The Secret

This team has the talent to be a fast and hard team to play against but is not. I personally put the blame squarely on Blashill and his terrible system. Get a real coach and this team plays far better.... not cup winning better but worth watching better. I was a fan through the "deadwing" era... That era was filled with many losses and disappointments but it had Yzerman + some washed up stars + Probert and Kocur so it was still fun to watch. This teams play just sucks to watch unless you enjoy watching Pros (some ridiculously over paid like Abdelkader, Helm and....) looking confused, disorganized, uninspired and well not like an NHL team. Blashill has to go and a good coach needs to be found, sooner then later. Maybe a new coach will help us preserve our streak because the way this team is playing right now the streak ends this year.

So... fill me in Shocky. Give me a clue. Embarrassing is this teams performance under Jeff Blashill. Clueless is the way this entire team looks just about every night they play. Sad is that there are still people that are defending this terrible coach.

No spot is owed to any player and so I think you play the hot hand and if there is no clear cut #1 then play both in hope to spur each other on to play better. A good tandem is a safer bet then putting all your eggs in a basket that hasnt showed it can handle all the eggs.

Adding elite talent to a poorly coached team will give you a poorly coached team with elite talent. I don't have any faith in Blashill's system to think even an elite talent would change things much. You'd have an elite player skating around as confused and unorganized as the rest of the team, not knowing who his line mates will be each shift, thinking he needs to take the whole team on his back to be able to win... eventually leading to an elite player becoming frustrated. Start by getting a real coach and then see what happens.

I like Glendening but Bertuzzi, even with with his inexperience, brings way more to the table then Glendening ever will. I really think the problem is less with the team and more on the coach for not have an NHL calibre battle plan. Tweaking lines is one thing but how can linemates gain any sort of chemistry when each shift you have new players on the line with you? Blashill is sucking, he knows it and he is desperate and it shows. We need a real coach ASAP!

I totally agree with you... Blashill's tactics may have worked in the AHL but they have been (and continue to be) completely ineffective in the NHL. Blashill is Dave Lewis v2.0 (I think I would actually prefer Dave Lewis to Blashill) Dump this guy as soon as a real coach can be found to replace him... end this ugly experiment this team is painful to watch. I think this team is far better then the way its playing right now and the longer this sh!t show goes on for the more disgruntled the players (and fans) will get.

Drew and Mike are back.... You heard me right DREW AND MIKE ARE BACK!!!!!! Drew and Mike have started their own podcast and the first episode is out. Spread the word... Let's welcome them back after being away for way to long http://drewandmikepodcast.com/ Let's not forget the fella's at The Detroitcast. They are putting out a near Drew and Mike quality show for the last few years. Lead by Mike Wolters the former producer of the famous WRIF Drew and Mike show http://detroitcast.com/ Mornings with the Drew and Mike show were worth waking up for... then the dreaded END came. Suddenly, suddenly and all of a sudden mornings were sad (screw dave and chuck). With the birth of The Detroit Cast the clouds started to thin and eventually the sun once again began to shine. Mornings were good again. But now... The Actual Drew and Mike are back together again PLUS The DetroitCast is better then ever... Donald Trump could quite possibly be President , Steve Yzerman could quite possibly be coming home to GM us back to the Glory Days... what else could happen??? Seriously Drew and Mike.. Check them out! TDC, check them out!!! Peace

Who? Drew and Mike are a Detroit icon. They had the #1 morning show on WRIF for the better part of 21 years. Is this a Wings Podcast? Nope. But they frequently had Red Wings as guests and they do love their Detroit sports.. all of them, which includes Red Wings

The team looked confused/lost and was mistake prone all season long. To me they looked ill prepared and/or his system was crap (probably a bit of both). This team imo is way better then Blashill was able yo get them to play. I think the team is younger with more talent then we have seen in a while yet the power play that was near league best last season sucked gigantic blue veiny beach balls. Face offs? what are those? Clearly NOT something that was practiced. How about CLEARING THE ZONE? Not practiced... What was practiced (and used a zillion times a game) was the lame zone entry of forwards skate puck to blue line then stop, pass back to defenseman and wait for him to carry it in.... SO STUPID!!! With all the speed this team has dump and chase for Pete's sake. Let those young speedy kids retrieve them pucks. This should have been the season Pav, Z and Kronwall down shifted to get them a break rather then expect they produce like they were 25 again. Worst of all we lost out on the chance for some really good coaches for this failed experiment. Can I start the bring back Dave Lewis thread now?

Didn't read a word of this post but I will throw my 2 cents in on how to fix this mess... Run Blashill and his boring hockey system clear out of town and BEG Babs to come back! The Blashill experiment failed miserably. Don't believe me, watch the never ending team confusion and random line shuffling. Watch what has become a very boring and predictable team get owned over and over and over again. That stupid new zone entry move they use repeatedly.... forward quickly carries the puck to the opponents blue line then all forwards stop, pass the puck back to the defense, then wait for the defense-man to carry the puck in. Guddammet!!!! This team is young... turn the youth loose!!!! Forget the dumb pass back BS. If you can't carry the puck in then dump and chase. Get it deep and have that youth chase and hound. We don't have the high powered super stars of decades ago... we need an old school smash-mouth system. Aggressive fore-check, mucking and grinding in the corners, hard shots on net and young kids crashing and fighting for pucks in front. Teach them to step in and finish a check... no more patty cakes! No need for killing people but checks that make the other team think.

Well... Abdelkader did look like a chump. At least drop the gloves and give him a big hug or throw him on the ground rather than look at the ref, shrug your shoulders and look like a giant vageen. That and someone throwing beer at the player? Dick move. That is the definition of classless and it's also a sin to waste a $15 USD beer like that. If you did that in Canada your buddy standing next to you jersey's you, give you a beat down, makes you walk home and drinks any roadie's you left in the car.

Tyler Johnson is what one or both of Nyquist and Tatar should be. I would gladly trade Nyquist + Tatar + their european cloak of invisibility for Tyler Johnson

With Datsyuk and Zetterberg nearing the end of their career I would have thought they should be moved down to the second line to: 1. Spend a bit less time on the ice and preserve them for the post season 2. Play against opponents 2nd string rather than 1st string 3. Start getting the next generation of leadership seasoned and playing in that capacity 4. Give the kids as much exposure to the Datsyuks and Zetterbergs while we still have them

Put the kid in and let him get the experience!!! It's a no brainer. It's not like they get past the first round with this horse crap coaching anyway. Make lemons out of lemonade Blashill.

Seems like one piece too much as originally stated but Nyquist + Sheahan + Marchenko + 1st for Stamkos + Droiun I would do

I know... I know.. It is way too early to tell if the Jeff Blashill experience will be celebrated or despised. However, Blashill being given the keys to an upgraded, healthy and improved Red Wing team that can suddenly not win, or score or even manage to get a damn shot on net does get one thinking (...not worrying yet!) In 1993 gruff old Scotty Bowman came in and forged the team into a winner. He was not a fun man, nor a nice man but he was a very well respected man and is still the winningest NHL coach by a large margin... not a "players coach". When Scotty retired, the keys to practically the same quality team was given to his assistant of many years, Dave Lewis, who was known to be a" players coach" and he drove that team to 2 very successful regular season and 2 heartbreaking crash and burns in the playoffs before being let go. In comes the demanding, controlling and always scowling Mike Babcock, not a "players coach". 1 Stanley Cups, another trip to game 7 of the finals, the winningest Red Wings coach, IMHO he guided 2 years worth of either dead weight filled and injured or inexperienced and injured teams into the playoffs (I think the play off streak ended if it weren't for coach Babcock). Not a "players coach" but knew how to get the absolute most out of what he had. Now we have Blashill, a real "players coach".... they love him, but can he get this team on track and winning? I haven't been this excited about a Red Wing team in years but I can help to think back to the Bowman transition to Lewis failure. It's way to early to know but this is a great topic for discussion. What do you think?

Blashill should add another page from Babcock's book and start calling and talking to Todd Nelson a few times a week to pick his brain. It took him a good dozen games to figure out how to coach at the AHL level but he's now done that and is crushing it.... Blashill needs to do the same and maybe Oates + Nelson can help him figure out how to coach at the NHL level

I really like the addition of Mike Green. He hasnt been as offensive (yet) as we'd hoped but it probably has to do with getting use to a new team and system but he is not the defensive liability I thought he'd be and man is he ever a great skater.... smooth! He has a great shot form the point that he needs to lean into more often. Once Blashill learns how to coach an NHL team and utilize the weapons he has Green will provide more but I am still really happy with him so far.

I looked for the button to LOVE this post but couldn't find it. You my friend are 100000% correct. Much less ticky tacky crap for a while and dig into some old school blast at the net and muck the puck hockey.... Get ugly

The best All-Star game format would be the one where they cancel the stupid game

No I've been saying the same thing from the start. Not wanting him turfed yet but so far Jeff Blashill hockey sucks.

Val Fullapoohlah v 2.0

The Koala. There were some really good seasoned coaches available, The Koala being one of them! I'm not giving up on Blashill nor am I saying to fire him (yet). But I am saying that he had better be finding his way very fast. This is too good of a team to be barely floating around .500 hockey. Babcocks s***ty Leafs are now approaching .500 and this team is far and away better then Taranna

Mr. Winger... for once I agree with you I hope we start to see slow steady improvement soon.

You are right, some nights it looks like they are coming together and then others it just looks like they are confused, no confidence... it's frustrating to watch on those nights. Thank God for our Goalie's! I still have faith this can come together but it better start happening fast. I beg to differ... 2 of those 4 had no reason to even be in the play offs and twice they took the eventual Cups Champs to game 7... Not the desired outcome of never losing and winnning everything all the time but not too shabby considering.