TheOwl

Maybe the Wings should consider some sort of 2-3 semi-useless player roster swap. Lebda-Meech-Leino-May-Williams can all be traded for 3-4 guys on some other roster. Get er done Kenny. Once the Mule and Homer get back, lots of people need to be waived anyways.

The Wings post Olympics don't have a tough schedual, they play a lot of games against the Central and bottom dwellers in the Pacific. They have some tough games against San Jose, Vancouver, Chicago and a few eastern teams, but other then that, the Wings have a very good line up of teams in their last 20 games.

The closer I look at the standings the worse I feel. It looks as if Colorado, LA and Phoenix are going to make it to the post season, unless they melt down. The top 3 seeds right now probably won't change. It's basically down to Detroit, Nashville, Calgary, with Dallas/Anaheim playing spoiler, for the last 2 spots. The problem I have is, the Western play-offs will be VOID of upsets unless Calgary/Detroit or Dallas/Anaheim don't make it in. I'm 100% confident that LA, Colorado and Phoenix will lose in the first round in blow-outs. The West NEEDS Detroit/Calgary to make the play-offs to even make the first round worth watching. Those two teams at least have a chance at an upset. The rest are going to blow it. The Wings making the play-offs is almost out of their own hands. Their basically fighting toe to toe for 7th/8th against Calgary/Nashville, with little chance to climb higher. They NEED to win all their remaining games against the Central (minus the Blackhawks), and they basically NEED to win their remaining games against everyone below them, AND LA/Phoenix. It comes down to winning the games they should be winning, and playing well against teams they should be statistically losing to (Chicago, San Jose, Vancouver). The only thing that gives me hope is Detroit's last 10 games should all be winnable, except for the last game against Chicago. All those games are against teams currently not in the play-offs, or on the verge (Philly/Nashville).

Wow these are bizarre trades. Calgary just got a lot better, and really no one should ever doubt they won't make the play-offs anyways. Anaheim got a deal of a life time getting rid of Giguere. But why did they want Blake? They should of traded Tosky and picks for Giguere.

They need to take more risks in OT and try to score. Maybe go with 3 forwards and one D, they already have a forward back checking most of the time anyways. They should also keep the shoot-out line up the same, Zetterberg, Datysuk and Bertuzzi/Flipulla. Williams isn't the guy I want shooting first.

Two major things I've noticed over the last few games, one positive, one negative. The D needs to step into the play more, like Lidstrom has been doing. He looks lethal when he shoots from the center of the circles. Let's face it, Rafalski and Lidstrom are pretty bad at shooting from the point. They've gotten a lot worse over time. They should pinch in and shoot, or just pass it. I also think they need to use Datysuk better on the PP. A lot of the time I've noticed him roaming around the front of the net. They need to let him and Zetterberg shoot, maybe rotate them with the D at the point, and shoot from the top of the circle.

I don't think it matters. Howard isn't winning us games, Osgood isn't winning us games. The TEAM is playing badly. If you're going to go with Howard for the rest of the season, might as well trade Osgood. Osgood went from the Jennings winner to one of the worst goalies (statistically) in the past two seasons. He isn't going to be any better next season. They can surely get a good goalie in the off-season, throw 2-3 million at a guy, keep Howard as a co-starter. Either you rotate the goalies, or you trade Osgood. I think it's utterly ridiculous to keep Osgood around just for the play-offs. Osgood won't play well next season, he's proven that. Get rid of him or give him 10-15 games down the next 30 game stretch. If he plays badly, Osgood has dug his own grave to retirement. If Osgood isn't playing a significant number of games this season, why keep him around at all?

Who do you suppose they would trade? Who's worth anything that can be traded? I don't see the Wings making any moves, they could trade someone like Williams, but what would be the point of that? Other then getting picks for someone like Leino or Williams, their is nothing the Wings can do. They don't have cap space. They don't have any big name who's on his way to UFA. Their is nothing they can do. We are stuck with this great team who's playing terribly, and it won't get any better through the trade deadline.

Ultimately I usually would blame Howard for this shotty play. But if you watch these games their are huge defensive breakdowns when these goals are scored. The D really needs to play better, and Howard needs to step it up. He's not winning us games anymore like he was a few weeks ago. He's either costing these games, or playing just as good as Osgood would be. Howard is looking less and less impressive every game he plays. Go back to an even rotation for 2 weeks, and whoever plays better can get a stretch. Let them battle for the #1 position.

Strong Swed D. But IN ALL HONESTY, if Franzen was on the team, I would favor them to win Silver or Gold. Also Lundqvist and Gustavsson have been both playing pretty badly lately. But Lundqvist can be a shut down goalie, maybe this will get him revived? I like Canada's chances if Brodeur is playing, but if he falters, I bet they'll stick with him no matter what. And Luongo can melt down in high pressure games. I don't think Canada are locks to win Gold like many people do. Miller could be a factor in getting USA the bronze. My predictions: Russia Canada Sweden

Obviously Detroit cannot get him this season, and whoever trades for him will in all likely hood sign him to a long term deal next season. Calgary should consider trading Phaneuf for Kovy. I think they could get it done. Throw in some draft picks, maybe another roster player. Calgary needs a scorer, and they don't need an overrated defense men. Calgary probably won't make the play-offs if they don't make a big move, but imagine a Jokinin, Kovy, Iginla in their top 6 forwards, Bowy and the Kipper. They'd win the Cup, probably...

How was Howard bad today? He let in 3 goals. A perfectly reasonable number. The Wings are in the BOTTOM 3 in the league for goals scored. I could care less how many goals Howard or Ozzie give up. It's meaningless. If your team can't score more then 2 goals a game, you're going to lose the majority of your games. Simple as that. Datysuk and Zetterberg need to STEP IT UP. I can't fathom why their both playing so badly. The Wings aren't playing bad because of injuries. Simple as that. They just don't care. Maybe 2 months ago I would agree, but not anymore. You can't use injuries to explain their performance anymore. Kronwall and Franzen have been out for months! You would think they would realize this and start to get it going. Even with the injuries, the players that are healthy are playing badly. No more excuses. They have had months to adjust. AND EVEN STILL, the Wings on paper are still better then LA, and they still lose.

Pffft, what a waste of time. LA probably won't even make the play-offs, the Wings are just throwing away points. Calgary won't be sucking forever, Dallas is looking better, and Anaheim is starting to climb up the rankings. The Wings have 3 good teams behind them, and are losing ground fast on teams they should be beating. Wings are screwed. It'll be too late once Franzen and co. get back. Too late. Datysuk and Zetterberg are shells of their former selves.

Defense wins championships? Maybe, but Detroit spent twice as much on it's D-men last season then Pittsburgh, and we all know how that ended up. The Wings don't need to spend 1/3 of it's cap on six D-men. Especially now when we have a solid goalie, and a few potentially solid goalies ready to play in a few seasons. I think everyone here is underestimating how good Kovy is. He's a better sniper then Hossa, in fact, he's probably one of the top 3 goal scorers (skill wise) in the league. If Kovy got signed, the Wings WOULD win the Cup next season. Guaranteed. He's a beast. Oh and who were our top 6 D-men last year? And how was Detroit defensively? Terrible. We basically have the same 6 guys now, and the defense is magically all better? Nope. Howard is why our defensive record is so good, and Hasek/Osgood was the reason in 2007. You don't need to spend nearly 20 million/season on defenseman. Money is not the solution.

Homer deserves what he's making, no point in gippin him an extra 1 mill/yr. I'd like to see Maltby and Draper retire together after next season, their good mentors to Helm and Abby. Lidstrom is a toss up. If he retires, we get 7.5 million in cap space. If he doesn't, we still have basically the same team together that won the Cup in 2008. Personally I hope he retires or takes a huge pay cut, that money could be spent on some much needed scoring. Would the team be better? Maybe not, but I don't think it would be any worse.

Personally I don't think the Wings need another D-man if Lidstrom retires. Stuart-Kronwall is a good enough top D-pair. Ericcson, Lilja (if he gets better ), Rafalski and Kindl (should get bottom 6 duty). Assuming Howard keeps playing well, Detroit should spend every cent of it's cap space on a top 6 forward (5-6 million/yr), getting Bertuzzi locked up (2 million/yr?), Homer (1.5 million/yr?) and Helm/Aby re-signed.

The only bad thing about this game was Osgood. Sure Stuart and Lebda sucked it up badly on those two goals. But come on, a good goalie makes those key saves. Osgood seems indifferent to the fact that the Wings could miss the play-offs.

Partially true, I blame Stuart and Lebda, who completely unraveled on their checks. But the fact remains, Osgood let 2 goals in, in quick succession. If Osgood is hung out to dry by the D, the puck goes in. Howard on the other hand makes the key saves. Osgood hasn't had a great game all season, and when given the chance to redeem himself, he blows it.

Osgood sucks so badly, he should retire. Howard would of won!!!! Rafalski sucks. HOWARD FOR THE CALDER!!!!!! Stuart and Lebda suck too.

Art Ross: Ovechkin Richard: Ovechkin Hart: Ovechkin Pearson: Ovechkin Calder: Myers (maybe Howard if he keep his stats up) Vezina: Miller Selke: Don't know Lady Byng: Datysuk Norris: Green (UGH!!!) Jack Adams: Babcock Obviously I have a bias, but I think Ovechkin will win the scoring and goal titles, and in turn win the Hart and Pearson. Miller or Brodeur will win the Vezina, leaning Miller since his stats are better, other then wins. Myers is the front runner for the Calder right now. Green will sadly win the Norris, he has the most points of any D-men, and he was a finalist last year. Selke is impossible to predict, Datysuk won't win it. Babcock should win if Detroit makes the play-offs. He should of won it already to be honest.

What if the Wings miss the play-offs? In all honesty, we should all prepare for the worst. It could realistically happen. How would you feel? Would you be completely disinterested in the play-offs if the Wings didn't make it? It's horrifying to think about, but we should all come to the realization, the Wings could pretty easily miss the play-offs. If Howard loses a step, we're gonners.

Ugh, I was happy when I saw that too. Then I realized, my second and only other favorite team is Calgary. And Anaheim is catching up. Personally I want Anaheim to make the play-offs (as long as we do). Anaheim could be a huge problem for San Jose or Chicago and any team from the NW. Wouldn't it be awesome if Anaheim and Detroit were the 7th and 8th seeds? I'd love to see those smug Chicago fans watch their draft-handed team lose in the first round.

Does anyone else think Homer, Maltby and Draper will all retire together? Especially Maltby and Draper, I think Maltby will get a 1 year extension.

That was the most exciting overtime I've seen in a while. Loved seeing Howard getting upset after letting that goal in, he's got real passion.

Datysuk gets paid to rack up points. Not play well. Draper and Maltby get paid to play well. Big difference. Would anyone say Heatley or Ovechkin played well if they didn't score any points? No. These high paid forwards get paid to score. Datysuk isn't scoring, and thus, isn't playing well. Doesn't matter if he wins 100% of his draws, and has 5 take aways. Scoring is what matters, and for guys like Datysuk and Zetterberg, if you don't get points, you aren't playing well.