Leaderboard

Ok...3 of those 4 ages are wrong. Pietrangelo is 27, Tarasenko is 25, Schwarz is actually 24 and Berglund is 28 (you are 7 years off with this one) and other then Tarasenko none of those players are elite. So based based on the fact that they don't appear to be getting any better and if anything are regressing (as a team), and they have proven they can not get it done in the playoffs, they should re-build....right? You always contended that since the Wings got bounced first round, they should tank. Shouldnt that apply to the Blues as well? For the record, I dont think they should, but my point is with your philosophy, any team that is not a favourite in the here and now, or are not a team that already suck but have a franchise player should automatically tank/re-build. It's easy to say after the fact when hindsight is 20/20 that a team should have re-built, but in the moment when your team is a contender, to just pull back and completely tear things down can be absolutely detrimental to a team and the fan base. The average fan is not going to put up with a team that is constantly hitting the reset button. You always bring up how the Wings should have started a re-build in 2012, which I'm sorry but at the time was just wrong. I dont know of any team that has 2 elite players on their roster, and a solid group of complementary talent that would make that decision, not to mention there is no way the fans would have accepted it. Add to that the fact that in 2013 we were 1 goal away from making the final 4 and knocking out the eventual cup champions, and it completely makes sense why would Holland did not tear anything down. What he did was start a re-build on the fly and hoped that his kids would become high end players before his elite players regressed, in theory it made sense as it worked between 2002 and 2008. In hindsight, our big 4 regressed quicker then we expected due to injury, and our kids didn't amount to more then top 6 players. When that happened, the next logical move was to speed up the re-build, which Holland sort of did. With that being said, I am not going to sit here and make it sound like Holland is perfect, he is far from it and definitely made mistakes, especially this past summer. I think that the Nielsen, Ott, and Miller signings were all bad decisions on his part. I think he should have ate Datsyuk's contract, though I get why he didn't considering the reaction from the fans, but never the less it was still a mistake as I think he should have brought up Mantha, Bertuzzi and whomever from the start and rolled with it. I still think that the young core of this team is very good, and with a few extra pieces I think they can make some noise. Hopefully we trade Vanek and Green before the deadline, and try to get rid of Howard and E in the summer. If we pull off those moves, get a good draft pick, trade for the d-man we so desperately need, and throw in a coaching change for a guy like Hitchcock, and I think we are in a lot better of a position then most think.

So today apparently Blashill pulled Mantha off of the PP practice unit in favor of, guess who? Mr. Sheahan. I don't even know what to say anymore. If Mantha is off the PP and Sheahan is on it tomorrow night my mind will officially be blown.

This team is as bad as it is in large part because of Blashill's incompetence. Not giving AA a ton off PP time because of his defensive lapses, but giving Helm, Abdelkader, and Sheahan time there because "puck retrieval and defense" is borer line retarded. The PP is supposed to possess the puck, not dump it in, and score, not be defensively responsible. Sheahan and Glendening playing anywhere but the 4th line is equally moronic. I get that they do some good things, but if a forward can't score, he's not very useful 5 on 5. Hell, even the goons in the 80's and 90's would get a goal or two a year. Glendening averaging 13:50 TOI a game, 1 goal in 50 games. Sheahan ZERO goals playing 14:30 a night in 48 games. Neither would be playing 10 minutes a night for a competent coach, and they'd likely be scratches or waived by a good team. that's about 2/3 of the problem. Blashill is the worst coach in the NHL. He's a moron. I half expect him to yell "CASH ME OUSSIDE HOW BOW DAH????" next time a reporter questions his player usage. The other third is roster management. Anyone still think Helm, Glendening, Abdelkader, and Nielsen were worth those contracts? Helm and Abdelkader are nearing the age where players like them tend to start slowing down and are at the early part of their deals. Helm's on a 33 point pace over a full season. Abdelkader is on a 26 point pace. Glendening is at best an average 4th line player, the kind of guy who gets by on working hard and is easily replaceable. Nielsen hasn't been bad, but you give a guy like him a contract when you're a contender and need a second line center to put you over the top, not when you need to rebuild. They needed to re-sign Dekeyser, and that's the type of deal guys like him get, but he's over his head playing on the top pairing and Holland did nothing to bring in someone to help. The scary part is Holland is still talking like they have a chance at making the playoffs and actually doing something. I have a bad feeling he's going to stand pat at the deadline because "you can't lose guys like Vanek and Green when you're trying to make the playoffs."

Scapegoating? The guy has 0 goals. 0. He has been awful. It doesn't matter who the coach is. 0+0 =0, 0 x 0= 0 . He is just another one of the issues. You can blame the system all you want, yea it's not good I agree but his job is to score 15-20 goals a year. He's on pace for...well.....................................0

Babcock understood the length the 200 foot game better than anyone but Hitchcock will provide the girth this team needs to play as a unit.

I dunno if it's that he doesn't care about not being a Red Wing, or if he's just saying that if he's traded in general that it won't be a big deal to him. Trades happen, and if he is traded, then he'll roll with it and play where he's sent. Trading Mrazek at this point is ridiculous. His ceiling is high, much higher than Coreau's, who has started to struggle as well. Howard has been great this season when healthy, but who knows what will happen with him in the future. He could come back from his injury and play horrible again, or suffer another injury. You don't give up on a goalie with Mrazek's level of talent after one bad season, especially with it being a horrible season for the team in general. With the uncertainty surrounding all three goalies right now, you don't move him unless it's a trade that brings huge reward, and that won't happen. Protect him him the expansion draft, Vegas won't take Howard or Coreau anyways, so there's nothin to worry about.

This has me laughing way too hard. Seriously though, I'd love to have him coach the Wings, though I don't think it's likely.

Lol. That cholesterol level tho. At least he has hair on his head

You lost me right there

I do hate him as the coach of the Wings. That doesn't make me a hater. Away from that job, I hope he does well. But the private person is different than him at his job. If he was actually having some success and I was constantly bashing him, then I'd be a hater. He isn't having any kind of success though. He took a team that should have been at least close to the playoffs and has them at the bottom of the conference. He was supposed to work well with the young players, he hasn't. He tries to be Babcock Jr. and fails miserably. He pushes "hard work" over talent, even when the guys who work hard produce poor results. Sheahan on the PP, Glendening on the second line. Larkin playing with pluggers. Sheahan given chance after chance playing on a scoring line while Jurco gets benched regardless of what he does. AA getting 10 minutes of ice time and almost no PP time because he made a defensive mistake while Blashill's favorites can blow one defensive assignment after another and be rewarded with MORE ice time. Team needs offense, must play defensive guys with no offensive ability more. Name ONE THING that he does well as an NHL coach.

Forgot how fat Hitchcock is. Pass.

If this is a weak year like most are saying, maybe we should consider trading the pick. I am not a believer if drafting someone top 5, just for the sake of being able to say you drafted someone top 5. If we can trade the pick for a potential 1A d-man, I am all for it.

How long before fans start wearing bags on their heads at the games, like you see the worst teams in sports do? If you know someone who can stitch, you can change "Larkin" to say "Malkin", and sell the jersey as a knock off to someone in Russia. You'd only need to change two letters around.

They do listen. Mrazek hasn't been a number 1 goalie all season!

2020? I can't take this guy seriously, please.

It's amazing how many people are ready to throw mrazek under the bus and deal him Howard is 33 and done soon, Coreau has shown no signs of being a star goalie ,once Howard's gone in 2 years then what?we have no goalies in the pipeline , we'll be a disaster for 7-10 yrs the way I see it jeff lash illness is the problem ,he keeps messing mrazek about, he won 2 games recently and back to Coreau we go .. Petr needs 3-5 games to get his confidence going nyquist and Tatar are also having horrible years as well mantha and athanasiou being messed about while guys like sheahan with 0 goals keep playing go is just nonsense sproul being benched repeatedly while Ericsson still baffling point is Blashill is the main problem in this team , all these baffling moves have caused a lot of down years for a lot of guys mrazek included , he's turning 25 soon and is way too young to just give up on we trade mrazek away it might turn out to be a mistake we never recover from

Go with a duo of Howard and Coreau and be done with this

This Hitchcock thing is odd. They guy wanted to retire, Blues talked him into 1 more year, Blues fired him, now he wants to coach. My gut tells me that if he wants to continue coaching, it would be a Scotty/Wings '94 type of deal where he wants to be the final piece for a team on the cusp of winning a cup. I can't see a guy going from wanting to retire, to being a part of a re-build. He is 65 and doesn't appear to be a healthy 65.

100% agreed

Your unique take on Toews salary has inspired me Frank. As we speak Im taking my still financed 2014 Jeep down to the dealership to trade it in. When he gives me the old BS about the KBB being much lower than the 18K I paid for it, I will inform him that no, it is worth exactly what I paid for it at the time. Winning. Thanks Franky. #teamtoews

I hope Holland has already had converstions with Hitchcock and Blashill..... Hitch to coach and Blashill to waterboy. We need another well known and experienced cock on the bench! A Hitchcock will not be as good as a Babcock but it has to be wooorlds better the the non cock we have now

A promotion is no good, he'd still have his fingers in the pot. Needs to be gone altogether. Blows my mind that they won't give Jurco a shot over Sheahan. Even if Jurco turns out to be a bust, he can't be any worst than Sheahan is right now. At least go with potential at this point. Kronwall just needs to retire. Got a lot of respect for the guy, but his knee won't let him play at this level any more.

Lol, Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan on the ice for final minute? Are you ******* kidding me Blashill? So, huge ass power play let's go with: Helm, Abby, Tatar, Kronwall followed by Nyquist,tatar, Sheahan? I don't care who else was out there, wtf kind of coaching is that?

Also, Parise was not coming here, at all. He was going home or staying in NJ. Suter wanted to be here (per McKenzie) but his wife did not. So whether or not there was room, it wasn't happening. I like Abby, I live 40 miles north of his hometown, he is an "A" and will probably never be traded. But, right now I am open to shopping him, amongst others in order to turn this landslide in the right direction.

Part of the reason they are doing bad is because Minnesota's franchise sucks and they were both dumb enough to go there thinking they would bring a cup instead of coming here and actually having a legit shot of winning the cup with Datsyuk and Zetterberg still being elite league players. I kinda hope they go on without winning and look back at what could have been. Serves em right! He still has 4 goals. Sheahan has 0. You never want to go a season without scoring goals. Unless you're like a defensive defenseman but even those guys score at least 1 goal. /thread