How important is the streak?

[yave1964]

  I have a daughter named Becky who is 23 years old, she is married with a couple of beautiful babies and purchased a home literally four houses down from mine which makes it easy to see my two best friends in the whole world, her three year son and two year old daughter.

  In my daughters entire life, the Wings have never once failed to make the playoffs. Ever.

  It seems hard to believe that I raised her and went through the teen angst years without killing her and saw her find the love of her life, marry and have kids and buy a home and during that time, the three constants are death ,taxes and the Wings playing in April. Nearly a quarter of a century and going strong.

  My two questions are:

A) How important is it to extend the streak to 25 years

B) What exactly does the streak mean anyway?

 

   Addressing the second question first, what does the streak mean, well to me it means a level of consistency that in the salary cap era is unheard of and may never be seen again. Currently the Penguins are second with a measly nine year streak. In the history of the NHL the streak is now the 4th longest of all time, if the Wings make it this season it will move to third, only four seasons off the all time record of 29 held by the 67 thru 96 Boston Bruins.

  So to me the streak means consistency and adaptability to the ever changing landscape and deserves to be commended.

 

As for the first question, how important is it to extend the streak to 25 years?

 In my opinion, not very. Not very important at all.

  If the Wings extend the streak and make it to the postseason they will likely be out in four or five games against the Capitals, someone will wake up Kenny Holland who will declare the season a huge success and then go and sign another mid thirty something or two to shore up glaring deficiencies such as Brad Richards this year or Daniel Alfredsson a few years back. Tired blood to fix an anemic offense. But if the Wings lose they will be forced to take a good long look in the mirror and take a truthful look at where they are.

1) While they have a nice collection of youngsters who have hit the roster, none are superstars and with the possible exception of Larkin none will be.

2) the older grizzled vets are getting older and for the most part not aging well. Zetterberg looks old and lost at times, Kronwall cannot stay healthy. Both need bumped down to lesser roles.

3) Datsyuk has been near brilliant at times this season when healthy but has only one year left on his deal and has spoken quite frankly about his desire to play in the KHL and it is a very real possibility that after next year he 'retires' and moves on to mother Russia. Holland needs to decide if he wants to break the bank to attempt to keep pavel over here or accept that an aging star would command too much money.

 

  If we continue the streak, all of these issues will be simply pushed aside until next year. If the streak ends we probably will deal with them, or at least begin the process this summer.

  No team has done a better job of tansitioning during the past quarter of a century  than the Wings and none are close. When Yzerman was nearing retirement he began tutoring Pavel. When Draper saw the end he made Helm his personal project and he has done the same with Glendening. Selfishness is not allowed in the Wings locker room and I love the way we have played.

  But in the cap era, first or second round knockouts year after year have gotten old. It is time to shake up the magic eight ball and see what happens.

[flyercanuck]

 In my daughters entire life, the Wings have never once failed to make the playoffs. Ever.

 

 

 

 

I hate you.

[yave1964]

47 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 In my daughters entire life, the Wings have never once failed to make the playoffs. Ever.

 

 

 

 

I hate you.

LOL! I think.

[hf101]

Welcome to the Eastern Conference!  

 

25 is one of those magic numbers that one could say for a quarter of a century the Wings never missed the playoffs.  No other team in the NHL can say that. Right?  So of course, #25 means something.  

 

#25 Probably means your daughter and her family come over to watch the Wings playoff games.   Playoffs just aren't the same when your favorite team isn't in it, a

first round exit doesn't matter as there are always first round surprises and early exits. How often have you seen the President's trophy winner fail in the first round?

 It's the fact that your favorite team is there vs not as making the Playoffs is a goal set by most teams.  It means something.  Obviously, because it is disappointing to watch other teams play for the cup.  Fortunately, that disappointment is short lived as another season will come with new expectations, but that is of course, after a really long summer.  You're one of the lucky ones here as you probably won't notice how long the summer is enjoying your grand children everyday.  

 

So enjoy your long summer Yave, the redwings missing the playoffs means there will be a lot of bandwagon Flyer fans in Philadelphia who will maybe watch hockey for the first time all season.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yave1964]

30 minutes ago, hf101 said:

Welcome to the Eastern Conference!  

 

25 is one of those magic numbers that one could say for a quarter of a century the Wings never missed the playoffs.  No other team in the NHL can say that. Right?  So of course, #25 means something.

 

#25 Probably means your daughter and her family come over to watch the Wings playoff games.   Playoffs just aren't the same when your favorite team isn't in it, a

first round exit doesn't matter as there are always first round surprises and early exits. How often have you seen the President's trophy winner fail in the first round?

 It's the fact that your favorite team is there vs not as making the Playoffs is a goal set by most teams.  It means something.  Obviously, because it is disappointing to watch other teams play for the cup.  Fortunately, that disappointment is short lived as another season will come with new expectations, but that is of course, after a really long summer.  You're one of the lucky ones here as you probably won't notice how long the summer is enjoying your grand children everyday.  

 

So enjoy your long summer Yave, the redwings missing the playoffs means there will be a lot of bandwagon Flyer fans in Philadelphia who will maybe watch hockey for the first time all season.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How about we both make it and watch the Bruins fans sitting at home? Looked at their schedule earlier, they have a long road, if the Wings defeat Montreal today they are only 1 point behind Boston and the best part would be if the Wings pass the Bruins they move into a 3 seed in the division and face either Tampa or HOPEFULLY Florida. Hey, a guy can dream right, lol.

  And BTW did you see what my wife makes my poor Granddaughter wear? A damn Bluejacket jersey. no accounting for taste, lol

[WordsOfWisdom]

5 hours ago, yave1964 said:

A) How important is it to extend the streak to 25 years

B) What exactly does the streak mean anyway?

 

The sad part is, it's not even the longest streak in NHL history!  The Bruins did 29 years or something, and Montreal is up there too. 

 

The Leafs have the anti-playoff streak going. If not for 2013, the Leafs would have missed the playoffs for ~15 straight years now? 

[flyercanuck]

15 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

The sad part is, it's not even the longest streak in NHL history!  The Bruins did 29 years or something, and Montreal is up there too. 

 

The Leafs have the anti-playoff streak going. If not for 2013, the Leafs would have missed the playoffs for ~15 straight years now? 

 

It's a heck of a lot tougher having a streak against 30 teams than it is against 6, or 14. 

 

Montreal won a lot of cups cause the league allowed their gm to skew the rules in their favor. 

 

Notice how many Montreal has won lately with 30 teams and the rules all even?  

[Lindbergh31]

2 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

 

It's a heck of a lot tougher having a streak against 30 teams than it is against 6, or 14. 

 

Montreal won a lot of cups cause the league allowed their gm to skew the rules in their favor. 

 

Notice how many Montreal has won lately with 30 teams and the rules all even?  

Hence why I never liked the Canadiens and their fans. Nothing better than what Canadiens fans hide in the bushes since their team's slide and the fact it will be a Montreal Canadiens free playoffs.

[hf101]

I think the Bruins will stay in the playoffs, but I'm not as sure about the Islanders.

 

And yes I did notice her jersey and I see she has 2 pairs of favorite socks.  

 

Another proud grandpa...

HIGHLIGHT | @antomantha8's First @NHL goal from the second periodhttps://t.co/JnY1gfY28g

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings)

March 25, 2016

 

[SpikeDDS]

The significance of being able to do that is especially high is the salary cap era when compared with these other historical teams. If the 2007-8 Wings had been able to continue to buy veterans to plug holes without price limit, we might still have the streak, but it would have been MUCH easier to achieve! The reality is that the streak IS somewhat meaningful.

 

But, as I have said before, if they lose it this season--and for the record, BEFORE they called up Mantha, I predicted they WOULD NOT make the playoffs--it's not the end of th world. In fact, I think long-term, it is probably good. Maybe even short-term. You think Pav and Z want to end Pav's career with the Wings with two years in a row of missing the playoffs? I don't think so! They would not let that happen.

 

But more importantly, the addition of Mantha changes the game for the Red Wings. He adds net front presence which we hardly had before. Dirty goals are suddenly back! And not just for Mantha. Glendening is cashing in too, crashing the net for rebounds. Mantha's big body is a pretty big screen, and he's not as easy to push around for the opposing D to get him off his preferred spots in front of the crease. And whaddya know--it is Easter season after all--the power play seems to have been resurrected from the dead upon Mantha's arrival.

 

Now you could argue those things are coincidental. I don't think that they are. I think Mantha adds a facet to our game that has been close to completely missing for some time, and that, plus the resiliency of Dasyuk's and Zetterberg's wills, is giving us a chance at a playoff spot. That and Boston free falling at just the right time.

 

And @yave1964, Glendening scores his 3rd in 4 games, and a dirty one at that right after you call for his ice time to be reduced. Can you please say some else also needs to lose playing time so that they will read it on here and pick up their play like Glendening has? I'm totally giving you credit for his resurgence! You did it on purpose didn't you? You knew it all along! ;-)

 

Finally, the meaningfulness of Mantha's first goal with grandpa watching on can't be underestimated! WHAT A MOMENT! Ends up being a game-winning goal too, after a defensive collapse in the 3rd by the Wings. (WHEW! If they lost that game after being up 4-0 going into the 3rd, we were finished! No way we would recover from that total collapse!) But grandpa, who is a Stanley Cup winner and who played for the Canadiens and the Red Wings, sees his grandson score his first NHL goal at JLA against the Canadiens, and it's the game-winner! I was crying too, I must admit. I was surprisingly quite moved myself. Still teared up watching the clip this morning.

[BluPuk]

It is an admirable and unlikely streak no matter how you cut it. No matter if it's against 6 teams or 30. Good for the Wings. 

 

Is it going to continue? Flip a coin....

[WordsOfWisdom]

5 hours ago, BluPuk said:

It is an admirable and unlikely streak no matter how you cut it. No matter if it's against 6 teams or 30. Good for the Wings. 

 

Is it going to continue? Flip a coin....

 

I'm guessing that when the NHL had 6 teams, 4 teams made the playoffs?

[WingNut722]

On 3/24/2016 at 5:39 AM, yave1964 said:

 

  In my daughters entire life, the Wings have never once failed to make the playoffs. Ever.

  

 

I can honestly make the very same claim as you, Yave.  Of course my daughter's 3, but that's beside the point.

 

I suppose being able to make it 25 for that "Quarter century" mark would be nice, but you're right in that getting to playoffs means nothing if you're out in 5 games.  The higher draft pick is probably more important.

[WordsOfWisdom]

Think of how much more interesting it would be right now if the NHL allowed 8 teams in instead of 16.

 

When you look at the standings, there are TWO races going on:

1. Minnesota vs Colorado for 8th
2. Philly vs Detroit for 8th

That's it. The bottom teams are out. The top teams are in. There is nothing intriguing happening in the middle. Teams are just waiting for the playoffs to start.

 

If it were the top 8, you would have Boston, Philly, Detroit, New York x 2, Florida, Tampa, etc. all battling for 3 of the 4 spots. 

[yave1964]

1 hour ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

Think of how much more interesting it would be right now if the NHL allowed 8 teams in instead of 16.

 

When you look at the standings, there are TWO races going on:

1. Minnesota vs Colorado for 8th
2. Philly vs Detroit for 8th

That's it. The bottom teams are out. The top teams are in. There is nothing intriguing happening in the middle. Teams are just waiting for the playoffs to start.

 

If it were the top 8, you would have Boston, Philly, Detroit, New York x 2, Florida, Tampa, etc. all battling for 3 of the 4 spots.

There is a reason that the NHL and NBA postseasons last forever, and the NFL has a bye week to stretch the season out an extra week, and have so many teams in the postseason, same with baseball,

MONEY, MONEY AND MONEY.

 

I agree that reducing the amount of teams makes it count for something but it will never happen. An extra round in the postseason would be set up if it could be done without looking ridiculous. In fact I would not be surprised if it happens down the road.

  But as for the Wings streak of 24 and counting, (hopefully anyway, lol)

When the original six ran the show 4 made the postseason. Same when the orinal six doubled, 8 made the postseason. 67 percent chance you made it every year,

When the Blues and Bruins ran their wonderful streaks 16 out of 21 teams made the postseason, an absurd 77 percent.

In the Wings era, 16 of 30 or 53 percent chance in a given year your team would make it. Throw in parity and the salary cap the Wings streak is remarkable. With no offense to the Habs or Blues or Bruins, the Wings streak has been accomplished in the era of hockey where making the postseason is harder than ever.

 Yeah, I have been running it through in my head, the day is coming when the postseason will be expanded. Too much money left on the table not to add another round one way or another. I do not believe we need it, but it will happen. Money makes the world go round and drops the puck.....

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

4 hours ago, yave1964 said:

There is a reason that the NHL and NBA postseasons last forever, and the NFL has a bye week to stretch the season out an extra week, and have so many teams in the postseason, same with baseball,

MONEY, MONEY AND MONEY.

 

I agree that reducing the amount of teams makes it count for something but it will never happen. An extra round in the postseason would be set up if it could be done without looking ridiculous. In fact I would not be surprised if it happens down the road.

  But as for the Wings streak of 24 and counting, (hopefully anyway, lol)

When the original six ran the show 4 made the postseason. Same when the orinal six doubled, 8 made the postseason. 67 percent chance you made it every year,

When the Blues and Bruins ran their wonderful streaks 16 out of 21 teams made the postseason, an absurd 77 percent.

In the Wings era, 16 of 30 or 53 percent chance in a given year your team would make it. Throw in parity and the salary cap the Wings streak is remarkable. With no offense to the Habs or Blues or Bruins, the Wings streak has been accomplished in the era of hockey where making the postseason is harder than ever.

 Yeah, I have been running it through in my head, the day is coming when the postseason will be expanded. Too much money left on the table not to add another round one way or another. I do not believe we need it, but it will happen. Money makes the world go round and drops the puck.....

 

 

I agree that the NHL's motivations behind it are solely driven by money, but I think a breaking point will be reached where the league begins to make less money with each additional game they add to their schedule and with each additional playoff round they add. I think fans will finally walk away/turn it off, spend far less $$ per game, or will simply lose focus. 

 

Once you reach the saturation point, you can't give tickets away to the games, and there won't be any additional revenue coming from the TV networks either. There simply won't be any demand. Adding playoff rounds completely devalues the regular season games and it completely devalues the playoff games. I think the NHL is there already. 

 

If you look at the NHL playoffs (as currently structured), round 1 draws interest (because it's the opening of the playoffs). Viewership numbers drop off a cliff in round 2, and by the time you get to the Stanley Cup finals, nobody cares any more. Having 2+ months of playoffs is akin to having an Olympic games that drags on for two months. The opening ceremony is cool, and people tune in to watch the first few events, but if the Olympics went on for two months instead of two weeks, people would tune out and wouldn't even know or care that it was still going. 

 

[SpikeDDS]

Hey guys, I've got a great idea for improving the playoffs. How about ALL 30 teams make the playoffs, and we bring up the AHL champs and runners-up and have a 32-team playoff?

 

You never know. Toronto or Buffalo could get hot and win a Cup!

 

Love,

 

Gary Bettman

[BluPuk]

7 hours ago, SpikeDDS said:

Hey guys, I've got a great idea for improving the playoffs. How about ALL 30 teams make the playoffs, and we bring up the AHL champs and runners-up and have a 32-team playoff?

 

You never know. Toronto or Buffalo could get hot and win a Cup!

 

Love,

 

Gary Bettman

 

Mwahahahahahaha!!!!! I love it! Can we set it up so everyone gets a participation trophy?? That would warm the cockles of my heart - really.. 

[notfondajane]

On 3/24/2016 at 5:39 AM, yave1964 said:

  I have a daughter named Becky who is 23 years old, she is married with a couple of beautiful babies and purchased a home literally four houses down from mine which makes it easy to see my two best friends in the whole world, her three year son and two year old daughter.

  In my daughters entire life, the Wings have never once failed to make the playoffs. Ever.

  It seems hard to believe that I raised her and went through the teen angst years without killing her and saw her find the love of her life, marry and have kids and buy a home and during that time, the three constants are death ,taxes and the Wings playing in April. Nearly a quarter of a century and going strong.

  My two questions are:

A) How important is it to extend the streak to 25 years

B) What exactly does the streak mean anyway?

 

   Addressing the second question first, what does the streak mean, well to me it means a level of consistency that in the salary cap era is unheard of and may never be seen again. Currently the Penguins are second with a measly nine year streak. In the history of the NHL the streak is now the 4th longest of all time, if the Wings make it this season it will move to third, only four seasons off the all time record of 29 held by the 67 thru 96 Boston Bruins.

  So to me the streak means consistency and adaptability to the ever changing landscape and deserves to be commended.

 

As for the first question, how important is it to extend the streak to 25 years?

 In my opinion, not very. Not very important at all.

  If the Wings extend the streak and make it to the postseason they will likely be out in four or five games against the Capitals, someone will wake up Kenny Holland who will declare the season a huge success and then go and sign another mid thirty something or two to shore up glaring deficiencies such as Brad Richards this year or Daniel Alfredsson a few years back. Tired blood to fix an anemic offense. But if the Wings lose they will be forced to take a good long look in the mirror and take a truthful look at where they are.

1) While they have a nice collection of youngsters who have hit the roster, none are superstars and with the possible exception of Larkin none will be.

2) the older grizzled vets are getting older and for the most part not aging well. Zetterberg looks old and lost at times, Kronwall cannot stay healthy. Both need bumped down to lesser roles.

3) Datsyuk has been near brilliant at times this season when healthy but has only one year left on his deal and has spoken quite frankly about his desire to play in the KHL and it is a very real possibility that after next year he 'retires' and moves on to mother Russia. Holland needs to decide if he wants to break the bank to attempt to keep pavel over here or accept that an aging star would command too much money.

 

  If we continue the streak, all of these issues will be simply pushed aside until next year. If the streak ends we probably will deal with them, or at least begin the process this summer.

  No team has done a better job of tansitioning during the past quarter of a century  than the Wings and none are close. When Yzerman was nearing retirement he began tutoring Pavel. When Draper saw the end he made Helm his personal project and he has done the same with Glendening. Selfishness is not allowed in the Wings locker room and I love the way we have played.

  But in the cap era, first or second round knockouts year after year have gotten old. It is time to shake up the magic eight ball and see what happens.

Nice child! I hope she becomes a Penguin fan! Haha! 

[WingNut722]

@yave1964

 

Maybe it's nothing but does that adorable grandchild normally wear two different socks, or is it a good luck voodoo for Jackets fans?  

[yave1964]

16 minutes ago, WingNut722 said:

@yave1964

 

Maybe it's nothing but does that adorable grandchild normally wear two different socks, or is it a good luck voodoo for Jackets fans?

lol, she wears whatever she wants, she is the boss of her home and pretty much tells us what we are doing when she is here too. Mismatched socks, a Jackets jersey and a tiara, that pretty much sums her up.

[WingNut722]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

lol, she wears whatever she wants, she is the boss of her home and pretty much tells us what we are doing when she is here too. Mismatched socks, a Jackets jersey and a tiara, that pretty much sums her up.

 

 

...and God bless her for it!