Red Wings-Coyotes Game 1 set-up: team vengeance vs. team overcoming adversity and/or Howie

The Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes face off for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series tonight (7 PM EDT, FSD/FS Arizona/Versus/CBC/WXYT) in what I can only politely describe as a downright ?weird? set of diametrically opposed positions.

As soon as the Red Wings started taking their equipment off after Sunday?s regular season finale against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Wings began to repeatedly state that they respect the heck out of the Coyotes, that they simply won?t take a team that the Wings? players would argue doesn?t get enough respect lightly in any way, shape, or form, and the Wings have insisted that they?re well aware of the fact that the Coyotes are out for revenge, all while quietly suggesting that the mistakes made and glaring weaknesses exposed in their seven-game series against Phoenix a year ago were exploited by the Sharks in the second round, and that the Wings simply cannot expect to play the same way against Phoenix that they did last year if they plan on earning a hard-fought series win.

Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/tmr/comments/red_wings-coyotes_game_1/

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