GoWings1905

I wouldn't even give McCollum a shot against Buffalo. Mrazek is young -- he can handle playing on consecutive nights with the break just a couple days away after that. That should be an easy two points and starting McCollum probably turns it in into anything but easy. Mrazek should start every game until Monster is back, IMO.

Nobody is winning more than a series in Detroit with that defense in front of them.

What did Henrik Zetterberg do to deserve that? Honestly though, I like those with the exception that I think Gus and Z should play together, like Tatar and Pav should. I don't know what to do with either Weiss or Franzen at this point -- one probably deserves a shot at a larger role and the other really just doesn't fit anywhere.

I'm sure they are coming, but there's no reason for excuses. It's not like last season where Z and Pavel were gone. Besides Howard, none of those players are major losses at this point. Monster obviously becomes more important without Jimmy yet the Wings should be able to withstand the other injuries. I love Jurco, but he hasn't really provided much offensively and Franzen/Kindl could never come back and no one would notice.

I support this idea entirely. Smith played his best hockey with Kronwall last season and Ericsson has not been good. Surprisingly, I actually like how Quincey has looked with DeKeyser, so I would keep them together and put E with Ouellet. Babs will never do it though because "you gotta earn the time" despite Smith being fine in that same role during the playoffs no less. Regardless, the Wings need a top four d-man desperately if they seriously want to contend in the near future.

Agreed, Mrazek has been fine so far. However, now we are getting beyond a small sample size for the first time. Can he consistently give the Wings a chance to win games behind a bad defense like Howard has all season? I'm worried, to be truthful. Jimmy has been spectacular and a month stretch could greatly influence the Wings playoff chances. Mrazek has a bright future, but I'm not convinced he's ready for this role yet. Hopefully getting Monster back soon will give the Wings a decent tandem should Mrazek falter.

Fun for who? As mentioned, they still have to travel and take part in the festivities. The time off would be much better for two aging players that we are going to desperately need down the stretch. I personally can't wait for the day they abolish the ASG anyways. Haven't watched one in years, so from a fan perspective, it isn't fun for me either.

I hope it's not Z or Pav going. They could use the rest instead. Send Tatar -- he has endless energy anyways.

There was nothing good about this game. Regroup and beat the Sabres.

Babs has to be loving this game. 15 combined shots in the first 25 minutes. Too bad it isn't helping the Wings win, like usual.

Jimmy got taken off on a stretcher. Couldn't appear to move his right leg at all after it happened.

This does not look good at all. I like Mrazek, but losing Jimmy for any extended time would be a massive blow to the Wings.

There's no such thing anymore. He hasn't done anything in the playoffs for the past five years.

With better linemates and power play time. Oh and he's not 21 playing his first full season in the NHL either.

The Wings missed the prime window to rid themselves of Franzen last summer when they still had the second buyout available from the lockout. They had depth at forward, Franzen is declining and injury prone and hasn't been a factor in the playoffs for five years now. I know there are factions in love with his "cap friendly deal" and for awhile I agreed, but the Red Wings were in great position to make Franzen go away without it negatively affecting the team's success. Nyquist, Tatar, Sheahan and Jurco are all here now plus Pulkkinen, Mantha and others on the way.

I thought Weiss was terrible in Calgary, but obviously he's never going to fulfill his potential stuck playing on a 4th line with Glendening and Andersson. Even just flipping Weiss and Miller seems like common sense, though with Babs it's often hard to pinpoint logic when it comes to playing time and managing his personnel. It just seems like Babs makes certain players go through so many hoops to earn anything, while others get immunity or endless opportunities in a role before being demoted. Weiss can't get any traction, even though he was putting up points when he first returned.

Good win on back-to-back. Mrazek was solid after the rough start. The top two lines played very well and the PK was huge too. The Wings are right there near the top of the division still. Nice first half of the road trip.

Wow, instead of a penalty, they call the parity intentional offside instead. No call on Glencross either? Situational officiating at its finest again.

Alright, no more Andersson and Cleary. Playing with fire there every shift they receive for the remainder of the game.

Great shift by the Datsyuk line. Helm has played really well tonight.

Also, up two goals in the third on the road, why wouldn't you go to two d-men on the power play? No sense in having the worst case scenario actually occur.

OK, I'm staring to see why Weiss was only playing nine minutes per game. He has been awful tonight. Slow and careless with the puck.

ABBY! The fact he somehow missed the first attempt is funny now because the second one went in at least.

Most of Kindl's points have come solely because he gets power play time. There is nothing dynamic about his offensive ability -- he just looks good because no one else on the Wings defense besides Kronner has a lick of skill offensively. Besides, Kindl's limited offensive upside doesn't come anywhere near outweighing how bad he is defensively. XO is very strong in his own end and he doesn't have years of experience like Kindl either.

That's just awful. What is Mrazek doing? There was no need to overplay that much from the angle Raymond had off the rebound.