puckloo39

they do look a little lazy tonight, don't they? I thought they would come out on fire, but this looks to me like the typical end of season who-gives-a-crap that the Wings sometimes do.

what are you guys watching? I've got FSN Detroit (Center Ice). whew~

I am especially fond of the "disease" reference, myself. Good heavens...

And ya'll think the Hasek supporters over-react? Puh-leeze... PS - forgive me if you're being sarcastic yzerfan1999. Otherwise, take a pill or something.

I will never get over how polarized we are when it comes to goalies here.

I swear, if they shoot 30+ harmless bloopers at the Jax goalie tonight and don't score, I am going to hurt someone. Hopefully, they are ashamed of their offensive production in W. Canada and will do better at home tonight.

see, Offsides, you are smarter than most and understand there is some sort of balance to this. I don't think anyone's saying Dom shouldn't be criticized when he makes a mistake and it costs the team. He knows it. He probably doesn't need his nose rubbed in it in the media to get the point -- but when a coach kicks that door open by airing his frustration to the press rather than to the player in private, it was to be expected. Maybe that's what Babcock was after, I don't know. I doubt it. I also don't know that I've seen a coach throw one of his star players under the bus like this recently, either, but you're probably correct that it has happened.

I predict a close game... and a very long GDT!

Right. Hasek's been lousy this season and needs to step it up. All goalies do this stuff. See Patrick Roy for examples of creative net-displacement at opportune times, see any goalie in the league for well-timed dives. Hasek didn't invent any of it. Babcock's comments revealed his frustration over the two straight losses, featuring no offensive effort and constant penalties on the team, compounded by injuries. Unfortunately he left out (or the media did) the fact that Hasek kept them in both games and gave them a chance to win. Hasek's error was just the last straw for Babcock, and the load landed on Dom. Babcock lost his temper and Dom was in the way. I doubt that it will happen again, in either case.

sure it is. If Babcock called out Lang or Lilja, for instance, on a particularly bad turnover which caused a GWG, no one would pay any attention. They do it all the time. Hasek makes one mistake and it's front page news in every outlet. The bigger you are, the more people want to see you fail. Human nature, I guess.

it's true and you know it.

I would say the ratio of goals Dom has "caused" versus the ones he's saved when his team-mates screw up is enormously in favor of the saves, to say the least. So, IMO the over-reaction and Babcock's decision to call Hasek out on this one instance was a poor one, in retrospect. Granted, the press had a field day with it and perhaps Mike didn't expect that -- but he should have known better. Maybe he did, and this is the backlash he wanted? Who knows? Just my opinion, but I dislike coaches who air their grievances with players to the media, just as I dislike players who do the same. I can forgive Mike for this one lapse in judgement, as I haven't really seen this tendency in him. Too bad, if people aren't willing to do the same for Hasek considering he's been a rock for Detroit this season, against all odds. If he's going to call out one player, whether from frustration or whatever, he needs to do it with everyone who screws up on the team. It's because it's Hasek that this is such a big deal. Hasek willl be fine, by the way. And nothing about his game will change, thankfully. edit... I can't spell today.

Babcock thinks he's the coach. Dom's dealt with much worse egos than Mike's in his career, I wouldn't worry about their relationship. I don't think Dom dove either, he did get hit. I don't expect Babcock to admit that, either. If the coach expects Hasek to stop playing his game the way he plays it, then he may want to bench Dom for the rest of the season. People who know nothing about hockey probably DO think Hasek's apparent madness has no method to it. As for paying Dom to make the saves, he does his job and then some. And they are not paying him all that much, considering what they're getting in return. This whole thing is out of proportion, thanks to the media, but I guarantee you that the announcers at the game tonight will make a huge deal of it, and just to try and make the whole situation look even worse. It eludes me what they think they're getting out of this, aside from hearing themselves talk. I do believe Hasek is professional enough to rise above this, at least.

it won't. At least not on Hasek's part. I can't imagine anyone would think Hasek, who is famous for his concentration and attention to the game, needs a lesson. But whatever...

at one time, I would have said he gets no profile because he plays in Buffalo, but they've been very much on the radar this season. He's a very good young player. We'll see him around for a long time!

No, no... you don't get it. Dom is the reason they only produced one goal per game. It's his fault they lost. Babcock believes "punishing" Hasek will make the rest of the team perform better. He is wrong about that. I am being sarcastic. See? Seriously, Dom is the reason they didn't get completely shellacked in Calgary, since the entire team seems to spend most of the time in the box. Not saying they can help that, if the refs are indeed bent on penalizing the Wings more than they deserve. I doubt it. If Babcock wants to call people out on making mistakes, he better make a list and get started. Dom made a desperate ditch effort to get something, anything, going the Wings' direction. It didn't work. I am very concerned about people who are gleefully blaming Hasek for the Wings' poor showings lately. He's the reason they ever had a chance in either W. Canada game. They didn't show up offensively, so they lost. And there you have it. Note: reportedly, Hasek and Babcock have talked about his public denunciation of his own goalie's actions. Hasek is fine with it. The replay shows that Iginla hit Dom in the head. Wrong assumption on the coach's part, apparently for blaming Hasek and for a loss that was in fact a bad team performance, IMO. Hasek is bigger than this, fortunately, and it won't effect things going forward on his part.

That's a great idea.

thanks, Harold. Mikey Mo's in some pretty good company, in terms of other ex-Cs, I guess.

Tell Feds hi for me. Where are you sitting, so we can look for you? Jealous me, you get to see Bert live for the first time as a Wing. I hope he has a good night, and Ozzie, too. Have fun!!!

Mike Modano is a great player, and I think a lot of him. He's adored in Dallas and is the face of the franchise. I was shocked when they took the C from him and gave it to Morrow (who is a great guy in his own right). I thought at first the pressure was getting to him, but I was corrected by insiders in Dallas who said it was not his idea to relinquish the C, far from it. Mike has been pretty vocal, and I think it did effect his play. So the brass chose to take him out of the leadership position. He's been stand-up about the whole situation and played great for the Stars, as if he'd do anything else. But this has been hard on him, emotionally, I hear. I am glad he was able to accept the change and move on. Is there another instance where a Captain who remained on the team has been demoted like this? I really don't know, anybody?

4-3 Wings in OT. I don't believe Babcock is stupid enough to "bench" Hasek for his gaffe vs. Calgary. If so, then I think a great deal less of him than I did yesterday. As if a world-class, elite player like Hasek needs to be punished and chastened for making a judgement call that went bad? If that's the way the Wings' management is treating players (I don't believe it, BTW), then that's reason for concern, IMO. Hasek is probably tired of killing a billion penalties every game, and now it's Ozzie's turn, more likely. Besides, if making a mistake resulted in benching the player responsible, we'd be short half a dozen guys every game...and we'd never see Lilja or Lang again.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/Sports/Hockey/2007/...796982-sun.html Kipper enjoyed the evening, announcing that the Wings were not much of a threat, scoring-wise (like we didn't notice?) Besides, he pointed out, the shots on goal didn't tell the tale. He didn't consider those 31 shots to be loaded with great scoring chances. "Lots of those shots, they were outside. The defence played well and the forwards came back, so then it's tough to play against us," Kiprusoff said. "We outworked them tonight and that's what we have to do against every team in this league. That's our style of play." um... bang on, Kipper. Babs forgot he ever said that last night, I guess. Either that, or he's bipolar. I really hope you're right about Bert. And everything else, I agree with.

We are now a committee of two who believe there might have been a bunch of other guys in Red Wings sweaters involved, more or less, in both losses on the road. They'll show up for Ozzie tomorrow and light up Columbus, I am not worried. a little bit of balance on the "bad Dom" situation from Eric Duhatshek, if anyone's interested at this point: http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...ortsHockey/home

Whatever Babcock said or didn't say, he can't take it back or clarify what he meant at this point. And perhaps he doesn't want to. What the press took from his statements has become "the truth" - Dom lost the game for them - and no one will read into his comments that anyone else was responsible except Hasek, since he focused only on Dom's actions. Too bad Babs was so angry over the loss to acknowledge also that Dom kept the game close enough to win and made some amazing stops on Iginla and others. Neither Vancouver or Calgary games were winnable when the Wings only score one goal, unless Dom posted a shutout in each outing. That's a bit much to ask, I think.

I bet he never wears it this season. It doesn't take that long to find padding that's comfy. Ozzie probably just changed his mind.