Wings on fire, could repeat

Following their sweep of Columbus, or Detroit Red Wings had to fight a much scarier seven-game duel against the Ducks. It was close, but the Wings won on Dan Cleary's late goal in game seven.


The way things are looking, the Wings ought to repeat. Why? There are four main reasons:


1. The Mule


You have to hand it to him. The man's on fire. Leading the way with nine goals and nine assists for a total of 19 points, Johan Franzen has been unstoppable throughout the postseason. Just like last year. There's something about the playoffs that just energizes him. Maybe it's the motivation. Maybe he's a clutch guy.



Whatever the case, Franzen has been red hot. This further proves that the Wings are undoubtedly the deepest team in the NHL.

2. Drapes is back

Kris Draper's face-off dominance and solid defensive play has made him one of the Red Wings most important players. Now that he is finally back from his "upper body" injury, the Wings should be even better at preventing goals. Do not underestimate Draper. He is such a crucial player to this squad.

With Draper back, the goals against ought to be very, very low.

3. Chris Osgood

Defying all naysayers, the Red Wings' netminder has been arguably the most solid goalie throughout the playoffs. He's made the stops when he needed to.

Ozzie had quite a rough regular season, but showed a lot of improvement in March and April after being given a ten day rest.

Should Osgood lead the Wings to a Stanley Cup title for the third time in his career, it is likely that the Wings will retire his jersey.

4. They're the Red Wings

Two years ago, this would have been a reason NOT to believe that they will win, but now it's different. The Wings are solid from top to bottom, and have way more playoff experience than the other three remaining teams.

I'm not guaranteeing a 12th Stanley Cup, but I do think it's likely.