Johnny Law

I found this blog post when searching for stats on penalties called, interesting numbers when looking specifically at the Wings. I'm not sure what conclusions you can actually draw from any of this as it doesn't list what they were actually called for. http://gooseman-hockey.blogspot.com/2009/0...hv-by-team.html

Downey needs to be in, Mac was a huge part of this team's past but Downey is a more complete player now.

As long as I live I will remember the feeling of that game, as soon as Larionov got into it you knew it was going to be a special night.

I'm pretty sure takeaways are recorded only by the home team, because each team determines what a takeaway is differently you get huge discrepancies.

How do they determine who refs which games ? Do they assign 15 guys to just do a certain area say Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis or is there a more free mixture ? My gut tells me its obstruction and interference type calls.

Ozzie and officiating aside they didn't do the work neccessary to win for the majority of this game. Lots of guys coasting and standing around. Very schizophrenic season, agree with others about the lines. I can understand why Babcock wants to split Z and Pav but dude you've tried it and it doesn't work, as far as I'm concerned they should bolt those two together. I've never been a huge Sammy fan but for F**ks sake can the dude not rip every shot into the goalies chest, I will never understand why Babcock has such a hard on for the guy.

From time to time someone will ask me what's different about the Wings or why are they so successful, beyond the drafting, players, system and coaches the most important reason I give them is the way the organization is truly run like a family business. To me these videos even more than the cup ones exemplify the best quality's of the organization.

A-holes are everywhere get used to it.

There is no exact recipe for success, you can look at all the times they were successful and draw whatever statistical conclusion you want and it won't mean s***. Bottom line is that the Wings lost 8-0 and Babcock wants to shake things up, he is very limited in what he can do with the cap restrictions so up comes Downey to make the team more physical and up comes Big Red. Ericsson is mostly up because they want to see what he can do with the big boys. Leino is the only one you really have to be careful with, he has tremendous potential but may take off if he doesn't see this going anywhere. All he has done is prove from day one that he belongs in the NHL, you can explain it whatever way you want to him but put yourself in that situation and even if you were for the move to bring Downey up it would be tough knowing that you have to play in GR for awhile. I don't care if the team is full of Hudler's or Downey's I just want them to win so I'll withhold judgment on this move until we see what happens.

I truly can't believe I'm saying this but I agree, Franzen is injured more often and will cost a lot more money for what is better but not significantly better play. Franzen can also be lazy, its not often but there are games were he doesn't skate. Still I think they get rid of Hudler for two reasons, with Hudler you at least get something in return for you assests (picks) and I think they believe they are better at drafting and developing players that play Hudler's game. For whatever reason I think they believe that its more difficult for them to draft and develop a power forward. What we do know is that Chelios is gone and Meech becomes a hell of alot more important in that he can play both a forward and defensive position. It certainly will be an interesting off season. Pure Speculation Disclaimer: Its also possible that Holland knows something we don't, i.e. someone who isn't Chelios is retiring thus freeing up far more space than we have allotted for. Again this is total BS but to me he doesn't really seem all that concerned with the cap.

Exactly, he just needs some confidence and they team to play well around him and he will be back to his old form in no time. Last night, especially near the end of the game he looked very nervous in net. He knows the deal just as much as any fan, he isn't playing well right now and needs to step it up.

Some of it to is for next time, coaches for whatever reasons believe that if you really get on a guy for a call that in the next contest he may be more likely to call things your way. I do think Gretzky is in a very tough position.

Haha he'll get number two this year but I forgot the Ducks lost in 03 to the Devils.

Your hilarious, you bill yourself as some kind of hockey oracle all the while wining about physical play and Downey. You attack out of town fans as not real fans because they haven't been to the Joe as many times as you or don't have the privilege of living in Michigan. You incessantly rip Babcock and Euro's when its easy and convenient regardless of the fact that Babcock if he never wins another game he will have two more Stanley Cup rings than you ever will. Totally pathetic. Great game, was nice to see what most people believed all along that motivation was the main issue. SJ didn't bring their total package but 6-0 tells me that it wouldn't have mattered. Hopefully they can continue to build off this game and finish up December strong.

Goal and an assist last night, he had a hip injury and changed to a more floaty style of play. Last night he went back to driving to the net and had success.

Because Kopy makes over 50,000 and is on a one way he would have to go through re-entry waivers, someone will pick him up if Det has to pay half his salary.

I've only seen him play a little but they speak very highly of him on HNIC radio. From what everyone says he looks like he could be a franchise goaltender.

It will be interesting to see who they decide to bring up. Howard seems like the choice but he has been playing like crap. I say for just a couple of games they should go with Larsson.

Hahah can't argue about Kopy. Leino had most of those points early on, lately he is going through a real funk, I don't think the NHL is the place to work that out. I didn't include Downey or Helm because I think they should already be up. (cap problems ignored)

All I meant is that they can win games, whoever I quoted posted that some Wings fan just don't get the enforcer role. What I was trying to explain is why people believe that you don't need them. If SureWhyNot wasn't so upitty you would have seen the second half of my post where I said Downey should be in the lineup. People see good results without an enforcer in the lineup and sometimes think if we just put three more scorers on the 4th line we would win by 10 goals instead of five. I wasn't espousing my personal beliefs rather how people justify a skill only lineup. As a I wrote later on in my post I would like Downey or a similar type player in the line up regularly and I believe if they had cap room Babcock would have done it already. The problem is they don't so to bring him up you have to waive or trade someone, the only player who I could see making it through waivers is Kopy. I don't think Holland is comfortable with taking that level of risk for Downey. If Leino was tearing up the AHL and made it clear he would bounce back to Finland if he didn't get the call up maybe, but not for Downey.

Exactly, Leino, Abdelkader, Howard, Larrson, Rittola all have amazing talent but they aren't ready for the NHL yet. I know people want to believe that bringing up a player from GR will magically transform this team into a 82-0 team but it isn't going to happen. Until they get there s*** together upstairs no one from GR is going to make a huge difference.

That's bs and you know it, the Wings have had alot of success without having a classic enforcer on the roster. Whatever a persons specific ideology may be regarding enforcers at the end of the day they just want the Wings to win. I would like to see Downey up for the Sharks game, they should have plenty of energy and emotion going into that game but Downey can provide some if necessary. I'm 100% sure some players would feel more comfortable with him in the lineup, it violates basic human setup to think otherwise. The real problem is how we get cap space....

The second goal was Maltby's not Stu's, Maltby goes cross ice to double on a guy that is already engaged. Maltby's now uncovered guy walks right in the zone essentially creating a three on two as Maltby and a defender are doubled up. Stuart is now stuck covering two guys on the PP one who is sloted higher above. Pass goes to Stazny (the guy Malby left) with Stuart's second guy acting as a pick of sorts. This is another example of not people not watching how players get in a bad situation, Maltby created the second goal.

I understand the frustration with the team and ceratianly it is easy to focus that on Ozzie but I still don't think he's the problem. Take last night's game. First goal is all Franzen's, a turn over like that with no one behind him is just bad. Second goal Maltby crosses the ice to double up on the guy entering the zone, not realizing that a third offensive player has joined the rush. D-man is forced to cover the pass between the two unaccounted for players and simply hope Ozzie can make the save. It would be nice if he could but the whole play starts with Maltby not thinking and coming cross ice to engage a player already maned up. Third was the penalty shot, that at best is a 50/50 proposition. Ozzie had lots of good saves on plays that were a direct result of blown assignments, he will improve if the defense in front of him improves. Its a mixed bag right now, some times they only give 50% other times they give 110% but its a dumb play to make. Maltby going cross ice takes a ton of effort and says to me that he is going all out to make a play, unfourtnelty it wasn't the right decision.

Leino isn't ready, he needs more time in GR to get his game back together. Pre-injury he played a fantastic smart aggressive style in the zone, I didn't see the game against Manitoba but I doubt he pulled everything together in one weekend. Abdelkader is a rookie, he is fantastically talented but still rough around the edges, he isn't ready either. Downey, at least in Babcock's mind doesn't add anything to the team that they need right now. Helm should be up, end of story. Ericsson, I think you would agree is the really interesting one. He was ready three months ago and could add something to the team that we desperately need right now in energy and a general hunger to play. His 900,000 cap hit is a problem though. 4th liners would help but this team really needs to get its s*** together mentally, the have everything a team needs to be fantastically successful they just have to want to do the necessary work. Until they do that no player from GR is going to make a real difference.