wings87

Babcock is a great coach stuck with a suspect team. Just look at what he did last year with a compromised roster. I still think he is the right man for the job.

Holland is that you?Let's be serious in no shape or form is Franzen a better value than Hossa. Hossa makes 1.3 million more than Franzen, 1.3! Even in a salary cap world that's minuscule. Plus you can't even compare the two on defense, Hossa is a world class defensive player. You don't need a team full of all-stars to win but with the salary cap you have to be smart on where you allocate your resources. Let's run down a couple of Hollands signings: Bertuzzi: 2 years at just over 2 million, love Todd but that's not a great deal for an older player with back problems. But his deal is not as bad as some others. Sammy: 2 years at 6 million, Holland did this deal when the team had cap space which makes it that much worse. Tootoo: 1.9 for 3 years, he doesn't provide much offensively and Babs never plays him. Cleary: 1 year at just under 2 million, but signed him when the team had a full roster and up against the cap. And let's not forget about giving up a first round pick for Quincey. You can also add never finding a replacement for either Lidstrom or Rafalski. Hollands decisions lately have been very suspect.

I got massive respect for Babcock especially for what he did last year with a young and at times ugly looking team. As far as Holland goes I'm really down on his decisions, he seems to be stuck in the past. Datsyuk has needed a pure scorer on his line since Hull left. Holland got Hossa and than let him defect to a rival team and instead signed Franzen. And if I have to hear him say we like our prospects to be "over-ripe" one more time I might barf.

Hate splitting up Datsyuk and Zetterberg, we have one line that works but by all means lets screw with it until nothing at all works.

Yay! But as much as I want to believe it, he won't fix all the problems this team has.

Now I know that its only been 7 games and Weiss will need some time to adjust but he has been a completely different player then I expected him to be. He loses the puck too easily he has been slow and looks terrified of the boards at times. He reminds me more of Lang than Filppula. I didn't get a chance to watch him with the Panthers so I guess my question is, is this the type of player he is or should I expect him to be better going forward?

Why even play the games, they should save every one some time and just forfeit.

Lazy play by Cleary on penalty.

They will score a goal and go to OT again.

Not surprising they gave up a goal, the team just look disinterested out there. This is up there as one of the most boring games of the year.

Saying this gives a complete pass to the wings D. Howard is not the only player on the Ice. He has a 9.10 save percentage, yeah his GAA is a bit high but that's not totally his fault for the amount of shots he faces nightly. Take a look at some of the goals given up lots of 2-1, empty nets, missed assignments, and not nearly enough blocks. More times than not he is under constant onslaught, he deserves blame but then so does everyone not named Datsyuk and Zetterberg, A little more time in the offensive zone wouldn't hurt this team, and Howard would look completely different.

With the Wings porous defensive and the inability to block shots any goalie would look bad. That being said Howard has made plenty of mistakes but hasn't played as bad as the recent streak suggests.

I don't think it's derailment, it's more like evolution.

You may be right but Andersson seems to fit more with a guy like Miller. I think we can all agree Tatar should get top six minutes. Plus coaches juggle lines all the time and you have to be able to adjust quick if you play center.

You're right but I'm talking more about with Weiss out. Andersson has had plenty of time on that third line and he hasn't performed so he either needs to take a breather in the press box or be moved to the fourth line until Weiss gets back. And when Weiss is healthy I'd like to see Glendening get a shot to center the fourth line. I'm not saying bench Andersson forever just give someone else a chance.

I guess if the shoe fits... But still kinda harsh.

I'd trade Andersson in a heartbeat. With Sammy and Cleary sucking it up I feel that Andersson gets a pass for his underwhelming start. I know the guy is relatively responsible with the puck and kills penalties but for a third line center he has been fairly invisible lately. He also sports a -5 on the year and has 6 points, the wings need more production from the third line center for secondary scoring to pick up. Now I don't advocate trading him because he is still young and cheap he also has size the Wings badly lack. However I'd like him to be benched for a game or two in Favor of Glendening or at the very least drop down to the fourth line and have Glendening center the third line. Of course I would prefer Nyquist there but the team just doesn't have the cap space to bring him up.

I think the Wings are really missing Weiss's face off ability especially in the defensive zone. He was really getting comfy in the face offs which helped get puck control right away and not have to chase the puck around. Didn't think I would have said this a month ago but the team misses him, he got hurt just when it felt like he was getting ready to take off. They can't afford to have the injury derail all the progress he made.

Yep.

Wings fans should throw the Snuggies on the ice during playoffs instead of octopi.

I'm a Yankees fan, I got nothing personal against the Mets. I guess it's just instinctual.

I never thought I would agree with a Mets fan. I guess I should look for flying pigs tomorrow.

What are your teams? Tigers? Love me some Valverde, maybe you can do a little dance too.

On a positive note they could have won every one of these games, so there's that.

As a Yankees fan I can't relate, but feel your pain.