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My post series thoughts:
1) Always disappointing to lose like this...I remember when we lost game 7 to the Pens for the Cup. I was seriously down for like a week...we were better than them. We were the best team in the league then. This is bad...but i am already over it. I don't think the Wings had what it takes to get out of the East. The Rangers defense is stacked. Price is tough. There are just too many barriers and our best players are a bit too old. It would have been nice to continue in the playoffs...not meant to be.
2) I thought we played a good series...nothing to hang our heads about. We had our chances to nail this down in games 4 and 6. The great teams get it done. We didn't. But the guys played tough. Guys i admired during the series include Glenny, Abby, Helmer, Dats, Mraz. I like their game...
3) I am not sure getting really old players at the deadline is a great idea. Keith Yandle would have been a good get. Zidlicky is too slow and really cost us in these playoffs a bit...I am not sure he is really any better than Kindl, Marchenko, or Oulett. Cole ended up being a non-factor. Getting old players at the deadline for a bunch of "spare part" assets, messing up the chemistry, sitting young players, then slumping your way into the playoffs. Kenny has not really made a lot of outstanding moves lately. Giving 5 mill to Weiss who was coming off injury was incredibly bone-headed. The whole "overripe" thing is overrated. Hockey players in this era are beaten up after 31 or so and on the downside of things. Just my opinion. If you want to be a franchise that competes for the Cup every year you have to make bold, smart moves. If you make bad moves...no Cup.
4) I am really impressed with Mrazek's demeanor, puck handling, and athleticism. He overplays things and that needs to be fixed...but it is fixable. I like him in net over Jimmy who does to handle the puck so well and seems to be always tweaking his groin.
5) I would trade Jimmy to a team that really needs a goalie (? St. Louis) for either a rugged scoring winger or a top tier defenseman. Mraz starts...and then find a serviceable back up.
6) No more really old players please. Unless he is a core guy (Z, Dats, Kron), the secondary players should be young and not have a lot of miles on them.
7) We need a bit of grit and size in our forwards...Franzen is pretty much done. I would trade him for a low pick and a back up goalie...if he actually can still play. Get rid of him.
8) Weiss needs to go...back to Florida for a low pick...maybe his game needs Florida...I don't know.
9) It would be great to have a #1 D-man...I have no idea how we get one of these.
10) I would not re-sign either Cole or Zids...too old.
11) There is a lot of negative talk about Zetterberg here...but he is not going anywhere. I am hopeful that as he gets farther out from his back surgery he can still be a contributor.
That's all i got for now...disappointing that we are out and i have no more playoff games to worry about.

My post series thoughts:
1) Always disappointing to lose like this...I remember when we lost game 7 to the Pens for the Cup. I was seriously down for like a week...we were better than them. We were the best team in the league then. This is bad...but i am already over it. I don't think the Wings had what it takes to get out of the East. The Rangers defense is stacked. Price is tough. There are just too many barriers and our best players are a bit too old. It would have been nice to continue in the playoffs...not meant to be.
2) I thought we played a good series...nothing to hang our heads about. We had our chances to nail this down in games 4 and 6. The great teams get it done. We didn't. But the guys played tough. Guys i admired during the series include Glenny, Abby, Helmer, Dats, Mraz. I like their game...
3) I am not sure getting really old players at the deadline is a great idea. Keith Yandle would have been a good get. Zidlicky is too slow and really cost us in these playoffs a bit...I am not sure he is really any better than Kindl, Marchenko, or Oulett. Cole ended up being a non-factor. Getting old players at the deadline for a bunch of "spare part" assets, messing up the chemistry, sitting young players, then slumping your way into the playoffs. Kenny has not really made a lot of outstanding moves lately. Giving 5 mill to Weiss who was coming off injury was incredibly bone-headed. The whole "overripe" thing is overrated. Hockey players in this era are beaten up after 31 or so and on the downside of things. Just my opinion. If you want to be a franchise that competes for the Cup every year you have to make bold, smart moves. If you make bad moves...no Cup.
4) I am really impressed with Mrazek's demeanor, puck handling, and athleticism. He overplays things and that needs to be fixed...but it is fixable. I like him in net over Jimmy who does to handle the puck so well and seems to be always tweaking his groin.
5) I would trade Jimmy to a team that really needs a goalie (? St. Louis) for either a rugged scoring winger or a top tier defenseman. Mraz starts...and then find a serviceable back up.
6) No more really old players please. Unless he is a core guy (Z, Dats, Kron), the secondary players should be young and not have a lot of miles on them.
7) We need a bit of grit and size in our forwards...Franzen is pretty much done. I would trade him for a low pick and a back up goalie...if he actually can still play. Get rid of him.
8) Weiss needs to go...back to Florida for a low pick...maybe his game needs Florida...I don't know.
9) It would be great to have a #1 D-man...I have no idea how we get one of these.
10) I would not re-sign either Cole or Zids...too old.
11) There is a lot of negative talk about Zetterberg here...but he is not going anywhere. I am hopeful that as he gets farther out from his back surgery he can still be a contributor.
That's all i got for now...disappointing that we are out and i have no more playoff games to worry about.

I would sit Zid and put in Kindl and Marchenko...and see how that rolls for game 7. Kindl sometimes has good games, especially offensively. Marchenko can be solid.
The ruling is absolute s**t but now we just have to win. It may light a fire under our butts.

I would sit Zid and put in Kindl and Marchenko...and see how that rolls for game 7. Kindl sometimes has good games, especially offensively. Marchenko can be solid.
The ruling is absolute s**t but now we just have to win. It may light a fire under our butts.

I think the team plays more relaxed in front of Mrazek because of how he handles the puck. He handles it with more confidence than Jimmy. He is also at times more confident and poised in the net. It is also true that sometimes Mrazek will really get a bit lost coming out too far and over-challenging. But, on balance, my opinion is that Jimmy has not played great since coming back from the groin tear (which by the way was caused by one of his horrific mishandles behind the net...resulting in him scrambling awkwardly back to the net). I think overall we played some of our best hockey when Mrazek was starting...perhaps his puck handling gets the offense rolling from the defensive end. I would let Jimmy sit and gather himself for an extended period of time...and go with Mrazek. This team needs a shake up and this would do it. Let Jimmy back up for awhile.
I also would get Marchenko back in there once he is healed and perhaps sit Ericsson for awhile...he makes way too many mistakes and needs a bit of a break.
Weiss should sit as well...he is inconsequential on a team that needs difference makers.
I think players go thru funks and when they are in a funk, just sit them. Rest them for awhile. Don't grind the same guys out there who are having problems.

Mrazek has tenacity...like so far how he has protected this lead

Mrazek has tenacity...like so far how he has protected this lead

Mrazek has tenacity...like so far how he has protected this lead

Mrazek has tenacity...like so far how he has protected this lead

I think the team plays more relaxed in front of Mrazek because of how he handles the puck. He handles it with more confidence than Jimmy. He is also at times more confident and poised in the net. It is also true that sometimes Mrazek will really get a bit lost coming out too far and over-challenging. But, on balance, my opinion is that Jimmy has not played great since coming back from the groin tear (which by the way was caused by one of his horrific mishandles behind the net...resulting in him scrambling awkwardly back to the net). I think overall we played some of our best hockey when Mrazek was starting...perhaps his puck handling gets the offense rolling from the defensive end. I would let Jimmy sit and gather himself for an extended period of time...and go with Mrazek. This team needs a shake up and this would do it. Let Jimmy back up for awhile.
I also would get Marchenko back in there once he is healed and perhaps sit Ericsson for awhile...he makes way too many mistakes and needs a bit of a break.
Weiss should sit as well...he is inconsequential on a team that needs difference makers.
I think players go thru funks and when they are in a funk, just sit them. Rest them for awhile. Don't grind the same guys out there who are having problems.

Weiss is the worst player on this team. Soft, never wins a battle. Loses the puck if someone breathes on him when he's carrying it. He holds up all the time to avoid contact. I don't think he wants to get near the puck...he's a head case. Why sign a guy to a long term contract like that when he was injured the year before. Terrible signing. Unbelievably worse player than Filpula. How do you follow hockey, GM a team, and make such a horrendously irresponsible signing!
I am pis#%d off...please send Weiss to GR, cut him, or trade him for a box of tampons.

His hands aren't bad around the net, he just rarely gets the puck there since he's playing on the fourth line.However, I think he's just gripping his stick too tight, and the bounces just aren't coming his way.
He clearly has the skill, go look at some of his goals from last season when he had confidence, spin o ramma first goal, making Pavel datyuk-esque moves, or even his behind the back drop pass this year to Kronwall.
The skills not the problem, its there, I just think they told him to play a simple game to teach him the way defensively in the nhl.
He's still developing and he's fast, big, hits well, grinds well already so yes still valuable to the team while babs is teaching him the stuff he didn't have time to learn in grand rapids.
Hell come around, but I really do think they should send him down let him get his confidence back and bring him up after two or three weeks and put him on one of the top lines. Something like they just did with pulks.
Also.
Having him on a line with A.A. and mantha would be great. Let them all get some chemistry together because if they all come near their potential they could become one of our top two lines of the future.
I think Mantha-Athanasiou-Jurco (jam line) together would be amazing, speed, size, skill, some grit, and with a sniper in mantha....
It could be special.
aa+Jurcos speed alone would give people fits, and manthas pretty damn quick himself.

Called the 4-3 OT win... just saying.
Another good game from Smith and Dekeyser. Gotta get Kindl off this club.

The one positive I take away from this series is that I hope Holland sees are far the Wings are really away from being Cup contenders.
As a side rant, I said it at the time and I will say it again....Suter and Parise were worth paying long term big time money to. Especially if you had to pay Parise to get Suter. Depth is much easier to find than elite players. Don't be afraid to sign top end guys because you are afraid of losing Ericssons or players of that level.

In the 2008 and 2009 seasons, with Datsyuk and Zetterberg in their primes and having their best career offensive seasons, Holmstrom never had 50 pts. Contrary to what some believe, neither Datsyuk nor Zetterberg are the same players they were then. Those guys will be good this year, but they aren't going to squeeze blood from a stone. I'd love it if you're right, but Abby has not shown the ability to produce even as consistently as Miller at the NHL level, and D and Z aren't at an age where they can still make anyone around them look that good. Hell Franzen has consistently played on Datsyuk's wing for a couple years now and only gets 50-60 pts. And whether you like him or not, Franzen is about 2,000,000 times the offensive player that Abby is.
Playing with Datsyuk or Zetterberg is no longer a way to get more out of less. At their age we should be acquiring complimentary pieces to help keep their numbers up, not the other way around. I would have loved a shooting winger for Datsyuk, and to see Zetterberg on Weiss' wing. In my opinion that would be a better dynamic than once again asking those two to play their game and half of everybody else's as well.

I hate to bring this word up...but here it is..."core"...yeah, "core".
We mocked "core" concept a few years back...but i am now thinking we were wrong on this. The "new NHL" is about having elite core players and then some young guys who aren't getting injured every other day that fill the line up out. We have a small "core"...Dats, Z, Kronwall, and Howard. I think Howard is close to elite the way he has saved our as* this year. That's about it. Franzen was thought to be "core", but he is not (obviously). The "new NHL" in the cap era is not about "loyalty to older guys" who tend to get beat up as the season goes on and then run out of gas in the playoffs. It's about guys who have some jump in their step and can fill out the line up...once they start to show sustained bouts of being injured or ineffective, you have to move them on and move younger guys in. And all of that is a bit of a crap shoot, but it is how you avoid the mediocrity curse (stuck in the middle).
The salary cap has made it a very cut-throat, crass business...but to compete you have to cut your losses with some of these guys, bring in the younger/cheaper talent from the minors, and continually look for elite core guys in free agency. You can't be loyal to guys that are older and have been around awhile, but have lost a step and spend three-quarters of the time on the IR.
I totally disagree with the let them "ripen" concept. What is the physiologic peak of a human being? It is at 28 years old...at least from a respiratory physiologic standpoint. So after 28, it's a downhill trend from an athletic perspective. Leaving these guys in the minors forever is a detriment because they are not developing against the best talent (NHL talent) and you are wasting some of their best years from a physical standpoint in the minors. Andersson has been great this year. Without injuries, he would be in the minors. What about Lashoff? He would be in the minors without injuries.
It seems like our management can't even evaluate our young talent to know when to bring them up. If you can fill your line up on the cheap with the younger talent, then you can afford to break the bank in free agency to get a couple "elite core" players. But we have management who continually think that signing guys like Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary is the right strategy when we have guys like Andersson, Tatar, Lashoff, and Nyquist wasting away in the minors. If you save the money you spend on Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary you can then sign one or two elite players who have high skill and are difference makers. Yes, last year we crapped out on Parise and Suter. But unless we are continually re-evaluating our line up at the end of year and cutting guys who are not really producing or have a high chance of being injured, we are gonna be stuck in mediocre hell.

He has no heart. He floats through games and is maddeningly inconsistent. He plays soft and acts like a man half his size. There's so much he could be with his size and skill...but just isn't. And at this point, never will be.

If i were GM I would:
1) Identify my core players and sign them to high dollar deals for 3-5 years. If i really have confidence in one of them, maybe 6-7 years. Don't lock in for longer than that. Two guys on defense, five guys on offense and a goalie. 8 core guys in total.
2) Fill out the rest of my roster with average guys who are hard working, durable and not too old. Grinders that are young and not worn down.
3) Avoid older guys who have a reputation of being physical...they generally wear out at that age. My physical guys have to be younger guys.
4) Avoid trading cheap assets with potential upside for rentals or old guys...that's a losing strategy.
5) Identify the top 1 - 2 free agents every year or so and go at them very hard with a high dollar deals. The core needs to be replenished. If the core drops to a low level (like 5 or less), you have to replenish.
6) Bank on the fact that eventually a prospect or two will turn into a core player. But they have to be evaluated on the NHL level between the ages of 21 -24 regularly. No more over-ripen bulls**t.
7) Every year at the end of the season, some changes have to be made. It is like re-balancing your stock portfolio. You need to make some changes. Even if you win a cup. That's the best time to make changes because that is when your assets will be worth most...after a good season.
8) Don't be afraid of occasionally making a bad deal...but when you do, cut your losses. Don't hang on to a mistake forever.
The NHL with the cap system requires yearly re-assessment and adjustments to maintain competitiveness. As GM, you have to have thought all this out and made your moves during the off-season. Scrambling at the trading deadline is not ideal and should be avoided if possible.

I hate to bring this word up...but here it is..."core"...yeah, "core".
We mocked "core" concept a few years back...but i am now thinking we were wrong on this. The "new NHL" is about having elite core players and then some young guys who aren't getting injured every other day that fill the line up out. We have a small "core"...Dats, Z, Kronwall, and Howard. I think Howard is close to elite the way he has saved our as* this year. That's about it. Franzen was thought to be "core", but he is not (obviously). The "new NHL" in the cap era is not about "loyalty to older guys" who tend to get beat up as the season goes on and then run out of gas in the playoffs. It's about guys who have some jump in their step and can fill out the line up...once they start to show sustained bouts of being injured or ineffective, you have to move them on and move younger guys in. And all of that is a bit of a crap shoot, but it is how you avoid the mediocrity curse (stuck in the middle).
The salary cap has made it a very cut-throat, crass business...but to compete you have to cut your losses with some of these guys, bring in the younger/cheaper talent from the minors, and continually look for elite core guys in free agency. You can't be loyal to guys that are older and have been around awhile, but have lost a step and spend three-quarters of the time on the IR.
I totally disagree with the let them "ripen" concept. What is the physiologic peak of a human being? It is at 28 years old...at least from a respiratory physiologic standpoint. So after 28, it's a downhill trend from an athletic perspective. Leaving these guys in the minors forever is a detriment because they are not developing against the best talent (NHL talent) and you are wasting some of their best years from a physical standpoint in the minors. Andersson has been great this year. Without injuries, he would be in the minors. What about Lashoff? He would be in the minors without injuries.
It seems like our management can't even evaluate our young talent to know when to bring them up. If you can fill your line up on the cheap with the younger talent, then you can afford to break the bank in free agency to get a couple "elite core" players. But we have management who continually think that signing guys like Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary is the right strategy when we have guys like Andersson, Tatar, Lashoff, and Nyquist wasting away in the minors. If you save the money you spend on Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary you can then sign one or two elite players who have high skill and are difference makers. Yes, last year we crapped out on Parise and Suter. But unless we are continually re-evaluating our line up at the end of year and cutting guys who are not really producing or have a high chance of being injured, we are gonna be stuck in mediocre hell.

I hate to bring this word up...but here it is..."core"...yeah, "core".
We mocked "core" concept a few years back...but i am now thinking we were wrong on this. The "new NHL" is about having elite core players and then some young guys who aren't getting injured every other day that fill the line up out. We have a small "core"...Dats, Z, Kronwall, and Howard. I think Howard is close to elite the way he has saved our as* this year. That's about it. Franzen was thought to be "core", but he is not (obviously). The "new NHL" in the cap era is not about "loyalty to older guys" who tend to get beat up as the season goes on and then run out of gas in the playoffs. It's about guys who have some jump in their step and can fill out the line up...once they start to show sustained bouts of being injured or ineffective, you have to move them on and move younger guys in. And all of that is a bit of a crap shoot, but it is how you avoid the mediocrity curse (stuck in the middle).
The salary cap has made it a very cut-throat, crass business...but to compete you have to cut your losses with some of these guys, bring in the younger/cheaper talent from the minors, and continually look for elite core guys in free agency. You can't be loyal to guys that are older and have been around awhile, but have lost a step and spend three-quarters of the time on the IR.
I totally disagree with the let them "ripen" concept. What is the physiologic peak of a human being? It is at 28 years old...at least from a respiratory physiologic standpoint. So after 28, it's a downhill trend from an athletic perspective. Leaving these guys in the minors forever is a detriment because they are not developing against the best talent (NHL talent) and you are wasting some of their best years from a physical standpoint in the minors. Andersson has been great this year. Without injuries, he would be in the minors. What about Lashoff? He would be in the minors without injuries.
It seems like our management can't even evaluate our young talent to know when to bring them up. If you can fill your line up on the cheap with the younger talent, then you can afford to break the bank in free agency to get a couple "elite core" players. But we have management who continually think that signing guys like Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary is the right strategy when we have guys like Andersson, Tatar, Lashoff, and Nyquist wasting away in the minors. If you save the money you spend on Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary you can then sign one or two elite players who have high skill and are difference makers. Yes, last year we crapped out on Parise and Suter. But unless we are continually re-evaluating our line up at the end of year and cutting guys who are not really producing or have a high chance of being injured, we are gonna be stuck in mediocre hell.

I hate to bring this word up...but here it is..."core"...yeah, "core".
We mocked "core" concept a few years back...but i am now thinking we were wrong on this. The "new NHL" is about having elite core players and then some young guys who aren't getting injured every other day that fill the line up out. We have a small "core"...Dats, Z, Kronwall, and Howard. I think Howard is close to elite the way he has saved our as* this year. That's about it. Franzen was thought to be "core", but he is not (obviously). The "new NHL" in the cap era is not about "loyalty to older guys" who tend to get beat up as the season goes on and then run out of gas in the playoffs. It's about guys who have some jump in their step and can fill out the line up...once they start to show sustained bouts of being injured or ineffective, you have to move them on and move younger guys in. And all of that is a bit of a crap shoot, but it is how you avoid the mediocrity curse (stuck in the middle).
The salary cap has made it a very cut-throat, crass business...but to compete you have to cut your losses with some of these guys, bring in the younger/cheaper talent from the minors, and continually look for elite core guys in free agency. You can't be loyal to guys that are older and have been around awhile, but have lost a step and spend three-quarters of the time on the IR.
I totally disagree with the let them "ripen" concept. What is the physiologic peak of a human being? It is at 28 years old...at least from a respiratory physiologic standpoint. So after 28, it's a downhill trend from an athletic perspective. Leaving these guys in the minors forever is a detriment because they are not developing against the best talent (NHL talent) and you are wasting some of their best years from a physical standpoint in the minors. Andersson has been great this year. Without injuries, he would be in the minors. What about Lashoff? He would be in the minors without injuries.
It seems like our management can't even evaluate our young talent to know when to bring them up. If you can fill your line up on the cheap with the younger talent, then you can afford to break the bank in free agency to get a couple "elite core" players. But we have management who continually think that signing guys like Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary is the right strategy when we have guys like Andersson, Tatar, Lashoff, and Nyquist wasting away in the minors. If you save the money you spend on Bert, Sammy, Cola, and Cleary you can then sign one or two elite players who have high skill and are difference makers. Yes, last year we crapped out on Parise and Suter. But unless we are continually re-evaluating our line up at the end of year and cutting guys who are not really producing or have a high chance of being injured, we are gonna be stuck in mediocre hell.

I mostly agree. This is a different era of managing a team and Holland hasn't fully adapted. It is getting harder and harder to steal quality players from someone else and if you don't draft exceptionally well - then you have to overpay for a quality FA or give up some middle-of-the-road prospects and picks to take a chance on a proven commodity (even short term).
Well, he refuses to overpay for a quality player in FA, but certainly loves to fatten up the contracts of role players. For example, he wouldn't sign Jagr or Semin to expensive 1 year deals - but will give useless inflated contracts to injury prone and role players like Samuelsson and Colaiacovo looking for "value" that end up making roughly the same amount as one "star" player. Why? Because Cleary flourished here on a chance.
It would make much more sense to tie up some short term money in a star player and have to cut dead weight later if there are cap problems and let your coveted young prospects (that he refuses to trade) get some playing time. Instead he loses out on quality players, pays a ton for mediocre players, lets prospects overripe in the minors instead of gain NHL tangible value, and wastes the remaining years of our star players.... waiting... for something miraculous to happen. In the end he just says, "Aw shucks, we kicked some tires, but apparently you have to actually be willing to give something up".
Truthfully, injuries have been the best GM we've had this season. It forced out the useless older players and gave our prospects time to shine. Although, thats the good and bad of it because Holland is like Golem and now Tatar, Nyquist, Andersson, and Lashoff have become the preciousssssss Wings property- which he would never let any go in order to upgrade NOW.
And let's go to the other extreme. Since he's not willing to wheel and deal, spend some money on FA, or let go of old players - then at least start a true rebuild and get some draft picks with our soon to be UFAs or redundant players.
You won't win in this league by being middle of the road.
PS - save the Hossa talk because we all know that Holland literally did NOTHING to make that happen.
/rant

This team is nothing without Samuelsson and Colaicovo.

...wait, I though Datsyuk was already centering the 4th line...

It makes me question our whole decision making process/ability when this kind of line is out there and continues to be intact when:
1) we have scored 5 total goals in 4 games with at least two of those goals being complete flukes.
2) this line has accounted for no points. Zero. And that's a line with Pavel Datsyuk on it.