Three-peat? It was not to be.
The defending Stanley Cup Champions for two years running had high
hopes to make it three in a row. A feat that was not done in the
NHL since the mighty Islanders of the early eighties. This
1998-1999 season was sure to be a true test as the entire leagues
main goal was to knock of the champs. The entire season itself was
disappointing. Anything short of winning the Cup would be deemed
as a failed season.
The core of the team from the previous season remained intact. With
that in mind what could stop this team from winning? The answer is
quite simply themselves. If anyone was going to be the Red Wings it
was them beating themselves by not playing well. So after being
outplayed heavily by the dreaded Colorado Avalanche in the second
round we reflect on what had happened this past season.
The acquisition of Uwe Krupp was a trial by fire trade. Krupp did
not play much at all and was plagued with a back injury and what
seemed to be every nagging injury known to exist. So he was
ineffective, but a healthy Krupp may return next season. But that
is still up in the air to the severity of his injury.
Sergei Fedorov, who in recent seasons only shows up for the
playoffs, didn't even do that this year. Yes he had some productive
numbers, but they fell far short of expectations. He complained of
ice time, and during the season when Scotty Bowman increased his
time, at spells he would score, but then became invisible. The same
can be said for Brendan Shanahan who did improve at times over last
year's numbers. He complained about lack of ice time as well. When
given more time, he responded nicely getting some key goals. Rumors
still surround Shanny about being traded away, because he may be
playing hurt and some feel his best days are behind him.
Slava Kozlov was no where to be found in the first half of the
season. Then Igor Larionov took him under his wing and he exploded
to be the hottest Wing of the second half. The
Kozlov-Larionov-LaPointe line played pretty much all of the time
together. One of the few lines that Bowman kept together as the
others shuffled around quite often. Igor played great hockey, and
when he was hurt in the second round, the Wings were without their
main control player.
Chris Osgood was his usual self in net. He really played great
sometimes, but very rarely would win games on his own. Which makes
him not in the class of Cujo, Hasek, Belfour, or Roy to name a few.
The very likeable Kevin Hodson was traded and Norm Maracle still
needs some seasoning. Bill Ranford came in and played two great
games in the second round, but then got very little team support
and had some very forgettable games against the Avs. He has since
been cut from the team and is an unrestricted free agent.
The Wings said so long to the underachieving Anders Ericksson in
the Chris Chelios deal. When the Wings made the deadline deals to
get Chris Chelios and Wendel Clark they were virtually unbeatable.
Chelios is the man. Clark chipped in some timely goals, but didn't
produce against the Avs as expected. His future is up in the air.
A key acquisition was that of defenseman Todd Gill. He played very
well and chipped in offensively where Murphy and Lidstrom
faltered. Murphy's age finally showed and Lidstrom had a sub-par
season by his standards. Mathieu Dandenault played very strong on
defense, but he still may be more suited for the forward position.
Aaron Ward played a lot, but has not been what the Wings have
hoped for. Macoun played well, but his time is apparently up. Did
the Red Wings really ever get over the departure of Fetisov? No
one will ever be sure. His off the ice presence sure meant a lot to
this team. If the Wings can sign Ulf Samuelsson to at least another
year, they will have improved greatly. His wealth of experience and
grit is a total bonus. Expect Jiri Fisher to make the team next
season. Will Lidstrom return or will Murphy hang up the skates
finally? These questions played a lingering role in the season's
attitude of the players.
Darren McCarty started off very strong scoring quite a bit, but
injuries set in and he was never the same. Marty Lapointe didn't
play that well in the second half. Holmstrom was snake bit all
season and could never get going. Gilchrist missed most of the
season with his groin injury. Rookie Stacey Roest played with great
tenacity but didn't see any playoff time. He may have been
showcased.
Doug Brown seems to go the way of Sergei Fedorov when it comes to
point production. The Wings gave up a draft pick in order to
re-obtain Brown and he didn't satisfy as in year's past. Kirk
Maltby has become a dirty player picking up suspensions here and
there. He still has the knack for scoring the timely goal every
now and then, but the fact is, the Grind Line was non existent in
the playoffs. Joe Kocur's injury sure didn't help things out in
this matter. Kris Draper may have seen his last days as a Red
Wing. He is well liked and I'm sure the Red Wings will do what it
takes to keep him around.
Team MVP
Without much hesitation and without any argument from anyone I am
sure, the nod goes to the captain, all-star center, Steve
Yzerman. In the early part of the season his numbers were among
the league leaders.
He slowed down after more ice time was given to Shanahan and
Fedorov, but by far was the team's most consistent performer.
Stevie Y never takes a night off. The three-year extension he
received was well worth it. If a handful of others on this team
had the heart and soul that he has displayed, this team would be a
dynasty for sure.
Surprise
|
Chris Chelios
by Meredith Martini
|
The play of Mathieu Dandenault surely deserves some credit. The
young forward is coveted by Scotty Bowman played most of the season
on defense. He played very well, but at times was out muscled in
the playoffs by stronger forwards. But the total surprise was the
trading deadline when the Red Wings picked up sniper Wendel
Clark, veteran goalie Bill Ranford, gritty Ulf Samuelsson, and
veteran star Chris Chelios all for draft picks and Anders
Ericksson. At the time of the deadline it seemed the Red Wings
had what it took to win the Cup. GM Ken Holland was dubbed a
genius for putting together the so-called final pieces to the
puzzle to win. Hockeytown was very surprised at the deadline
deals. During the season it had seemed that no one could beat
Colorado or Dallas. But the trades for at least a month brought
some renewed optimism to a seemingly stagnant season.
Disappointment
At one point is was very disappointing to see Recchi go to the
Flyers and Fleury to the Avs. All while the Wings had only picked
up Todd Gill. Then the blockbuster trades came in. The momentum
and the swing was in the Wings favor. The easy first round sweep
of the Ducks seemed to throttle the Wings towards another Cup. But
it was not to be, so the biggest disappointment was the fact
that the Wings lost to the Avs in the second round the way they
did. They lost in four straight games looking very lackluster
and lost. That is a hard pill to follow when you are at least
expected to go down swinging when you are the champions.
The Red Wings will have to wait and see what Nicklas Lidstrom
decides to do. If he goes back to Sweden it will be a huge loss.
They lost Konstantinov already, and this would be equally as
painful. They should sign Ulf Samuelsson, and if Murphy plays
again, he will get reduced ice time due to his age. They will save
him for the playoffs if anything and help him groom youngsters
Jiri Fisher and perhaps Jesse Wallin into decent defensemen. They
may sign Clark, but that is up in the air as well. He is not a
sure thing with his medical history.
If they Wings lose Maracle to expansion then they will be in the
market for a veteran back up. Perhaps Mark Fitzpatrick, Ric
Tabarraci, or Ken Wregget. They need someone to give Ozzie a push.
The rumors are that the Wings will do what it takes to sign free
agent Valeri Kamensky from Colorado. He played very well against
the Wings in the second round and would fit right in with Igor and
Kozzie. In order to get back to Cup status again, they will need to
play as a team and execute the system flawlessly. It may help to
acquire some speed up front and some size on defense. This team is
not out yet by any means. They are still an elite team and will be
one of the favorites to go for the Cup.
This is my last and final report for LCS Hockey. The absolute and
greatest hockey site in the World by far. For those of you that
have emailed me over the last couple of seasons with your praise,
I thank you. For those of you that have criticized me, I will not
miss you. But I thank you just the same for keeping me humble. At
times I thought I was as good as Darcy Tucker or even John Cullen.
At times I just wanted to be Swedish. And yeah I will miss Wayne
Gretzky, he was after all my inspiration for writing. Strawberry
Fields and LCS Forever!
"Detroit, Detroit, got a heck of a hockey team" Paul Simon.
