GoWings1905

I hate Boston so much for making us watching this s*** for another week. Thanks for extending this stupid streak that means nothing besides a crutch for Holland to be a bum for another year.

PP looks terrific. Mantha is a spare part, though.

Doesn't help the Red Wings are firing wrist shots from 40 feet out making his job easy. They gotta get some traffic to the net.

Doesn't help the Red Wings are firing wrist shots from 40 feet out making his job easy. They gotta get some traffic to the net.

There are plenty of problems. Abby is one of them. He takes dumb penalties and plays 20 minutes per game.
Also, Joakim "the PK expert" Andersson didn't kill a second of penalties in the first period where the Wings were short-handed three times.
Mantha and Jurco are definitely less valuable, though.

I think trying the same thing over and over will ultimately cost the Wings this series, but just have a feeling they win tonight.
3-2 Wings in OT and Gus gets the winner.

WE. LOST. Close doesn't count. We lost to wounded team missing their 2 best players.

I was a huge fan of Blashill with the Griffins and when he got hired as the new head coach of the Red Wings I was very excited to see what he could do. The main reason being, I loved the way he managed his roster down in Grand Rapids and put the kids in great positions to succeed. Things started out great with Larkin making the roster, and we all thought, this is the changing of the guard. We're finally going to start transitioning from the vets to the youth. For whatever reason, somewhere along the way, that changed. We started going back to the same old well, and leaning on the vets yet again. I'm not sure what caused him to revert back to the ways of old, if there was pressure from management to keep the streak alive or what. Regardless of when it happened or why it happened, there's no question that there have been major misusage of players for parts of this season, and especially down this last stretch.
I'm of the mindset set now that we've made the playoffs, we've kept the streak alive, we're not expected to go deep, now is the time to start playing for the future. We need to get these kids in the lineup to get them some valuable playoff experience, as well as potentially give us a better shot at winning. I'm okay with Mantha playing big minutes down in Grand Rapids, if that's what management believe is the best for his development. What I'm not okay with is Andersson in the lineup in any capacity over Jurco. And don't try to spin this as me saying that Jurco is the answer to our offensive woes (like some did with the Mantha debate), because (again) I'm not. What I am saying is that Jurco is just as good defensively, can also kill penalties and is about 100 times better offensively. Andersson is not an NHL calibre player and should not be anywhere close to this roster.
The defense has been abysmal at best, and Blash decided to make a change, he switched Ericsson and Quincey. Yup, that should really jump start this team... Instead of inserting Smith in, you switch two defensive defensemen, expecting some huge change? What a joke...

Blash won't make the changes that need to happen until it's too late.

Joakim Andersson played more than AA tonight. Luke Glendening played five more minutes than Dylan Larkin.
Winnable series being thrown away by this incredibly stubborn organization. Honestly, the decision making and usage is beyond inexcusable at this point. I have never been so frustrated by a team refusing to change their ways.
Play the freaking kids. At least if we are going to lose, do it with something to gain in the process. Losing is one thing, but to continue taking this stupid approach of veterans at all cost is ridiculous.

Joakim Andersson played more than AA tonight. Luke Glendening played five more minutes than Dylan Larkin.
Winnable series being thrown away by this incredibly stubborn organization. Honestly, the decision making and usage is beyond inexcusable at this point. I have never been so frustrated by a team refusing to change their ways.
Play the freaking kids. At least if we are going to lose, do it with something to gain in the process. Losing is one thing, but to continue taking this stupid approach of veterans at all cost is ridiculous.

Even if there is some argument for Mantha not playing (which I don't agree with), then why not Jurco over Andersson even? The PK/faceoff line is garbage. The Wings have more than enough guys to kill penalties and Andersson isn't even good at faceoffs.
I love how when the Wings called him up it was for "injury insurance", but everyone knew damn well he was going to dress in the playoffs. This organization is a farce when it comes to saying one thing and doing another entirely.

Even if there is some argument for Mantha not playing (which I don't agree with), then why not Jurco over Andersson even? The PK/faceoff line is garbage. The Wings have more than enough guys to kill penalties and Andersson isn't even good at faceoffs.
I love how when the Wings called him up it was for "injury insurance", but everyone knew damn well he was going to dress in the playoffs. This organization is a farce when it comes to saying one thing and doing another entirely.

Joakim Andersson played more than AA tonight. Luke Glendening played five more minutes than Dylan Larkin.
Winnable series being thrown away by this incredibly stubborn organization. Honestly, the decision making and usage is beyond inexcusable at this point. I have never been so frustrated by a team refusing to change their ways.
Play the freaking kids. At least if we are going to lose, do it with something to gain in the process. Losing is one thing, but to continue taking this stupid approach of veterans at all cost is ridiculous.

Joakim Andersson played more than AA tonight. Luke Glendening played five more minutes than Dylan Larkin.
Winnable series being thrown away by this incredibly stubborn organization. Honestly, the decision making and usage is beyond inexcusable at this point. I have never been so frustrated by a team refusing to change their ways.
Play the freaking kids. At least if we are going to lose, do it with something to gain in the process. Losing is one thing, but to continue taking this stupid approach of veterans at all cost is ridiculous.

Joakim Andersson played more than AA tonight. Luke Glendening played five more minutes than Dylan Larkin.
Winnable series being thrown away by this incredibly stubborn organization. Honestly, the decision making and usage is beyond inexcusable at this point. I have never been so frustrated by a team refusing to change their ways.
Play the freaking kids. At least if we are going to lose, do it with something to gain in the process. Losing is one thing, but to continue taking this stupid approach of veterans at all cost is ridiculous.

4-1 Lightning. The Red Wings limped to the finish line and are going into the playoffs trying the same exact strategy of running veterans into the ground and not icing the best possible lineup.
Crazy thing is this series is there for the taking. I just don't trust Blashill's usage and insistence of playing not to lose.

I have zero faith in the management of the team. Players will give the effort but fall short. 4-1 Tampa

Dumb dumb dumb!!! Why are they so stupid not to realize they better get the next generation ready. Only organization in the league that acts like this.

4-1 Lightning. The Red Wings limped to the finish line and are going into the playoffs trying the same exact strategy of running veterans into the ground and not icing the best possible lineup.
Crazy thing is this series is there for the taking. I just don't trust Blashill's usage and insistence of playing not to lose.

4-1 Lightning. The Red Wings limped to the finish line and are going into the playoffs trying the same exact strategy of running veterans into the ground and not icing the best possible lineup.
Crazy thing is this series is there for the taking. I just don't trust Blashill's usage and insistence of playing not to lose.

Even if there is some argument for Mantha not playing (which I don't agree with), then why not Jurco over Andersson even? The PK/faceoff line is garbage. The Wings have more than enough guys to kill penalties and Andersson isn't even good at faceoffs.
I love how when the Wings called him up it was for "injury insurance", but everyone knew damn well he was going to dress in the playoffs. This organization is a farce when it comes to saying one thing and doing another entirely.

I think with better personnel decisions and proper usage, the Wings can can win this series against the Lightning. If Blashill coaches like he did down the stretch, they are going to lose. I know he probably felt pressure to preserve the streak and all, but the over-reliance on declining veterans at the end of a six-month regular season was not the answer. I would have preferred the Wings use most of this year to transition younger players into larger roles, but the playoffs provide a new stage to give them an opportunity.
Z - Pav - Larkin
Nyquist - Sheahan - Mantha
Tatar - AA - Richards
Helm - Glendening - Abby
DeKeyser - Smith
Kronwall - Green
Quincey - Marchenko
None of this will ever happen, but I am going to believe at some point the real Jeff Blashill appears and not the Mike Babcock clone we have seen emerge lately. Maybe Blash's hands are tied by Holland. I just know the Wings are missing the boat entirely in player development and maximizing their ability to win games right now.

No one is saying that Mantha alone will make a huge difference, but in a game of inches, a slight edge could be the difference in winning and losing. Whether or not he is a better option than the least significant player in our lineup is worth the debate in my opinion because again, that slight edge could put us over the top. I'd rather Mantha helping out offensively and on the power-play for 10-12 minutes a night than Andersson getting hemmed in his own zone and killing penalties for any minutes a night. The guy is not an NHL caliber player, evident a few months ago when he was sent through waivers and cleared. Mantha is top prospect and a great offensive weapon. The fact that anyone would pick the black hole over a "potential" game changer is mind numbing to me, but I think I've said all I can possibly say, and I've heard more than enough from the Andersson enthusiasts...

Andersson is just SO VALUABLE that four months ago we decided we didn't want him anymore, put him on waivers and not a single team wanted to pick him up for a measly 800K...