NHL Playoff Blog

Final Analysis

June 5th, 2008 by Jason Chen

The AL MVP was won by Justin Morneau, from BC. The NBA MVP was won by Steve Nash, also from BC. And the Conn Smythe was won by Henrik Zetterberg, from… Sweden!?!

In an era where the four major sports have become more open to foreigners, the knock against them has always been that they don’t know what it takes to win. Their skill games were too often beaten by the brawn in North America, and as such labeled as “soft.” The Detroit Red Wings completely flipped that theory upside down.

Ever since the Stanley Cup was made the official “big one” in the NHL some 82 years ago, no European-born captain has ever lifted the Cup. For reference’s sake, Nicklas Lidstrom is from Vasteras, Sweden, a city of roughly 110 000 inhabitants. In fact, most of their key players, are from overseas - Henrik Zetterberg is from Njurunda, Sweden; Johan Franzen from Vetlanda, Sweden; Tomas Holmstrom from Pitea, Sweden; Niklas Kronwall from Stockholm, Sweden; and Pavel Datsyuk from Sverdlovsk, Russia. So how did this team manage to win the Cup? In the playoffs it’s not about individual skill - it’s how the game is played as a team.

When the Ducks won the Cup last year, it solidified the assumption that you can’t win the Cup without a Canadian captain, a shutdown checking line, and a tough, aggressive, forward corps. The Sens were labeled as “soft” and Swedish captain Daniel Alfredsson shouldered a lot of the blame. Suddenly, the market for the big, bruising forward was way up, highlighted by Dustin Penner’s offer sheet from Edmonton. The asking price for size and grit shot up. The Wings, however, remained a small team. Neither Datsyuk or Zetterberg stand an inch over 6′, and it may surprise you that Holmstrom only stands, at most, 6′1″. Lidstrom is only listed at 6′2″. The Ducks in comparison, were monstrous. Chris Pronger stands at 6′6″ and Ryan Getzlaf is 6′4″. But every single player on each of those rosters bought into a style of play the coach was trying to teach. For Randy Carlyle, aggressive and intimidation hockey was key; for Mike Babcock, puck possession and efficiency was the winning formula. The Ducks and Wings carved and molded their own identities as hockey clubs, and they never strayed away from that.

Truth be told, there really is no “winning formula,” but the Ducks and Wings showed that if a team stayed true to their goals, values, and identity, the wins will come.

Have a great summer everyone.

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