Leaderboard

Ok ppl, listen up....THEY WANTED TO GO TO MINNESOTA! Their families had a big impact on where they would go so I don't believe it would have matter what offer Holland put on the table. The Olsen Twins are gone

Still with this s***? Holland did everything he could. And they've played 2 games.

We kicked the tires, but, ultimately, we didn't feel the price was right.

Widescreen: 1920x1200 | 1920x1080 | 1680x1050 | 1600x900 | 1440x900 | 1366x768 | 1280x800 4:3: 1600x1200 | 1400x1050 | 1280x1024 iPad/iPad2: 1024x1024 iPad3: 2048x2048 iPhone 4/4S: 640x960 iPhone 5: 640x1136 Android: 480x800

Jesus. It's a pretty bad time to be a Wings fan I guess, if we're already bashing Holland for making the wrong 2013, 1st or 2nd overall draft choice. Talk about insanity.

Actually I'd love to see a Miller/Helm/Eaves line.

Today will be a better day. Waiting for the new GDT and pushing the first game of the season behind.

Hossa is so much better than Franzen it's not even funny.

Why Mc? Because the Monster's hurt. But seriously, why Mc? Because: 1. He's out of options this year and the Wings need to see if he's worth hanging on to. 2. Mrazek is waiver exempt next year, and the year after, at least. So, no need to rush him. 3. Mrazek is playing 60-70% of the games in GR, so leave him there to keep playing. If you've going to call someone up just to ride the pine, it might as well be McCollum.

Not really sure how a small, skilled, playmaking forward would have helped us last night. Especially considering how the small, skilled, playmaking forwards we already have (and whom are all better than Nyquist) were nonexistent last night. If Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Flip couldn't handle the Blues, Nyquist sure as hell couldn't.

Ericsson was our best defenseman last night. Get a grip. The kid has gotten better every year Kronwall on the other hand hasnt played a good game in 3 years but he has a big hit every 15 games so he's great

What is Babcock supposed to do if these guys don't want to skate hard? What can he do if they're so absent-minded out there that they can't even get the fundamentals down? What Babs has wanted to do for awhile was dump guys that don't work and bring in guys that will work hard. Holland hasn't helped there at all, which Babock has openly been "pissed off" about for some time. It's not as simple as just having any old parts and then having a coach magically make them work great as a whole. In reality, sometimes you just have the wrong parts. Any great coach will tell you that. If you've got a lot of guys that don't skate hard, then clearly, you have too many wrong parts. Babcock can't make trades, he can't sign guys and he can't release guys. That's Holland's job, and as far as I'm concerned, he's been doing a piss poor job of it since 2009. He hasn't adjusted to the true reality of the cap era, and he's rested on his laurels. It's not worth debating his past success at this point, because it doesn't mean anything if you can't get the job done in the present. He's been dropping the ball again and again since 2009, and one could say that was when the cap era truly started to have an effect on the Wings. Before that, we had a lot of the pieces already in place, had 2 capable Stanley Cup-winning goaltenders playing for practically nothing because they were old, and we were lucky enough to be the first team to figure out a loophole in the cap. And when the cap kicked off originally, we were paying Z what, $2 million a year or something? We got really lucky when it first kicked off, any way you shake it. Now that we have to operate in a similar fashion as the rest of the league, how have things gone? How has Holland responded? Can you really say he's done all he can to ice the best team the last few years? And bear in mind, I'm not even talking about last summer. He went out and tried and got turned down by the top guys for reasons that were reasonably out of his control. But he had multiple years before that where he failed to address issues and failed to begin setting up for a smooth transition into the post-Lidstrom era. They say great players make the players around them better. In Lidstrom's case, I think he was also making the GM look better. It's obviously going to not be as bad as it was last night every night, but if you can't see how many glaring holes and issues there are in this team, you're not watching hockey. This teams looked shaky the last few years, but Lidstrom really was a player that was great enough alone to be a sort of glue that held the ship together. But he's gone now, and this ship is a mess, and Holland's running out of time to prove he can run a team in the cap era.

THIS. I hate how "safe" our players' jobs seem. You have to perform and earn that right. This isn't a place where vets go to retire comfortably.

There's a phrase, "To whom much is given, much is expected." Red Wings' players are given a lot. An awful lot. They're treated very well by ownership and management, rewarded with contracts that some of us fans say are for too long or for too much money, especially when a player is past his prime. The players that fit into the team's structure are kept here for a long time, usually only leaving when they choose to retire or to move on. They're largely sheltered from the public, they don't have to do all the appearances that players in less-traditional hockey markets have to do. And they're (for the most part) adored by the team's fans. What's expected in return is that they give 100%, play well, win more often than not, and do well in the playoffs. Last night's game was a total failure in every way possible. There was no effort, no emotion, no pride, no appearance of any desire to even be there playing NHL hockey. I don't think that's what we will see all season, far from it. But that was no way to start the season, especially after what transpired this summer and fall. Can you imagine if that was a home game? The stands would have (or should have) been completely empty by the third period. It was unacceptable by anyone's standards and especially for a team that says they expect to compete for the Stanley Cup every season. A couple of you have said the team is due for an overhaul. I couldn't agree more. The locker room seems to have become a country club over the last few seasons, there is no price to be paid for under-performing. Nobody gets traded away, nobody gets let go, nobody gets benched. Helm's line was the team's best line in way too many games last year. Other guys continually disappear for long stretches but continue to play here. Players who don't "fit the system" aren't looked at as possible acquisitions. Now, what we have is a collection of redundant players and a team that can't adapt to an opponent who outworks the Wings or who can shut down their puck-possession style. They couldn't dump and chase if their lives depended on it. An aggressive forecheck is out of the question, 3 or 4 players excepted. And there's no real hope coming up through the ranks. Yes, Nyquist, Tatar, Andersson, and Sheahan are all NHL-ready or very close, but what are those guys going to do when they get here? 3rd line, maybe fill in on the 2nd line? We don't have anyone like Tarasenko, Skinner, Henrique, Andrew Shaw... someone who can quickly step in and produce at an NHL level. Andersson and Sheahan project as 3rd liners and Nyquist and Tatar have talent but are small. Same as the roster we have now. It's time for an organizational shift, this season or this off-season.

I miss the lockout.

Didn't answer? Heck, we didn't even know what the question was. I'm not saying the sky is falling, but it is a bit foggy out.

http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/its-an-new-day-tomorrow Or a fan.

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="joesuffP" data-cid="2342835" data-time="1358734935"><p> Blues aggressive style could have been beaten if wings knew how to pass the puck</p></blockquote> This team doesn't have enough skill to overcome it anymore.

Aside from Dats and Z, who aren't going anywhere, we have no guys who are worth anything alone. Flip and Franzen are the only guys we have that we can live without that will be of any interest to teams that might deal top-end talent, and they both come with significant caveats. Flip's a very valuable trade asset generally, but not in the final year of his contract, hence why I was suggesting moving him the last couple years especially considering our depth at center and the impending retirement of Lidstrom. Franzen alone won't be worth as much as he would've a couple years ago either, so again, only thing that might work, and it's still a stretch at this point, is a package with Franzen and Flip and a maybe a prospect and draft pick. The idea of Cleary having any value is absurd. He might find a way to get it going down the stretch, but even if a team would trade for him, it's not going to net us much in return. Bottom line, we need major help on D. We need a top-pairing guy who can come in and stabilize the defense and play a lot of minutes. No way that comes in without Franzen and Flip going out, and they won't go alone. We don't have much to work with at this point and we're up against a wall, desperate. The asking price will be high, but Holland doesn't have many choices. Franzen's been floating and inconsistent and it makes sense to just cut the experiment off if we can add a solid defenseman. Flip, as said, is in the final year of his contract, and there's no guarantee that we'll sign him anyways. Sure, we "want" to keep him, but if he expects a big raise and our defense hasn't improved, I have to wonder if we'll even be able to afford him under the new cap. It's early enough in this weird season that Flip might have more value to a team looking to add a strong, experienced 2-way guy especially if they think they can sign him this summer. And worst case scenario, I think Flip gets dealt at the deadline even if no other moves are made. If nothing gets done before, I don't think this team has a prayer of landing in the playoffs, so dealing Flip for even mid to low draft picks is a better scenario for the team than holding on to him until July 1 just for the sake of holding on to him. They can still try and sign him this summer if they really want to, after all. But any way you shake it, we're between a rock and a hard place. We need to shake the team up, but we have no leverage and very few worthwhile assets. Add to that the likelihood of a dry free-agent season and we could be in serious trouble for some time. We haven't been a destination spot for a few years now, and it's only going to get worse the way things are going. That's why I really think Holland has to do all he can to make a big move to improve the D. He's got to send a message to this team and the rest of the league that he still wants to win. These current Wings players (sans Dats and Z) could really use a reminder that they're expendable; maybe it'll finally get their feet moving and they'll magically start "hearing Babcock's message."

Sorry, but you're dealing in fantasy and not reality. Do you really think that Ken Holland wouldn't pull the trigger if the Ducks offered Bobby Ryan straight up for Filppula? In addition, where's it written that Corey Perry will only play where Bobby Ryan does? FWIW, they aren't clamoring for more Swedes in Vancouver. Just the opposite. We've won Cups with our Swedes, and they haven't and their fans think they need more Canadians, just like the Wings fans do. If Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan are such great talent, why aren't they playing on a team in desperate need of scoring and defense? I'm not saying that some changes wouldn't be a good thing, but the price you pay for being good for so long is that you don't get quality draft picks. They don't have the picks and the young talent to make trades like other teams do. They've been good for so long because they were way ahead of the game in Russia and Sweden scouting players. Other teams have caught up in that regard so the Wings aren't getting what they used to. Teams just don't stay good for a quarter of a century like the Wings have. It's going to end eventually and hopefully the Wings can avoid a prolonged plummet and can at least remain somewhat entertaining.

I don't understand why Babcock is only choosing to play Smith for 15 minutes... he is clearly better than anyone not named Kronwall. Kronnrs should be at 26-27 minutes a game and Smith and White should be able to handle around at least 20-24 minutes. Then Quincy, Ericsson and Carlo can play whatever is left.

ZDB are suffering from the same symptoms Hudler had after returning from Europe: They forgot what it's lke to get hit every few strides, not used to no time and no space, not used to the pace of the NHL game. In everyone of those highlight clips of Z and B in the frikin silly little league (for God's sake), there is absolutely zero contact, and tons of ice to play in, and lame ass DMan spectating and hoping for an autograph along the way. Their legs may be in shape, but that league was like semi retirement for those guys, they got away with things they'd never be able to do in the NHL. It hurt their on ice work ethic, and hopefully they'll recover faster than Hudler did.

Hossa = Hot Franzen - Not

I don't want to base everything off one game, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying that this defense has some major issues as many of us anticpated losing three top four d-men in two years. The Red Wings likely aren't a cup contender this season and the defense isn't going to get fixed through prospects already in the system. They also probably won't be as bad as tonight to receive a high draft pick and get an impact player right away. I mentioned it in the GDT and I believe the Red Wings need to call up the forwards (namely Nyquist and Tatar, maybe Andersson) that are NHL ready or close to it and see what they have now. The top-six is devoid of skill and players that can generate offense outside of Datsyuk and Zetterberg and opponents can take them away easier without worrying about secondary threats. There's too much old and slow up front on this roster. I appreciate what Cleary, Bertuzzi and Samuelsson have done as Red Wings, but their purposes were better served on a team that was competing for championships. Not to mention, age has caught up to all three lately. They don't have trade value, so they likely play out their expiring contracts or maybe get bought out. The only two forwards that might be attractive trade options at forward are Filppula and Franzen. I think now is the time Holland has to pursue and obtain a legitimate d-man. Striking out in free agency can happen as we've seen and the market is thin this summer anyways. A package centered around one or both of Filppula and Franzen (plus other prospects) gets you an extremely necessary piece on defense and provides the opportunity to assess the prospects at forward in those vacant spots. Nyquist and Tatar are blocked by a glut up front, yet the current crop of forwards in the top-six is aging and struggles to score goals when it matters. Holland has to take a risk since the Red Wings are in transition. It is a retool of sorts on the fly, while also providing an opportunity to build for the future. I don't think you can go forward with this group of d-men and expect to go deep in the playoffs again soon. Use an area of strength to fix a weakness, since solutions don't appear to be there internally. Smith is promising and maybe Quincey/Ericsson are adequate in lesser roles, but it's pretty clear the Red Wings have in no way replaced the departures of Lidstrom, Rafalski and Stuart. There needs to be serious exploring for a top pairing d-man by Holland very soon.

Detroit is one good shutdown defender away from being a VERY good team. Holland will fix this early and Detroit will make the playoffs without a problem.