kipwinger

God you rule. I think of you almost as highly as I think of Katie Strang.

There's quite a lot of research to suggest that the Arabic language regularly uses more sophisticated, and a greater number of, literary devices than any other language. Anyway, how about that Erik Cole huh?

Gaelic is such an ugly language. Do yourself a favor and learn something with a little bit of class. You're better than that.

It was directed at you, and nyquististhefuture. I'll be honest, I don't really care what your preferences are. He's where he needs to be, learning what he needs to be learning. When he starts scoring again, he'll get more opportunity on scoring lines. Just like Abby did. Just like Helm did. Babcock on Jurco: Jurco had gone 25 games without a goal heading into the Detroit Red Wings' contest at Dallas Saturday night. His coach is stressing that he shouldn't be pressing. "The big thing is he doesn't even need to worry about it, he's got to play real well without (the puck) and forecheck and work and then everything else will happen," Babcock said. "That to me is the biggest priority. His competitiveness, his work ethic, his forecheck, his ability to play without it. All those things will lead to offense. Let's look after that part first." http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2015/02/red_wings_believe_offense_will.html Jurco isn't poor defensively. His defense is what's keeping him in the lineup. If he was bad defensively he'd be sitting in GR with Pulkkinen.

In other news, Joffrey Lupul has decided to go all Marshawn Lynch and from now on will refuse to give interviews to the media. I'm sure they'll be heartbroken to hear "no comment" from a guy who hasn't played a game in 200 years and who the team is desperate to get rid of. "Hey Joffrey, when are you going to get back in the lineup...ah...nevermind." "No comment".

I'm really baffled by this suggestion that guys should get playing time based on their potential and not based upon what they've earned. Teemu Pulkkinen got a look on the scoring lines because at lower levels he scored well. He's being sent to the minors because he didn't do anything with those opportunities. I'm sure the coaching staff will give him some feedback, tell him what to work on, and he'll get another shot later. But some of you think he should be given MORE opportunities and not less? That's not how accountability works. It seems like some folks would rather see their favorite players, rather than the better players, given time. That's not how good organizations work. If you're a fan of giving promoting guys based on their potential, and not their production, I'd recommend watching the Oilers. I'm sure they need the support.

Again, I didn't invent the term. But I get what you're saying.

Depends on what the alternative is. I think I'd much rather hear those names than professional wrestler nicknames or nicknames that make a player sound like an American Gladiator. Teemu "Lazer" Pulkkinin. No thanks. Luke "The Glenemy" Glendening. Not a chance. Brendan "Motor City" Smitty. Yes please.

Fair enough. I'll concede. He needs to work on getting off better shots, as the blocks and missing attest. Not necessarily quicker shots.

I didn't invent the term. But I understand what you're saying.

"A right-handed shot would be preferable for crisper tape-to-tape passing and quicker puck movement. (Former coach) Scotty Bowman was starting a seminar for coaches the other day and he said 'Mike Babcock, he loves those right- and left-hand shots. At the Olympics, he took right- and left-hand shots (for Canada),' " Babcock said during the draft. "I just think it's so much easier when you have a right and lefty on every pair. All you got to do is look at L.A. (Stanley Cup champion Kings), a right and lefty on every pair. Makes it easier to get through the neutral zone, easier off D-zone faceoffs to execute. You have the puck more. You can get it off the wall and shoot it in the offensive zone. To me it just makes sense." http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/06/red_wings_mike_babcock_values.html This is why I think what I do. Not because I have some crush on Marchenko.

I presume you mean when I said this? Yeah, as I've stated twice now. I'm predicating this on the fact that when the GM and Coach say that they want balanced pairs, that they actually do. You keep confusing my preferences, for what I believe our options are given what the decision makers have said. When they say righty-lefty pairs are IDEAL. I believe them until I hear otherwise. Wanna know why? Because they know why more about hockey than me.

I agree. He's not better individually than those six other guys. But some of the GM and coach's comments seem to suggest that the PAIRINGS are better when the handedness is mixed. Regardless of the individual talent levels of the players. For instance, Smith and Marchenko was a better pair than Smith and Ouellet, despite the fact that Ouellet is probably a better player than Marchenko. Again, I'm not pulling this out of my ass. They've said it.

For the millionth time. I'm not saying that Marchenko "should" be ahead of anyone. I'm saying that the GM AND the coach said the "ideal" situation would be an even balance of righties and lefties. So that seems to suggest that they'd like to keep the righties they have in the lineup. Right?

I don't really know how the pairings will shake out. But I do know that Holland and Babcock have both said that "ideally you'd have three lefties and three righties". That was before they had ANY righties. Now they've got two. If the ideal is three, and they've got two, I don't see Babs' scratching one of them (Marchenko). Particularly after after all the praise he's heaped on the kid. IF that premise is to be believed, and I don't see why you wouldn't take them at face value, then that leaves four other defense spots for six lefthanded defenders. Kindl is one of the odd men out, clearly. Who's the other?

I agree. He's a positive possession player, and helps keep the puck in the o-zone. So does a guy like Keith Yandle. His possession metrics are some of the best in the league. And while I can't speak for everyone, I for one, was suggesting that his ability to traditionally defend (in the d-zone) is limited. Which is the same criticism used against Yandle. And this seems to be supported by the fact that he's almost never used in the d-zone by his former team. He started in the d-zone 28% of the time. That's 2% higher than Smith (who's highly sheltered), and quite a bit south of other recently traded defensemen like Wiz (31%), Petry (35%), Franson (37%), Coburn (33%), and even Yandle (29.9%). Now obviously, he's going to play on our third line and get sheltered, so it doesn't matter that much. BUT, it would be misleading to think we just acquired some stud two-way defenseman. We didn't. We got a guy who's really good at maintaining possession in the o-zone, but who will likely struggle should he find himself in the defensive zone for too long a period of time.

You've provided quite a lot of evidence, and observation, that seems to support the theory that he needs to work on getting his shot off. 1. As you've said, he's got a higher than average rate of blocked shots. 2. He's got a low shooting percentage, so he misses a lot. 3. Poor shot quality as a result of the coach favoring quantity over quality. You've also suggested he needs to improve a couple of things, which are directly tied to shooting as well. 1. You've said he's unprepared when the puck gets to him. Unprepared for what? To get the the shot off? 2. You've said he needs to work on "beating NHL players". Again, beating them and do what? Drive the net and bang in a rebound goal? Probably not. Beat them and get a shot off? Probably. I'm not really sure you're disagreeing with anything we've said above. He's got one offensive weapon. By your own admission he's unable to beat defenders to use that weapon, and he's unprepared to use it when his teammates set him up. Further, you've stated that when he does use it, it's got a higher than average chance of being block, or missing, as a result of poor shot selection. Doesn't that all suggest that he needs to work on getting his shot off? Or at least, he needs to work on getting BETTER shots off?

He needs to learn to get his shot off quicker and find the open ice at the pro level. He's got exactly one weapon, and he has no idea how to use it at this level. Which makes him pretty useless for the time being. He needs to go to GR and learn to score the right way, not just score a whole bunch.

Unlike Jurco, if Pulkkinen isn't scoring he isn't doing much. I like it. He's not ready to consistently contribute in the NHL. Particularly for a team that's looking to finish strong and position itself for a playoff run.

Nyquist sucks in the top six. He's a sweetheart, but a waif. Let him eat up third line opposition while the adults do the hard work against the big boys.

Where did Quincey go?Edit: lol. Scratched or waived huh? Priceless.

He's expected back this week and the doctors said he could wait until the off season for surgery. Expect Quincey back in the lineup where he belongs.

So, does the acquisition of Cole mean that we can get Helm off the top line? He's going to break into a million little pieces if they keep giving him that many minutes. Tats-Dats-Abby Z-Sheahan-Cole Nquist-Weiss-Helm Miller-Glen-Jurco Please?

Agreed. I'm much happier with this than I would have been if we'd given up the farm for Dion. I would have preferred Anisimov and Wisniewski. But I'll settle for this. It's not a sea change in the quality of our team, but we didn't give up that kind of return either. Fingers crossed Dats, Z, and Kronner stay healthy a couple more years though.

That's because he never starts in the defensive zone. To get a scoring chance when Zidlicky is on the ice you've got to go 200 ft. Not really a surprise. Edit: Nevermind, his defensive zone starts are pretty low. But not insanely low. I'll give him his credit there. He starts in the D-zone a little more often than Smith does.