Icesurfer

With so many injuries you know that Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Homer, Bertuzzi, Cleary will be getting more playing time. More playing time means more fatigue..... more fatigue leads to more injuries. If the Wings are to make the playoffs it means NONE of these players can "take the night off" or cruise. Another injury is bound to happen and happen sooner rather than later.... especially since Holland is not planning on calling up anyone from Grand Rapids..... shear suicide if you ask me. Somebody has to pick up Williams minutes and sure in the heck isn't going to be just one player..... cause we don't have any more depth..... LOL.

The whole point of this is MAKING the playoffs in the first place. As the team is NOW that is not looking very good. And anyway I doubt anyone thinks the Wing will go far into the playoffs this year. IMHO Franzen won't be the same playoff player as the last few years. His minimum recovery time was 4 months..... and I am sure that the docs can see that it JUST MIGHT take 5 months instead......

These cap issues can be circumvented by not bringing Franzen back until the start of the playoffs. Then you have all of his cap relief to play with. The first half of the season for the most part will determine whether the Wings make the playoffs.... not the last half... because of the 3 point games. The first 8 teams to 38 points made the playoffs the last 2 years..... interesting to say the least.

Between Franzen, Filppula and Williams (if out 8 weeks) I estimated the cap relief to be about 3.89 mil. They had about .250 mil available under the cap. So far Abdelkader's salary has decreased that amount. Doesn't necessarily mean they can go out and sign someone for 3.89 mil. I suspect that Holland will wait as long as he can before deciding to go out and get someone. One of the reasons is that better players may become available closer to the trade deadline when teams start to fall out of the race and they are looking to dump players. Right now you are going to pay a premium and may not leave you with the room you want later to acquire a better player. So unless the Wings fall too far out of the race in the next few weeks I suspect Holland may not try to acquire someone just yet. He will give Jeremy Williams, Newbury, McGrath or Tardif a chance to see what they can contribute on the fourth line. Or he may pick up someone on the waiver wire. I have a feeling that at the trade deadline the Wings are going to need a lot of help. Don't expect Franzen to return to his previous playoff form of last year. And don't forget that ALL teams have been hit hard by the injury bug so the Wing's are not the only ones with depth problems right now. Wings also have to leave some room for Lilja to come back which looks like a possibility. I think Babs would switch Lilja for Lebda in a heartbeat. I hope Babs puts Leino on the second line and leaves the DHE Express line the same.

Well, that was one way to get Williams off that second line..... And wouldn't you know it.... Cleary finally gets goal 100 once Williams was gone.

Yep... Williams out 6-8 weeks if it is a simple fracture. Now who will the Wings bring up? Newbury, Tardif, McGrath or trade for someone? This is one of those games you just forget about, put in file 13 and move on.

Well, it looks like tonight we have the DHL Express instead. Although, Leino may need some booster rockets on his skates to keep up.... LOL.

The Rocket Line.... How about D.H.E. Express????

The Rocket Line strikes again!!! Williams was absolutely the worst skater on the ice against the Sharks. He was chasing the puck all night long. The slowest and least intense skater on the ice without a doubt. All he had was a few weak shots at the net at the end of the game including the shootout, otherwise he was invisible. The fourth line also skated well and was great on the forechecking. As far as I am concerned you can shelve May and Williams.

So did anyone miss Brad May tonight???? I didn't think so. Oh wait.... maybe Jody Shelley!!! LOL... Last year when the Wings really needed a tough guy they didn't have one. This year they really don't need one but they have one who takes up space for a good skater. The third and fourth lines were the best skaters on the ice tonight.... love the speed and forechecking.

Filppula was named Hardest Working Player for September IMHO only by default.... because everyone else pretty much had some very bad days. Award for Filppula Filppula leads the team with the WORST plus/minus at -6. He had only 6 points for the month and he was Center on the second line. I'm sorry, but that is not good enough for me..... especially at his pay scale. Wings seem to be doing fine without him and their defense has definitely improved. I think it basically is an attempt by the coaching staff to instill some confidence in him. At any rate, being out for 6 weeks isn't going to help him and he may be slow in returning to form. I think Draper and Maltby had a very good month and have resurrected their play with some very hard work in the month.

Well.... I guess we didn't miss May tonight! No kidding. He can take his time getting well.

Draper-Helm-Eaves I like "The Rocket Line" Babcock put Leino on the line for Draper in the second and third period..... what is with that??? Was he too afraid that Leino was getting pummeled on the 4th line???? LOL If he wants to move Leino put him with Zetterberg and Cleary and move Williams to fourth line with Abby and Maltby. Williams was a wasted signing. For heaven sakes keep Draper-Helm-Eaves together.

CBA...... waivers..... see Article 13....starts on page 66. CBA

May will be out for 1 week. Even though I like May I think the Wings will do better without him. They need speed and scoring. The Draper, Helm, Eaves line is the fastest line in the league..... finally together.... I barked about putting that line together a few times.

I agree that McCrimmon needs to go ...... but at least the Wings "puck possession" style has gotten a LITTLE bit better over the last week or so..... Defensive zone turnovers seem to be down a little but I haven't look at the stats. The Wings are making safer passes and "reloading" when necessary.

What is really interesting is that FOUR other forwards have a plus/minus WORSE than Leino who is -2. Leino has 2 goals and so does Zetterberg. Is Zetterberg immune from benching???? Z is certainly not playing like a top forward in the league. In fact, except for the lucky goal I thought Zetterberg was invisible on the ice in Edmonton. Has anyone seen Zetterberg carry the puck to the net yet this year??? Maltby & Draper are the best plus/minus forwards at +3.... and they both saw the bench! I think the benching of Leino is just a psychological ploy by Babcock to get 120% out of his players. Give me a break.... this is Leino's first regular full time season...... even Stamkos had a hard time last year and he certainly has more talent than Leino. He is pushing his players to the max because he knows if they don't start winning more often in the next few weeks the playoff push will be very difficult. Please, just don't get them all on the LTIR list in trying to do it!!!!!! Maybe Z needs a day off.

Don't expect Franzen to return to last year's playoff form. Full recovery for him won't be until next year. People are expecting way TOO MUCH! I think some people will be disappointed. I don't think Kronwall, now, is even the same defender he was since his knee surgery. In light of that, it will depend entirely on how Howard does and who Holland is able to pick up at the trade deadline...... whether another goalie, if needed, or forward who can score...... otherwise the Wings may struggle to get to 40+ win mark. 41 wins will be the cutoff point to make the playoffs. Right now the Wings are below the 41 win mark. I don't think this team without a totally healthy Franzen is capable of winning 5 or 6 games in a row. Wings aren't going to win the division and if they make the playoffs it will be in the lower 4 seeds. The 20 game mark will certainly tell more..... at that point I am guessing the Wings will have 10 wins..... which puts them at a 40 win clip. It will be interesting to see if the Wings are one of the first 8 to get 38 points. Teams like Avs and Kings are certainly making a strong bid to make it to the playoffs with such a strong start. With 3 point games it is very hard to make up the points the last half of the season. Injuries are certainly the key..... if the Wings suffer any more injuries they will be S.O.L. ..... they have already raided the minors and they no longer have the depth they once had..... and THAT is the key for me why it will be a struggle.

This has been an issue since McCrimmon joined the staff. Is he to blame? With every team signing younger faster players, there seems to be more aggressive forechecking thus putting more pressure on the defense. It's all Detroit's top defensemen.... Turnovers a problem

Certain advantages of having different user names..... LOL

Yes, I am phil336....LOL. I can prove it if you wish....LOL

Like Mickey Redmond says, "You work so hard to get the puck, why should you give it up." Let the opposing forwards chase our defensemen around while our defensemen play catch..... get the enemy exhausted first.....LOL.

I totally agree. I noticed the change McCrimmon made was to get the puck out of the zone as quickly as possible... and that led to a lot of bad passes. I remember the patience the defense USE to have in passing the puck back and forth or even going back behind the net to start over again if that is what it took to get organized for the rush up the ice...... now THAT was puck possession. But I think what has changed is the strong forechecking we are now seeing from these young fast forwards. So there has got to be a balance of knowing when you can/should make that first quick pass out of the zone or when you need to reload and take the puck back behind the net.

Yeh.... I guess that is why we have May. So another Wing isn't put out of commission. So no matter how bad May plays he is still needed because you certainly don't want Ericsson fighting. I wonder if a May vs Weber fight is on the fight card schedule?????????? LOL... that sounds like a real professional fight..... May vs Weber.

Eaves is not going to learn and be comfortable with the system sitting on the bench.