Did the Detroit Red Wings take a dive in at least one of the two losses to Dallas? My guess is Yes in game 4, I don't believe they necessarily lost game 5 on purpose; however, the coaching staff knew that they could afford it. The Detroit Red Wings organization is not naive when it comes to momentum and blowing it in the playoffs (The Tigers '06 playoff run is still burning in Mike Illitch's brain). When it comes to the NHL playoffs, a team often finds itself on a hot streak. The same goes for other primary professional sports. Look at what happened to the Colorado Rockies last year. The Rockies essentially swept their way through the MLB National League Playoffs, and then were iced over as they waited for the Red Sox to clean up the AL. 4 games later, the Rockies' uprising season was ended by Boston.
On the other hand, the Red Wings found themselves on a 9-game winning streak last Saturday when they matched up against the Dallas Stars. The wings were 1 win away from the Stanley Cup Finals; and I believe they intentionally lost this game. Why go into the finals this hot? You don't want that kind of pressure on Osgood to win 10+ games in a row, and you don't want to wait around for Pittsburgh to finish their series.
Game 1 of the finals is this saturday, we'll see if the NHL can get the viewers they need for a big turnaround. Pittsburgh vs. Detroit, the young vs. the experienced.
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