BY: Pierre LeBrun

Surely, the Cinderella Coyotes deserved better than this. Surely, there must be a better prize for proving the hockey world wrong en route to the NHL's most surprising season than drawing the hottest team on the planet in the first round.

But that's just what Phoenix did get in Detroit, by far the worst possible matchup for the hard-working Coyotes. The two teams split the season series 2-2-0, but haven't played since late January. In other words, the Coyotes haven't faced the terrorizing, post-Olympic Red Wings yet.

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