kipwinger

Like I said, have you seen him pass? It might well be a bad thing.

I guess I should have been more clear, my (tongue in cheek) comment about moving in a different direction was in reference to a hypothetical excuse to break Dan Cleary's heart, not actually change how we play hockey. I don't expect missing the playoffs to change our organizational philosophy, but rather I hope it's used as an opportunity to reduce redundancy and hash out roles. Figure out which three of Helm, Andersson, Sheahan, Glendening, and Emmerton you want to keep and let the others go. Figure out whether you want Zetterberg to permanently move to the wing or not. Figure out whether you want Weiss or Legwand or both (one on the wing? Ugh). Identify whether Abby's going to be a top six forward or a grinder. Jurco up or down? Tatar into the top six or sign a UFA? Kindl's future? Gustavsson's future? These sorts of things. Then make stop-gap moves accordingly. Letting Cleary, Bert, Sammy, Quincey, Etc. walk is a no-brainer, but we've still got a lot to sort out regardless.

Who has to die before Callahan gets a call up?

How could you not feel better knowing that Smith won't be relied upon to defend National Hockey League forwards anymore? Though I am a bit afraid of how many turnovers he'll have now that passing will be required of him more often.

They're rookies! Datsyuk and Zetterberg weren't players in the mold of Datsyuk/Zetterberg when they were rookies either. Zetterberg was runner up in rookie of the year voting his first year with 22 goals and 22 assists in 79 games, Datsyuk had a less impressive 11 goals and 24 assists in 70 games his rookie year. Both Tatar AND Nyquist are on pace to beat those numbers in MANY fewer games. Furthermore, neither Datsyuk nor Zetterberg were asked to do as much in their respective rookie campaigns. They were both on teams LOADED with talent. Maybe they will turn out to be that good, and likely they won't. But to act as if their rookie years have been anything other than spectacular is absurd.

I mean, I agree with you. I'm not really in love with it either, but we need wingers with legit top six talent who aren't 400 years old and there aren't many out there. I want to emphasize again that I'd only want them as stop gap measures short term and cheaper than they're currently signed for. Like everyone else, ideally I'd like a young power forward. But considering you'd have to give a lot to get one, and that really isn't Holland's M.O. I'm just going to assume he'll stick with aging retreads. As far as aging retreads go, Gaborik and Heatly are at the top of my list.

You know, to be honest maybe missing the playoffs isn't the worst thing in the world. I personally don't give a sh*t about "the streak". I'll be bummed that I won't get to watch hockey as long this year, but other than that I think it's a good thing. I'm sick of watching us make the playoffs only to get beat prior to the conference finals. This team is in serious need of some house cleaning. If ending "the streak" doesn't motivate the brass to do that, then I don't know what will. Plus, it will give Holland the excuse he clearly needs to cut some of these guys loose. "Sorry Dano, we'd love to re-sign you but after last season we're forced to take a hard look at our team and we've decided to move in a different direction". Let the expiring contracts go. Promote the four kids to full time, thus putting us in good cap position. And make decisions on those guys who are only marginal...e.g. Kindl, Andersson, Glendening, etc. If you don't want them, trade them for whatever you can get and put all the savings toward fixing the problems that you can. Here's what I'd like to see, but this is only me... Zetterberg-Dats-? Franzen-Weiss-Nyquist Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco Miller-Helm-Abby Kronwall-Ericsson ?-Dekeyser Smith-Lashoff Howard Finally, something to ponder. The free agent class is thin, but we do legitimately need a top six winger who isn't a converted center. This won't be popular, but I'd consider either Gaborik or Heatly as a stop gap measure PROVIDED they weren't signed long term and took modest pay reductions...which might not be a hard sell considering Heatly's production has dipped in recent years and Gaborik has been hurt. No more than two years at 5.75 for either of them. Like I said, it won't be popular but it wouldn't cost us assets and there's no sense just sitting on the money. I don't know what's available on defense, but probably a stop gap there too unless Buffalo wants to unload Erhoff before free agency.

Good on him for saying so, but no matter how much they "want it" or don't, "play heavy" or don't, "stick to it" or don't, you're not going to beat national hockey league teams with AHL level talent. Particularly when the NHL players you do have in the lineup are largely the supporting cast. This team has serious holes in it that haven't been addressed for about four years now. Until they get addressed, they'll struggle...healthy or not...effort or not. I do want to say that I like seeing Franzen step up though. He's played well since his return and I always love seeing guys try to be a factor off the ice as well as on it.

How do you not like Backes?

Erhoffs rights were traded to the Islanders, whom he didn't sign with, before he hit the market and signed with Buffalo in FA. If I remember correctly. Edit: And I didn't remember correctly because his rights were traded twice that year, first to the Island and then to Buffalo. So your point is valid and mine was wrong. Acknowledged.

I wonder if Holland ever thinks to himself, "I guess I should have 'overpaid' for a good defenseman when I had the chance". Like, I don't expect him to ever come out and say it, but I wonder if he thinks it. If so, it was probably right around the time he was trying to trade assets for the very same Christian Erhoff that half this forum was screaming to sign three years ago.

Ok, one at a time. Nowhere, at all, did I ever say that Alfie didn't deserve to be in the top six. But in your first post you didn't say top six, you said top line. Also, Neither Alfie or Abby should be on the top line given the fact that Franzen and Nyquist are our two best scoring wingers and they're both healthy. But if we're talking about the whole top six now, its not surprising that Babs has Abby in the top six given that he values defensively responsible guys. Secondly, I agree our PP is terrible. But given that our powerplay is terrible, and throughout the season Babs has preferred Kindl, Eaves, Samuelsson, and just about everyone else to Smith (or E) on the point, doesn't that tell you something about how good he is there? Or whether the coach feels he's earned a spot? Now, I'm open to the idea that Babs is just being a big ol' bully and trying to hold Smith back, but probably it's just that he either a) doesn't trust him, or b) Smith isn't good on the PP.

Barking up the wrong tree on this one. Keith has been suspended several times. He's not getting any sort of special treatment as your post suggests. Also, Datsyuk is not in the lineup because of a knee injury. It had nothing to do with the Cowen hit. So that's a bit off base as well.

Not like we were killing it with them in the lineup though.

That's just crazy. I mean, if Legwand wasn't going to single handedly drag us into the playoffs through his sheer strength of character and hockey prowess, then why did we give up good assets for him rather than just sign him in the offseason?

Does this mean that the difference between us making the playoffs and not making the playoffs WAS NOT David Legwand?

I realize that around here it's customary to bash Quincey for the fun of it, but he's WAY better than Brendan Smith. Way better. The fact that he actually plays defense is a big reason why. Brendan hasn't quite figured out that the word "defense" in his position isn't simply a coincidence. Secondly, Abby isn't on the first line...Nyquist-Legwand-Franzen is the first line. But even if he were, it would prove my point. To earn time on this team you need to play a responsible 200 ft. game. Abby does. Brendan doesn't.

Finally, Tootoo is back. This will put an end to our goal scoring woes.

Why not change the entire structure of the team for Brendan? Hell, if he only got offensive zone starts, and played on the first pair, and had PP time, and were allowed to pinch whenever he wanted, he'd put up WAY more points than he has. Nevermind whether he's earned any of that, or what the other guys on the team need for their development/success. F*ck them, lets get Brendan some numbers! On this team, with this coach, you earn your time by playing the right way. Brendan doesn't...that's why he's not on the PP. Edit: I'm not going to dwell on this too much, but saying "I'm not comparing Smith to Kronwall and E" right after you compare them, doesn't actually mean you aren't comparing them. It just means you're aware that it's tenuous.

The whole thing is a joke. It just takes some people longer to get it than others.

This ret*ard has been banished to the third pairing (where he belongs) and he still can't make a decent pass against bottom six talent on a s***ty team. I honestly can't believe the people complaining about how he needs more PP time/How his game is negatively influenced by Quincey. I'll give a nice hefty back slap to the person who starts the "Poor Brian Lashoff, having to Play with Smith" thread. As always, he'll get get better. But god knows why so many people make excuses for this dips***...oh wait...he occasionally (but rarely) fights guys. Durrrr....

Lots of teams win lots of Cups without Shea Weber...like all of the them. So why give up that much to get him when the reality is hit cap hit is so prohibitive you team will never win as long as he's on it. How many times do teams have to sign Webers, and Ovechkins, and Lecavaliers, and Kovalchuks to HUGE contracts with no success afterward before people realize it's their contracts which are the problem. No thanks on Shea Weber.

I completely agree, and my views on Smith are pretty well established. But I do recognize that a guy can develop late...particularly in our system. I was one of the "f*ck Ericsson" folks a couple years ago and I had to eat crow on that. So I have to at least consider the possibility that Smith could do the same, as much as I hate his stupid face.

We do need better defense. And having one NHL caliber centerman (who isn't Crosby or Stamkos) and a bunch of kids, is not noticeably better than having a bunch of kids and no NHL caliber centers. With or without Legwand, unless some key guys get healthy quick we're not making the playoffs. Which is why I'd rather have kept the assets and risked ending the streak...or...spent the assets on a defenseman who was signed for more than this season. But that's just me. I stand behind my objection to the terms of the trade.

He didn't perform well in 19 games in the World Championships (which is made up of junior players) but did perform well in more than 19 games in the AHL (made up of professionals). I'm not sure what your point is here? That a couple years ago, in a small sub-sample, he didn't perform well? Agreed. But it's equally true that he's now playing much better hockey in a much more difficult league. Any value he lost (not sure he did), he regained by being a stud over his last 36 games with the Griffins.