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If anything we could use a couple more Abdelkader in the lineup. Having a guy like him on each of the top 3 lines opens up space for guys like Goose and Tats. Why do you think they've both had down years? They've been stuck playing together too much, giving the team an easy line to play against. That's why the line centered by Sheahan was much better with Jurco on it in the past.

1. Abby is a power forward. 2. Losing Abby would make us even smaller and easier to play against. 3. The contract really isn't that bad at all. In fact the AAV is pretty good. Get over it and find something legitimate to complain about. He's the last thing we need to change/fix.

In the end, this is the summer to make a trade for a dman. Players will be available due to expansion draft next summer. Teams will be looking to get something for their players while they can. Trouba is the perfect target.

Lol two periods into a best of 7 series. This forum is ridiculous at times

pure craziness. he was good. he wasn't great.

So lame. I think many of us used to joke on here about that being the name.....

Little Caesars arena... Ah f*** me.

At least be semi creative and go with the little caesars colosseum

"One thing that we want to do, we want to help our guys get better," Blashill said. "That doesn't always mean production wise you're going to improve from year to year. Sometimes it has to do with minutes, and there are only so many minutes to go around, and that can affect a lot of things including production. But part of what we want to do here is make sure we help our guys get better and make sure that we get better as a team." I'm hoping this is Blashill's way of saying that he will be relying more heavily on the kids next season to "help them get better". I'd rather lose some games with the kids at the beginning of the season than lean heavily on the vets again. The only way they'll learn is to learn from their mistakes in game situations. I'm hoping Zetterberg is 2nd line winger or 3rd line center, and Kronwall is 3rd pair defenseman, both getting around 12-15 minutes a game...

To be fair Buppy, I don't think Rich was saying "I told you so" to anyone in particular here, I think that original comment was more so directed toward Holland and his "spare part in the Calder Cup playoffs a year ago" comment... I could be wrong though. Regardless, he was just posting about how he was doing in the playoffs so far, and he's been doing very well down there. He also responded to Dickie's comment about how "Mantha was not good", with "pure craziness. he was good. he wasn't great", and I couldn't agree more with that statement. The thing that is getting confused here is that no one here is saying Mantha is elite or would have put us over the top, but we are saying that he is a very good young player, and he could have definitely helped in the Red Wings playoff run... How is it premature to say he made the team better, when the stats showed that our power-play was much better with him in the lineup? Was it a coincidence? Maybe, but you don't completely dismiss the idea that maybe he was actually a difference maker out there. I believe he was, others don't, including Blashill, but when our power-play was literally the reason we lost that series and was more deflating to the team than positive, something should have been changed... Maybe you try what worked a couple weeks previous, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but it would have certainly been worth a try... Yes, he really should have been compared to Andersson because that's who he should have displaced in the lineup. Andersson should have been out because like you said, he barely played, and wasn't even used a whole lot in the situations Blashill claimed he needed him in for. Just because player B subs in for player A, doesn't necessarily mean that player B assumes the same role in the lineup. If Andersson comes out, a much better player that was currently in the top 6, like Helm for example, moves down to Andersson's position in the lineup, and Mantha moves into the top 6. Helm is MUCH better than Andersson, so he instantly makes the line of Athanasiou - Andersson Helm - Tatar much better. Mantha then gets inserted into the top 6 on Pavs's line and all of a sudden the Richards - Datsyuk - Helm Mantha line is maybe slightly better as well.. I love Helm but he's much better suited for the bottom 6, and if one of those missed Helm opportunities had been capitalized on by Mantha, maybe it's a difference maker in a game, and in turn a difference maker in the series. Again, not saying we definitely win with Mantha in the lineup, but I do believe the series would have been a little tighter with him in there over Andersson... Does comparing Mantha to a player that by rights shouldn't even be in the NHL mean he's great? Nope, and no one is saying that he is. But he is good, and he should have been in the lineup. Anyway, that's the last I will say about how he "should" have been in the lineup... Now, all I'll say is he "better" be in the lineup to start next season...

I couldn't disagree more with that, but whatever...

2009 was the most disappointing of all the losses and the one I remember the most. I wouldn't say it was as embarrassing as those other losses, though.

Man I took those losses hard back then. Didn't want to talk to anyone for days. Good old college days. '03 - was very embarrassing. We were the defending champs. We still had that HOF roster. We played against the Disney Ducks. Getting swept was the worst part of it all. I couldn't look anyone in the eye for some time after that. I think we could have gone past the other teams in the West, but we'd probably lose to Jersey. They had a great team that year. '04 - Got out of the first round, but that game 5 against the Flames screwed us. I still think we'd win the Cup if that puck doesn't hit Yzerman in the eye. San Hosay were playoff chokers who'd never get to the Finals. Tampa may have beaten us, but at least we'd be in the Finals. '06 - What a stinker this was. Yzerman's last hurrah was hard to watch. Roloson was like 50 years old and we made him look amazing. In turn, Lilja made Lidstrom look like Aki Berg on that pairing. Having Draper on the top line was a joke. Maybe this was the worst of the three considering it was the third choke in a row. We'd probably lose to Anaheim in the following round, though. They had our number. Looking back at it, all the teams we lost to went to game 7 of the SCF so there's something to be proud of. Also, I always thought the WIngs would be harder to beat if they got out of the early rounds. We'd do better against established teams than teams full of no-name jobbers relying on some super goalie. Too bad we never got to find out. Oh and Shanahan was awful in all those playoffs. Probably the main reason the team didn't keep him.

I think the woman who just sang the anthem at the Ducks game did so against her will. BLink if you need help!

I am and have been a fan of Mantha's from the beginning. I spent months before the draft hoping we would draft him. That being said he is a very good prospect. Nothing more at this time. Until he proves he can score in the NHL he will remain a prospect. There is however only 1 way for him to prove he is a NHL caliber player: Play NHL games. Sending him down when he was clearly helping us was a mistake. Our PP was much better with him on it. Then he goes down and we went 1 for 24 on the PP in the PO's. Now maybe we still struggle, maybe not. But to use the same guys that have sucked on the PP all year in the PO's and expect a different result is stupid. Plain and simple, Holland/Blashill screwed up. Yes all prospects get overhyped before they actually play. Nature of the beast. Same is true with Larkin. We think/hope he will be a star someday, but as of now he is not. 2 years from now, maybe. The one thing that does bother me with the RW's and Mantha is the negative comments in the press about him that haven't been said about others. The "spare forward" comment by Holland was flat out stupid. Jimmy D last year same thing. This hasn't happened with Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, Pulk, etc... Why are they doing this with Mantha? Maybe he is a kid that thrives on confrontation? Don't know. But some of this is bad management.

After Crosby snubbing Lidstrom, my #2 painful memory from that game 7 are two awful plays by Brad Stuart - turnover to a goal, penalty to a goal. We were out coached the entire series with Pitt being more adaptable, but it really was ours to win or lose. Had Stuart not played like a ditz in that game, we might have our second 2 cup streak. You will not convince me - Stuart should have committed seppuku after that one.

@ 25 years of being a Wings fan and the last 2 games of that series are still tough. Would've been our second back to back in a 11 year span. Hurts.

That's a pretty significant difference in points. That's why I didn't think sending Mantha back down was their worst decision. I did however think Andersson coming up instead was what made the situation stupid overall.

Not everyone is overrating him but all I'm sayin is comparing Mantha's first 10 games to players who started their first 10 games on the 3rd or 4th line without any PP time just shows one is trying to skew the argument to make Mantha stand out (which would overrate him). We'd have to compare Larkin's first 10 games to Mantha's first 10 games for it to be fair because Larkin actually did start his first 10 games on top line and PP just like Mantha did. I thought Mantha was a good addition, thought he added an element to the game we lacked (his big frame), and I think he looks like he has the potential to be a good player in a few years. He'll be a semi late bloomer I think rather than the weird exception like Larkin. I hope to see Mantha on the roster in october.

This thread title will be my new philosophy on Match.com

I wouldn't say it's because Pav and Hank weren't good enough playoff players (Pav was a bit of a late bloomer) but we had Feds and Shanny still up there. We lost because Dave Lewis and Babcock got outcoached combined with the goalies strong performance as you mentioned

If the car was a Lamborghini, it would be easier on the eyes. Are Jeeps that popular in Brooklyn?

In previous years we didn't have guys with high end potential to start building around. Larkin is as close as a sure thing you'll find to a future franchise center. Same for Mrazek in goal. Get a legit top pair dman to play with Dekeyser and a solid foundation to build on is formed. The sky is the limit for AA and Mantha, and there is decent secondary scoring with Goose and Tatar. There are plenty of assets to work with in trades, and for the first time in a while we can finally see who will be taking the reigns of the team. That is the first signs of the right time to begin making moves. Putting pieces around Hank and Pav these past few years was never the right way to go. The future had to show itself first.

Mrazek is the one sure fire position we have taken care of right now. He had a tough few weeks, but he's young and will learn from it. Outside of that he has been Vezina-quality. As for defence, drafting a dman is such a crap-shoot. Unless there is a sure thing like Ekblad (which you need to be a lottery team to get anyway), defenders are always gonna be a gamble. They take longer to develop than forwards, so it is hard to know exactly what you're getting until a few years later. You can use a first rounder to draft another Karlsson, but you're more likely to end up with a Kindl. A great, young dman is a lot more rare than a great, young forward. Because of this, it makes more sense to get a guy like Trouba via trade than to move up in the draft as far as acquiring a dman goes. The first rounder should ALWAYS be used to get the best possible player available. Ideally this year that turns out to be a dman. But if there is a Larkin available when your turn is up, you take him. In my opinion you start drafting needs in the second round. When factoring out the Ekblads and Doughtys, it seems more high end dmen in this league come in the second round. TL;DR. If we're depending on this draft to find that high end dman, be prepared for a long five years. Make a trade for one this summer to stay competitive and give the team the time to develop young defensemen.

Mrazek has allowed 18 goals and has 3 shutouts and 1.88 GAA and .931 Save% in 10 playoff games. Yeah, he sucks. Lol He's the LEAST of the team's problems.