Brunner out-scored Valtteri Filppula by nine points in the regular season and was the team's leading playoff goal-scorer. Brendan Smith and Danny DeKeyser at times looked amazing, and promise to be the foundation of the next great Detroit blueline. Tomas Tatar nearly equaled every one of Detroit's bottom six forwards in scoring and only played in 22 games. And Gustav Nyquist finally got to play with some high-end talent. I hope I'm seeing plays like this for many years to come.