wings87

I think Franzen is getting close to breaking out. Playing with Pav might be the boost he needs. I'm just ignoring that game(better for my sanity). Plus that was a weird game .

Why so pessimistic? I think the Sabres coming back and almost tying the last game will make this team continue to push and not let the foot off the gas.

Well Z isn't back yet. When he returns, Babs can consider putting Abby on the top line; but until then Abby has no business's there. Even when Z would gets back though, I still would prefer Franzen play with them.

Yeah he likes him there, but there are very few reasons to like him there; he just doesn't belong up top. We've been doing just fine without Abby on the first line, and just because the playoffs are coming up doesn't mean he automatically gets to play there. I can't stress this enough, Jurco has to play with Tatar. He creates space and allows Tatar room to maneuver. Plus if Nyquist plays with Pav and the kid line doesn't get separated, we have two scoring lines. With Abby on the top line, we have 1.5 lines capable of scoring; and that's if Tatar doesn't fall back into a funk without Jurco. Not to mention Jurco is a waste on the fourth.

Jurco gets hurt-Tatar struggles. Jurco returns from injury-Tatar gets hot. Tatar gets hot-Babcock puts Jurco on the fourth line- yeah this makes a lot of sense. Argh... Why is Abby back on the first line? Does Babs have a learning disability? Why doesn't he get that Abby doesn't belong up there? I don't care how much space he creates, he has no business on the top line. I just hope these lines will change after a few shifts.

I agree. But there are many sides, one being that we didn't really give guys a shot to prove they can play. Almqvist, Ouellet, and Marchenko barely got a chance to play. Granted if Marchenko wasn't hurt he might have been given a chance-maybe. Kindl was good last year and I was expecting him to keep taking steps forward, but instead from early on in the season he has gotten progressively worse; and I would have zero issues with him taking a seat in the press box. Lashoff is another peculiar case, when he first came up last year his defense was also better then he has shown of late. And the reason he's up with Detroit now is because he had a chance to prove himself last year and impressed, which is something that our other young defensemen haven't been given a chance to do. I also agree that 10 to 20 games is not enough to prove whether these guys can cut it at the NHL level, but if Holland is going to use the depth in the AHL as an excuse to not find adequate defensive help then he should be giving these players a chance. I'll concede that with the playoffs coming up, making lineup changes is not ideal. Although I do think that the AHL players should have been given a chance earlier. At the very least, as I've stated earlier, Babs has to break up the Smith/Kindl pairing. Those two can't be on the ice at the same time. Put one with Q, one with DD, and let Smith play with Kronwall.

No one said he's a moron, and just because I like the Wings doesn't automatically make me blind to everything that goes on. Just like every GM Holland has his share of good and bad decisions(more debatably bad ones lately, though over the years he's had plenty of good ones), but let's not just bank on his track record here. He has to continue to produce just like ever player on the WIngs. I believe in loyalty, which is why regardless of how terrible Cleary has been-I still like him- and which is why for all of his bad decisions lately, I don't want Holland fired. Holland has said he would be hesitant to sign UFA because of the depth in the AHL, but here's the thing: wouldn't it make sense to see if the depth is real? To know, at least partly, whether the guys in the AHL actually have a future here? And didn't it make sense to give some of them a chance this year with all the injuries? What if the AHL players aren't any good and Holland hesitates to upgrade the D in the off-season, are we back to the same scenario we have now? It would have been nice to at least partially answer some of these question, when the opportunity presented itself.

Not seeing if the young defensemen are ready now,while we have a chance, might mean that they get buried in Grand Rapids for years. Going into the offseason Holland will and should be on the look-out for upgrades on the back end, which will lead to signing a couple dependable top 4 veterans(hopefully) to multi-year deals. Which will create a logjam leaving the kids once again in the minors in favor of veteran players. I have no problem with this scenario, but what if they are genuinely ready to contribute, if not this year then next. But because Holland refused to promote them, we don't get a chance to find out. This scenario can be corrected if Holland pulls the trigger on a trade for a guy like Weber(I know wishful thinking, just using him as an example) while packaging some young players. Having success with youth up front makes me think that it might be a good idea to try a young defenseman in the hopes of catching lightening in a bottle kinda like what happened with DD last year. I just don't want to go back to having young "over-ripe" players sitting in the minors waiting for an injury to get their chance. Now I get that the playoffs are right around the corner and such a move would be a difficult adjustment, but it feels like Holland missed the boat here. The WIngs have had a ton of injuries and its disappointing that the young defense prospects didn't get a look.

Yeah, that would work. I don't want to see Devellano leave, but if he wants to semi-retire he could always become a special adviser like Scotty Bowman.

Moving up would be, the WIngs creating a President position above the GM and move Holland up. This has been a popular move by many sports franchises to promote long time team GM's and get new breath into an organization.

How did this turn into a Holland bash fest? I haven't been his biggest as of late, but come on.

Me too, but I don't believe Kenny wants to move up.

With him being a repeat offender, and the fact that he stuck his shoulder while following through on the hit ;I'm going to buck the trend and say 7-10 games. I think it also depends on if Ruhwedel is out for awhile.

When you win-flaws are glanced over, and when you lose, flaws are magnified. When the Wings were winning it was great, but that didn't mean that all their problems magically disappeared. As far as the Habs game, that loss was a total team effort and not just the 3rd paintings fault. It's just that when Lashoff and Kindl are on the ice together it's a goal waiting to happen. The top 4 is what it is, and it won't get any better until the offseason. I don't think the issue is that they are young and inexperienced, since half our team is young and inexperienced. The issue is that they have been irresponsible with the puck, and having them on the ice at the same time is a nightmare.Isn't that the strategy now anyway? Get the best players on the ice against the 3rd pairing.

Backes stayed on top of him too long, but other then that not much happened. Jackman on the other hand is a giant dbag, I put him in the same category with Getzlaf; they both have that smug look that I just can't stand.

I get what your saying, but here's where we disagree. Jurco and Sheahan haven't been guys that have been thrown onto the 4th line, these guys have been the teams 2nd line and have played tremendously; and I doubt very many people thought they were ready. This of course doesn't mean that the defensemen that could be brought up would have the same impact- but with all the injuries and Kindl and Lashoff struggling- why not bring in one and try? I think Nick and DD should play more down the stretch, but if Babs limits the 3rd pairings time too much; DD and Nick would have to play more and that might cause their play to suffer. There are no easy answers, but Lashoff and Kindl can't be on the ice together. If Holland isn't interested in bring up players from the AHL at the very least Babs needs to pair Lashoff and Kindl with Quincey and DD. Yes. I know that Quincey/Kindl or Quincey/Lashoff might be just as scary, but we can't leave that 3rd pairing the way it is now.

Kindl was so good last year, but it's amazing how much he's regressed. Not only that, but last year he would shoot the puck, not so much this year. His confidence seems to be nonexistent and waining day by day. I had high hopes for him going into the year, but with the playoffs right around the corner; can we afford to keep playing him and Lashoff as our 3rd pairing? Much less in the same lineup?

Ipad is the s***. So if Holland is using a Kindle I'd recommend moving to an Ipad. But I digress. Ps. Auto-correct is messing with me today.

There's this new and amazing technology called auto-correct, you should check it out; it sometimes corrects words that shouldn't even be corrected. But thanks for pointing it out, you've really brought a lot to this conversation.

Fresh young blood doesn't imply that Kindl and Lashoff are old. Just that this team should have tried another defenseman months ago. And they don't need to solve all our problems, but not seeing what guys like Almqvist can do while we have injuries is not the wisest move. Kindl/Lashoff aren't really helping right now so who cares if it's close to the playoffs or not. Our young forwards are doing great and as I said not a lot people thought they were ready to play at the NHL level either.

I'm going to file this game under the: can't win them all moniker.

I want my evening back.

Monster, Kindle, and Lashoff have been awful.

Gustaffson has been awful.

I hate Lashoff!