krsmith17

Ride the hot goaltender. Howard is playing great, the best he's ever played as far as I'm concerned. He looks extremely poised, not overly aggressive and letting the play come to him. He's playing with a ton of confidence and it's showed in the countless breakaways he's turned away so far this season, as well as the shootout last night (two things he's been notoriously bad at in the past)... Mrazek hasn't played bad, but he hasn't been on top of his game in my opinion. Like others have mentioned, he may have gotten a little too relaxed after being anointed the number one. Some push back from Howard is great for both of them, as well as the team right now. Mrazek is the goaltender of the future, and I have a ton of confidence that he'll be great, possibly even Vezina caliber, but he's not quite there yet. I hope we go with Howard again next game, while Mrazek gets his mental game back. I'm sure when he gets the net again, he will have a great showing, I just hope we go another game (at least), with Howard playing lights out... Regardless, this is one hell of a tandem we have going right now. Keep it up boys!

Bringing up Pulkkinen when talking about Mantha is a comparison, and there's no comparison to be made. I'm well aware that there are a TON of players that produce in junior and in the minors, but amount to nothing at the NHL level. However, for the most part, those are the players that are small, skilled guys that don't have the body to keep up at the highest level, against the best players in the world. That appears to be the case for Pulkkinen, but won't at all be the case for Mantha. I'm fully confident that he is NHL ready, and not just based on what I've seen of him in Grand Rapids, but more so what I seen from him last year in Detroit, and how much his game has grown since then. I obviously don't expect him to score at the same rate as he has been in the AHL, but I wouldn't be surprised if his game is better suited for the NHL game... Bert had a strong game last night. He didn't factor in the scoring but generated chances and was strong defensively. Great to see him up with the big club, now if we could just waive Miller and / or Ott and call up Mantha... and scratch Marchenko and insert Sproul... Tatar - Nielsen - Mantha Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Athanasiou - Larkin - Helm Sheahan - Glendening - Bertuzzi DeKeyser - Green Kronwall - Smith Ericsson - Sproul All of a sudden that's a much better looking lineup... in my opinion...

I'm not sure if you missed my sarcasm there, but I 100% agree. I hate that some (including the people that matter; Holland, Blashill and co.) want to turn a player like Mantha into a two-way, 200 foot, defensive player... He's a smart hockey player, he's not going to completely abandon defense, but it definitely shouldn't be top priority for him. Put him on a line with a responsible center (Nielsen, Sheahan, Helm) and let the kid play his game, aka produce offense, score goals... Ok, so Blashill did say he wasn't good enough. That's the issue though. 3 goals in 5 games isn't good enough for a goal scorer? Maybe because he expects him to back-check every shift like he's a Helm or Glendening... So you take stock into NHL pre-season where most of the players are AHLers, but you don't take any stock into the AHL? I'm sick of hearing the Pulkkinen comparison. Pulkkinen and Mantha are not even close to being the same player. Pulkkinen is small and not a great skater, Mantha is huge and a very good skater. Mantha has an NHL body, and in my opinion has already proven that he is NHL ready. Again, I'm extremely excited to see what Bertuzzi can do in his debut tonight, I just think Mantha should have been the callup under the current circumstances...

I disagree that Bertuzzi "earned" the call up ahead of Mantha. Also where did you hear that management weren't impressed with Mantha in camp? Mantha scored 3 goals in 5 pre-season games, while Bertuzzi scored a goal and 3 assists in 5 games. Mantha has 8 points (7 goals, 1 assist) in 9 games so far with the Griffins, while Bertuzzi has 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 9 games. I like the call-up, but I don't totally agree with it... Mantha has already scored goals at the NHL level, and has proven that he can play top 6 in the NHL. Although, I think Bert can as well, he hasn't proven that he can score, let alone play top 6 at the NHL level...

Yup, another grinding player is exactly what this team needs... We obviously don't need goal scoring... Mantha is a goal scorer, but f*** that noise, we need to turn him into a two-way player... We don't have enough guys that play a 200 foot game... I too watch a ton of Griffins games, and I'm a huge fan of Bertuzzi, but I highly doubt he'll be "miles ahead of Mantha in three years"...

Exactly my thoughts. I'm sure most, if not everybody would have preferred Mantha get the call here, especially under the circumstances (needing scoring / replacing a goal scorer). However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. I'd like to think this is a permanent promotion and Mantha is very close behind, with Ott coming out next...

F*** Balls! Sign and trade to the Wings?... Not going to happen. I guess the dream of landing Trouba is dead for another couple years...

So Miller looks to be healthy scratch next game? Seems like Blash is slowly starting to get it. Now if he'd scratch Ott too and run something like... Tatar - Nielsen - Mantha Nyquist - Zetterberg - Abdelkader Helm - Larkin - Athanasiou Bertuzzi - Glendening - Sheahan Unless Bertuzzi is just up to fill in for pracrice and will be sent down again before Wednesday's game against the Monsters... The D is still a mess, but Sproul or Ouellet needs to be in for Marchenko...

Bertuzzi recalled? He's been playing well but if this isn't a punch in the d*** to Mantha, I don't know what is... Mantha should be replacing Vanek. Bertuzzi should be replacing Miller. This f***ing team...

Actually we would have to waive Ott because he's on a one-way contract. He would easily clear though, so he would end up in Grand Rapids. Ott is better than Miller though in my opinion, and he also makes more. So if we're waiving a player, it would be Miller for me, but I'd be okay with either if it meant improving our team...

You seem like the only one getting "worked up"... I'm not expecting you to see things exactly like I or the countless others that are disagreeing with you. That's why we're debating. You seem to be doing a lot of back peddling to me. No, one extra point probably wouldn't have meant s*** to most of those teams, but did any of those teams know that the wouldn't need an extra point (or a half dozen extra points) in November? Do you think if they were told that making a simple change back then would have gotten them into the playoffs or home ice advantage, they wouldn't have done it? You have to be the only one that doesn't think that adding Mantha in place of Miller would be a good idea... Seriously, is there anyone else that thinks that is a bad idea, or a nonsensical idea?... Exactly this. No one is saying that the 4th line is the only issue with this team, or even that it is necessarily our biggest issue. It is however, something that could easily be upgraded from within. Even if there are 100 other issues with this team, and the 4th line is the smallest issue, you still make the change if you can (and we can)...

The ice time / player usage is again something that can't be proven right or wrong because there are no game logs from the AHL. How do you not see winning a few more games over the course of a season as a big deal? I'm very confused about this... Why does every coach / general manager stress how important it is to bank points early on in the season? Do you think Boston would have liked one more point last season? The parity in this league is growing every year, and the difference between missing the playoffs completely and having home ice advantage in the first round is miniscule. Like I said before, if there are any improvements you can make to make your team even slightly better, you do it. To say otherwise is foolish...

Yeah, there was a touch of sarcasm there in that statement...

The Wings can call up Mantha if they make a really tough decision and waive Miller or Ott... They could also call him up if they put Vanek on LTIR. I'd prefer the former, but those are two possible ways to get Mantha up with the Wings...

How is that even close to being the same scenario? I can prove that Mantha is scoring in the AHL, he's 2nd in the league in scoring, 1st in goals per game. Can you prove that Mantha wouldn't be a better option than Miller? Inserting Lashoff for Green wouldn't make much of a difference? Now you're just talking out of your a**... For one game, no it might not, but over the course of a season, yes it absolutely would. Same goes for inserting Mantha over Miller. If we did it for one game, it may or may not make a huge difference, but over the course of a season, we win a few more games, which could be the difference in a few seeds in the standings / missing or making the playoffs... Why should we even bother trading for a defenseman? In your twisted thinking, adding a player like Trouba wouldn't make a difference anyway. Absurd. I'm done with this conversation...

I guess regardless we're not making the playoffs...

No I don't have the time on ice logs from the Griffins games, and yes I did say "seemed", because I don't know for sure, hence it being a theory... People can have an opinion without having numbers to back up that opinion. Why do you get so bent out of shape because I have a differing opinion? This has to go down as one of the worst debates I've had on here, and there have been some doozies... You know what? F*** it! Who cares who's in our lineup because any one player isn't going to make any difference. Let's scratch Green and call up Lashoff. It's not going to make a difference anyway. Mantha over Miller would make us a better hockey team because he's a MUCH better hockey player. But let's not make that sort of change to the lineup because it will only make us a little better. It doesn't really matter much if we finish 8th or 9th... No big difference there...

It was a theory based on what I thought I saw? So you have the time on ice log for the Griffins 2, 3, 4 years ago do you? I remember watching a lot of games and noticing how little he used his 4th line (Grant - Aubry - Parkes / Campbell) 5-on-5, and what seemed like Nyquist, Sheahan, Tatar, Pulkkinen, etc. being out there every other shift. I must have been "fantasizing" though... You keep saying that "small improvements don't make any real difference", which is flat out wrong... Any and every improvement makes a difference. +/- 10 goals in a season can be the difference in a team making or missing the playoffs. No I'm not saying Mantha would be the reason we would make the playoffs, but I do think he makes us a better team, and would improve our chances of making it. The NHL eventually got away from the need for enforcers, and eventually the same will be true of the shutdown, grinding 4th liners... There are already some teams that are leaning toward having 4 balanced scoring lines, and I think we'll see more and more of that in the coming years...

I'd be shocked to see Russo get a call up this season, unless there's 2-3 injuries on our blueline. He's playing well in Grand Rapids but I don't see him as an upgrade over any of the other 8 guys (yet)... I'd take him over Marchenko, but not over either of the two (Sproul or Ouellet) guys sitting right now...

Regarding what I was saying about Holland dictating usage, it was a theory based on what I seen from Blashill in the minors. It could be way off base, and I'll admit that. But the fact is, we don't know and probably never will know how much Holland is involved with those sorts of things. Maybe Blashill isn't using his 4th line any more than Babcock or any other coach, but does that make it okay? I don't think so. I don't like to see our 4th line used as much as they are or in the situations (end of games) they are. You're okay with their usage. That's fine... If there's any upgrade you can make to your lineup, I don't care how small, you make it. Small improvements are still improvements. So if taking Miller out, moving Sheahan down and calling Mantha up, makes your team better, you do it. No one is expecting Mantha to come up and have an "Ovi-level impact", or anything close to it... He wouldn't need that sort of impact to improve the team. If he can come up and score 10 goals and 30 points (lowball in my opinion), that's an upgrade over Sheahan in that role, and Sheahan would be an upgrade in Miller's role...

Detroit claims Frk. Welcome back to Grand Rapids Frky!

No it's not an "absolute" correlation in the sense that the best possession team ranks 1st, 2nd best ranks 2nd, and so on, but generally speaking the better possession teams are the more successful teams. From a game to game basis, I'll agree. Teams can win games getting badly outplayed and vice-versa, but never does a team get out-played every game, and win the majority of those games, unless you have a Carey Price (which we don't). Same goes for lines. A line can get badly outplayed in a game or two and come out on the positive goal differential, but more often than not, that line that constantly gets outplayed, and does nothing but defend, is going to lose games for the team... Small sample size. We are the worst possession team in the league, and we also have the 3rd highest PDO. Winning games at that rate is unsustainable. Something needs to change... Whether or not our 4th line has been a detriment to this teams success yet, it's only a matter of time before they start costing the team more games with those awful possession numbers. You may not think that giving those minutes to Athanasiou, Mantha, or whoever would help, but I do. We won't know unless it's tested (it won't be), but what's the harm in trying? Obviously what we're currently doing isn't working / isn't going to continue to work. You really don't think a 4th line of Sheahan - Helm - Glendening is any better than Miller - Glendening - Ott? Miller and Ott should not have a place on this team. Disagree if you want, but I stand by that statement...

A line that isn't capable of possessing the puck for any significant amount of time is not effective. Players that are constantly defending because they can't gain possession of the puck are not effective players. "A minute or three" of ice time absolutely does make a difference, and to say otherwise is ridiculous. You take a single shift away from a player, and the entire outcome there after is entirely different (for better or worse). Yup, I often "fantasize" about the OMG line being awful. That's why I think they're so bad, because I want them to be bad......

Like I said, all of this is just a theory, and I don't have the numbers in front of me (at work). If it's true that they're toward the bottom of the team in TOI, I'm very ùsurprised. Seems to be a lot higher. Regardless, they are being relied on too heavily, whether it's 7 minutes or 12 minutes a game in my opinion. I do think there's an issue with usage, in particular at the end of games. Again, no numbers to back this up, but it does seem like they're out there too often trying to defend leads, rather than putting players on the ice that can increase the lead...

Problem is, there is no coach like Scotty... Babcock is regarded as one of the best coaches in hockey of this era, and according to the above theory... he was a bit of a yes man as well. I'm not saying it's right, but like it or not, Holland is running this ship, and I'm not sure any coach can come in and change that... I don't know though, maybe this is all way off base, but I find it kind of funny that Blashill changed his player usage when he became the coach of the Wings and Babcock changed his when he left the Wings...