Piggybacking off the 'How did the Canucks lose in 2011' thread, I want to dive into the only other time in recent times a team blew a 2-0 SCF lead.
For what it's also worth, until Pittsburgh last year and Carolina back in the day, those bookend Stanley Cups were the only other East triumphs since the 2004-05 lockout besides these blown 2-0 leads.
Those 2009 Red Wings might not have been as dominant as the 2011 Canucks in the RS (Also #1 in goals scored, but nowhere close in goals against) despite at times looking so absurdly good.
It was the last of their 8 straight Central Division titles (They have only had a first place finish once since then)
But unlike Vancouver, they didn't have postseason baggage- not only were they defending Stanley Cup champions (which to me made their SCF loss more surprising since they clearly knew how to win), but they had Marian freaking Hossa.
They breezed through playoff neophyte Columbus in round 1 (who really drew the short straw compared to VAN/SJ), had an absolute seven-game war in round two with Anaheim, and the five game West Finals was a lot closer than 4-1 (Three overtimes, only game 4 was a real example of the Red Wings taking the young Hawks to school).
Like the 2011 Canucks, the Wings won games 1-2-5 at home, but lost on the road and then game 7 at home.
At the time, this was the first time ANY team in the major sports had lost a home game 7 in the championship finals since the 1979 World Series. And the first SCF Game 7 home loss (and blown 2-0 series lead) since 1971.
Now, compared with 2011, there were obvious differences in this blown SCF:
This didn't have a blatantly obvious turning point ala the Rome/Horton hit.
It didn't have an utterly standout negative moment ala Marchand/Sedin.
To steal a line from Big Phil, the Red Wings from what I can recall didn't seem to be playing scared in those losses ala Vancouver.
It wasn't as nasty a series as that one was. No biting here.
And the Red Wings weren't exactly unpopular with the hockey media as those Canucks were.
And in a role reversal of 2011, while VAN squeaked out wins and lost ugly, Detroit's wins looked VERY impressive while the losses in Pittsburgh were certainly not 8-1 type Boston thrashings (4-2, 4-2, 2-1).
And this Game 7 was tighter than the one a few years later.
But at the end of the day, Detroit- like Vancouver- blew the series despite having 2-0 and 3-2 series leads.
And looking back recently, this was the first blow to the Red Wings after a run of close to immortality in hockey for like 15 years.
I feel Detroit has never been the same since. It was the beginning of the end IMHO for one of the greatest runs by a team since the Oilers/Islanders.
Part of me also wonders how things might have changed if DET won that series.
For instance:
1. I don't think it's a guarantee Hossa goes to Chicago if he won here. And that could have been HUGE considering Hossa's royal on the Hawks teams of this decade. Maybe Hossa reverts/slows down Detroit's decline in the years that followed.
2. How differently might we have looked at Crosby if he had lost consecutive SCF? And what if 2016 instead of Cup #2 for Sid was not only his first, but the Pens' first Cup since 1992 and that Conn Smythe Trophy (regardless of how you feel about it) was his first real crowning achievment instead of adding another layer to his legacy that he began with that first Cup?
That first Cup in 2009 did a lot for Sid, but what if he didn't win that Cup and he was potentially Cupless prior to last year?
For what it's also worth, until Pittsburgh last year and Carolina back in the day, those bookend Stanley Cups were the only other East triumphs since the 2004-05 lockout besides these blown 2-0 leads.
Those 2009 Red Wings might not have been as dominant as the 2011 Canucks in the RS (Also #1 in goals scored, but nowhere close in goals against) despite at times looking so absurdly good.
It was the last of their 8 straight Central Division titles (They have only had a first place finish once since then)
But unlike Vancouver, they didn't have postseason baggage- not only were they defending Stanley Cup champions (which to me made their SCF loss more surprising since they clearly knew how to win), but they had Marian freaking Hossa.
They breezed through playoff neophyte Columbus in round 1 (who really drew the short straw compared to VAN/SJ), had an absolute seven-game war in round two with Anaheim, and the five game West Finals was a lot closer than 4-1 (Three overtimes, only game 4 was a real example of the Red Wings taking the young Hawks to school).
Like the 2011 Canucks, the Wings won games 1-2-5 at home, but lost on the road and then game 7 at home.
At the time, this was the first time ANY team in the major sports had lost a home game 7 in the championship finals since the 1979 World Series. And the first SCF Game 7 home loss (and blown 2-0 series lead) since 1971.
Now, compared with 2011, there were obvious differences in this blown SCF:
This didn't have a blatantly obvious turning point ala the Rome/Horton hit.
It didn't have an utterly standout negative moment ala Marchand/Sedin.
To steal a line from Big Phil, the Red Wings from what I can recall didn't seem to be playing scared in those losses ala Vancouver.
It wasn't as nasty a series as that one was. No biting here.
And the Red Wings weren't exactly unpopular with the hockey media as those Canucks were.
And in a role reversal of 2011, while VAN squeaked out wins and lost ugly, Detroit's wins looked VERY impressive while the losses in Pittsburgh were certainly not 8-1 type Boston thrashings (4-2, 4-2, 2-1).
And this Game 7 was tighter than the one a few years later.
But at the end of the day, Detroit- like Vancouver- blew the series despite having 2-0 and 3-2 series leads.
And looking back recently, this was the first blow to the Red Wings after a run of close to immortality in hockey for like 15 years.
I feel Detroit has never been the same since. It was the beginning of the end IMHO for one of the greatest runs by a team since the Oilers/Islanders.
Part of me also wonders how things might have changed if DET won that series.
For instance:
1. I don't think it's a guarantee Hossa goes to Chicago if he won here. And that could have been HUGE considering Hossa's royal on the Hawks teams of this decade. Maybe Hossa reverts/slows down Detroit's decline in the years that followed.
2. How differently might we have looked at Crosby if he had lost consecutive SCF? And what if 2016 instead of Cup #2 for Sid was not only his first, but the Pens' first Cup since 1992 and that Conn Smythe Trophy (regardless of how you feel about it) was his first real crowning achievment instead of adding another layer to his legacy that he began with that first Cup?
That first Cup in 2009 did a lot for Sid, but what if he didn't win that Cup and he was potentially Cupless prior to last year?
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Have you seen a playoffs since then that was so strict about "obstruction" and face-offs?
