And then there was one

The USA Midwest was well represented once again in the National Hockey League post season in 2016 as four of five teams qualified for the post season — the Columbus Blue Jackets the lone exception.

However, two of the four are already on the sidelines and one more will join tonight leaving either the St. Louis Blues or Chicago BlackHawks as the lone Midwest rep heading into Division Championship rounds.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets missed the post season for a second straight season, due primarily to dismal run through the first month of the campaign — much like last season. However, this year teams like the Anaheim Ducks and Philadelphia Flyers showed it was possible to overcome a slow start — the Ducks sat in 30th place in the 30-team league at one point in December — but the Blue Jackets never really recovered from a stumble out of the starting gate.

After dropping its first eight games of the season, the Jackets stumbled to the quarter-pole with a record of 7-13-0-0 Nov. 19 and the team began its second half staring up at the pack with a 15-23-3 record Jan. 5. At the time, the Blue Jackets, who fired Head Coach Todd Richards and put John Tortorella behind the bench in late October, lost its first of four straight.

The team won four of its final five games with playoff hopes long since dashed and wrapped up the regular season with a 34-40-8 record.

It will be interesting to see the changes made here in the off season. Tortorella seemed disappointed with the veterans and leaders on the team and it doesn’t seem likely the team would pull the trigger on a coaching change this quickly. So, this is a rare occasion where it seems the  coach is safe and the team may be looking at personnel changes rather than the coach.

The Jackets should get a top 1-5 pick overall which means they could have an NHL-ready prospect on the way. A quick look at the success the Lake Erie Monsters is having in the AHL post season (won eight of its last nine and dispatched Rockford in three straight in the playoffs) indicates there are more young prospects banging on the door.

It wouldn’t be a big surprise for the Jackets to actually get a little younger and give Tortorella a change to mold the young squad into the type of team he wants. Of course, then the pressure would all be on him.

Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings might have b een the opposite of the Blue Jackets as it never appeared in any danger of missing the post season until the final quarter when things went downhill.

As a result, the Wings backed into the post season despite a so-so 5-5 record down the stretch including key losses against both the Bruins and Rangers to end the season. Luckily for the Wings, its 25th straight playoff appearance became a rivalry due to an even more mediocre showing by the Bruins at the end.

The Red Wings didn’t appear playoff ready in those final games and despite a willingness to raise the level of intensity and physicality in the opening round, it was sent the golf course by the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second straight season — this time in just five games.

Rumors of Pavel Datsyuk’s departure not only persisted but became stronger through the final couple of weeks of the season reaching the point that it seems unlikely he has played his last game with a ‘Winged Wheel’ jersey. He is said to be pining for a return home in order to spend more time with a teenage daughter. Hard to argue against that and he has racked up more than enough to retire, although this writer expects him to suit up with a KHL team –likely the closest one to his hometown.

So, that leaves just Henrik Zetterberg who led the team in scoring this season with 50 points (13g, 37a) and he was one of only three to appear in all 82 regular season games and defenseman Niklas Kronwall (66 gp; 3g, 23a — 26 pts) as the last real connection to its Stanley Cup years. Of course, there are some other vets — Brad Richards and Mike Green were added this past season and players like Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist are just entering their prime seasons.

The timing could be right though for a total change in the off season, becoming younger and entering a sort of rebuild stage. Of course it wouldn’t be a total rebuild as the string of playoff seasons seems to give the Wings brass an unwanted responsibility. At least that’s what the fans will tell you.

Zetterberg and Kronwall may still have some seasons left in them, but the Wings are getting younger and younger each year. For the first time in ages, the team might have some salary cap space too if Datsyuk does decide to leave.

Could be an interesting summer in Motown.

Minnesota Wild

Its a bit of a familiar story in the Twin Cities — the Wild appears out of it at Christmas but pours it on after the All Star Game and reaches the post season as one of the hotter teams. This season, the Wild reached the post season but ran head on into the Dallas Stars, the former Twin Cities resident that has put together a solid season.

The Stars were simply too much for the Wild who put up a valiant fight, incluing a four goal outburst in the final period of Game 6 on home ice that included a controversial ‘non-goal’ that could have sent the game to overtime. Who knows what could have happened if the Wild bounced all of the way back from a 4-0 deficit in the final 20 minutes and the sent the game to overtime.

There were some nice sparks in the post season and despite the high score in the finale, the team is solid between the pipes. A solid group of skaters though has crossed the line into the 30’s and the window is starting to close on a team that suddenly might find age as an enemy in the seasons ahead. The Wild advanced to the second round in each of the previous two seasons so this is a little bit of an earlier exit than usual. Again, it will be interesting to see if management decides changes are needed during the off season.

St. Louis Blues 

As this is written, the Blues are hours away from a crucial game seven in its opening round series against the Chicago Blackhawks. Up at one time 3-1 in the series, the Blues have seen two chances to eliminate the defending Cup champs float away.

It’s hard to bet against the experience of the Hawks in a do or die battle like this and this would mark at least the second straight time the Blues have won the division and then made a quick playoff exit. It seems Head Coach Ken Hitchcock will be a casualty if the team is not successful tonight. At least that is what a majority of so called hockey experts are saying. It’s hard to predict what kind of changes a team like the Blues that has found plenty of regular season success, but found it difficult to match that rate in the post season.

Of course, all of that will be moot if the Blues win tonight. That would actually throw wide open the possibilities of which team will claim Lord Stanley’s Grail this season.

Chicago BlackHawks

This team is battle tested and proven successful. Adding a player like Andrew Ladd at the trade deadline is another one of those great moves Stan Bowman is becoming known for.

There are some players not firing on all cylinders currently though and that played a part in the team being immediately pushed against the wall in the 2016 post season. However, to the surprise of nobody, the Hawks are showing its uncanny ability to fight itself out of a corner and tonight, loaded with talent, the Blues and Hawks will engage in the seventh and final round in what has easily been the best series of the opening round.