PavelValerievichDatsyuk

So Hornquist got injured in this game http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=758331&navid=nhl:topheads Hope it was on the play where he accidentally checked his own player as they both tried to one of our guys (Smith, I think).

I assume you mean in the AHL because his last game with the Wings before yesterday, he was pulled. I also think it's wrong to say "how hot he has been since just before Howard came back from injury." If you remember, Mrazek was struggling at the end of that run. But I don't really disagree with your view that much. I definitely wouldn't automatically split games, I'd give Mrazek the next game and play things by ear as we go here. We should be hoping Howard gets into the form he was earlier in the season. If he doesn't and Mrazek runs away with it - that's good too. But he definitely hasn't done that at this point. Anyway, I was more responding to roboturner who was criticizing Howard's past playoff performances and seems very much to be advocating going all in with Mrazek and writing off Howard.

This phrase obviously sticks out and you must have meant it to provoke a response: "I just don't understand why people would rather lose with Howard than win with Mrazek. It doesn't make sense." Come on! You know things are not as simple as that. Mrazek will be a great goalie, but he's still getting used to the league and developing. It's not being "a Howard apologist" or Howard diehard or whatever to be reticent to put our trust in Mrazek in this year's playoffs. He's got us wins, but has also been pulled a couple of times and had a string of bad games. He hasn't been absolute lights out and that's what he would have to be to supplant an established number 1 goalie. It's definitely not "lose with Howard than win with Mrazek" in the playoffs. We really don't know how Mrazek would perform in that situation. A more measured response to Mrazek's success is to allow him Gus's spot as backup and get him some more games this year. I don't think anyone would be against Mrazek playing the next game after a solid win. Then we'll hope Howard can get back into the form he was in earlier in the season. That would be the best situation for the team come playoff time. He was being talked about for the Vezina and had a top GAA at some point. We're not talking about Joey MacDonald here. (Sorry, Joey - was trying to think of a low level goalie) Then let's see how they play for the rest of the season. If Mrazek goes full Hammond and Howard struggles mightily, then maybe it's time for this discussion. It's not right now from what we've seen.

If he's going to do that, he'll do that anyway. Smith fighting Downie in a 5-0 game would be stupid.

Yes.

I like how the guys on NBC started off the game by claiming that this ref was "one of the best in the league," "Oh me too," "we'll we're 3 for 3 'cause I agree." And now this is just a ridiculously officiated game.

i like thi zidlicky guy!!!!!!!

Okay, That's not how I saw the first 10. 3 goals against when they had 6 shots in the first 10 minutes is incredibly hard to believe. Anyway, good 1st and helped by Pens lack of disapline! Wonder why Downie went after Pulkkinen.

Which game are you watching? Hey, Pulkkinen!!!!!!!!!!!

That wasn't Bab's thinking: "Today's game had nothing to do with Howie. That's why I didn't take him out," Babcock said. "It had nothing to do with Howie. It had to do with it was our problem." http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2015/03/red_wings_once-dominant_penalt.html

It was said that he was talked about in trades at the deadline. When people are saying "move on" we mean let us trade him since he had a NTC. I'm sure Weiss would welcome a fresh start if it were possible.

Weiss is 31. He was signed at 29 (Or maybe 30 depending on his birthday. That is not "the age where players start to decline." But, yes, I think it's time for him to move on. He played well when he first came in this year. You could make an argument that his current struggles have something to do with confidence issues that could be from Babcock putting him on the 4th line even when he'd played well. But, anyway, It just seems to be a situation that would be hard to turn around at this point.

Yes. Definitely. Even does the sheepish look at the ref after the dive.

Some life!!!!!!!!

Nyquist is more proven than Tatar was last year so he'll get more.

Honestly, Kindl has played well since coming back. It was probably not deserved for him to be scratched. It is difficult to sit other guys, though, because we'll need this to be our playoff D pairings and it could cause problems to sit someone like Ericsson at this point of the year.

He's had his best year at 31. It's pretty reasonable that they'll get 3 really good years out of him. I think they'll probably get 4 good years and 2 substandard ones. I think they'd be happy with that. With Tavares, their window to win is now.

LETS GO WINGS!!!!

He's having a career year with 32 points in 59 games. previous high was 23 in 75 games. I guess it's been a good change for him. The fact that he's a rare breed as right handed Dman probably got him a bit more. Wisneiski's deal of 5.5 signed a few years ago plus inflation shows this deal make some sense.

I think a lot of peoples' views on Franzen are skewed by a dislike of him, but I don't think it necessarily has to be the case here. Think of when Crosby went through his concussion problems. There was many speculations that his career was over. It was pretty was pretty irrational in Crosby's case after 2 concussions, but anything is possible since concussions are unpredictable and most people (myself included) know very little about them. With Franzen's case, we have been given so little information on how he was doing (until a day or 2 ago) so I think that may have contribute to people speculating. An absence of information always results in speculation. I originally assumed he be back after a game or two after he was out because it looked like he wasn't hit very hard at all to me. That's speculation of my own. I just think we're all kind of still in the dark with concussions. As for people speculating on Franzen having mental problems such as anxiety and such, I think that's the result a general dislike toward him. Also, the way some people interpret his "just want to get back to having fun" and "I'm not a goal scorer" quotes reflect biases against him.

Okay, so even with Helm and Franzen injured, Weiss is going to be a healthy scratch. That means he's below Andersson in Babcock's depth chart. Maybe punishment for those giveaways in the game Monster played. Not a good situation, anyway... If Pulkkinen keeps playing well and Franzen comes back it will be interesting to see roster decisions.

We sort of do have " a minor offensive threat" on the 4th line. I mean Glendening has 9 goals - that's pretty good for a guy that's played the majority of his time on the 4th line. Also, one of the wings usually features Weiss or Jurco. Anyway, I think the key to creating matchup problems is having a dangerous 3rd line which we could put together with our roster.

We DO NOT want Z or Datsyuk killing penalties. If they do, they're forced to play way too many minutes and their offensive games would suffer. Also, Franzen's not that great at killing penalties. We don't need 4 scoring lines and the defensive side of our game would suffer too much. Miller will always go under-appreciated, it seems...

A rookie playing big minutes with Kronwall against the top lines of the opposition would probably end up quite badly. I think I understand the thinking, though, since Ericsson hasn't looked up to the task either recently.

This is a myth that Howard has struggled in the playoffs. We haven't had the team to go anywhere and so we didn't. Howard hasn't been the problem in years past.