Joey v3.4

Byfuglien, as stated before, is practically a forward. His defensive skills are mediocre. As a Defenseman he would be a 3rd pair on a lot of teams, but he has a lot of size, and offensive potential. He is outscoring Lidstrom, but if you watch his games, he goes deep a lot, and literally beats the crap out of people to open up ice. He's actually a really smart person to have on defense. His scoring is that of a forward, and he has the size to play defense, but he is by no means the best "Defense-man" in the league. The best offensive defense-man? Sure...the points and stats will tell you that. I'm not taking away any of Buffs accolades, he has identified himself as a very capable, and a VERY flexible player. Honestly, he's one of my favorite players, especially now that he's not with Chicago A lot of the goals against Lidstrom (Hence earning his negatives) are generally caused by his pairing, and other factors. Usually +/- is a very reliable stat, but in this situation I do not believe that it is. Lidstrom has won games for us this season. He scored his first hat trick. He is second in scoring in the league among defense, and tied for first for goals among defense (I think...maybe Buff has more, didn't verify the stat). Either way he's up there. His plus/minus I believe is bit misleading this year. He's a little older, and makes a few more mistakes, but for a man at the age of 40, his game has been phenomenal. Also to note, is that he's the captain. While that doesn't figure into the Norris Trophy argument usually, I think in this situation it's hard to deny. You can't be a defense on the top team in the league, and be the captain of said team, and not get some credit. I don't think Lidstrom is a shoe-in for the Norris, but Buff should not beat him out. It's "Best Defenseman", not most "Offensive Defenseman". If the latter was how it worked, you could put Ovechkin on Defense, and he'd win the Norris every year. There is a lot to defense, that is not reflected well in stats. They try, by tracking hits, take aways, turnovers, Plus/mins, so on....but what Lidstrom does out there often supersedes these things.

I need more games before I even start re-considering my opinion on Hudler. He has talent, but he doesn't have a lot of size. I said in an earlier thread he doesn't need to be trying to carry the puck into the zone, he needs to play deep. His first goal of the season came from BEHIND the net. Hudler is a solid play maker, but he kind of sucks with the puck on open ice. He's too small, defense is too big, and so on. His best play-making is done along the boards (Dump and chase), and his best scoring opportunities come from very close to the net. Get him the pass while he's in the slot, and he has a good shot at putting it home. What we've seen all year from Hudler is either 1) He tries to carry the puck into the zone, and accomplishes nothing as he gets beat off the puck. 2) His goals have all come basically down low, and from positionally accurate places. 3) His playmaking is notable, but he can't generally keep the puck for very long, so if he doesn't make the play rapidly, he loses his opportunity. I'm sure Babcock is a much brighter hockey mind than I will ever be, but If I had a player similar to Hudler on a team I was coaching (Yeah, sure), I would urge him not to carry the puck, and instead focus on getting into position. Get a bigger guy to carry the puck, or play a dump and chase style, with bigger guys crashing behind the boards, while Hudler plays positionally near the front of the net. In his case, the Right circle should be his territory of movement. I think Hudler should use his playmaking ability when the situation calls for it, but I honestly feel his focus should be positioning, and getting into high percentage shot areas. We shouldn't be using Hudler as a playmaker, or a puck carrier. Those skills are clearly NOT working out well for him. I'd have hudler play very positional offense, and if his confidence goes up notably, let him expand his own creativity. Until then though, he should be parking himself in high scoring areas, ready to receive the pass. IMO.

Games like this is why I never stop watching until the end. Twice in my life I went to a game, where we ended up down in goals, and people left early. Both times the Wings made a late comeback, followed by exciting overtime. Aside from being likely too drunk to stand, I found it funny that half the fans missed the best part of the game, because they simply gave up. There are a few things you can be confident about in Detroit. One of them is that being down by a few goals is never a certain loss. Then again, being up by a few goals is never a sure win. Almost every night, some team or another comes back from behind to win. Detroit has a reputation for doing it. Then again, Detroit also has a reputation for losing some games before the first period is over, lol.

^^^ This too. Top line defense plays against top line players. A mistake at that caliber of play often "Appears" to be larger than it would if he was defending against a third/fourth line. If you played a drinking game, and all you did is drink every time a player made a mistake, a bad pass, or bad defensive read, etc......it would probably be your last hockey game. It's just that: In Summary I say: 1) Stuart is trying to step up his offense. It changes his positioning and attitude, and sometimes puts him in unfamiliar territory. 2) Stuart is not use to playing the opposite side. 3) Stuart's mistakes are amplified because he is playing against top tier forwards, who can exploit minor mistakes with major opportunity. 4) Stuart is playing against lines that are more skilled than he has played against in the past. 5) Anything you do next to Lidstrom, looks like a mistake Considering, he's a 2nd line defense based on his skill, yet he's taking a 1st line role, I'd say he's done very well. I don't think for even one second that he's "Lazy" because he has Lidstrom to cover him. He may jump up into the play a little more, because he knows Lidstrom will usually have his back, but I don't think he's becoming complacent out there. I think he really enjoys the top line spot, and is working hard to stay there. He just has a little adjusting to do, and it could take a few months of playing the top slot for him to adapt. I don't think that is unreasonable for a defense. As long as he does "Well", I say keep him on the top line. We will need someone with experience against top tier forwards in the league, both come playoff time, and come Lidstrom Retirement time. He won't replace Lidstrom, but if he adapts and develops both his offensive game, and his defensive game, Stuart could be a solid 1st pair defense, or a 2nd pair defense, who also logs PP time, etc. Personally I think Kronwall is better suited to a top pair role, but maybe that's what Babcock is looking at. Kronwall/Stuart is a VERY viable line when Lidstrom retires.

If they ever give you trouble out of state, just have them call their main office and ask about the promotion. Promotions change routinely in fast food, so honestly, you could probably walk in and say "Hi, I'm here for my free drink, for the Wednesday promotion", and you'd probably walk away receiving both a free drink and a confused look. You'd be halfway home before they figured it out. And quite frankly, you'll be dead before they actually care. To the best of my knowledge, Arby's never stated that it was a Michigan only promotion. I'll be trying to get my curly fries for Eaves tomorrow, here in Jacksonville Florida

Grinders, scorers, coaching advice, and front office expertise all in one line :-p

Oh and.... CURLY FRIES!!!!!!

As a top line defensemen you have a responsibility to score, or generate points. I think Stuart isn't ready for the offensive responsibility, though he did have a goal tonight. A lot of his missed movements defensively, are the result of his offensive focus. It completely changes your game when you start making small decisions such as taking one step closer to the net, versus taking one step closer to the blue line. Defensive defensemen tend to play positionally, and don't often step deep into the play to dig up offensive chances. Since they switched his role Stuart is trying to play more offensively, and it frequently catches him out of position. I think he's a solid 2nd line defense, but hopefully after playing with Nick for a few months, he'll learn to both generate some offense, AND play his position more accurately.

I wouldn't peg him as a second cleary, but Eaves has time and again proven he can step up in different situations. He's a good all around player, with a broad skill set, but I won't be expecting another hat trick from him for a while Hudler finally does well for 2 games, and it gets overshadowed by Ozzies win 400, and Eaves Hat Trick Otherwise, he has almost half his points in the last two games, lol. Good to see a game won largely on Hudler and Eaves goals. Now we just got to keep it up for another month, and hopefully Dats and Cleary come back refresh and ready to score

It's a conspiracy. Hudler was waiting for the top guys to get injured, now he's going to steal the show and go on a forty game scoring streak

He stood on his head in the first too. We could have easily come out of the first period down another goal. Am I the only one who seems to have noticed also that Hudler actually had a goal AND an assist? Maybe he's about to pick up his game.

Osgood was star for us that period. Hopefully, we're just awkwardly adjusting. I think 2nd will be interesting. I call Franzen for an early goal.

Hudler needs more goals, like...tonight. That dude has some slacking to make up for.

Osgood is good behind the net when he decides to play balsy.

Tonight would be a good start for a Hudler turn-around. But I've been thinking that for too many games, to retain any faith in it. We'll see.

Osgood has been great, now....time for the rest of the team to do something.

We just showed Colorado we're not f***in around. Osgood. 4 zera zera tonight.

Ozzie getting 400 against the Avs would be awesome. He was involved in the brawls in 1998, and even fought Roy during the playoffs. That year was honestly, his true prime. And that rivalry really defined our team. Him following in Vernon's footsteps and fighting Roy, spoke leaps and bounds for him as a Goalie. I think Zetterberg will have a big game, and Osgood will be solid. I'm calling win 4@@ tonight!!

Although Cleary probably has better medical attention than the average person, but yeah. 4 weeks is a low end estimate on any break, IMO. Of course, it's our leading goal scorer, and our leading scorer, out simultaneously. That's a bit of a sting.

Unjuries are identicle to Injuries, but they start with a U, thereby making them more severe. Nope, he's producing points below the 4th line. If you hesitated to say he has been the worst wing, I would assume you haven't watched games. No sir.......assuming he is the worst wing this year, is very true.

Not to sidetrack, but almost everyone picked Ovie, Crosby, Green lol.

*Shrug* In the end they all play 82 games, so it doesn't matter come day zero. I usually sort by point percentage, if I want to see more accurately who is doing overall better. Point Percentage is pretty accurate. I don't know why the NHL does it differently than many other teams though.

Yeah, Zetterberg would have to play a heavy defensive game. But it would provide a lot of opportunity for him to use his passing ability. His shot percentage is pretty low this year, so in my opinion he could use a string of assists. I've never seen us have so much flexibility on one roster

I still say put Huds with Z for one game. If anything will get Hudler acting like a top 12 forward (). If he can't get a point centering Zetterberg......... If Hudler drag's Z down, or can't get a freaking single point, scrap the line. We've tried Hudler with everyone else. Pick a soft opponent, and start Huds up front with Holmstrom and Z. Just for one game. It's unlikely to happen though. In Detroit line advancement is usually earned. Even when it's experimental, it's still typically earned slots. Earnings wise, Hudler shouldn't even be daydreaming of playing on Z's line.