kipwinger

Of course they do, they're third pairing defensemen. Here's a revelation, every single team's third pairing defensemen make more mistakes than their top pairing guys. Every team's second line wingers aren't as good as their top line guys. That's nothing new. But since it's the same for everyone, my guess is it doesn't make much of a difference to the team's overall standing. The balance of our season does not pivot on the play of Kindl or Quincey. Thinking it does is misguided. The reason I'm going easy on him is because he's a third pairing d-man who gets paid to chip in offense and he does that. Quincey gets paid to be a defensive d-man and doesn't stop goals, Smith gets paid to be an offensive d-man and doesn't produce points, but Kindl actually does what he's supposed to do. Produces modest points for a third pairing guy. Getting on Kindl for not playing good defense is a lot like getting on Lashoff for not scoring goals.

I was saying earlier this season that I'd love a guy like Kulikov on this team. He'll I'd even trade Kindl to get him. Just as a bridge until two things happen (1) Smith, becomes a legit top four offensive d-man, and (2) Sproul or Quellet or whomever is ready to step into the third pairing offensive d-man role. So for me, ideally... Kronwall-Ericsson Kulikov-Dekeyser Smith-Lashoff Kindl or Quencey as the 7th. And in a couple years Kronwall-Ericsson Smith-Dekeyser Sproul/Ouellet-Lashoff Whoever is leftover between Sproul/Ouellet as the 7th

I agree he's not as good as last year, but when you've already got that opinion of a guy you're looking for every little thing he does wrong. And when it's a third pairing defenseman, there's a lot of ammo. Example: It was either last game, or two games ago that Datsyuk got completely undressed along the goal line for a goal. Not a single mention of it in the GDT. Why? It doesn't happen often, and nobody scrutinizes Datsyuk. It's easier to keep banging away on something Kindl or Quincey does. Another Example: Mr. streaky and inconsistent Johan Franzen had shorter goal scoring droughts last year than Datsyuk or Zetterberg. Any mention at the time of them disappearing from the score sheet? Nope. Franzen gets that title hung from his neck. Why? Because he's already got the inconsistent tag. In conclusion, Kindl isn't very good defensively. He's not supposed to be. He's a third pairing guy who's an offensive d-man and is on track to score around 30 pts. this year. He's doing his job. We're not losing games because of Kindl.

Well damn. Thank god for the overtime point.

Datsyuk, Tatar, Bert. C'mon Babs.

Jesus, lots of pessimism in the GDT for a game that's tied. Bunch of sourpusses!

Also, Marty St. Louis is the most underrated player in the league. And that's saying something because pretty much everyone thinks he's great. But that guy does it all...and with class. What a hockey player.

Bishop's looked impressive. Almost as impressive as that time I saw him running amok crushing buildings in Tokyo.

Tomas Tatar is ******* awesome, just saying.

I'm streaming the Tampa feed, they love them some Filppula. Can't quit talking about the guy.

Atta boy Quincey!!!!!!!

Who ever said he was knocked out? All I heard was that he was concussed, which can happen without being knocked out.

I just want to see Jurco already. Any chance we can make room for him given all the new cap and roster space?

I'm most excited about the fact that you subtly made a reference to The Rock in that post. FOR THE MILLIONS............

I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea whatsoever why he wasn't going to play. I don't know. And I hadn't ever really given it much thought until that interview a few weeks ago when we played Tampa and he said "I’ve had skates on three times (since his retirement) to do something minor," Yzerman said. “I’ve kind of moved on. I don’t have time to skate, and I don’t have a real desire to do it.” I was irritated because if it came down to desire (or lack thereof) I think it would be a weak move to deprive fans of the experience because whether he likes it or not, pretty much every Wings fan idolizes him. But like I said, I don't know the reason. I was basing my views pretty much entirely off that interview.

He puts Abby in the top six because of puck retrieval, which he's quite good at. I don't think Babs cares if he scores or not. It's not like it's out of the blue either. Early in the year we had serious trouble with one and done offense and on a line with Weiss (soft) and Alfie (old) having a guy who can go get the puck isn't the worst idea in the world.

If it's not picked up nationally, then FSD will definitely carry it. Hell, they aired the Red and White scrimmage during last year's abbreviated training camp. One way or another this will be on tv, and if you've got an internet connection you'll be able to see it.

Any lineup with Cleary and Sammy makes me want to puke. But I have no problem with Bert or Abby in the top six under certain circumstances. Abby has been good with Alfie and Helm and Bert was good with Dats and Z. So depending on how the lines shake out when everyone is healthy, I don't necessarily mind those guys in those spots. But I definitely agree with the general theme of your post.

See what I mean?

I know this won't be popular, and I'm really happy that he's going to play, but it sort of burns my ass that it was such a begrudging acceptance. If the game had been played last year like it was supposed to, we'd have never seen him in the Winged Wheel again. Good for him finally coming around, but this is one fan who would have liked to see it happen differently. When you play for one team your whole career and captain them to 3 Stanley Cups, occasionally you're going to be asked to do things like this, even if you're another team's GM. Ya know? Because it's hockey and we sort of take tradition seriously in this game.

Well it's not too much of a stretch for me. I like Franzen, and the blanket criticism he receives is hardly ever warranted. Does he have bad games sometimes? Sure. Is he a bad player? Nope. On a team that has struggled offensively for four or five years, a guy who can put up 25-29 goals is a breath of fresh air.

I'm happy to see Pavs back and all, but honestly, I get most excited about watching Tatar and Nyquist these days. Beginning of the year I watched every game because I am a fan and want to see them win. But it was more "ho hum, lets see if the same old thing yields good results tonight". Now, I'm legitimately excited to see what these two can do every night.

You know, I'm pretty impressed with the way the Wings played while all these guys were out. What'd they lose two and win one without Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Bertuzzi, Helm, and Dekeyser? They get Dats tonight, they play a s***ting team in Florida, and if they win it they split on during this period. Not too shabby. Thank god of Franzen, Tatar, and Nyquist eh?

I agree with you, but if Neal's not careful he's going to get taught a hard lesson soon enough. Star or not, if he gets the reputation as a dirty player (and he will if he keeps pulling crap like this) sooner or later they'll hand him a real serious suspension.

I agree with you about the hit, it's definitely predatory. He was hitting Eriksson whether he touched the puck or not. It's almost by pure luck that it turned out not to be illegal.