Red Wings: Eliminated in 1st round for 1st time since 2005-06

Don't buy it for one second. The Red Wings season was many things, but after losing out in 5 games in the first round, no way was it a successful one by any means possible.The question is: How could something so right go so wrong for this team? How could a team that had won an NHL record 23 straight games at home collapse during the stretch run of the regular season and lose out in the first round in 5 games?


Granted the Red Wings ran into some tough breaks and injuries, but that's hockey. Teams have to be able to overcome situations like that. Good teams especially. As for the playoff series, the Wings didn't seem to have the hunger that they showed early in the season. All the continuity was gone, all the fluctiation was gone, and they did not play well. Turnovers, bad breaks, missed defensive assignments were key, but worse, the penalties were downright embarassing.


Jimmy Howard allowed soft goals as his defense crumbled around him. While on the other end, Pekka Rinne was a stone wall for the Predators, turning aside shot after shot; scoring chance after scoring chance. The Wings ran into a hot goaltender at the wrong time and never seemed to be fully in the series at all.

What really puzzles me is the lack of production throughout the lineup. Players who stepped up to the plate early throughout the season, like Valteri Filppula, Danny Cleary and Drew Miller, were virtually non-existent in this series. While the Predators got timely goal-scoring from their players, the Wings fell flat.


So where do the Wings go from here? Obviously this is not how any of them wanted to end their season. Words cannot describe the feeling of being eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, let alone getting ousted in the 1st round. A lot of changes will have to be made for the Wings next season. Only time will tell.

Any way you look at it, it's a dissapointing ending to what looked like a promising season midway through the all-star break.