Detroit Red Wings: Why Not Winning the West Is OK

Of course, as a fan of a team you want them to win every game, especially when they are in a battle for a better playoff seeding. 

The Red Wings had been the NHL leader until a recent rash of injuries saw them hit a three game losing streak, dropping four of their last six games.  Since the skid, Vancouver and St. Louis have both caught the Red Wings and they have fallen to fourth in the playoff seedings.

The NHL playoff system rewards the winners of each division with a top-three seed, with the order of these spots determined by the amount of points accrued by each division winner.  Seeds four through eight then are based on the record of the rest of the teams.  Unfortunately, this system rewards teams from weaker divisions.

The Central currently has four of the five best teams in the conference.  Due to this system, though, two of them will fall below the fourth seed and not have home ice advantage.  Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago all have more points than Dallas.  As the current leader of the Pacific though, Dallas would get the third seed and home ice for the first round.

Now, the top spot is enticing.  Having a potential game seven at home against Vancouver or an Eastern Conference team deep into the playoffs does have its benefits.  But Boston and Pittsburgh have shown in recent years that winning a game seven on the road is possible.

Why the second seed may end up being better comes down to matchups.  As it stands now, St. Louis and Nashville would face off in the first round, with the winner taking on the top-seeded team in the second round.  While every team in the playoffs is dangerous, most would rather see Dallas than St. Louis or Nashville.

Some may argue that St. Louis and Nashville would tire each other out and be weaker entering the second round.  

One only needs to look to last season, when both Vancouver and Boston were pushed to seven games in the first round, to see that teams who play a lot of games can still make it to the finals.  In fact, Boston played seven games in three of their four series en route to their championship.

Of course, there are still a lot of games to play, and the standings will change.  The other unknown is if a sixth, seventh or eighth seed pulls off a first-round upset.  The NHL reseeds after the first round, so if there is an upset, that team gets to play the top-seeded team.

So why the worry about seedings?  With the injuries to Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Ericsson and the losing streak, many have been pressing the panic button.  Combined that with what fans felt were not enough big moves at the trade deadline, and Red Wings fans are beginning to really worry for their team's cup prospects.

While Presidents' Trophies and number-one seeds are good, this team has a much bigger goal in mind.  In order to raise the Stanley Cup, they need to focus on getting their injured players healthy and their current players rested.

They are down to 16 games on the season.  Staying in front of the Central is important, but pushing themselves too hard in order the beat Vancouver or the New York Rangers for the top spot is not needed.   Fans need to relax and think about the long term goals.

PJ Sapienza is a featured columnist for the Detroit Red Wings and a writer of many other sports. You can also follow him on Twitter.

To read his most recent articles see:

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