SDavis35

My imagination just went crazy!! Some great beards there!

You do things your way, I'll do them mine. We are on pace to finish with 53 points. (Currently 62.5% through the season, using the reciprocal we get 1.6 x 33pts = 52.8) If we just need to win an extra game somewhere, I don't see that as impossible. We sit in 7th with a 3pt separation between us and 9th (4 pts over anyone who has a game in hand). My expectation contrary to your assumed 55, is that 52 points will be the line between in and out. The other thing is, we have been playing better defensively lately which leads me to believe that if any of our scorers get hot, or if we find a way to score more than 2 goals/game... we will be moving up in the standings not down. Also, we've scored on the PP in each of our past 3 road games, something that hadn't happened earlier in the season. I think we will make the playoffs, but what we do in the playoffs is going to be determined by Zetterberg, Howard, Datsyuk and the rest of the team.

Would love to see it happen vs. Minnesota. "Goal scored by number 8 Justin Abdelkader! *crowd cheers* assist by number 13 *crowd erupts* Pavel Datsyuk!"

I saw the video and he didn't sound like "we were so good we lost" he sounded like "we played really well and then stopped skating in the third." Along with a large amount of frustration. He wasn't happy, and stormed off after his interview there, surely the players heard about it.

Sometimes I wonder if the users on this board realize just how difficult Holland has it... We don't have a clue what's going on behind the scenes, maybe Holland is trying to work out a deal with another team that would get us our valued top 6 guy who has size, grit and hands. We can't know for sure that he's just "standing pat". He's kept this Wings team competitive for 15 years and yet all I hear is how bad a job he's doing? This isn't as easy as a video game where you keep adding players until a deal works out, you have to realize that there has to be a seemingly equivalent trade and right now Detroit can't do anything that wouldn't result in weakening our team. Just because there's players on the trading block doesn't mean that they're going for a fair price. I sincerely believe that Holland has done the best he can with what he's been given to work with. There are times when you just can't make the ideal moves and/or signings. Plus, I feel the need to point out that Holland said the return of these players is "like a trade deadline acquisition..." That tells me that he looks forward to seeing them play again, not that it's his replacement for a trade.

Not sure if I would replace Cleary... he may not be a great player but he does have a role and plays it well. Couldn't come up with anything better though, seeing as we have so many forwards out there. Helm easily beats abdelkader, Bert is Andersson's replacement for sure. I prefer Eaves over Sammy at this point and Coliacovo hasn't shown anything so rotate him in and out I guess?

Certainly won't disagree with you there!

For most of the game I was thinking he played in a way that said "I'm a back up" not many huge chances against him, and certainly taking care of business. By the end I definitely feel like he could be considered 1b. The game as a whole was fairly boring though. FSD said there were lots of chances, but I don't think there were many dangerous chances until the third period.

I'm torn on the idea... as mentioned earlier in the topic, it would need to be fairly limited in order to not slow the game down. If you narrow down the necessary situations, you would have: Intent to Blow, Goalie Interference, Kicking Motion, Frozen/Smothered Puck. I'm not sure if you could challenge the offside... but there should be some review when it's such a bad call as per Duschene last week. If we changed the way we review goals and decided "hey, let's review those Goalie Interference calls, and maybe that whole frozen puck thing too." then we wouldn't need a challenge as far as I'm thinking.

I've been noticing over the past 4-5 games or so, maybe even longer, that our powerplay has been looking a lot better. There's been good scoring chances, plenty of movement and we may even be getting better at entering the zone. Last night we were able to finish, whereas previous games we weren't quite able to hit the back of the net on our chances. Anyone else think we might be getting something good out of our PP?

This in particular is something I really noticed as well. It's why I didn't want to throw everyone under the bus yet. I think we're capable of being a playoff team, unfortunately that's not going to come easy. As for getting a road PPG... let's hope that happens tomorrow and thursday.

I smell sarcasm! Props to the Hawks though. Just think... the Wings lost in OT to this team.

Are there any examples of this happening on other teams in the past 10 years? Just for reference to say "it worked" or "it didn't work"

^this If you had a potent offensive duo that could break into the zone consistently with just 2, then maybe. I think a 2-3 isn't unheard of, but I wouldn't be using 3 D-men as the back line. I'd still like to see the 2-1-2, which I think is fairly consistent with coaches still?

I think he's been getting a bit better with each game, but he's not quite ready for the NHL from what I'm seeing. Still nice to see what we've got in the minors though.

For the first time this season... we won because of our special teams!

Hmm...

I disagree on them being similar, however I wouldn't be surprised if there was a fine and 1-game suspension either. I was perfectly fine with Franzen's actions, but I expect him to get reprimanded for it. If this was reversed this entire board would be fuming and calling for his head. On the bright side, at least Franzen showed some emotion.

Interesting... I only remember him from the World Juniors a few years back when he was dancing around the ice. Hopefully he can keep those emotions in check and take care of business. I don't mind if he expresses himself, but be sure to back it up!

Yea, Backes won't be getting suspended or anything extra. He's the Blues best player though, so the breaks really went our way. It could be argued I'm sure that it was a late hit/player in vulnerable position, but I thought it was fine as per the replay.

Aggravating having to watch the blues announcers, but a really sweet game to watch. Zetterberg with possibly the greatest effort for an Empty Net goal I`ve seen.

I think what makes him great to have on our team is that his tenacity is working for us instead of against us. He clearly does his job right, he's a pest. Now he's our pest. He's been fun to watch and I'm glad we have him.

Don't forget the three posts in a single PP! I think the key to the PP is finishing your chances. We haven't been able to finish and that's where the problem lies. PK looked okay to me last night, but okay isn't good enough either. The chance that Kronwall gave up was brutal, can't have that from our top D pairing.

Most likely the forward motion of the puck. Not a big deal, but it is fair. Win #1 in the books. Go Wings!

I didn't get to be a Wings fan until 2002-03, but I've experienced everything as a fan except a rebuilding period. A part of me is excited for that chance, while the other part of me dreads missing playoffs. At the same time though, I know that regardless of where they stand I'll support the Wings, but if they don't look like they're heading for the playoffs I won't be sitting on the boards here watching 90% of people whining about how X didn't do this properly.