GoWings1905

Alfie looks great tonight. I like Tatar up with Datsyuk too.

Nice read off the boards, Quincey.

It really is. Extremely close to being up 3-1 and then the penalties kill the momentum. Team can't catch a break on top of all the injuries.

Nice officiating. That call on Smith was a joke. Wings have dominated this game. Gotta keep battling and get the lead back.

Bertuzzi is approaching Samuelsson and Cleary levels of usefulness. Wow, disallowed goal turns into 5-on-3 against. Now the refs have decided to call everything I guess.

Damn, that's not a goal. No puck luck at all lately.

Two goals in one game. Progress has been made!

Great shift and it ends poorly because Kindl turned the puck over to give Calgary possession against a tired group.

Good period overall for Detroit. Skating harder and getting guys to the net more than previous games. PP is still horrible, but hard to be too upset given the forwards missing. Z will help the entry issues tremendously.

Ah come on Monster. Gotta react much quicker than that knowing the boards at the Joe.

Alfie! Nice start and hopefully they can build on it now.

I agree to an extent. I acknowledged in my original post that Babs makes poor personnel decisions sometimes in regards to loyalty and ice time. I don't necessarily know that Tootoo deserves more minutes with a healthy roster as he has always been a fourth liner, who is a defensive liability that doesn't kill penalties. His value is always going to be limited because of that, but I do believe it would be nice to see Tootoo remain with the Red Wings now that he is back up. Cleary's minutes have decreased significantly since early in the season. He shouldn't be getting PP time, but with six forwards out, the options are relatively limited. Those are just two examples of Babcock's questionable moves and I would argue Jordin Tootoo and Dan Cleary aren't making or breaking this team's success either way. I think we are well aware of the numerous major errors Holland has made lately. Gustav Nyquist started the season in Grand Rapids because of Holland's poor cap management. The summer of 2012 alone was a complete disaster. Both deserve some blame, but if I have to pick one, it's definitely on Holland. Babcock took a patchwork, injury riddled roster to within one game of beating the best team in hockey. This after losing Lidstrom and Stuart, while implementing a bunch of kids into the lineup at the same time. Babcock can coach if he has the pieces. I don't know if anyone in the league could have gotten more out of that Red Wings roster last season. It was severely lacking talent.

No way. I do think sometimes a coach's message can get stale after being in the same place for so long like Babs, but it seems as though his assistants provide a nice buffer. Babs frustrates me at times with his lines and stubbornness to remove or give lesser roles to certain players. That being said, I still consider him one of the best coaches in hockey. Most of the blame for the Red Wings lack of success since 2009 falls on Holland. He has really provided Babcock with a bunch of patchwork rosters with no identity.

Certainly would have liked to see Eaves and Tootoo remain with the Red Wings all along, but hopefully both show enough in this opportunity to replace the likes of Samuelsson and Cleary namely when healthy bodies get back. This team desperately needs a spark and something to get them engaged through this rough stretch. Tootoo should provide that at least.

Exactly as you would expect from your description. Most disappointing aspect was the healthy (minus DeKeyser) d-men having serious coverage issues in the first period. Monster wasn't sharp either, but the defense was atrocious given we knew the forwards were depleted and likely not going to score much. Otherwise, a healthy and really good team took advanatge of a team with eight regulars out and no confidence to boot.

I'm pretty convinced Almquist and/or Ouellet would be an upgrade over Kindl right now.

On a positive note which is tough to find, Patrick Eaves has looked good since coming back up. Generating some scoring chances and his speed is an asset on the forecheck. Definitely want him around on the 4th line over Samuelsson, Cleary or Bertuzzi the rest of the season.

Pav is not himself at all. He doesn't seem to mesh with Alfie, but what poor timing for Datsyuk to struggle too.

I think it's reasonable to expect regular d-men to not have a period like that. Poor coverage on the first three goals and the fourth was on Mrazek. They are gonna have to win 2-1 games with these forwards.

You would have a case if either actually was hindsight.

Kindl is so bad. He went from promising last season to a disaster this one. Didn't shoot the puck and then watches Perry blow down the wing. All three goals were preventable. Nothing to do with injuries -- just inexcusable poor coverage.

Quincey being Quincey. He has to sit when DeKeyser gets back. Nobody is going to take this bum in a trade and to think he went for a first rounder. If so, that's six-million dollars of healthy scratches assuming Samuelsson is not playing too. Two real gems, Kenny.

Come on guys, clean it up defensively. Can't have two complete breakdowns like that when this forward group probably isn't going to score many. Oh, Selanne is still a tool.

I wanted a youth movement, but not in this fashion. It was supposed to be prospects playing instead of Samuelsson, Cleary and Bertuzzi -- not at the expense of our best forwards.

I'm not buying the Eastern Conference made these injuries occur yet. The Red Wings lost the most man games last season playing exclusively against the West. Really every season since 2008 has been marked by significant and numerous injuries. The Red Wings do need more size, but Holland seems to be addressing that issue in the drafts recently. I just don't think you can look at these injuries and make the conclusion playing in the East is a major factor.