Stanley Cup-starved fans in Hockeytown, USA–Detroit–had to wait 42 years between titles, the drought ending last June.
They won’t have to wait that long for another Cup, but it’s going to be more than a year.
Sure, a repeat is possible. But with Brendan Shanahan, Doug Brown and Kris Draper ailing and Chris Osgood’s playoff experience a question mark, the Red Wings are going to be hard pressed to pull off the magic of a year ago. They need only ask Colorado or New Jersey or the New York Rangers or Montreal how tough it can be to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were the last team to do it in 1991 and 1992. Before that, you have to go back to the 1987 and ’88 Edmonton Oilers to find a repeat champion. In the age of free agency, repeating is a monumental task.
In the second round of the playoffs, Detroit is likely to run into Colorado. Think the Avs will want revenge for getting eliminated by the Wings in the Western Conference finals last year? Yep. And that’s only the second round. Will Detroit have enough in its tank to get to the Finals again?
It says here no. In fact, St. Louis, the highest scoring team in the NHL, could be the dark horse in the West. Colorado is healthy again and should be tough to beat, and Dallas had the best record in the NHL this season.
In the Eastern Conference, New Jersey’s defense appears unbeatable, having allowed only 166 goals. Philadelphia never solved its goaltending problems from last year, and that could keep the Cup runner-up from even reaching the Finals this year. And what if goaltender Dominik Hasek gets in a zone? He led the Czech Republic to an unlikely gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Can he get Buffalo a Stanley Cup?
The race begins Wednesday. By the middle of June, Blackhawks fans may have forgotten their boys weren’t even in the playoffs this year for the first time in 29 years.
