kliq

They're not going to be that good. They will have good goaltending, but their team will be filled with the Riley Sheahan's of the world, or kids who are on the cusp (ie. the Tyler Bertuzzi's of the world) Maybe the GM just takes young kids with the logic of tanking the first couple years in order to get high end draft picks.

I think you are putting too much value on wins/losses. With that logic when Jimmy loses 1-0 in OT, that is a point against him, while when Mrazek wins say 4-3, that is a point for him. Its clear you are a fan of Mrazek, and I think you are looking for arguments that favor him because that is who you personally favor. If you look at the situation objectively from the perspective of a coach, Howard is the one who should be getting the majority of the starts based on the play of the two. Blashill's job is to win, and when his job is on the line he is going to play the goalie that gives him the best chance. If we switch gears and look at this from the perspective of ownership, and you want to argue that ownership should be giving the mandate "We dont care about this season, what we want is to groom our young talent" that is a different story. However, every indication is that ownership cares about the here and now.

Thanks for posting. I'm not sure why but I never knew that. You cant blame me for asking considering I didn't know, especially with all the BS "facts" that certain posters have been putting out there lately (not you).

As far as my comments go, this is a different argument. My argument is that you cannot blame Blashill for his use of his goalies this year. As far as we know, that is NOT the direction being given by ownership. Granted this is speculation, but if Holland and Blashill are being told to win now then you cannot blame Blashill for going with Howard. If ownership came out and said "right now doesn't matter, we are purely re-building" that would be a different story.

You are really spinning it. Sure Bowman is in the room, and yes Holland is talking it over with Bowman, but to me its pretty clear that Holland is the one in the drivers seat and Bowman is acting in an advisory role. Not to mention, Holland is the one on the phone talking to other GM's not Bowman. In the documentary you see him do the Wooley trade, and you see him on the phone with the Phoenix GM. As far as Holland thinking its too much to get rid of Avery, you are right but so does Bowman, here is the convo: Holland: "There's not alot of guys like Avery" "Too much, ehh Scotty" Bowman: "I think so....I mean" Then Bowman stops taking. Not exactly pulling the strings like you suggest. (4:50 mark)

No need to troll man, I just asked for a source. I'm pretty sure it was Holland who made the Schnieder trade. I can remember watching the documentary that was done on the Wings that year and I'm pretty sure he made the trade on camera.

I just don't agree with you in regards to the goaltending. Blashill's job is to win, when that is your job you play the goalie who is playing the best. If Mrazek lets in 12 goals in his next 4 games, ya Coreau may play. Best way to prevent that? Dont play bad.

I did pay attention to the team at the time but I honestly never heard about it. With that being said, I live in Windsor not Detroit. Maybe it was more so reported locally.

lol, I did not see your post when I wrote what I just wrote.

What about his role in scouting? If Nill, Yzerman, and Andersson get credit for the Wings in '08, why does Holland get ZERO for '97?

What I posted was that at some point Mrazek would get a chance to win the job back. Right now is that opportunity as he has 4-6 weeks to likely get 75% of the starts in that time frame. Lets see what he does with this opportunity.

UFA signings maybe, not trades. I never said it didnt happen, I simply asked for some type of proof. I'm not going to believe something just because it was said on a message board. Come on Dickie, take off those rose colored glasses now.

1) Rumblings stated that Trouba wanted to come here, I dont see him wearing a Wings jersey. My point is that a player can want to go to any team, but a GM is the one that needs to trade for him. 2) I don't understand your point. Hen Holland wanted Luc Robitaille so therefore it doesn't count? 3) Again, Holland is the one who signed Hull and traded for Chelios. As far as them restructuring their contracts, link? I was not aware of this. I googled it and nothing came up.

You're really playing with numbers here. Its only 17-15 because Mrazek started the year as the starter meaning that of those 17 starts, like 9 were in the first 12 games. Then when you factor in the time Howard was hurt, its really not close to 50/50. Since Mrazek lost the starting job about a month into the season, Howard has been the bonafide starter while healthy.

You know what, you're right. I take back my agent comment, the agent isnt the one who signs the contract. Its on Datsyuk. With that being said, I dont hold any ill will towards him. I completely agree with the Holland stuff, people will blame him for everything and anything. A star player wants to sign a 3 year deal, any GM makes that signing.

I totally see where you are coming from, I guess because we are not contenders and he has regressed like he has, it just doesn't bother me that much. If anything I blame Datsyuk's agent, the guy should have been playing on 1 year deals like Lidstrom.

I pretty much agree with this, the only thing I would change is the end and say that the best thing to happen to us would be to for our current young players (Mrazek, Larkin, AA, Mantha) to make that transition to superstars. I don't care that much about the streak, but I will have a hard time not seeing Wings playoff hockey, as its always been a tradition for me since I was 9 (I'm now 34). Its so hard to tell sometimes if a kid will become a superstar if its not a sure thing (ie. McDavid). Look at Nyquist, in the second half of 2014 he looked like a damn hart nominee. In retrospect he was playing way above his head and he ended up becoming a decent second line winger. Nothing wrong with that, nobody here criticizes guys like Holmstrom, Kozlov, or Larionov its just in their case they had elite superstars to play under. So hopefully this next wave end up being the next Datsyuk, or Zetterberg. not the next Nyquist or Tatar with all do respect to the latter.

In today's NHL, why would Arizona trade OEL given how hard it is to find a franchise D-man? Don't get me wrong, I would love it to happen, but it would shock me.

Look at the situation logically, it was likely not one thing and probably a combination of a variety of factors. I'm sure he was home sick, even though he's 10 hours away from his daughter, its still a hell of a lot closer then Detroit. He can probably catch a 1 or 2 hour plane ride anytime he wants. I'm sure his body was breaking down, and given the softer style of the KHL, that had to be a factor. And yes we are not contenders this year, so why put his body on the line and be so far away from his family to maybe at best get to the second round. I dont blame Datsyuk a single bit.

I was literally going to post the exact same thing lol. It really isnt even close.

The funny part is I honestly don't think he realizes how ridiculous that sounds. He actually thinks this is proving people wrong Not to mention, its not even a poster that is being cited, its a friend of a poster.

One thing that posters sometimes completely forget about is practice. I'm not trying to make excuses for Blashill as I have gone on record in saying that he has done a bad job here, but I'm sure coaches make decisions based on how guys look in practice. Maybe Mrazek has been looking like s*** while Howard has looked good. Really who knows.

Unless I am forgetting someone, because of all the injuries I think the next best guy is Drew Miller lol.

I dont like Larkin playing on the third line with Sheahan and Glendening. That just can't be good for his offensive development.

That's not even true. Here is something I posted in another thread, fits perfect in response to what you said: Mrazek started the year as the bonafide starter. Mrazek started 4 of our first 5 games but let in 12 goals (ie. played bad). 12 games into the season, Mrazek started in 9 games to Jimmy's 3 which is 75% (more then normal for a starter) and in those games Mrazek continued to not play well in comparison to Jimmy. Mrazek lost the starting job because Jimmy outplayed him. If he outplays Jimmy, he can get it back. Blashill has actually been pretty consistent with goalies. I cant blame a coach for playing the clearly better playing goalie when a coaches mandate is to win games. If you want to bash Blashill for his other dumb moves, go for it. But this is not one of them.