NGKEIB

Well it looks like Larry Murphy will be the one to fill in when Redmond retires, as doesn't he already do the duty on road games? I think that our new Grind Line will be great, but don't expect to see it next year. Draper is still a great face-off guy, and Malts, while having a sub-par regular season, has had a very good post-season (which is fine by me). I don't think that McCarty will play in a Wings uniform again. As for the 3rd player on the line, depends a bit on which people stay/walk etc. If Kopecky gets a new contract I'd expect to see him there. I don't think that Abdelkader will play in Detroit next year, as he is still young and developing, and it makes much more sense for him to get good minutes in GR as opposed to 5 minutes a night in Detroit. It's harder to say for Helm, I'd say he's 50/50 for being in Detroit next year, and Ericsson is definitely a lock.

http://blog.mlive.com/snapshots/2009/05/re...ren_mccart.html What do you make of this? Are Kenny and Mike worried that the Ducks will get very nasty the next game? It wouldn't surprise me, but I'm not sure if I want to see McCarty play, as much as I love the guy. Abdelkader was fine, though a bit lost at times, and he can sure skate (and therefore get in position to throw a big hit) a lot better than D-Mac. Also, if D-Mac was to play, it would give us a problem at centre. I don't see Abdelkader sitting unless Draper comes back... In any case, I haven't seen McCarty play all season, as I haven't watched any Griffins games, so if anyone has I would appreciate their opinions on how he's playing.

And because he's still developing and in GR gets lots more ice time than in Detroit...

Or is it restricted to kick, high stick etc.

I was surprised that we got it (considering that Danny O was in the vicinity), but will happily take it. And I hope that if Carlyle or the Ducks start whining that someone throws Hiller's quote in their face. And could someone remind me what offenses are reviewable by video? I seem to recall reading somewhere that players in the crease was not a reviewable play, but I imagine that goaltender interference might be.

I agree he's in a slump offensively, but he seems to be reacting positively by playing even harder, as opposed to getting off of his game. Very solid for him. And I liked how towards the end you could tell that Zetterberg was trying to set him up with a goal.

The reason you didn't see Meech was because he only had 3 minutes of ice time!

I know what you mean about the lost thing, but I imagine that that is something he'll shed after a game or two (if he even gets another game, depending on Draper's status...).

What are you talking about? We have Maltby and Chelios!

Wow. I disagree with everything you said. I would take Chelios over Meech any day of the week (but unlike you I would take Rafalski over both of them). Helm will never be a first-line player, he should stay on the 4th line, especially since Draper won't be coming back. And if Draper does somehow come back, Maltby won' tbe the one sitting. I agree that we should be able to beat the Ducks without Rafalski, you're spot on there. But I sure would like him back...

I think that Chelios had an okay game last night, and it was his best of the post-season (not saying a whole lot, I know), and I thought that Lebda didn't play that well at all (mistake which led to a goal, missed hits etc.). So I don't think it's that simple... I think that Chelios is much better than Meech. Chelios was nasty in the corners last night, and has good positional sense and lots of experience. Meech is quicker, but overall I don't think he is better than Chelios. And our 4th line doesn't need to score, they've played very well this series. Our 2nd and 3rd lines need to score. As someone else said, Helm is not a top line player. While quick and physical, he doesn't have good hands at all, and I'm not sure that that is what Datsyuk and Hossa need. I agree that Holmström hasn't been that effective, but that has more to do with Hossa and Datsyuk and the defense not being able to keep the puck in the zone or put up any sustained pressure (apart from 1 shift in the entire game).

I'd just like to say that I think that our 4th line and 1st line (CZF) have been playing well enough not to merit tampering. I don't think that Maltby and Kopecky have been 'irrelevant'. They haven't made any big mistakes, haven't been scored on (they're a checking line, not a scoring one, so that is what matters) and have hit a lot. Maltby has had a great series in my opinion (when you compare it to his regular season play. While I would like to see ZDH on the PP, I think that getting Rafalski back would make a bigger difference, but I understand that that isn't likely to happen until game 5. And Chelios had by far the best game of his playoffs last night (I'm not saying it was great, but I was angrier at Lebda than I was at him for the goal, and he drew some penalties and even spent a bit of time on the PK I believe).

Holmström is only really effective when his line mates can control the puck in the Anaheim zone and he can get in front of the goalie. But there was only 1 time in the whole game when they got enough sustained pressure going to be able to do that. Helm isn't a great scorer, but scoring ability isn't all you need. I'd say that Hossa has the most goal-scoring ability on the team, but that doesn't mean he's been better than Helm. Helm has been great defensively, has gotten loads of hits, and in general has made our 4th line (combined with the revival of Kirk Maltby) one of our best lines. Chelios wasn't that bad at all last night, and it showed in his ice time. He drew penalties, was nasty along the boards, and you can't fault him for that goal. Lebda needs to get the puck in deep, even if he just dumps it in and doesn't shoot, and he didn't. I don't blame Chelios, and I think that this was easily Chelios' best game (and Lebda's worst).

I believe the Penguins scored just after this (although Varlamov was able to get over).

I think it's a fair point - but what gets me is that had Daniel Carcillo/Scotty Hartnell/anyone else done that to Fleury in the 1st round, they would have had the book thrown at them.

I wish I could say that I'm irritated and surprised, and that I expected better from the NHL. All I can say is that I'm irritated.

Apart from agitating and playing physically, Maltby is able to read plays (I think in the last game he was able to steal the puck from Selänne who tried a fancy pass/deke - that's something off of the top of my head, but there were certainly more occasions) and is a good defensive forward who can play on the penalty kill if needs be. Plus, he's won 4 Stanley Cups... Kopecky has a big frame which he could definitely use more, and his balance isn't great. Kopecky is sometimes moved up to the 3rd line, but I don't think he contributes that much there. Basically, I can't see how Kopecky is more valuable than Maltby, so if you need to sit one of the two, sit Koko. I think Leino played well when he was called up, even when he had 4th line duty - but I think this is overlooking the problem, namely that our 2nd and 3rd lines aren't scoring (yes I called HDH our 2nd line). So I agree that it would be nice to give our 4th line that edge, but I don't think that that is what is concerning Babcock at the moment. Also I think there has been a good deal of overreacting. We're only 2 games in, tied 1-1, and are a good road team who will be hungry and less rusty.

But Franzén-Zetterberg-Cleary already kick ass... Helm is great where he is, maybe on the 3rd line tops. And if anyone should sit, it'll be Kopecky.

There is chemistry there already though... It's the 2nd line of Hossa, Datsyuk and Holmström that might need a shake-up. And while Cleary certainly hasn't put up the points he did a year or two ago, the injury may have accounted for some of that, and he saw a lot of 3rd line action this year. P.S. Textbook are you the same person as on nhltorrents.co.uk? If so, thank you very much for all of your uploads!

Don't listen to what you read elsewhere... Franzén, Zetterberg and Cleary are our first line. Cleary is the hardest-working player we have, he's 2nd on the team in points, and I believe leads the team in plus/minus (haven't checked in a while). Also, since this line has the task of trying to shut down Anaheim's top line (which they've been fairly successful at) it makes since to have a defensively sound and hard-working player like Cleary on it.

Update - Griffins lost and are down 3-0 against Manitoba. While I would love to see Leino play, I should point out that I'm not sure he should go on the 4th line. Our 1st (FZC) and 4th (KHelmM) have both been great, and I don't think there is any point in changing that - beyond perhaps substituting Draper for Kopecky. Maltby has played quite well - much better than he did in the regular season. He's being pesky, trying to draw penalties, and the line as a whole has had lots of hits and puck possession, and even one or two chances. The two lines that need a boost offensively are the 2nd and 3rd lines.

It's a bummer - I didn't see the game, but how did Leino play? I got the impression that his line had a huge 1st series, but I guess it's not the case against Manitoba. On the bright side, Big Rig and Helm are playing very well for Detroit at the moment, so see that as a silver lining - while it hurts to lose some of your best players, be happy that they're helping the big team.

As is just playing 5 defenders...

Al Sobotka is the octopus guy. I agree, lots of positives. We got better as the game went on, and without wanting to sound like a total homer, we were better in overtime. And the fact that Babs can put out the 4th line and not only watch them play smart defensively, throw hits, but also see them creating some chances is great.

I'm not sure if it's a question of conditioning, and like the above poster I would attribute it to rust. He didn't look that bad out there, and fine, he took a dumb penalty - a number of other players did too. I wouldn't mind him getting more ice-time - I'm not saying that he needs to play every 3rd shift, but 7:00 is too low in my opinion.