stevkrause

you sir, win picture response post of the day!

I never thought I'd say this, but... I love you Rob Blake.

I think this past season was a lot more of an anomaly than a constant for Sammy too... I have a very strong feeling that he will level out over the next 2 years of his contract...

Holland has made it very clear that the brain trust discusses everything in extreme detail and no decisions are unilaterally made and that includes Yzerman.

I thought the same thing when I saw it, I was really glad to see him land an everyday role with an NHL team, but he had to get that head up on that one...

I think Nill is happy with his current role... but regardless, he's not only a couple years younger than Holland, so if Yzerman is sticking around until Holland retires, Nill probably would be retiring as well... I think it's more likely that one of Holland or Nill take a GM role somewhere else and then Yzerman replaces the other when they retire... I just can't see Yzerman being the one who leaves, although it's definitely not implausible, I just can't see it happening... Exactly, especially with the range in age of his girls...

exactly this - just to give them a taste of what it's like - rosters are basically unlimited come playoffs, so no one needs to go down, they just become 2 more of the "black aces"

I just can't see it happening... regardless of the rumors, I think teams are calling and media is hyping something based on those calls, but I just can't see Yzerman entertaining those ideas - he IS a Red Wings, gets payed well even playing "2nd fiddle" and gets to "run the show" with team Canada, he has never had an ego and I don't see that taking over now where he NEEDS to be the one in charge...

That he did, he'll be a UFA going into next year, but with Hudler coming back, I don't see them making a push for him and I can see him re-signing long term with NY anyway with the way he clicked with Gaborik... and yes, he would have been a HUGE upgrade over Williams...

I LOVE the SO for the regular season only, because ties SUCK and leave fans leaving the arena with a sour taste in their mouth and a feeling of wasted time and we also have to remember that although it is a sport, it's also an entertainment business and you can't have games going on forever in a marathon 82 game season... With that said, I am a HUGE proponent of re-structuring the OT/SO format and point value, because OT is a joke right now and teams just sit back and wait for the SO... I think the game would improve tenfold if they made the adjustment: 10 min - 4 on 4 THEN if no win, SO Win in Reg/OT - 3pts Win in SO - 2pts Loss in SO - 1pt Loss in Reg/OT - 0pts With this format/structure, teams will play for the win in OT, because they're losing points by not winning in OT... but at least if the OT goes the full 10 without a score, you get a gimmicky entertaining end to the game, with the teams essentially splitting the points(basically the same way they did before when there were ties, just this time there's an actual "winner")...

I just don't like the idea of some games being worth more than others... As it stands right now, any game that goes past regulation is worth a grand total of 3 points, so all games should be worth a grand total of 3 points - I also don't like the idea of rewarding a team the same point value in a SO for an individual effort as you would for a TEAM victory of a TEAM game... I think it would give teams more incentive to play for the win in OT, rather than sit back and just wait for the SO... If anything I think this would make it less complicated, as all games are worth the same point total...

Lets also keep in mind that LA is leading that series...

I still would have preferred that thw Wings having made a strong push for Prospal instead of Williams or Sammy...

I think it's better than the old system, but I still think they need to fix the OT/SO structure and value to emphasize the team game more... 10 min - 4 on 4 THEN if no win, SO Win in Reg/OT - 3pts Win in SO - 2pts Loss in SO - 1pt Loss in Reg/OT - 0pts

It's gotta go to Bryzgalov with the year he had, although it wouldn't be an upset if Miller won...

Agreed 100% on the Flip-Z-Mule line - they had AMAZING chemistry and their style's compliment each other VERY well...

I like the fact that it would allow Lids to play more offensively minded too, because Kronwall could bail him out if need be, whereas right now, he pretty much ALWAYS has to be ready to cover for Raffi...

This is the real issue, through and through... they played uninspired hockey and looked like they didn't care for 55 minutes of the game... you don't wait until you're down by 2 with 5 minutes left to FINALLY turn it up to 100% - it should be that from the first drop of the puck.

I think this actually is an issue... but these are also professional athletes in TREMENDOUS shape... they can take the toll... Lids is probably the only one who this could be a legit concern...

Lebda is a turnover machine... he's worse than E in that aspect and at least E is getting better about it... I do agree with you that Lebda wasn't bad in the past 2 runs and was pretty good in 07 and 08 actually... but that's one of the things that bothers me the most, he hasn't even stayed on par, he's digressed... even for the sake of shaking things up, it's not worth the trade off... Next, I actually disagree with you to that the first pair can't change and actually think pretty strongly that it should... Lidstrom-Kronwall Stuart-Rafalski Ericsson-Lilja you have Lilja to cover for E when he pinches and gets out of position and Stuart to cover for Rafalski, PLUS you now have at least one really good hitting, physical defenseman on each pairing... something important against a team like Phoenix

Although I see the intrigue, Flip and Hank have been playing SO well together, I can't fathom breaking them up... with that said, Bert has looked a little weak these past couple of games and I've always loved Franzen and Z's chemistry... I would like to see this: Filppula-Zetterberg-Franzen Cleary-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Abdelkader-Helm-Eaves Bertuzzi-Draper-Miller at times rolling in either Z or Dats with Bert and Miller and sitting Draper a little bit... I really like Abdelkader-Helm-Eaves, this line could really make Phoenix make some mistakes and wear their defense down. just my 2 cents...

Ericsson is not the problem - he is a 3rd pairing guy and has not been a minus player once in the 3 playoff games and was a plus 2 after the Olympic break... he is MUCH better with Lils and Lebda is HORRENDOUS... the issue is not our 3rd pairing... it unfortunately WAS our 1st pairing...

This game marked a VERY dark day... I found myself, for the first time in at least 15 years, saying "WTF Lidstrom?!?!" and "Babs has got to get Lidstrom off the ice" He's hands down, one of, if not the best defensemen of all time... but he had a horrible game and that pairing (Rafalski was horrible too and was more at fault than Lidstrom) probably cost us the game today

Alright, so the first thing was fixed - Abs in for Williams... now onto the second topic - Who will man the point on the 2nd PP unit? Now, don't get me wrong, I think Stuart has been great and was very good on the powerplay when he worked it earlier this year with the injuries and wouldn't be disappointed to see him back there, but it makes more sense to have Ericsson on the PP for this reason - As we saw in the mini-slump Stuart had earlier this year, he is best when right around 18-21 minutes a night, anything more and he starts to do too much and make mental mistakes, he works VERY well on the PK (last game was bad for everyone) and should play big minutes 5 on 5, with that said, spread it out a little and do this: PP1 - Lidstrom-Rafalski PP2 - Ericsson-Kronwall PK1- Stuart-Kronwall PK2- Lidstrom-Lilja Ericsson has a CANON of a shot and has good offensive instincts and can handle the puck well... why not set him up for those one timers and give it a shot?

If anything, they'd cycle Rafalski, Lidstrom and Kronwall and they would all see an average of 1:20 of ice time per PP... I still think E's worth trying to groom for that role in practice and see where it takes us... I also wouldn't mind seeing Eaves get a chance...