The Detroit Red Wings play the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks tonight at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, 7pm EST, in Game 7 of their Western Conference Semi-final series. An astute reader commented that in my previous post on Wings’ Game 7’s of the modern era, I cut off the retrospective piece at 1994-1995, which was the season that followed consecutive Game 7 losses to Toronto (1993) and San Jose (1994). This is a necessary reminder that Game 7’s can have TWO outcomes, one which turns you into a grinning idiot for roughly 72 hours, but also a second which has serious side effects that can last for days to weeks: irritability, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite, and general malaise. Wings fans are indeed experienced with both scenarios as the aforementioned reader pointed out.
With this in mind, I am steering clear of all trash cans and garbage receptacles until after the game tonight. This may seem bizarre to some, but there is a method behind my madness. You see, Mike Foligno, with his twisted nose that makes Owen Wilson’s look delicate in comparison, has become the poster child for Wings playoff failures of the past. There have been plenty, as is inevitable for any franchise: Surprising first round exits at the hands of L.A. (2001), Anaheim (2003), and Edmonton (2006), and series losses to arch-nemesis Colorado in 1996, 1999, and 2000. But the most painful may have been the devastating 7 game loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last season of the former Campbell Conference in 1992-1993. The Wings led the series 2-0 before dropping games 3 and 4. Nonetheless, the pivotal game 5 was in hand, as the Wings stormed to a 4-1 lead. Alas, they blew the lead and the game went into overtime, and two minutes into the extra period, the former #3 overall draft pick (1979) of the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Foligno, scored for Toronto to give them a 3-2 series lead. Detroit would win game 6, but lose game 7 to be eliminated from the playoffs. Many Detroiters felt at the time that that was the year the Wings would break their Cup drought and win it all. And ever since that game 5, I have seen Foligno’s horrendous trash can helmet in my nightmares, and I have associated all playoff disappointments with his ugly mug:
So Wings fans, please join me today in avoiding all garbage cans as a show of unity heading into tonight’s game. Allow garbage to collect on your desks, on your kitchen counters, and in your cars. You can dispose of everything tomorrow, along with the haunting memories of playoff failures past.
Go Wings!!
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