dat's sick

Freaks me out every time this is bumped, I always think Helmer had a setback. Good to hear he's doing better.

Not true. It makes 50% sense.

Love/hate move for me as well. Would make more sense to send Andersson down, move Abby to 3rd line C and put Nyquist with Tatar. But Babcock doesn't seem very fond of Tatar, while he has praised Andersson... so I guess it's no suprise. The more I think about the worse this is. Tatar has really been one of our best and most consistant players since he came up. If Nyquist can be as good we still haven't IMPROVED which is what we should be looking to do.

Fil is coming back and Fil-Z-Brunner looked good before he was injured. Will take some pressure off Z and give him some help carrying the puck. Datsyuk needs Franzen, but imo he should also have Tatar or Nyquist. It's clear we don't have enough skill in the lineup, our offense looks so static and simple. Filppula helps but Nyquist sold be brought up too. Don't care if our top 6 gets a bit softer and smaller, atleast they'll be able to make some creative plays and not just grind it out in the corners.

No Tatar in OT or SO. Thanks Babcock. Awful 2 games. This team is so hard to get a handle on. Feels like Filppula is definitely needed to kick Abby/Cleary out of the top 6. Z also needs to find his game or rest if he's injured, he was awful tonight except for like 1 great shift in OT.

Yep. Playing with Cleary and Abby has probably ages him about a year per game.

We're so easy to read on the PP. That is 'okay' if you execute the plays fast and with accuracy, but we don't. The slooooow switching sides of the d-men on the blueline, then the pass and one-timer.. is always blocked because the forward knows exactly what will happen and he has plenty of time to get in position. We looked better on the PP a little while back, and the difference was we had Brunner in the slot/circles looking for a one-timer, making us harder to read. Sure, we didn't score, but we created more chances. Then came a few games where we had no PPs and suddenly Babs&Co decide to go crazy and put Miller-Cleary-Brunner out there on the PP.. sigh.

Zetterberg must be playing hurt. He's looked very sluggish and making mistakes for a while now. We are horrible against Columbus.. can't wait for the season series to be over.

When should Nyquist or Tatar get a chance in the top 6 if not when we have injuries? I would think Holland thought he had enough top 6 wingers in: Brunner, Franzen, Filppula, Tatar, Nyquist And who can argue? Babcock is to blame for the Abdelkader-Datsyuk-Cleary line, no one else. There is literally no worse players to put Pavel with. No way to get less out of him. Andersson, Eaves, Miller, even Tootoo would probably do better. No, this line will be looked back upon as one of the craziest and most failed experiments in Red Wings history. A time where one of the most gifted hockey players this organization has ever seen was shut down from the inside.

He didn't. He just wasn't one of our top 3 players in this game. Still lightyears ahead of Abby and Clears though.

Just saw the post-game with Babs. It's true. Just a simple "No.". But obviously there has to be more going on. Of course a coach will consider everything. Could be a case of giving Abdelkader and Cleary every possible chance to succeed before they're out of here. Holland being able to say, "you got X amount of games with Datsyuk and put up X amount of points. Just not good enough. Goodbye.". Something has to be the cause of this line and Babcock's refusal to change it up.

What about: Dan Cleary - Danny Cleary - Danny boy Cleary - Danny C - Daniel Cleary Ol' Danny Cleary - Clears - Danny Dan C - #11 - Danny "All heart" Cleary

I know that logic happens around here, but that was certainly not what I meant. He played a great game, just like he's done most of the time this season, it's just that this game, unlike many others earlier in the season, the defense was constantly in the right place and helping out, keeping Howard from being forced to make 5+ breakaway saves or a bunch of desperation stops. Looking at the difference in defense between the first 5-10 games and the last couple of games is night and day. There is no surprise our goaltending has been putting up better numbers as well. No goalie will have a .93 sv% if they're facing the kind of chances we were giving up earlier in the season.

Defense was really great tonight. All we lacked was any kind of sustained offensive pressure. We were constantly pushed back, too tired to attack, made it a constant barrage against our D, which survived in a great way. Howard was really good, but imo this was just as much the defense making him look good. He had some questionable rebounds that we cleared, we managed to get sticks on Hawks players that would have had almost open nets, we didn't screen or let anyone else screen Howard, etc.

Babcock has lost his mind. Though Malik speculates as to the reason this is going on and makes some interesting points, but still. CRAZY.

So this is how I see this game: * We were outplayed in the first 2 periods. Pretty badly. Very solid defense and Howard kept us in it. * In the 3rd we woke up, took over the play, and really looked good. We scored. After that we backed away a little bit, but still created chances, and still played solid D. * Then something happened.... I can't explain it.. Ericsson, amazing up until that point, made a really stupid, boneheaded play. It's one that every d-man does at one point or another. But it can't happen with 2-3 minutes left when you have a 1-0 lead in a big game. * Chicago scored a rather flukey goal on the PP. * OT was great, back and forth, wish it was longer. I personally think we would have won the game, IN OT, if Babcock had played Tatar instead of Cleary. * Once it went to shootout, it's a coin-toss. A bit disappointed by Datsyuk's attempt, but Crawford had done his homework and didn't bite. Brunner was sooo close, just another example of the bad breaks we got against us this game. Kane had a nice one, he's a ******, but he's got hands. * Zetterberg had a highly mediocre game and looked sluggish. Bad SO attempt too. But he still had a couple of really nice passes that could have led to goals. * Brunner was one of our best guys offensively, along with Tatar who had a nice goal. * Cleary and Abdelkader were terrible every time they were out on the ice. Honestly don't think either of them did one good thing all game. Not even joking. Filppula better return real soon because it seems obvious Babcock has decided to run with this line until he gets fired and committed to a mental asylum. * One point is okay, but just like in the game against LA, this was a game where 2 points were very much within reach, and we just did something stupid, got scored against on the PK and bam, points lost.

First 2 periods was like preseason, this one is like game 7 of the playoffs. Gonna take a lot for us to hold on...

Can't believe Crawford this season..

I like the 'compete level', it's just frustrating to see our best offensive player be handcuffed when we desperately need scoring.

Franzen or Andersson. Or Tootoo. Or my mother. But that's besidea the point. It's 5-on-5 Abdelkader and Cleary are bringing down our offense. Don't you see how they lose every puck battle along the boards? How they dump the puck when Pavel wants a pass, and pass when they should dump? How they're too slow to keep up with the play, don't shoot the puck well enough to take any advantage of Pavel's passes... Babcock has got to see this. Or his assistant coaches. If nothing happens in the 3rd... wow. Tatar or Franzen needs to be put with Pav. Tatar preferably.

I'm sorry, but I won't stop complaining about Abby and Cleary until one or both of them are off Pavel's line (and the PP). It's costing us offensive zone play, Datsyuk magic, points...

Shoulda been a penalty when Brunner was held up behind the net. Hawks got things going their way for sure.

No we look like a team that wasn't really awake that period. Happens these early games, hopefully they'll get their legs under them in the 2nd. Also , no, Dats just got caught out there with Eaves and Andersson because of an icing. And that's hardly the players we want for Pavel. Still Cleary-Dats-Abby. And I'm not sure I can take 2 more periods of that. It's like the other team gets 2 free guys trying to shut Datsyuk down.

You're telling us to kidnap Dan Cleary and Justin Abdelkader!!?! Interesting idea... I'll get rope and shovels, someone get a van and pick me up.

Most excited I've been for a game in a while. We've been looking better and better, and now we have the chance to break their streak. Would be perfect. But we need to worry more about ourselves than them, so I'd gladly take an OT or SO win. Just please win. They've had our number the last year or two, and are obviously incredibly difficult to beat right now, so it will be a difficult task. Got 11 hours of work left and will hopefully be home just in time for puck drop. Gonna be a long day, I just want this game to start..