Great Minds and All That

A couple o' days ago I posted the following:

The Wings were outplayed by a team built in their image... and those Sharks played the Wings' game better than the Wings themselves.

And now comes Rory Boylen, writing in The Hockey News:

Before the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1997, they had won their division six out of the previous nine years, but had whiffed in the playoffs a few times with huge upset losses to the Hawks in ’89 and ’92 and the Sharks in ’94. They were swept in the ’95 Cup final as Presidents’ Trophy winners and ousted by the Avs in the conference final a year later after setting a new NHL record for wins in a season (62). Even after winning the title three times between 1997 and 2002, the Wings were still upset in the first round as the No. 1 seed twice during the next three post-seasons.

[...]


There are more than a few comparisons you can make to the Sharks and Red Wings. The two have been the best regular season teams in the West over the past 10 years and have suffered some heart-breaking post-season losses. And two of the Sharks coaches (head coach Todd McLellan and Woodcroft) were brought to the team from Detroit fresh off a 2008 Cup championship.

“The Red Wings and the Sharks almost mirror each other,” Woodcroft said. “Both teams have an element of skill that’s towards the upper echelon of the league; both teams are based on a foundation of work ethic and structure; both teams play a disciplined brand of hockey, but are heavy on the puck and go to the hard areas. There’s a burning desire to succeed in both organizations.

“When you’re dealing with Detroit you understand the level of experience they have – their star players will bring it every night. They have experience and they know how to win a playoff series.”

Heh.  We're not one to play the "I told ya so" card all that often.  But sometimes ya do what ya gotta do...

I mentioned in comments to my linked post above that I'm gonna be rooting for the Sharks to win it all this year.  They're due and as a long-suffering Wings fan... read that as since 1985 all the way through those 12 loooong dark years prior to 1997... I know from whence I speak.