Takin' a T/O With BT: The Detroit Red Wings and the Championship Mindset

"To be the man, you've gotta beat the man"—Ric Flair

"You aren't the best until you beat the best"—Various

If you're the best, you know it. And so does everyone else.

Teams can surprise throughout a regular season, turn a few heads in the playoffs, and win an unlikely championship, but after that the game of "Cloak and Dagger" is done.

You can't hide because everyone knows where you live, where you work, and have watched enough tape, film, or whatever you want to call it to know how you got to the level you're at.

Welcome to the life of a defending championship.

Welcome to the life of the defending champion Detroit Red Wings.

No one was surprised that this team made the playoffs this year. In fact, the bigger story would've been if they hadn't made the playoffs because the Wings have been there for so long, with the last year they missed being 1989-90.

People were surprised though, at how the Wings entered the playoffs.

The true definition of sheepish is a person showing embarrassment from a lack of shame, or a lack of confidence. The way the Wings finished out the season was certainly sheepish by their standards.

The Red Wings won just two of their last six games, and just three of their last ten.

The list of teams the Red Wings lost to: the Calgary Flames, New York Islanders, Nashville Predators (2), St. Louis Blues, and the Chicago Blackhawks (2). Two of those teams missed the playoffs and with the way the Canucks just handled the St. Louis Blues you would've expected a better result for Detroit than a 5-4 loss to the Blues.

The list of the teams that Detroit beat is equally confounding: the Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, and Buffalo Sabres—three non-playoff teams.

So as the Red Wings approached the playoffs with a sub-par showing, a questionable record, and many predicting their doom against the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, many thought Detroit would have a little bit of trouble with Columbus in the first round.

What confounded things was their goaltending situation. For so much of the year, Ty Conklin had played head-and-shoulders above Chris Osgood between the pipes for Detroit.

Approaching Game One, the Wings had questions. Conklin had allowed five goals twice in his last five games of the season and had only won once in those five games. Osgood was coming off of a season where he posted his worst save percentage (.887) and goals-against average (3.09) since a nine-game stint with St Louis in 2002-03.

Who was going to start?

The Wings had dubbed Osgood their starter heading into the second season, so it was the public asking that question, and arguing with the team's answer.

But while many predicted a changing of the guard between Osgood and Conks (much like Osgood replacing Dominik Hasek last playoffs), the Wings didn't say a thing, holding their faith in Osgood.

In predicting the downfall of the Red Wings because of their goaltending and stumbling ending, those who did so missed something.

The championship mentality.

I'll admit, that I sold the Wings short in my Western Conference preview; I said they'd win the series, but that they'd have trouble. The truth is, the realization I came to after writing that was that the Red Wings had something no one else had: the attitude of a champion.

A lot of people were talking about the upstart Bruins.

Tell me something: When was the last time Boston won a championship?

The second-most popular team seemed to be the President's Trophy San Jose Sharks—a team that can get past the first round, but seems to stumble in the second.

What about the Wings?

Well, how about coming out angry? How about coming out and exerting some dominance over the Columbus Blue Jackets? What about Chris Osgood showing the world he still had it? What about saying, "You know what, pick your favorites, but you still have to go through us."

Unfortunately for the Columbus Blue Jackets, it seems they were the sacrificial lamb in this case.

The rest of the NHL could only be so lucky as to avoid a jilted, slighted, and motivated Red Wings team.

Bryan Thiel is a Senior Writer and an NHL Community Leader for Bleacher Report, and a writer for HockeyBarn.com. If you want to get in contact with Bryan you can do so through his profile or email him at [e-mail]. You can also check out all of his previous work in his archives.