evilzyme

Wow.... WOW! We want to start throwing the blame down range at Jimmy? Open your eyes. Howard has been the one keeping us from getting screwed 6-0 every game. We wouldn't have won a single game without Jimmy, plain and simple.
You're right, you know all those breakaways, the penalty shot last night, all those 5 on 3's, all those PK'ers... you're right, he certainly hasn't been there... /sarcasm
Please, if it wasn't for Howard, we would be getting DESTROYED. The past two games is simply because of his workload, go try and play consecutive games knowing that there isn't an option to save your ass. There's a reason why Babcock has been playing him consecutively, we NEED him. Unfortunately, I completely agree that Mrazek should've played last night, even if it was after the 4th goal and was simply the last 4/5 minutes. Then again, you don't want to throw your goalie in there only to get lit up for 5 minutes and have absolutely no confidence.

With all the key injuries to the top 6 other coaches have the pleasure of matching against zetterberg and singling him out as the sole threat of our top 6. He's getting shadowed all game long to the point of having absolutely no time and space. He doesn't have the linemates to help him create that space because they aren't as big of threats. Teams know the situation we're in. When you go against a deep team as the Blues you're going to be in for a treat when your top 6 consist majority of bottom 6 skill.
None the less I think the vastly underrated element is how poor our D is right now. They're fragile and easily worked. They can't get the puck moved up for a smooth transition because teams know all they have to do is wheel it in and turn them around. Throw 2 bodies in deep against them and that puck isn't leaving the zone. We need our D to get some confidence and have the puck moving through the neutral zone with speed. The best asset to offense can be a puck moving defensive core. You need your d to make that quick transition. We can't do that currently and its hurting us drastically.
All in all, it would be great if we got healthy ....and a top 2 puck moving d man

It's not really surprising that Z had a bad game last night. He's one of only two offensive threats on our team right now, and we were playing one of the three best defensive teams in hockey. I imagine it's REALLY hard to play well with David Backes draped all over you for 60 minutes.

Did anyone else catch the interview with Holland concerning the Rafi situation? All he kept saying is obviously he has no idea where Rafi is going with it, but they wanted to support him in wanting to play hockey close to home (the arena they said is nearly 5 minutes away from his house). Holland stated that if there was a player to beable to come back at the age of 41 and have a good come-back it would be a puck-moving defensemen such as Rafi. At the same time, he said there's 20-30 year olds out there pushing the pace and he didn't really know. It seemed like Holland wasn't interested in bringing him back to Detroit due to our given situation and deep pipeline, but he wanted to make it happen for Rafi and give him the chance to make it somewhere again.

A lot of folks have been giving Franzen a hard time over his concussion and I would like to provide my own experience in the hope people can understand that a seemingly innocent 'love tap' can cause a TBI (traumatic brain injury).
With all the strides being made on TV about concussions, with so many men who have now committed suicide because they could no longer live in such pain, it hurts me that the Wings community is so callous and shallow in their responses to such a very serious injury.
A brain injury is THE MOST SERIOUS injury a player can sustain, and we as the Wings community should be pulling together to give our fallen warriors their support when this happens. And not belittle them and accuse them of malingering or lying.
I sustained my first concussion 2 years ago and I've never had any head, neck, back or head injuries in my life (I'm 37, fit, former Marine). I didn't get hit in the head, I fell down, hard. So hard in fact that it caused my head to snap back and I got a concussion. A bad one, it took 6 months before the headaches stopped. 18 months before I didn't have symptoms, but 2 years on I still have some problems. After 6 months I went to see the specialist Crosby saw in Los Angeles when he wasn't getting better because I wasn't getting better, I had all the classic symptoms and they would just not go away. The truth is, doctors can't do anything for a concussion, there is no test, there is no drug, there is really no treatment. When you injure your brain it's a traumatic brain injury and everyone heals different and the only medication is time.
When Franzen says he has a problem processing information I feel for the guy. I know what that's like, to barely be able to drive yourself to the doctor, to not be able to watch TV, or even wash dishes because there is too much going on and after a few minutes you have to sit down and collect yourself because you're so exhausted. Or having to take two breaks while walking to get the mail. Or it takes 5 minutes to type a sentance while writing an email. This is so frustrating, there is NOTHING you can do but let it run its course. On the outside one can look strong, fit, and healthy like a mule, but on the inside, the brain is going completely haywire beyond your control. The way Franzen got popped is how many concussions occur, and since this is not his first concussion he is risking serious injury to his long term brain health. (Think Junior Seau)
I hope more people will have an open mind when we're talking about a TBI, and do more to help those in need, with understanding and giving people space and time to recover. But to mock the injury in any way, is cruel and you would not want to go through the same pain of any player having to live with the recovery of this injury. I am embarrassed by some of these responses I'm reading here, on line and in the news sections, as a Wings fan, as a man, and as a human being.
Thanks for reading.

As much as it hurts, we can't help the Goose situation. If he plays the 2 games and loses waiver exemption it only makes it harder for Holland to pull of roster moves. Teams already know he's handcuffed and will have to waive worst case scenario resulting in the possibility of a free pickup for them. Holland's stated numerous times that he's been attempting to make moves and open space but there simply isn't grabbers right now. It could be him lowballing or it could be a dry market, who knows but he is trying.
In other news, the boys gave Goose a stick tap when he arrived in Detroit this morning and joined them for practice. There's a picture of him getting hugged on while getting the taps via twitter.

As I said in the Nyquist thread, I understand why people are pissed about the Nyquist situation, but are letting their rage taint what Babcock is saying here.
It's the reality of the situation. And if you read between the lines, if anything he's probably implying that he plays so good that Holland can't possibly justify sending him back down.
Nyquist is screwed because of the roster situation Holland put together. He's the victim of his contract status.
Babcock isn't threatening Nyquist that if he doesn't play well he gets buried in the minors. He's just stating the obvious.
That the dream is that Nyquist plays so unbelievably great that even Holland can't justify burying the kid in the minors anymore, no matter what it does to the roster. That the waste of talent and loss to the Red Wings would become so glaringly obvious, the outcry from the coaches, players, and fans so great, that Holland would have to make a drastic roster move to remedy his mistakes and get the kid up with the team.

I don't care how, but Let's Go Wings ! Follow the example of Mule from last night.

This would have nothing to do with a one-way or two-way contract. A two-way (NHL/AHL) contract means a player gets paid one salary in the NHL and another (smaller) in the AHL. Players in the AHL on a one-way NHL contract get paid the same salary they would make in the NHL.

Pasha had some words for us via Twitter following tonight;
"@Datsyuk13: We have some work to do. Appreciate you all sticking by us! We will practice and play harder to restore your confidence and support."

Pasha had some words for us via Twitter following tonight;
"@Datsyuk13: We have some work to do. Appreciate you all sticking by us! We will practice and play harder to restore your confidence and support."

Pasha had some words for us via Twitter following tonight;
"@Datsyuk13: We have some work to do. Appreciate you all sticking by us! We will practice and play harder to restore your confidence and support."

If the Wings win the Cup, they'd better add your name to it. You just stacked up enough positive kharma by being good to your woman that not only will Helm be back, but he'll stay back.

I had stated it in another topic but Weiss has admitted that he's not used to playing structured hockey especially one as structured as Babcock's. It relies heavily not only play with the puck but also thinking without the puck. When you go from playing free style basic hockey to a structured system that requires you to be thinking 24/7 you aren't thinking directly about scoring goals. You're making sure you're in the right spots and playing the system that others are counting on you playing. Once he gets more comfortable with the system you'll see how much of a player he really is.
I'll agree with the others that stated that his board play is much higher than Filps. He's a good ol Canadian boy. He will cut into the dirty hard spots in the middle and force his way into it. He'll go play hard in the corners and work for the puck. Sometime you wouldn't see from Filp all the time.

I agree with you that you can be a team like the Oilers and not have enough veteran leadership to lead the way. There are also numerous other problems with the Edmonton franchise, though. The biggest key to the Wings philosophy was that having a handful of veterans on your roster would not only allow for them to teach current youngsters how to play the right way, but to also delay and allow for the prospects to develop properly in the A/College/Juniors. Numerous franchises were rushing their prospects straight to their big show rosters because they needed the help asap. It puts insane amounts of pressure on the prospects and can hinder the development depending on the personality and work ethic. What really irks me right now is that Nyquist and Tatar can't develop in the AHL anymore. They're too good for the league. They need to be playing stiffer competition so they can learn how to execute at the NHL level.

http://youtu.be/8nqQgI9ollc

Calder cup but we got the memo! Its a shame what's happening right now. Wish we could see goose and tats with the roster right now.

I agree with you that you can be a team like the Oilers and not have enough veteran leadership to lead the way. There are also numerous other problems with the Edmonton franchise, though. The biggest key to the Wings philosophy was that having a handful of veterans on your roster would not only allow for them to teach current youngsters how to play the right way, but to also delay and allow for the prospects to develop properly in the A/College/Juniors. Numerous franchises were rushing their prospects straight to their big show rosters because they needed the help asap. It puts insane amounts of pressure on the prospects and can hinder the development depending on the personality and work ethic. What really irks me right now is that Nyquist and Tatar can't develop in the AHL anymore. They're too good for the league. They need to be playing stiffer competition so they can learn how to execute at the NHL level.

Yeah I know if only Kenny had offered him a deal before the trade deadline, maybe even two offers and one of them being the exact offer he ended signing with NJ.
Then it would be EPIC WIN!
In "Reality Land" the nose turned down the offers he got from the Wings to test free agency, oh but don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant!

I mean the locker room cancer things didn't just magically appear over night. He's been written about in books stating how much of a doucher he was. He thought he was the king bee and would talk down to other teammates, didn't think he had to show up on time, etc etc. Now, as always, these things can change over time as a person matures or just generally as they see fit. It seems like White wasn't up to his old antics during his time with the Wings franchise, but I think it's wrong to dismiss his previous incidents. As for him talking about getting sat, IIRC, he went off pretty bad at first but then re-buttled to make it sound like he was just simply frustrated. Ofcourse I can understand that he is frustrated that he wasn't playing and obviously felt like he deserved to be, anyone can agree with that motion. My problem, ofcourse, was the fact that he wanted to go to the media and talk about it. All he simply needed to say was, "i'll prove myself next time i'm in the lineup that I should remain there." Simple as that. Don't give the fans and media something to talk about, especially as a professional athlete. As towards conflicts between Babcock and White, that's simply speculative.
In the end, I always thought he was a servicable defensemen and didn't deserve the slack he got from time to time. It's hard playing hockey as a smaller figure, and even more harder while trying to play defense. Wasn't the best defender, but he could contribute from time to time. Unfortuantely, he just never got back on his feet after #5 left, IMHO.

Nomination for worst post of the offseason.

I heard Holland said it was nothing serious just them being cautious. I hope so...

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive5m
Wings skating with these lines: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader, Franzen-Weiss-Tatar, Cleary-Andersson-Nyquist, McIntyre-Glendening-Tootoo.

Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive5m
Wings skating with these lines: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader, Franzen-Weiss-Tatar, Cleary-Andersson-Nyquist, McIntyre-Glendening-Tootoo.

I remember this happening a bit ago. Heard he got some talkings after the incident. Tyler was doing his job and was excelling at it. Like others have stated, Jensen could've skated away like any other player in the same situation. You need to learn to hold your emotions in, even when you're getting chirped at. It's apart of the game baby.