unsaddleddonald

This is really just a poorly worded response that doesn't seem to have a point or go anywhere..... Thank you Dan Cleary for all of those clutch playoff goals you have provided in the past, but injuries have caught up with you. You can't skate and you never get an opportunity to shoot. Here is a positive: Cleary/Bert/White all have expiring contracts

The Silver Chalice Era or The Golden Wings Era

Shanny/Hull

LOL, so you dug this up to take a shot at me? Don't pretend that our team that lacks size wasn't pushed around in that playoff series against Nashville. The Predators set the blueprint: beat the Red Wings by skating faster and hitting harder. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are great players. But I think we need more size in our lineup to avoid being kept to the perimeter of the offensive zone for a short 5-game playoff series.

As far as a top line winger who actually likes to shoot the puck goes, I like Damien Brunner. But one isn't enough in my opinion. I need some education on our pipline: who are the wingers in the farm system that are supposed to be goal scorers? Preferably 6 foot or bigger?

I think you just contradicted yourself if you agree that he didn't do much last night. Considering he was playing with a couple of guys who will generate no offense, I think Tatar looked pretty good last night. Skated hard/fast, backchecked, forechecked. Showed some very simple glimpses of being able to create if he is given a little bit of space and time. But again, you could only see so much with who he was playing with....

Remember when our third line was Samuelsson-Filppula-Hudler? Those were the days...

Emmerton, Miller/Eaves, Abdelkader, Helm. I won't blame the last guy as much as I'll blame the first three, but our PK hasn't been up to snuff the last 2/3 years and obviously this year it has been a disaster. It's almost as if Babcock has this mindset: the guys on the 3rd and 4th lines will play the penalty kill. If that is his thought process, considering who are our 3rd and 4th line players, then it is flawed. Penalty killers need to have a high hockey IQ. They need to be able to anticipate where the puck is going, play angles, and have the athleticism to attack the puck carrier without putting the rest of their linemates in jeopardy. We used to field our best players on the PK: Pav, Hank, The Captain, Fedorov, etc. I realize that using Pav and Hank on the PK now is risky due to endurance issues, but we lost a 2-0 twice because of taking stupid penalties and then the PK couldn't hold up. I noticed Miller, Emmerton, and Abdelkader particularly last night how they would stay in the box and not pressure the puck carrier whatsoever and to boot they were playing pretty deep inside the blue line giving the point men A TON of space. Need a change....

Who did Hossa get hurt against? Maybe I'm thinking St. Louis...

Again, Columbus ties it up on the PP. Abby and Cleary collapse down low and there is no one to challenge Wisnieski's shot.... Cleary shouldn't be out there for the simple fact that he can't skate anymore, but that is another story.... Chicago throws out Hossa, Toews, Sharp, and Bolland on their PK. In other words, they throw SMART hockey players out on their PK. We can't continue to pretty much submit at least one power play goal in every single game.

Yes

Cleary breakaway: carbon copy of Game 6 2009 Finals against Fleury.....

I like that shot he had just before the period ended, but for god sakes, can i please see more of that?

DISAGREE He just hasn't made an obvious mistake yet...

RIGHT THERE@!!!! Filpulla REFUSES to shoot.....

Geeze, how far away is he from Grand Rapids (at least)? I would like him now.... EDIT: never mind, question answered.

Obviously I'm getting restless wanting to see these guys. We need shots, shots, shots. I love Hank, but I would say his shot is above-average at best. And Pav/Fil never shoot. Need more shots....

And that, in a nutshell, is one of the Red Wing's biggest problems. Franzen can play second fiddle (to Hank in 08 and Hossa in 09), but he can't be "the guy".

I disagree. I think Cleary is done. His shot is absolutely non-existent in my opinion. When he first came here, he could get some open ice and fire a pretty hard shot whether it be wrist/slap/snap. I think Sammy, at this point, has a better shot and skates better than Cleary. But I'm basically deciding who is the taller midget between these two.... Franzen waits too long as well. This team, though, has been kept to the outside almost entirely since the Nashville series started last spring. It seems like no one can get close to the net anymore.

I was at the game last night. I just about lost it when he got knocked down in front of the net late in the 3rd and just laid there.... I wonder what Homer would have done. This guy is just gone mentally. He can't create his own shot and doesn't work for any ice. He is done.

I disagree to an extent. At that moment for Holland, he KNEW what Hossa was. He is a big body forward with good athleticism with a PROVEN track record. A guy who will give you at least 70-80 points every season. Franzen was a diamond in the rough player at that point who had a nice couple of seasons, but he didn't have the proven history that Hossa did. The reality is that Franzen cannot be the #1 goal scorer for a team. His two best seasons came when he was #2 (behind Hank in 2008 and behind Hossa in 2009).

Here is a summary of the ranting: -We lost Rafalski...."replaced" by Ian White -We lost Lidstrom/Stuart...."replaced" by Carlo Colaiacovo -We chose Franzen.....Hossa has 5 points (4 goals) through 2 games this season Fantastic......

How many times did we see White, or Filppula, or even Hank simply get pushed from behind and knocked down and had the puck taken from them? It was sad. They played slow and showed little awareness. Unfortunately this team has morphed into small skilled forwards who can't really skate. The Blues DO NOT...and I repeat....DO NOT have more skill than the Red Wings. But the Predators set the blue print for overcoming a skill mismatch against the Wings: skate fast and hit hard. Our guys need to play with more energy and speed. I'm just not sure if they are capable of doing that though....

HOW TO BEAT THE RED WINGS: Skate fast and hit hard.

No surprise here I think. Brutally honest commentary although I disagree with the forward corps comment; it is that last sentence that breaks my heart </3 http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/48196-The-Hockey-News-201213-NHL-regular-season-predictions-No-7.html "Why: Welcome to the Twilight Zone. Detroit, on the playoff bubble? It feels odd to even type those words, but the Red Wings’ off-season was disastrous. They lost their best defenseman ever, Nicklas Lidstrom, to retirement, and traded Brad Stuart. The assumption was they’d land a big free agent fish or two to replace them, but GM Ken Holland swung and missed. Even if rookie Brendan Smith shines, the Wings can’t possibly replace what they’ve lost on the back end. That said, Detroit still boasts one of the league’s deepest forward corps, led by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and newcomer Jordin Tootoo gives them sorely needed sandpaper. The Wings remain a playoff team, but aren’t a serious Cup threat anymore."