kipwinger

I was seriously just coming here to type this. I was over on hfboards and Wings fans were going ape for him over there. I don't get it.

Just looked it up. You're right. Smith has not played much with Dekeyser. Still don't think it's a good idea to put him on the top pair though, since he doesn't play defense to any noticeable degree and turns the puck over like it's his job.

That's not even close to the stupidest thing Smith's done this month, and he's only now being benched. If Babs wanted to bench Smith for a single boneheaded incident, it probably would have come after his egregious turnover for a goal against Chicago. Smith is currently being benched for the same reason Kindl was benched. They're both f*cking terrible defensively and don't contribute enough offensively to make it worthwhile to leave them in the lineup. Making excuses for him isn't doing him any favors in the long run. He's got to get his s*** together. He's got all the tools to do so. But sooner or later he (and the fans) have got to stop blaming his play on Kindl or Quincey or this or that. He doens't provide much offense, is bad in his own end, and leads the defense in turnovers. Hell the strength of an offensive d-man is supposed to be offensive, and puck management. I could forgive his constant blundering of zone coverage, but how does the supposed best young puck mover we have consistently turn the puck over?

Which is why he's been scratched?

All you're really saying is that Smith plays best when someone better covers up his mistakes, which is true of every bad defenseman. Smith isn't even adequate defensively on the second pair. Put him on the first and you destroy that pairing (since Kronwall isn't a shutdown guy either). Good first lines would MURDER that top pair. Also, Smith has been paired with Dekeyser and Lashoff (both responsible) plenty this year and that hasn't noticeably improved his performance...so you can't blame it all on Quincey and Kindl. You can't move a guy up to the first pair simply because he's a disaster with every other guy on your team. The only solution I see is to get a second pair defenseman at the deadline, drop Smith permanently to the third pair with Lashoff, and trade/waive Kindl or Quinecy. Either that or accept that your defense falls off significantly after the first pair.

The Shetaco Line. Trademarked.

Two things 1) Good news is, Brendan Smith is probably not get traded...he just sucks; 2) Luke Schenn? The one Philly traded JVR for (hahahahahaha)? But that would mean breaking up the best duo of brothers since forever. I mean, why would they want to trade Luke Schenn. That trade was a home run for Paul Holmgren. Who would have thought that trading a stud powerforward for a guy solely because he's brothers with another guy, isn't the best way to manage personnel moves?

Yikes, I've never seen that one

...and nothing else.

After they hand Backes his gold medal I hope he challenges Vladimir Putin to an arm wrestling contest for the honor of their respective nations...and then right when Putin thinks he's about to win, Backes goes over the top for the win a la Stallone.

F*** yeah, they're talkin' to my boy Backes about the Olympics. One man wrecking crew on his way to Sochi!

That truly is one of the finest dives I've ever seen.

The one with the ducks slays me.

The six best Ryan Kesler tumbleweed gifs. You're welcome everyone. http://vansunsportsblogs.com/2012/04/18/the-six-best-ryan-kesler-tumbleweed-gifs/

That's funny because I imagine much the same thing happens when Eklund comes up with this "insider" trade rumblings.

Eklund is reporting Detroit has interest in Kadri, so it's as good as done right?

I agree with what you guys are saying, and want to clarify that while I'm in favor of moving Nyquist (and a little less so Tatar and Jurco) I would not do so for a rental. It would need to be with someone who's trying to retool, or rebuild, or just dump salary and was looking to move someone under contract. Not that you need to agree with me, but I wanted to clarify that I have no interest in a rental.

Atta boy Gus. Played your way right onto an Olympic team. Good job.

Totally agree with this. I'm a big Lashoff fan and I'm happy to see him in the lineup. But you're right, Babs doesn't trust him. He's continue to improve over the next couple of years though, and despite his occasional mistakes he's still a great value for the money paid. I'd give anything if either of the other two dummies vying for a third pair job would play defense as well as Lashoff.

I know what you're saying, but two or three years from now when Nyquist, Tatar, Jurco, etc. are ready for a bigger role, Datsyuk, Z, Franzen, Kronner, etc. will be on the decline. So it's a wash. We'll be further away then than we are now. Unfortunately that's what happens when you only develop two moderately decent top six forwards (Filppula and Hudler) in a decade, lose them both, and replace them with a 41 year old and a guy who's struggled through an injury. We've got no bridge talent. Nobody aged 26-30 that can score goals and win a game for you. We've got a bunch of old guys, and bunch of young guys, and nothing in between except bottom sixers. Ken's got to decide whether he wants to win one more before our core guys get too old. If so, trade some young guys and high picks for high quality support staff. If not, sell everything that's not young or franchise for picks and let every bottom sixer and old guy walk in the offseason.

You're right on the money. Which is why I personally think now is the time to trade Nyquist. His value has never been higher, you have to give quality to get it, and I'd rather keep Tatar's aggressiveness (X factor to me). But yeah,I agree with you on all points.

Thank god. I'd prefer they sit Kindl, but at this point I assume he's being showcased for a trade of some sort.

You are absolutely spot on with the second part. Though I'm still skeptical that he'll make a move at all.

He also logs harder minutes than Smith, Kindl, or Lashoff. Say what you want about Quincey, but he never gets protected minutes, which exposes his weak points but also says a lot about how much Babs trusts those other three.

Nyquist is very good, but Tatar is better. Tatar creates all his offense on his own. Nyquist has superior linemates, more icetime, and more PP time (with better linemates again). Look at his hatty last night, Zetterberg basically gift wrapped that one for him. No reason to believe that Tatar wouldn't do the same with similar opportunites, since he's basically doing the same with third line minutes and two rookies. Also, Tatar does not play bad defense...and Nyquist is no shutdown defensive forward. They both work extremely hard on defense (watch Tatar backcheck), but they're both too small to be effective right now. I think everyone saying Nyquist is better defensively is just something people repeat for the sake of it. Tatar gets back as often as any on the team at this point. Well then don't set your sights too high on trade deadline day because if you're not willing to part with a good player, you're not going to get anyone back who's worth a damn.