Follow Michael Whitaker On X
The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
Advertisement
Here’s a little something for Washington Capitals’ coach Ron Wilson to pin on his team’s bulletin board: The Capitals will not win the Stanley Cup. In fact, they’ll be lucky to win a game against the Detroit Red Wings in this year’s final.
There, we said it and Wilson, the master motivator and one of the most colorful characters in the game today, will eat it up.
Fine, if we could put Wayne Gretizky’s Los Angeles Kings into the 1993 Cup final-something about Gretzky skating like he had “a piano on his back”-we have no problem providing some added inspiration for the Caps in their first-ever Cup final appearance.
Advertisement
Besides, the Capitals need all the help they can get to compete against a team as talented and driven as Scotty Bowman’s Red Wings.
The only thing that stands in the way of this being an utter mismatch is Washington netminder Olie Kol-zig, who enters the Cup final as the leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Kolzig, not Dominik Hasek, had been the NHL’s best playoff netminder this spring. Kolzig was consistent, something Hasek wasn’t, and brilliant, too. He had a goals-against average of 1.69 and save percentage of .946, both league leaders.
Heading into the final, the Caps had a 12-5 playoff record. They were outshot in 14 of those 17 games and often by a wide margin.
Advertisement
But it’s one thing to play sloppy hockey against the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres and have your goaltender bail you out. It is quite another, however, to do it against the Wings, who may not be as thoroughly dominant as they were a year ago, but are still a force with which to be reckoned.
The key to Red Wing success is depth and balance. Players such as Brendan Shanahan and Sergei Fedorov can misfire for a whole series, but Detroit’s depth was still good enough to beat the Dallas Stars, the NHL’s regular season titlist, in six games.
The Wings have four lines that can check and score: Steve Yzerman between Brent Gilchrist and Darren McCarty; Igor Larionov between Shanahan and Martin Lapointe; Fedorov between Tomas Holmstrom and Slava Kozlov; and the grind line of Kris Draper between Kirk Maltby and Joey Kocur, with Doug Brown ready to step into any role on any line. And Bowman mixes and matches his lines better than anyone in the game.
On the blueline, the almost error free pair of Nicklas Lidström and Larry Murphy lead the way. The Wings rely a little too much on the thirtysomething pair of Bob Rouse and Jamie Macoun, but if they could get the job done against the physically punishing Stars, they’ll get it done against the Capitals. Rookie Anders Eriksson and aged veteran Slava Fetisov comprise the third set with Dmitri Mironov and Aaron Ward providing the depth.
Advertisement
Certainly, after giving up longshot goals in Game 3 against the Phoenix Coyotes (Jeremy Roenick), Game 4 against the St. Louis Blues (Al Macln-nis) and Game 5 against Dallas (Jamie Langenbrunner), Wings’ netminder Chris Osgood has something to prove. But he has shown tremendous resilience in these playoffs. While Washington has an edge over Detroit in goal, it’s not as wide as Osgood’s detractors would have you believe.
Entering the final, Osgood rated at the Wings’ No. 2 candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy. The leading contender was captain Yzerman, for his complete game approach. Lid-ström, and to a lesser degree, Fedorov also rate some consideration, pending how they perform in the final.
No one should suggest the Caps aren’t full value for their first appearance in the final. If the Wings don’t show them respect, the Caps can jump up and bite them, especially if Kolzig remains true to form.
Wilson has two good offensive lines: Andrei Nikolishin between Peter Bondra and rookie star-in-waiting Richard Zednik; and savvy veteran Adam Oates between the recycled, but useful Brian Bellows and scoring hero Joey Juneau. And he got good mileage from a grinding line of Dale Hunter between Craig Berube and Chris Simon and a utility unit of Esa Tikkanen between Kelly Miller and Mike Eagles, with Michal Pivonka (bruised shoulder) and Todd Krygier (sprained knee) possibly available.
Advertisement
That fourth line for the Caps may find itself mismatched against any one of the Detroit lines.
The Hockey News’ scouting report (see opposite page) suggests the Detroit forwards have a significant edge in two categories-speed and competitiveness.
It’s true the Washington defense corps is, generally speaking, more mobile than Detroit’s, but what those numbers don’t reveal is how much the Caps rely on so few.
Mark Tinordi and Calle Johansson, the top pair, play a ton, as do stay-at-home Joe Reekie and offensive threat Sergei Gonchar, who often sees more than 30 minutes. The tandem of Brendan Witt and Phil Housley doesn’t play a lot, only 10 to 12 minutes some games. If it does play more against Detroit, the Wings will take advantage.
Advertisement
The flip side, though, is that it’s difficult to shut down Detroit using primarily four defensemen.
The Wings aren’t a particularly punishing team, but the pressure they exert with speed and puck control should break down a Washington defense that hasn’t been tested to this degree.
Another Capital weakness is their play along the boards. They got away with some sloppy efforts against Boston, Ottawa and Buffalo, three teams that simply don’t play with the same tenacity and consistency as the Wings. Enter THN’s Scouting Report and the Wings’ decided edge in spirit (competitiveness).
According to other NHL teams’ playoff scouting reports, the Caps will often leave their No. 1 power play unit, headed by Oates, on for 90 seconds. The Wings’ speedy and aggressive penalty killers could also take advantage of that.
Advertisement
But breaking down a series on paper is always easier than doing it on the ice. There is the Kolzig factor for the Wings to consider and the fact that the Caps are prohibitive underdogs will create a nothing-to-lose mindset that should permit Washington to play a relaxed, pressure-free game.
That said, it’s clear the Wings have better personnel than the Capitals. The Caps have good experience but so, too, do the Wings.
In each of the past three Cup finals, we’ve been shocked by four-game sweeps by the New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche and Detroit, respectively. If it happens this year, there’ll be no surprise.
THN’s pre-playoff Stanley Cup pick was Detroit. We see no reason to change it.
Advertisement
Bookmark The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings team site to stay connected to the latest news, game-day coverage, and player features.
Image
The
Never miss a story by adding us to your Google News favorites!
Image
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
Read the full article here