It has been mentioned, but age was a factor. Also, I thought the 2002 team was one of those sort of "farewell" tours. This was a great team, one with several veterans that hadn't won yet (Robitaille, Hasek, Duchesne) and the last hurrah for Bowman and there was also that pay cut Yzerman and Shanahan took to bring in those other guys. I always thought the Wings of 2002 and the Avs of 2001 were similar teams. Both finished 1st overall in points, both had that sentiment of them winning and both seemed to put all of their eggs in one basket. In both cases I never felt the team with each of them the following year was the same as the one previous. It wasn't just Hasek with the Wings as he was gone. It was Yzerman and his knees and playing in only 16 games. In 2002 he was hurt in the Olympics and I know for sure he was hurt in the 2002 playoffs. But it is almost as if he emptied the tank out for one last Cup, and it showed. Yzerman was never the same player after 2002, he was much different by 2003. Also they had Fedorov sort of leading the team and I don't know if that role ever suited him. He always had Yzerman to lean on, and he didn't this year.
Detroit just wasn't the "it" team in 2003. Ottawa was. Maybe even Vancouver to an extent. And they were ancient. Is it any surprise that a team that emptied the tank in 2002 ran out of gas and wasn't quite the same team the year after? Joseph isn't known as a playoff goalie either, although he normally stole a series in the 1st round, he didn't here.
Lastly, Giguere stole this series. Detroit badly outshot them in every game except the last, in which they still outshot them. The Wings had all of the above problems, but they were still a better team than Anaheim. Age or not, banged up or not, Bowman for..............Dave Lewis or not, this team still should have beaten the Ducks blindfolded. I just think that triple overtime loss in Game 1 sort of set the tone. Reminds me of Tampa in 2019 losing Game 1. It sort of deflated them losing a game they easily should have won. Maybe there was a mental game after that with the Wings.
Lastly, maybe we aren't emphasizing the loss of Bowman enough. The same thing happened to the Habs after 1979. Sure the Habs were still good in 1980, just like the Wings in 2003, but they lost to a team they shouldn't have, just like the 2003 Wings, and Bowman was gone from both of those teams. I don't think the greatest coach in NHL history leaving should be ignored. Even St. Louis never made a Cup final again after Bowman left them. It can't be a coincidence. And I don't think Lewis was head coach material either.