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Backman by a country-mile.

For those comparing this to the Wings of the 80s, some perspective from an old timer. The Wings missed the playoffs 5 consecutive years from 79-83. Keep in mind this was the era when only 5 teams didn't make the playoffs. You heard me, 5. In 83 they called up Stevie Yzerman from Peterboro. They made the playoffs with a losing record of 31-42-7 and lost in the first round. The next year they made the playoffs with an even worse record, 27-41-12 (for you youngins that last number is ties, not ROW) losing in the first round again. The year after that, 1986, they only won 17 games all season, losing 57 times and missing the playoffs. This current Wings roster is an average team that is struggling with a ton of injuries. They might not even make the playoffs but are still middle of the pack in their conference. On any given night they at least have chance of being in a game and winning. They may be frustrating as hell to watch, but they are still nowhere near the Dead Wings.

Exactly. If anything, Zetterberg deserves a medal and all of our women.

Z is the furthest thing from the problem. Hes a beast. His back is literally crumbling from carrying this team the last 2 years. Hes doing his best and thats all we can ask of him.

Zett has 3 points in his last two games, and in an offensively slumping season he is still scoring slightly above a point per game. He is human, mistakes are going to happen, Z isn't the problem here. We can pick apart however many reasons we can to find an alternate reason as to why this team is in the shape it is in, but it continues to go back to the main reason. Injuries and commitment to aging roster players that no longer serve a valuable function. Blaming individual players at this point isn't fair because we are playing at half strength. It's a constant game of shuffle and adapt as players continue to come and go. It's been the story of this season and last. Some guys need to retire, some kids need to play more, and most guys need to stay healthy for more regular periods of time before things begin to improve. It is going to be a lot of up and down until then.

In the opening post, you were very much blaming "Z". What's changed you line of thinking? The rest of it, I don't comprehend.

i was born the first year the wings started the streak. i don't want it to end

Out at least one week in Red Wings injury terms is probably after the Olympic Break for Howard. Huge loss, obviously. Jimmy was stealing games with the team unable to score goals and now they have to ride a habitually inconsistent Gustavsson coming off injury. It's getting to the point where you almost just have to call this season lost. A lot of other teams in playoff contention plus the Wings inability to get remotely healthy is going to be very tough to overcome. I just don't want the injuries to be an excuse for complacency in the off-season. Remove the dead weight, let the kids have permanent spots and make a move or two to solidify the defense.

Great analogy. I think this is a very accurate assessment of how Holland has approached signing in the last few years. To take is a step further, he won't let go of his new toys, because the last one he gave away (Hossa) ended up being the coolest toy on the block, while he was stuck holding a toy that was constantly breaking (Franzen). Additionally, he has an extremely restrictive sense of nostalgia. He knows some of the toys are beyond repair (Cleary), but he can't bring himself to give it away because they remind him of better days; even though letting go would ultimately make him happy. Lastly, there are toys that he over payed for and refuses to acknowledge was a bad decision (Quincey). I think what makes the analogy so apt is that it brings to mind how childish Holland is being. He needs to make difficult decisions, but is acting like a scared, selfish child.

For JVR It would prob take nyquist, 1st round pick and a top prospect in GR

2014 is a weak draft, but that doesn't mean there isn't talent. Last year there was 7 or 8 can't miss types, then 60-70 guys that all had a question about them but should be top 5 players on most teams in 5-7 years. This years draft has 3/4 can't miss types and about 35 guys that should be top 5 players on most teams. The depth just isn't here this year. Now 2015 looks like it will be better. That draft looks like it is very top heavy but we will see next year......

I agreee with all of You, and your right "gm needs to be gm" but i wasent blaming z, im not blaming anybody, my point is people need to emerge from our team and help z out, if hes given away the puck then someone needs to help beacuse that does not happen to often. Kids shouldent be the ones stepping it up only, should be bert (even tho hes washed up) kronn etcc Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

*grabs popcorn* This will get interesting.

The other thing I'd be looking for is a guy who's trending upward, but who isn't established yet. A guy like Neal was for Dallas. If you're willing to part with a quality piece you can usually get guys like this and hopefully they were scouted well enough that they can really flourish in your system. Obviously you need to have quality scouts (which we supposedly do) but also you wouldn't need to give up nearly as much as an established guy. Following this line of though, one guy I've been interested in is Mikkel Boedker from Phoenix. He's defensively responsible, SUPER fast, young, and has pretty good size (6ft. 210 lbs.), and plays for a team that's not likely to push for a playoff spot. He's having a breakout year this year after moderate success in the past. This is the kind of under the radar move that could pay off huge in the future if the kid continues to develop upward. Plus, you certainly wouldn't need to give Nyquist and a 1st for him. I don't know if this guy's the answer, but it's the kind of move I'd be looking at if I were Holland. Let everyone else battle it out for E. Kane, Vanek, Moulson, etc. and we make a solid cap savy move that helps now and in the future.

That's certainly PART of the issue, and admittedly it's not insignificant. But injuries have given everyone on this forum the youth movement that they wanted, and you see how Babs uses them. That shouldn't be ignored or downplayed any more than Holland's dumb a** personnel moves of the last couple years. Based on his use of them so far, it's pretty obvious that according to Babs the depth chart is something like this: Top End Guys: Dats, Z, Kronwall, Franzen, Alfie, Ericsson "Reliable Vets": Cleary, Bert, Quincey, Miller, Eaves, Abby, Helm Responsible Youth: Nyquist, Glendening, Andersson, "Irresponsible" Youth: Tatar, Kindl, Smith New Wave Youth: Jurco, Sheahan Lastly: Sammy What makes anybody think that Babs is just pining for a youth movement. Cut the dead wood and guys like Glendening, Andersson, and Nyquist get more ice time. Not the guys who are actually creating momentum for us.

Not necessarily true. Bobby Ryan was traded for a guy with Nyquist-like NHL numbers, a boom or bust prospect (like Frk for us), and a first. There are a ton of variables at play in the trade market, but Nyquist and a 1st would definitely be a really good starting point (as I said before) for a quality trade.

The issue is Holland giving him dusty players to put on the ice with NTC's so the team is handcuffed to them.

He doesnt need our help, have you seen Mrs Z? A dime piece.

"Price increases" doesn't necessarily mean tickets only; if it's got the League logo on it, it's fair game for an price hike. Merchandise would be the more subtle area to increase first; "foam fingers" are due for a gigantic price increase very soon.

If doing nothing means there are spots left open for 3 of Jurco, Sheahan, Ferraro, and Callahan, plus a rookie d-man, I'll be ok with that. I'd much rather have that than a #4 d-man signed for $18 mil over 4 years or Grabovski at $25 mil for 5 years.

With all the key injuries to the top 6 other coaches have the pleasure of matching against zetterberg and singling him out as the sole threat of our top 6. He's getting shadowed all game long to the point of having absolutely no time and space. He doesn't have the linemates to help him create that space because they aren't as big of threats. Teams know the situation we're in. When you go against a deep team as the Blues you're going to be in for a treat when your top 6 consist majority of bottom 6 skill. None the less I think the vastly underrated element is how poor our D is right now. They're fragile and easily worked. They can't get the puck moved up for a smooth transition because teams know all they have to do is wheel it in and turn them around. Throw 2 bodies in deep against them and that puck isn't leaving the zone. We need our D to get some confidence and have the puck moving through the neutral zone with speed. The best asset to offense can be a puck moving defensive core. You need your d to make that quick transition. We can't do that currently and its hurting us drastically. All in all, it would be great if we got healthy ....and a top 2 puck moving d man

Assume for a second, how this team would be playing without Z and Pasha ? We wouldn't be talking about making the playoffs, we would be talking about a top 5 pick ( wouldn't mind that at all ). Like others said, it's tough to blame individuals and to some extent even Babcock, Holland just hasn't given him much to work with and without the two remaining stars things would be very grim. The only positive so far, is the game of Nyquist, Tatar, Danny Dekeyser and Sheahan. Helm just came back after another injury, so I wouldn't judge him too soon. Z is trying his best, he obiously isn't an alltime great like St. Nick but none the less a great player and leader, sadly I think we won't be seeing him or Pasha with another cup

Z played great. He was checked tightly all night

I'm very interested to see what Wings team is iced WHEN they make the playoffs. I'd like to see a healthy Wings team that still has Jurco, Sheahan, Glendening and those guys on it. I'd really like to see Cleary and Tuzzi sitting for much better, more useful guys in the post season. But I'm with you, I like our team. A few guys could go, but that's on Kenny this summer.

The injuries in question aren't concussions or wrists or broken jaws. They are muscle strains, groin pulls, etc. There is a difference....