wings_fanatic

If we beat the Ducks tonight, it will really hurt their playoff push and by the deadline if they are seemingly out of it, I think Kenny should take a run at Selanne. IMO Selanne is the best bet at a missing piece to help us win a cup this year. Like Nick, he is still the best player on his team this season (even at his age) and we all know how clutch Selanne is.

If the Lightening Organization has any class they will tell Stevie Y to come back and play for his team in the alumni game... I am sure Lightening fans will understand. Hell, most of their fans are actually Red Wings fans just cheering for the Lightening as a second favorite team simply because Stevie is Gm...

I know, but specifically the Wings. My favorite ref, which is odd considering most Wings fans hate him, is Dan O'Halloran. Yah there was 2007/8 where he called off a couple goals against the Wings that were bad calls, but ever since then he has been the most consistent ref in the league (besides Bill McCurey last year). He calls every game fair, and makes legit calls to both sides.

As I said after the 1st, Chris Lee is the s***tiest ref in the nhl. That call on Homer was PATHETIC and that too many men call he made was pretty bad too. IMO the nhl should be reviewing Chris Lee as a ref because he has a history of making s***ty calls against the Red Wings. Aside from that Franzen needs to stop trying to be so damn fancy and shoot the puck! Pavel is having an outstanding game and if only Franzen would shoot instead of trying to make a stupid move. Other than that, I think all of the top 6 are having an outstanding game, creating offense and chances, just need better finish. Ericsson, as good as he was in the first, made a really dumbass decision to try to instigate a fight and therefore allowed a 2 on 0 against our goalie. Hopefully we continue to play good in the 3rd and bring this one home. And the Wings deserve some makeup calls after those bulls*** chriss lee calls.

Good period for the Wings considering its the first game back from a LONG road trip. I thought they got going after the first 8 minutes and took over. Pavel looks very much more alive tonight and, considering his wrist injury, that is great to see. The powerplay we had was great, they kept moving the puck and did not try anything dumb to give it away... the good movement is what we need to keep seeing. Also, I am really confident with Joey Mac in net right now. On a side note, I thought the officiating was lame that period. Chris Lee is the worst red in the NHL so no surprise, but hopefully the men in stripes put the whistles away so we can play 5 on 5 and win this thing.

A top 6 winger imo. The Red Wings are so good that they will work out their powerplay woes by season's end... they simply have too much talent. But we need a goal scorer to add to the mix and that will be the difference for us.

I agree with you. The funny part is that the Red Wings literally kill off 5 on 3s 10 times better then 5 on 4s. Why? Because on a 5 on 3 they are much more aggressive and block all the passing lanes and when they get to that puck they make sure it goes down all the way. One thing I have seen improvement in recently though is they challenge the other team a lot more now when they try to gain the zone and clear it down right away. The problem for the Red Wings, when shorthanded 5 on 4, is that when the other team gains the zone all the Red Wings do is circle around and get in the lane. That is good, but the problem is they are far too passive. You watch clips from 2008 when we won the Cup and you will see how much more the Wings challenged that year and that is why they had the best PK and ultimately that helped them win the Cup. I think Babcock and staff have to go back and look at tape from 2008 in a lot of areas for this team because our PK and our PP that year were the league's best and this year both specialty teams SUCK. I agree with you that this issue needs to be ironed out because, lets face it, when we play the Sharks in the playoffs they get the better end of calls 90% of the time. The way I see it, we are the best 5 on 5 team in hockey (along with the Bruins). We are first place in the NHL, but have a below average specialty teams. IF Mike Babcock and his staff, along with the players, can fix this problem then they will become even more dangerous and that could be the difference in the long run.

No Franzen, lazy at times, still has 20 goals for us and has a pretty good history in the playoffs for us. Ericsson is garbage and needs to go... that is the worst mistake Kenny has ever made signing him to that contract. I say package Ericsson, Hudler+ to get a deal with Washington for Semin, or if Selanne is available, then trade for him.

Great game by Nick, Pavs and Joey Mac. Poor games noteably from Franzen and Hudler. Franzen with a terrible giveaway to lead to the empty netter and Hudler was just giving the puck away all night. For example, when we won the faceoff with the extra attacker, Hudler had an easy play to pass it back to Nick at the point and instead dumped it around which allowed Phoenix to clear it. I think it is evident that Kenny needs to make a trade for a scoring forward really bad. The one positive thing is that no more of this road s*** we get to watch a majority of the remainder games at home, where the Wings are 100 times better. BUT, a trade is still going to be the difference between a 2nd round exit and winning the Stanley Cup imo.

What a s***ty call on Lidstrom, there was absolutely NO HOOK! I swear the NHL needs to implement some sort of system to review every game with calls officials make and punish them for stupid calls. Anyways, another horrible period of hockey for the wings. No energy, little effort and their powerplay has REALLY costed us so far by allowing a shorty against us. Mike Babcock has to get these guys to get going asap! The only two players that had outstanding periods were Nick Lidstrom and Joey Mac. Nick was AWESOME breaking up tons of plays, excellent positioning and trying his best to get things going. And if not for Joey, this game might be out of reach. Like I said, this team better get going.

The way I see it, if we can come away with a solid W tonight then that makes the record for this road trip 3-1-1 (which is a very good record considering the time of the year and the injury to Howard). After this road trip is over tonight, we have a very favorable schedule, having 18 of the final 28 games at home, where the Red Wings have been so much more dominant for multiple reasons. I doubt we see improvement to the Powerplay tonight, but I think with the Wings being at home so much for the remainder of the season, it will really give babs a lot of extra time to work on things like the Powerplay and things kicking in motion.

Since Babs refuses to put the Eurotwins together I want him to stick to his changes from last game because Pavs has looked out of energy since post- all star break so I think he just needs to get energized with a new line. Filpulla- Datsyuk- Hudler (I think this can be a fun line with great speed and will force all of them to shoot more) Franzen- Zetterberg- Bert (Clearly the addition of Bert really opened the ice up for Hank and he was flying last game in the 3rd so hopefully he can keep it up) Then the regular 3rd and 4th lines which have been very good. On defense, I want to see Nick shooting the puck more I am tired of White taking all the shots... Nick simply has a way better shot but is not shooting enough. As for the powerplay units I would like to see: Filpulla- Datsyuk- Homer White- Lidstrom (This will give Pavs a line where he HAS to shoot the puck more and will move around well rather then stand around passing the puck like the powerplay has been doing) Franzen- Zetterberg- Bertuzzi Hudler- Kronwall (Big bodies, but Babs needs them to get open and SHOOT)

You nailed it... everyone is trying to set everyone else up on the powerplay this year... no one wants to shoot! Babs has got to get Pavs to get shooting a LOT more than he is, same with Hank. I have said it before and I will say it again, Babs needs to get Hank to play like he did in 2008 (where he SCORED GOALS)! To do that he needs to put the 2 together on the powerplay at least! Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Homer White- Lidstrom - Hank and Pavs NEED to both shoot the puck a lot more than they do - Have Nick shoot the puck and all the forwards crash the net (basics) Franzen- Fil- Bert Hudler- Kronners - SHOOT THE PUCK. Babcock defs needs to fix this powerplay asap.

Guys if it is a broken finnger it will likely be 2 weeks or so that he is out. A couple seasons ago Stuart got a broken finger and missed about 3 weeks of action. The Wings are not going to take a chance at playing Howard until his finger is healed, and I do not blame them. Conks will be fine in net as long as the Wings continue to play like they did last night.

Great game of hockey between 2 extremely talented teams. The Wings were the better team for much of the night but the Nucks held on to muster a point. Clearly the Wings were the better team, BUT I found the officiating missed at least 3 clear penalties that the Wings should have had so I understand Nucks fans' frustration because I hate when that happens to the Wings. To add, Zetterberg had a great game.. he was flying out there tonight. If he keeps that up he will be back to producing like he should. I thought Pavel had a quiet night, he looked kind of tired for some reason, but was still good defensively as usual. But the most obvious thing is that Babs has to fix the powerplay because it will cost us down the line if it remains this pathetic. OVerall, great win for the Wings.

GREAT game by the Wings so far. The only problem is the damn powerplay!! The problem I notice tonight with the big unit is that Pavs is not shooting the puck enough on the powerplay... he keeps getting the puck and waiting to make a nice pass to someone. Babcock has to have the boys simplify things on the powerplay... start taking shots everytime they get the puck. Other than that, GREAT game so far

To the poster above who hates the Canucks as much as the Sharks now simply because their coach said he would like to take a page out of the Red Wings book? I do not like the Canucks team, but your reasoning is just lame. He was COMPLIMENTING the Wings system, saying that he thinks it is successful and wants his team to try to do it tonight. Anyways, I predict the Wings come out and play a solid road game, led by Pavel and Nick tonight. For some reason I just think their powerplay is going to finally click tonight. Go Wings!

I think King Henrik definitely deserves to win it. He is clearly the best goalie in the league, night in and night out. While Howard has had a great season, he also has a much better team playing in front of him. I remember watching an interview from Lunquist where he talked about how sometimes he feels, going into games, that he cannot even let a goal in, otherwise they will lose. The Rangers happen to be my 2nd favorite team behind the Wings, and let me tell you when I watch Rangers games, there are many games like last night where King Henrik truly cannot let a goal in, or especially more than 1 goal. IMO he is the most dominant goalie in the nhl this season.

I know this Zetterberg is terrible, which is why Babcock should stop being dumb and play Hank with Pavs already! Hank is not only not producing offensively for us, but he is also sluggish in our end as well (so you know he is NOT on his game!) Playing Hank with Pavs will get Hank to get his confidence back and maybe our lines can actually sustain pressure in their zone. My one complain about Babs is that he takes TOO LONG to make changes to the lines. Instead of doing the obvious and putting Hank with Pavs and Bert, Babcock puts CLEARY up on that line>?!?! That is a TERRIBLE decision because Cleary barely deserves 3rd line minutes this season let alone top line with Pavs!! You wanna know why we suck on the road? Because our lines have no energy!

Mike Babcock seriously needs to change up the top 2 lines... they are playing with no intensity and cannot get ANY pressure in the zone again this game. Hank's line has been below average for a while now, and Franzen looks lazy tonight. I say: Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Bertuzzi Franzen- Filpulla- Hudler

One thing is for sure... when Cleary is not on his game, he is not on his game (when it comes to goals). Anyways, pretty solid period for the Wings, but they were a little rusty as expected. Their defense was excellent, it was their offense that could not get consistent. I thought Franzen had a really lazy period, which pisses me off when he does that. I expect the Wings to get more comfortable as the game goes along though. Go Wings!

I would like to see Conks get the start... I just feel the team will make sure they all show up to support him in net, and will let Howard get a night off. Also, I am expecting Babs to put Zetterberg on Pavs line again this game with Bert. Nice to see Nick back as always.. go Wings !

I gained a lot of respect for Chara tonight. The way he talked about Pavel was pure class and you can tell he meant every word that he said. On a side note, Chara picked a hell of a better team then Alfredson. The only good thing Alfredson has going for him is King Henrik.

He suggested Parise as an example. Obviously it would take more than just Hudler, but he used Hudler as an example of part of what it would take. I agree fully with him in that Hank- Pavs- Bert could become the most dominant line in hockey if given a chance. But I go on to agree with him that I would feel a lot better if Kenny makes a move at the deadline to aquire someone to play on the 2nd line that can chip in offensively. Here are some possibilities on what the 2nd line could look like based on rumors of who the Wings have looked into. Parise- Fil- Franzen (Obvs the best choice, but very unlikely to happen) Selenne- Fil- Franzen (Selenne has said he might be willing to waive his clause for a chance to go to a playoff team and the Wings were one of the teams- - I think this would be a GREAT fit and would benefit the Wings huge... he is CLUTCH) Hemsky- Fil- Franzen (lots of rumors about this, but personally I do not see Kenny going for this, nor do I want him to) Semin- Fil- Franzen (I don't see the Caps getting rid of him until the offseason, but it could be a good pickup, but again I doubt it) Ruuto- Fil- Franzen (would be a nice pickup and make the line more solid) * Based on all of these, I think if Kenny could manage to get Selenne it would make us instant cup favorites as we would have 2 dynamite lines, filled with offense and defense skilled forwards. The Wings problem in the playoffs has been only Pavs, Hank and Nick carrying the load, while there is little scoring elsewhere. The addition of a guy like Selenne could be HUGE for this team.

No you are missing the fact. Bertuzzi, first of all, is playing outstanding on Pavel's line this season, so he should continue to do so. Also, if we want to win, we NEED Hank to reach the potential that we know he is capable of, and that is not happening by playing with Huds and Fil. Yes, the Eurotwins were together with Cleary at the beginning of hte season and it did not work? Why did it not work? Because CLeary was playing horrible, Hank was playing horrible, and Pavel was playing okay, but not well enough for his standards. Now, Pavel is playing in a league of his own, and Bert is meshing perfectly on his line andI think both will benefit Hank tremendously.