Zion

I agree. I blame the team for their losses this road trip, save for Datsyuk, Calder - who has far exceeded my expectations in rejuvenating the 2nd line - and maybe Hudler, who has clearly been skating harder.

Funny, but your post should read: Either one, we need him. We're not a playoff team.

We've lost all but one game in Western Canada, and if you're NOT worried about the teams we're up against, you may be in for another rude awakening. I hope I'm wrong, but let's face the facts - we're not built for the playoffs.

"Schneider is 6th among defensemen in points per game. Gonchar is the only guy on that list ahead of him in that department--by .02--and Schneider is a huge upgrade over Gonchar defensively and physically. Zhitnik is the only guy on that list who is noticably better than Schneider defensively, but not better enough to turn his offensive disadvantage around. Ultimately, Schneider is the 28th highest paid defenseman (27th if you exclude Malakhov) but in reality is one of the ten or fifteen best defensemen in the league. You know what that means? Schneider=underpaid." Wow, sounds like a stong argument for Schneids to look into going back to NY, or elsewhere.

Excellent.

This post is dead-on, with the exception that you failed to mention Anaheim and San Jose. The rest of you guys are delusional. We benefit from being in a weak division, and simply cannot afford to not play well out west: at Los Angeles, 10/16: 3-1W at Anaheim, 10/18: 4-1L at San Jose, 10/19: 5-1L at Edmonton, 10/21: 3-1L at Vancouver, 11/14: 3-2W at Calgary, 11/17: 4-1L at Edmonton, 11/18: 3-2L at San Jose, 1/4: 9-4L at Los Angeles, 1/6: 4-2L at Anaheim, 1/7: 4-2L at Vancouver, 3/17: 4-1L at Calgary, 3/20: 2-1L Is this acceptable play to you? Don't expect the Wings to go far at all in the playoffs if these are the efforts we are going to get on the road, especially against teams that simply work harder than we do. And before you talk about how we're great at home, we've split wins at home vs. San Jose, Vancouver and Edmonton, and play Anaheim at home on Monday.

I've been watching Schneider since he was in LA. He played a lot nastier, though his offense is about the same. He needs to play with a defensive defenseman, not Kronwall. I've only heard potential interest in NY, as he played with the Rangers before, and is from NY. I'm sure he loves Detroit, but NY loves to overpay aging vets (Shanny not included).

I disagree. Calgary looked like the puck-possession team, especially in the 1st period. We saw the Wings get knocked off the puck with ease in the offensive zone, shot harmless long wrist shots in the zone and were really no threat to Kipper. Physical teams put an end to our style pretty well, and while we skated with the Flames much better than I thought we would, we were still ineffective, and our inability to win in the northwest will assure us that we go nowhere in the playoffs, unless we get lucky and draw Dallas or Minnesota in the 1st round.

Calgary is too good at home and the Wings are horrible on west coast trips. 2 days off isn't helping, either.

Which is why he'll probably end up on anoher team - probably the NY Rangers.

NHL.com is very PC. They didn't even have the Chris Simon incident on the front page the day after the incident. It was all over TSN and ESPN.com.

That is it. Plain and simple. There is no need for further discussion. This thread can be closed now.

San Jose a "sleeper" team? Not a chance we want them in the 1st round. We'd be clobbered. Same with Anaheim. Fortunately, we can't face them. We'd beat Dallas, Minnesota and (if they could even make it) Colorado. Calgary would be dangerous, but beatable. We do NOT want San Jose in the 1st round.

This is exactly right. I don't bother predicting scores and goal-scorers. Just give us the two points, and Detroit DOES need to prove that it can beat a playoff team on the road. They never do well on these road trips.

Strong arguments for Sammy and Hudler to sit. With all of the Maltby-bashers on here, I'm surprised he hasn't been mentioned. I wouldn't have included him on the list if I hadn't read so many "Maltby sucks" posts/threads.

We'll start by assuming that Zetterberg and Bertuzzi are both healthy and at or near playoff game shape. List the player you would scratch from the following list of possible scratches and why: Dan Cleary Valtteri Filppula Jiri Hudler Kirk Maltby Mikael Samuelsson

Yes, I miss the old Maltby. We've seen shades of it in a few games this year, but I think that ONE of the possibilities is to scratch him and have Cleary play with Draper and Franzen on the checking line. Obviously, most of us would agree on Sammy, as he hasn't impressed much since his game-winner against lowly LA, but could he play on a line with Flip and Bert and impress?

Next games in Vancouver and Calgary should worry you...

Anyone have the Griffins schedule? Will he travel with them if they are on the road, or will he stay local?

Because I like the opinions of fellow Wings fans. This IS a discussion board, is it not?

Maltby will most likely be in the line-up, yes, but I'm asking who YOU would scratch, and why. As much as I like Malts, I think Cleary could do his job just as well and allow Sammy to be a shooter on the 4th line.

"Maltby and Cleary will not be scratched" But should they be? Could you sit Maltby on the basis of Cleary being younger and just as good on the PK?

In plain English: Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Datsyuk Best line in hockey, assuming Zetterberg can play. Don't break it up. Calder - Lang - Hudler I would not break up this 2nd line, either. There is actual chemistry developing here. Franzen - Draper - Maltby/Samuelsson The checking line has been terrific, and Johan Franzen has been SO good in both ends of the rink, that you could literally remove Maltby and add Sammy and make this a pesky scoring line. Bertuzzi - Filppula - Cleary A terrific 4th line. These guys are all injured right now, and I can't see Todd Bertuzzi playing big minutes. That being said, if the Wings roll 4 lines and make quick changes, all lines will stay fresh and these are damn good lines! Power Play Forward Pairings Holmstrom - Zetterberg - Datsyuk (for obvious reasons) Calder - Lang - Bertuzzi I put these lines together because Bertuzzi can be in front, Calder can dig in the corners and Lang can make plays with the extra space. While this line doesn't have a great shooter on it, the ugly goals could come from Bert and Calder wreaking havoc in the corners and in front, because we know the shots from the point are going to be extremely difficult to get through.

LET'S GO RED WINGS! Luckily for Detroit, I am not going, or the building would be LOUD!!!

Not good. Hopefully the Wings continue to click with their young guys and their "other" forwards play with some passion.