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Kronwall feels Detroit got their ‘drive’ to win back again

Chicago Blackhawks v Detroit Red Wings - Game Four

DETROIT, MI - MAY 23: Niklas Kronwall #55 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Joe Louis Arena on May 23, 2013 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit leads the series 3-1. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

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Last season, the Detroit Red Wings looked like a team that might miss the playoffs. Considering they had done that for 21-straight seasons, that was big news.

Instead, they found their stride and made the postseason for an incredible 22nd straight year. As defenseman Niklas Kronwall tells Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, they found their way and don’t plan on losing it again now.

“Last year was a good year for us in that it felt like we had that drive back,” Kronwall said. “I think the years before that, ever since we got into the Finals, for some reason, we didn’t seem to find it. Last year, I thought we really had that drive, and everybody just wanted more and more and more.”

Detroit put things together well enough to upset second-seeded Anaheim in seven games in the first round and pushed eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago to seven games in the Western Conference semifinals.

Kronwall went on to say the addition of Daniel Alfredsson to the team gives them another motivation to play well for an all-time great player who’s dying to win a Stanley Cup. That’s just what teams in the Wings’ new home in the Eastern Conference didn’t want to hear.

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