Henrik Zetterberg

Is it too early to start talking Stanley Cup? If you’re like me or most the Red Wings fans I know—it’s never too early. We talk rivalries in the off season, playoffs during pre-season, and certainly the Cup all year round.

I generally refrain from making such drastic statements as the title of this article, but with the way Detroit is currently playing it's hard not to see them making a deep run in the playoffs.

When I think checking forward, two things come to my mind.

First, is a player who is responsible for shutting down the opponents’ top player. Second is a player who is responsible defensively, knows when to throw the game changing hits, is not afraid to block shots and can create turnovers.

The concept of this year's Red Wings sweeping the Coyotes goes unmeasured when compared to their championship teams of years past.  This is only the first round matchup of the playoffs to end in a sweep. 

The Detroit Red Wings entered these playoffs looking shaky.  At one point in the season, they were right behind Vancouver in the race for the top seed.  They then finished the season by losing 10 of their final 23 games.  That record not only kept them from that top spot, but it also allowed San Jose to overtake them for the second seed.

While two games does not make a series, the Wings have learned several things during the series so far. 

After sweeping the first two games at home, the series will now head to Phoenix on Monday night.  Will they be able to keep up the pace of the first two games?  They have proven to be a strong road team throughout the season—will that continue as they invade Phoenix?

Begin Slideshow

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin this week and each first round matchup looks to provide entertaining hockey.

If that's enough for fans though, it also is the beginning of the league-wide Beard-A-Thon. It’s a tradition in the NHL once the playoffs start to not shave until either your team loses or wins the Cup.

It’s always fun to see which players will grow the biggest and best beards and the ones who can barely grow anything (we're looking at you Alexander Semin).

Yesterday, the Red Wings played their third-to-last game of the season, second-to-last on the road.

The playoffs start April 13 and the Wings have clinched both a playoff spot and the Central Division title.

Their 20th straight and 14th of the last 19th, respectively.

But last night's 3-0 loss was costly.

A quick glance at the numbers ought to tell you a little bit about the superstar hockey player. The superstar player should have numbers that cause eyes to pop, spit-takes to be made.

They all had such numbers.

Bobby Orr, Guy LaFleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman.

At any point in any given season, the stat lines on those players were in the stratosphere, compared to their mere mortal colleagues. They were “you gotta be kidding me” numbers.

The 2010-11 regular season draws closer to it's finish and the favorites to many of the NHL's trophy races have been established.

None of these races is more debated than that for the NHL's Most Valuable Player award, the Hart Trophy.

Earlier in the season, it was a non-debate that Sidney Crosby would easily cruise to his second MVP title. Since Crosby's mid-season concussion, the award has become a race to the final game in determining it's ultimate winner.

Some of the favorites include:

Daniel Sedin

Steven Stamkos

Martin St. Louis

When Detroit makes the playoffs in less than a month, it will mark the 20th consecutive year in which they have reached the playoffs.

That is good for the longest active streak in any professional sport.

Of course, some may argue, that it is easier to get into the playoffs in hockey than say the NFL or the MLB because of the number of teams it allows in to the playoffs.

But the Red Wings have not only been making the playoffs, they have been worse than second in their division over that span.