VM1138

All I know is that he shies away from being physical most of the time, he turns over the puck in ridiculously bad situations, and it seems every time the other team scores on us Ericsson is on the ice. I did throw in the "almost" when comparing him to Lebda, remember, haha. EDIT: And honestly, if Detroit wasn't so keen on giving him a chance to see what he'll bring, Ericsson should have sat for 25 games this season like Lebda did.

Ericsson, no hesitation. He's turning into Lebda out there. Almost.

The point is Bertuzzi can play hockey. He can be an impact player after fighting. Nobody is against a fighter who can play hockey. But the enforcers always seem to want some scrub who can barely play to just fight every game. And with Bertuzzi and Abdelkader out there at various points during a game, that's a lot more psychological against another team than some guy getting called up to play two shifts.

He had one beautiful play in which he sliced right into the front of the net. If he makes that play every game instead of cycling or going wide, I don't care if he takes only one shot a game. Chances are that shot will go in probably 70% of the time if he cuts across the middle with that big body.

The reffing is atrocious. I don't know if I can handle another playoff run with the reffing we've had to deal with the past three seasons or so. At any rate, I'm glad they won and clinched a playoff spot, but the only difference between this game and the rest of the season is that they kicked their agression way up. I think what probably happened is that Babcock reminded each player that they needed to fill a role and not just try to score. Bertuzzi playing more physical the last two games and getting into fights is a good sign. If he recognizes he can play more physically now, that's what we need. Very, very, very disappointed in Ericsson. Why the hell is he playing on the PK? Great game, much needed win. EDIT: Updated standings at NHL.com, but no clinch for the Wings? I just did the math, there's no way any team currently out of the playoffs can catch the Wings, how does that not mathematically seal the deal?

Honestly, I'm tired of hearing this over and over. It's been "rumored" for years, and it usually ends up being some fan's pipe dream that gets promoted as coming from "official sources."

Honestly, I think it has the most to do with team makeup. Perhaps the Wings organization has been a little too lenient? Maybe a trade of a not-likely-to-be-traded figure would wake the team up and realize even though it's a great place to work, it's still a business, and that business is winning? Sadly, I'm thinking Kronwall, who I like but just hasn't been that indispensable this season, but is indispensable enough to be a bit shocking. EDIT: I pick Kronwall of course because defense has been the real big flaw this season, and trading Ericsson or Kindl just isn't going to have a huge impact on the locker room. Obviously Lids stays, Rafalski can't go, and Stuart ranges from consistently solid #3 D-man to absolutely fantastic shut down D-man throughout a season. Kronwall is good too but if someone has to go for impact's sake, it'd be him.

Quite simply put, after allowing 10 scoring less than 11 will be a disgrace. Let's go Wings!

I've always felt that as long as a woman can survive the exact same tests as a man she should be allowed to do whatever she wants. I don't favor having a different set of standards for women, so if she can take hits and physically play the game at that high of a level, I think it'd be great to have a woman in the league.

If the Wings flipped a switch that night, I think they blew the fuse.

I think there's only so much Babcock can do with what he has. We were all pretty pumped about the lineup coming into this season, but when you look at the type of players on this team, it's just not that dynamic. We have a lot of skilled forwards, but most of them can't consistently score. While we're deep, it's mostly with good role players. We've lacked a real second line all season long. It's basically a great first line and three pretty good third lines. And our defense has no chemistry. This is a combination of McCrimmon (It just can't NOT involve him, it's too much of a coincidence) and the mixing of the defensive pairings. And no matter what anyone says, right now Ericsson and Kindl are hardly better than Lebda was during his time here, and I would argue they're not better than Lilja was. And of course our goaltending has sucked for 80% of the season. We're really hurting from Franzen's disappearance. Early on Cleary stepped into the breach, but during his injury and since we've missed that dynamic second line scorer. We should not be hurting this bad from only missing Datsyuk, as amazing as Datsyuk is.

That's exactly what dumb, immature guys do, beat people up for looking at them funny, basically. Lame.

For some reason when I think of Chicago I think of a bunch of arrogant college kids with pink shirts and popped collars talking like they're the smartest guys in the room who nobody can stand.

I've heard anywhere from 0-6 with regards to Howe having the GH Hat trick. Honestly, I don't know where people are pulling these numbers from but it's a different number everytime it's discussed. Someone needs to get to the bottom of this.

Super-pumped about this kid. He's going to be great, I think.

I agree about sitting some players before playoffs. Light a fire under them for the playoffs. Sit Mule for a game, sit Modano for one, sit Ericsson for the playoffs, and we'd be all set, hopefully.

I don't think it's Babcock so much. Lidstrom I'm beginning to have an issue with. I just don't see Yzerman letting something like this slide. I don't want him to hit the panic button but there IS a time for emotion. Lazy has been the definition of this team all year. People keep talking about previous ass-whoopings, but forget that in those years the Wings were otherwise fantastic who hit a crazy fluke game or a bad stretch. This season, the bad stretch has lasted since December, with the exception of two weeks in February. This is not an exception to play this season, which worries me a bit. Honestly, it all comes down the players. Apparently they feel they have nothing to play for, and with all their talent, this is unacceptable. Maybe they can turn it on come playoff time. I hope they do. But if not, it might be time for a minor roster shakeup. This whole season has just felt like we have a lot of role players and no one willing to step up except for Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Helm.

Well, judging from the other ass-whoopings the Wings have received this year, we can expect a huge bounce back game in Nashville and then a return to mediocrity after that until out next ass-whooping.

What. the. hell. I just saw the score, usually I watch the games on DVR after work but I'm not bothering now. Utterly disgusting. Is this the worst loss since the 40s? I can only think of a game where we allowed 13 against Toronto way back when. Unless we were the ones that scored 13... Just...wow. Listening to the postgame interviews, I can't say I'm impressed with Lidstrom. I understand the need to keep the team calm and realize it is just one game, but as a leader you need to challenge your players. This would have been a good time for "This was an unacceptable loss. We are better than this and I expect us to be better than this this weekend." Something more than a simple "we got outworked but it'll all be okay." Babcock came closer to the truth, but even he must be reserving his rage for practice tomorrow. This is one of those wake-up games. Good teams don't get trounced like this. For all the "it's just a game, it happens to everyone" let's recall that it HASN'T happened to the Wings for decades, so apparently it doesn't happen to everyone once in a while. It is just one game, but it is also an exaggeration of what has been going on all year. They would do well to take note rather than sweep it under the rug.

I want St. Louis to bring their A game. I know that sounds weird, but getting close to playoffs I want the Wings to get familiar with battling. Games in the playoffs aren't about one team blowing out the other, it's about grinding out close wins against another team that wants to win just as bad as you. I predict the Wings to win, but I don't want crappy St. Louis play to take away from the victory.

It's kind of unfair to pit Salei vs. Kindl. Like Salei said, he's been playing all year and playing pretty well. Kindl and Ericsson, on the other hand, haven't wowed either, and really should have shown us something.

J-Mac needs to start. Not only because he's earned it, but because we don't need the Blues running Howard and reinjuring him right before playoffs.

Honestly I feel great going into the playoffs every year, even last year. But this year does feel off, I agree. I hope I'm wrong but looking back over the season except for a strong first 20 games I can't think of any positives other than Helm's breakout half-season to pull from the season.

MacDonald is certainly making the most of his time, I honestly don't know if he's the answer as a backup, but if Ozzie can't return I wouldn't be against it, either. He's been fantastic so far.

It's not just about still images. If you watch the video closely (which we assume the NHL does) it's clear his armpit hits Johnson. It's an awkward way to have your arm for sure, but it's pretty clear it wasn't an intentional "elbow" and Bertuzzi tried to reduce the power of the impact not only with that but by hitting him to the side instead of dead on.