kipwinger

I agree, I've been saying this for a while around here. I don't think it's a good idea to have the two guys who lead your team in shots on the same line.

Has anyone else noticed that while Tootoo is a pretty good skater, he's awful at trying to stop? I guess if you've been hitting guys your whole life there's probably no reason to learn how to stop, but if you watch you'll get a kick out of it. Who was the kid from the Mighty Ducks movies who couldn't stop? Love the guy, and love that once he gets going he's either hitting a defenseman or hitting the glass, but he's never stopping.

Really impressed with the deflection goal last night. Takes a lot of guts to go to the crease and make that play. I will agree with Shanahan above though, I'd really like Brunner to be attacking more on the power play. I think he's still getting used to being an equal partner on that unit, and so he's looking to pass or one time the puck. But how many times have you seen Dats or Zetterberg attacking the net, forcing the defense to respond, and then getting the puck to the open man, or putting it in the net when the defense fails to commit to them? Brunner has the skill to do that too. Hopefully that part of his games comes with a little more time. Good play so far though. As others have said, a little bit to learn on the defensive end of things. But I agree that this part of his game will come too. Forwards aren't really required to play defense in most euro leagues...but that doesn't mean they can't.

How interesting, you can say that you're ok with something and then six months later say that you've been against it all along. Neat trick. Does that work on people usually or no?

You said Quincey should never have been re-signed huh? From the thread "[signed] Red Wings re-sign Quincey: 2 years, 7.55 million total" on page 22. "Blah...a little more than I would have liked, but whatever...if he becomes one of our top 4, I guess the $250,000 overpayment will be alright...At least we have 6 D now, wonder who the 7th will be, or are we to expect a REAL top 4 defender and have Kindl be #7" - Leftwinger. "A little more than I would have liked, but whatever...I guess the $250,000 overpayment will be alright". Meanwhile, 6 months later "I said he should have never been re-signed!" No you didn't say that, and the proof is in the pudding.

You seriously question what Holland was thinking huh? That's funny, because in the thread "Kyle Quincey traded to Detroit in 3 team trade" on 21, Feb. 2012 at 5:13 you said, and I quote, "I may be in the minority here, but I think this is a nice deal. Kyle is a big upgrade over Kindl, he is much better (maybe not tougher) than Commodore, he will be a nice addition here. Welcome back Kyle!" For anyone interested that post can be found on page 54 of this forum. Not only did you know what he was thinking, but according to your own words it was a good move, and as an armchair GM you would have likely done the same thing. Enough with your castigating these moves already please.

Whatever happened to the Tollefsen guy we traded Leino for? I know there wasn't any place to put him when the trade took place, but seems like someone could have used him for depth. Was he that bad?

I completely agree, and I don't mean to sound like I think the guy should be given a spot just because he's been around a while. He needs to sink or swim, BUT I also think it's unfair to suggest (not that you did) the guy is sinking when he hasn't been given any kind of regular playing time, and when he does, he's typically utilized incorrectly. Tonight he'll be paired with a shutdown guy, he should be able to play to his strengths (the transition game), and he'll get some time on the PP. That's using his skill set properly. If they do that for 3 or 4 games and he still doesn't look good, then I'd say it's fair to cut him loose.

I agree in principle, but I disagree that tonight should be make or break. You can't expect a guy to play well when he's up for a game, down for two or three, up one, down again. What does every hockey player in the world say when they return from a summer off, or a long injury? "It will take a while to get my timing back, and get into game shape". Timing matters a ton in hockey, and so bringing a guy in, putting him with a new partner, and then letting him sit for a few games does nothing to help improve that timing. Kindl needs to prove something this season, but I think it's only fair to give him about three games in a row to make sure that he's comfortable out there. s***, if we can give Quincey 5 games, I don't think there's any reason not to give Kindl 3.

I agree with what you're saying here, and will take it a step further and say he'll be up permanently when the roster expands before the playoffs.

Babs has a history of trying to squeeze blood from a stone. All the time he's trying to make guys into what they aren't. If you don't want to use guys in the roles that got them to the NHL in the first place, then you're not typically going to have great success in their development. Kindl was drafted as a puck moving, offensive minded, defenseman. If you ask him to be a stay at home, shutdown, type, and judge him according to that standard, you'll be disappointed and he'll me incorrectly utilized. Use him as he ought to be used, or trade him for a stay at home guy.

I completely agree. That's my point. If you say "Jimmy won't win 24" without qualifying it, you're not saying anything at all. You're not really explaining why. Jimmy's a good goalie, and I'm not sure whether he'll win 24 or not because I don't know what type of team we have yet. But he's certainly capable of winning that number of games behind a team that can score on the ******* powerplay once in a while...but I digress.

I can see this happening too, but you're not really saying much. Will he not win 24 games because he's not any good, or because the team isn't any good? Now if you said, "The Wings will win their division, but Howard won't win 24 games", that would be saying something.

I honestly think that the problem with the defense (aside from the injuries) is that we've got some quality defenders, but they all largely play the same type of game, with varying degrees of skill level. Quincey, White, Colaiacovo, Smith, Kindl, and Kronwall all play essentially the exact same type of game. As such, when you pair any two of them together one of them is forced to play a different type of game than he is used to, and a different type of game than what made him a professional in the first place. I don't think we need a superstar defenseman right now, I think our defense would be fine if Holland was able to land a first rate stay at home defenseman, who cares if he can score or not, and let him play with Kronwall. Then let Ericsson play on the second pair with White or Smith, and Lashoff on the third with whoever is left. Then all of our offensive minded puck movers can do what got them into the league in the first place, and the defensive PAIRINGS will work more efficiently.

Wet socks. Or does nobody else find this as awful as I do?

The PP is obviously horrible, and I have no idea why except that they keep thinking that they can generate all the offense from the point. The PK has looked really good the last two games though, so maybe we're over the hump on that one.

"Our power play is our penalty box"

How boooooooooooring! If only he slid around like a jackass I'd be impressed.

Well it's sort of a moot point because Corvo has played in 3 of the Hurricane's 4 games so far. So it's not like he's just sitting around waiting to be traded.

Here I thought it was key goals, hits, and saves that made the game exciting, not the obnoxious celebrations afterward. Maybe that's why the world goes so nuts for European soccer, lots of showmanship over there. Datsyuk's been lighting the lap here in Detroit since 2002, with no dancing afterward. Has it seemed boring to you?

Brian Burke's team is looking pretty good against the vaunted Rangers right now.

Yep he is, and while I'm sure he was "genuinely thrilled" at scoring a late game winning goal, he somehow managed to not "lose himself" and make his teammates and opponents look and feel like total assholes. He celebrated with him team, who surprisingly enough, actually put in some work of their own to help him make the play. Yakupov must have been temporarily unaware that in order to score a rebound goal like that, at least one of your teammates needed to be doing something right too, but then again he "lost himself for a moment", so it's cool.

Show some respect, it's AGENT Jack Bauer to us mere mortals.

I agree with you on the point about the PK, and I did think that Kindl was playing a little more physical. Hopefully he keeps that up once he gets back into game shape.

When Datsyuk scored late to win a game, not just tie it, he celebrated like this. Yakupov is a showboat, plain and simple. And as I've said already, I don't like it, I wouldn't do it, and I wouldn't teach it to kids.