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I do not claim to be a hockey expert, so I would invite those that know more about it than me to correct me if I am wrong. Here are my impressions of the Red Wings: 1) It should come as no surprise that the Wings can't score. When they get the puck, if they manage to clear the D zone, they do NOT drive to the net or take a shot, they dump the puck to the corner and surrender possession about 75% of the time. They went from the best puck possession team to the worst puck possession team. I have to believe they are coached to do so, because that is what they consistently do. 2) They have NO passing game whatsoever. Cannot make two clean passes in a row, most possessions are short lived and end up with a botched pass and possession to the opponent. A lot of blind passes to no one in particular which end up on the opponent's stick, often in front of our goalie. 3) No speed or quickness. A few years ago the team did not have speed. Now they have some players with real speed but they don't play with speed. When we get the puck we are immediately pressured by the opponent with no room to maneuver. When the opponent gets the puck they sail into our end unimpeded. 4) Cannot win puck battles on the boards. 5) The Wings give the opponents more space than any other team, letting them maneuver or pass at will. 6) Consistently melt down late in the game. This is a carryover from the last few years under Babcock. Cannot put an opponent away in a close game. 7) We probably have the two best goalies in the game, who are getting no support whatsoever from the defense or offense. 8) The power play is inept, to the point the wings should decline any penalty if that were possible and forget the power play. It only results in embarrassing short-handed chances for the other team. I can accept the fact that due to making the playoffs for 25 years in a row we are not getting the upper level draft picks, but I no not think the player talent is as bad as their performance indicates. (However, I do believe you are only as good as you play) Either the team is grossly underperforming or they have the most mediocre talent or lack of talent in the league. I believe the team is grossly underperforming and the blame has to fall on the coaching staff. It is possible that they will gradually get their act together and have a strong finish.(Pittsburg started out pretty bad last year if I remember right), but now I am starting to think that is just wishful thinking. Let me know what you think. Joe S

Exactly. These suck, but the SS ones last season were horrid. The front crest was fine, but it all fell apart after that. They should just keep using the ones from the Winter Classic the time they played Toronto...those are amazing. I still need to get one. Or those ones they used during the NHL 75th Anniversary.

Holy hell....that look sums up the season thus far!

Was thinking, if Calgary does want Howard, trade for Elliott. $2.5 million cap hit, and is UFA after this season. Calgary could fit Howard's extra $2.8 million under their cap after that I think with LTIR left, but it would be close

Winnipeg is a perfect example why a city that couldn't support a team previously should get a team again. Things are better than ever there, and they're a team on the rise with a huge loyal fanbase. Quebec City has a new arena, and they've been trying to get an NHL team back for years. Just because a team failed there once, doesn't mean it will again. Most of the pieces were already in place for a cup run in Quebec and things were looking up finally, fans were excited, then all of a sudden the owner had to sell the team due to being unable to build a new arena, the CAN/US exchange rate, and the league not having a salary cap. The franchise was sold, and Nords fans had to watch their former team win a cup the spring after they were moved as the Avalanche. Now two of those three challenges to keeping the team there have since been rectified. Vegas will end up as the Arizona franchise is..it's a non-hockey market that will need to be bailed out, while Quebec is a huge market that will be supported.

It will go well with Miller's hair.

Brendan Shanahan was a defenseman? ...I'll find my way out.

Oh brother most of you guys are never happy with anything. I like them!!!!

Of course those two are going to make his numbers look much better then if he was still here playing with Miller and Glendening, I dont think anyone things of him as a top 10 goal scorer, but he was put in a role and is playing extremely well in that role, you can't take that away from him. I always liked Eaves and its nice to see him succeeding.

Don't like the idea, mostly because of the potential impact on ice conditions and changes in the arena design to accommodate basketball games. Keep it hockey only. No hardwood over the ice please.

When I first read this thread title, my initial thoughts were "here we go again, another poster about to go on a rant spouting out hyperbole" but after reading what you wrote, I think you made a lot of good points. Here are my thoughts: 1) I agree with this. For whatever reason they cannot clear the puck out of the zone, and when they are able to rush into the opposing zone, they do continue to dump and chase quite often which just results in giving the puck up. I do not get why they continue to do this, I cant see this being anything but a coaching issue. 2) I agree with this as well, chemistry is definitely a problem. 3) This I disagree with. When everyone is healthy I think this is one of out strong suits, but with AA and Helm both out I admit we look like a much slower team 4) I dont think we are great here, but I dont think we are awful. It would be interesting to see the stats. 5) I agree with this as well, especially on the PK. So often I am thinking to myself 5 on 5 "are we on the PK? Where is the pressure?" 6) This is probably our worst trait, I think we may lead the league in 3rd period, final 2min breakdowns. 7) Agreed 8) This I disagree with. Our PP ranks 17th in the league at 15.9%, that's not inept, its average. I also completely agree with your last thought. We don't have elite talent, but we are not as bad as we are playing as we do have a very deep team. I think our issue is either coaching, or team chemistry which can be argued is a result of bad coaching.

Kinda looks like a white jersey was washed with a new red sweatshirt.

PUKE!

That sucked, I was really curious to see if that Helm/Nyquist/Vanek line could have kept it going, but then Blashill split them up and Vanek got injured anyways. They really seemed to click. That's the thing with lines, its all about chemistry.

Here is my question though, who did we not get in UFA that was "elite" that we were not able to sign because of those deals? Who was "maximum worth" in UFA that we did not get because of cap issues? David Backes? Milan Lucic? Matt Niskanen? Paul Stasny? We did make a pitch for Matt Niskanen, but "cap issues" were not why we didn't land him. Sometimes players just want to play somewhere else (ie. Suter). I am not saying those deals are not hurting us at all, but I haven't seen a specific circumstance where the correct narrative was "Oh shoot, we could have signed player X if we had the cap room" unless player X was another mid level player which would be no different then what we have been doing. The only thing these mid level players have done is caused us to lose Nestrasil and Pulkkinen. If you want to make the argument that they are taking spots from guys like Mantha, Frk etc. sure I see that, but those guys are not elite at this point, and that is not our biggest problem. The one time in years that an elite player was about to become available in UFA (Stamkos) Holland made sure there was space. Stamkos didn't stay in TB because we couldn't afford him due to the cap. In 2016 UFA has become an avenue for mid level guys to be overpaid in either total dollars or term (ie. Niesen). Elite talent just doesn't hit free agency anymore for whatever reason. Have these contracts hurt us in regards to trades? I dont think so. If Holland had an opportunity to get a guy like Trouba for a reasonable return (ie. not Larkin), he would not have a hard time shedding salary. You can trade a guy like Tatar or Nyquist for picks if you want. Our issues are what I stated earlier, our elite/high end talent regressed before our kids were able to step in and replace them. Its simple. And yes, not drafting top 5 does make it harder to land franchise players. Again, please do not misinterpret this as me saying that all the contracts given to mid range players are great or not an issue at all. What I am saying is they are not the reason we are not elite right now. In 4 years from now when players like Larkin or Mantha are due for their next contract, that is when these contracts COULD be an issue.

I've seen better designed practice jerseys. ohh, and after the poor quality materials of the stadium series jersey in comparison to that jacked up price... It's good that I don't like the design so I won't have to get it.

me no likey the silver

Toronto jerseys are filthy.

No sir, I don't like it.

I cringe watching any player on our team getting the puck out of our own end if there is any pressure in the zone. Seriously, the Red Wings CANNOT break out of their own end without hiccup this year so far. Smith will be back in now that Marchy went down.

Both edges of the same sword. Alexey needed to sit for a bit. I don't like anyone getting injured but he needs to get it together. Then work his way back into the lineup and put it back together. I think he's got the skills, but it's not working right now and he wasn't getting sat otherwise. As others have mentioned elsewhere, I really have NO IDEA why he didn't sit prior to this injury. EDIT: Also, why can I not embed tweets properly?

this shouldn't be funny, but this picture made me laugh... thanks!!

I was there in person, with AA and Helm being out it really made us look a lot slower. Those two are both extremely important pieces to this team and I hope they get back soon. I didnt notice Nyquist play a bad game, was there something he did that maybe didnt come across live, but did on TV? A few notes, I liked the way the Z/Nyquist/Mantha line looked, I couldn't believe how nice of a shot Mantha has. This kid need to stay up with the big club. Everytime E touches the puck I cringe, Our D pretty much just look like they are all playing above their heads. I hate when people say all of our D sucks, because that is simply not true. Individually, we have good (not elite) D, but we lack a #1 and #2. Think about it like this, lets say we had Keith and Seabrook as our top pair, then if you had DD/Green on second pair, and Sproul/Smith or even Marchenko/XO on the third pairing and all of a sudden our D becomes one of the best in the league. Our old top pairing of Kronwall and E regressing to a point where they are 3rd pairing guys who are paid like first pairing guys has really really hurt us as nobody has stepped up in that role. I think this is pretty much the biggest problem with this team. Our former elite/upper end talent of Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall regressed before our kids have been able to step up and replace them. Now we are in a position where our top guys are no longer top guys or in the case of Datsyuk gone, and our young guys are not there yet. I wish Larkin, AA, and Mantha were good enough to play top line together and produce like a #1 line, but they are not there yet. This is why it frustrates me when people are so hard on guys like DD, Tatar, Nyquist, Abby, Helm etc. These guys are not top tier guys, but because of the regression of others, they are asked to play like it and are failing. Nyquist should probably not be on a first line, but on this team he has to. DD should not be a #1 D man, but on this team he has to. When you put guys in roles where they are playing over there heads, they are going to appear bad however this does not mean they are bad players. This teams needs some top tier talent, unfortunately with the system in place now we are all going to have to wait. The growth of our kids, and the ability of Holland to find a #1 D man is HUGE and will dictate our future. I dont even know who is to "blame" for this, if anything I think this is just a part of the cyclical nature of sports.

Vanek is amazing.

Are the Axe or Bill accounts opened now?