Detroit Red Wings

Let me begin by saying that, honestly, any talk about a historic mid-series sweep is silly, if not down-right delusional.

There is a reason this has happened only twice in NHL history and has not happened once in the past three decades.

Like a blackjack dealer playing a six-deck chute, a team with a 3-0 lead has the odds overwhelmingly stacked in their favor to the extent that beating them becomes something just shy of a statistical impossibility.

You may step up to the table and think you can win, but really, you lost the second you put your chips on the felt.

The Detroit Red Wings find themselves in unfamiliar place.

Down 3-1 going into Game Five of the Western Conference Semi Finals.

The series standings shows that one team has dominated the other. That's not the case.

Detroit lost three straight 4-3 decisions. The only game that can be looked at as a "what the %$@! just happened," was Game Three as Detroit went down in OT on a poorly defended 2-on-1, after a late goal on Jimmy in the third period that squeaked between the pads of Jimmy. Something he should of had.

After falling behind in the series 3-0, the Detroit Red Wings showed that it was still alive for now after Game 4

Johan Franzen led the Wings with four goals and two assists as they routed the San Jose Sharks 7-1, setting two franchise records: playing the greatest play-off outing in franchise history and passing the team playoff record of five points that had been tied by Wing legends Steve Yzerman and Norm Ullman

Along with the two records Franzen set he also tied with nine other players for third most amount of points in NHL History with six.

"I'm not dead!"

"Here; he says he's not dead!"

- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

For one night, a team and a city forgot about a 3-0 deficit.

For one night, they forgot about the disaster that pushed them to the brink of elimination.

For one night, the Detroit Red Wings guaranteed there would be...one more night.

Could San Jose have come out a bit sluggish, assuming that their opponent would surrender to the inevitable? 

Possibly.

The NHL does have a sense of humor, after all.

A cruel one, perhaps, but a sense of humor just the same.

OK, so who’s the prankster who has left the San Jose Sharks, the greatest playoff chokers of the 21st Century, with this 3-0 lead over the mighty Detroit Red Wings?

Surely this must be the work of one of those cut ups who slices the laces off your skates or puts Ex-Lax in your chocolate bar.

For an athlete, there are few things worse than losing.

Not getting a chance to compete at all, that's one.

Realizing you and you alone cost your team the game, that's another one.

But, the worst thing for an athlete, beyond losing, is realizing you and your team beat yourselves by being unprepared, unfocused, and uninspired.

With an insurmountable 0-3 deficit in front of them (that's right, it is insurmountable) courtesy of the San Jose Sharks, the Red Wings will take no comfort in the fact that they largely have themselves to blame for their fate.

What's the excuse this time?

It can't be fatigue. The travel hasn't stopped the Red Wings from championship caliber hockey in the past. It wasn't an excuse then, it's not an excuse now.

It can't be bad officiating. The only bad call was possibly the interference on Holmstrom, and even that one wasn't that bad. 

And I'm sure a Sharks fan will tell you that the Wings were absolutely gifted a penalty shot that probably shouldn't have happened.

As much as Detroit fans hate to hear this, the bad calls have been pretty equal on both sides.

For those of you in the know, you understand how significant whipping out these silly "Crystal Ball" predictions have been for the Red Wings.

For those of you who wonder what the hell I'm doing, let's review.

Detailed, numbers driven, historically grounded game predictions are still just predictions.

No matter how sophisticated the breakdown, any prediction is still, at its core, a wild-ass guess.

Which is the biggest game of any playoff series?

Answer: the next one.

The playoffs are like that old kids’ game, Kaboom. With each game the balloon gets pumped more and more with air—until you can only look at it with one eye opened, one eye closed and with a wince, wondering when it’s going to go KABOOM!

It’s game three tonight for the Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks, who lead two games to none. Cue the cliches of foreboding.

No one thought that going back to Detroit for Game Three in this series, the Red Wings would be facing a "must win" situation.

Well, after losses in San Jose on Thursday in Game One and Sunday in Game Two, that's the exact situation Detroit finds themselves in.

Detroit finds themselves in this situation not because of inconsistent play, but because of defensive let downs and officiating.