kickazz

Thank you for bringing this up. And it's exactly my point. AA's style isn't a bad one and he certainly shouldn't be criticized for his strengths (aka him using his speed and vision for breakaways and looking for outlet passes off the bench). The Babcockian style of "defense first" is all but one style of coaching. Blashill has adopted that style, although Blashill prefers his defensemen jumping in on the forecheck (something Babcock was against). Sure AA can improve one certain parts of his game much like Larkin, Mantha, and youngsters in general can. But people using the whole "oh all he does is score on breakaways blah blah" argument sounds pretty stupid. Scoring on breakways is a good thing and a good skill, not a bad one.

I'm not saying you are for either of those. Neonaxi there has brought it up and I was speaking out loud that AA or anyone on the team at this point can't even be in a conversation about being elite. And using that as an argument to define AA is just dumb and an unnecessary and inapt way to criticize a youngster.

Yes I asked a genuine serious question. I know there are many denominations of Mr. T followers, was wondering which crew ya'll fall into. Tupac was West side till he died.

He’ll going to be LTIR’d if he decides to stop playing. Deteriorating health causing him to miss practices for this year is more than enough of a reason and there will be medical documentation and imaging to prove his physician check ups in 2017/18. If he was playing 82 games and not skipping practices then I would agree that his case for LTIR is shady. But if he has gotten to a point where he can't practice with the team and has supporting medical documentation (he will), then he's more LTIR eligible than Pronger, Hossa, etc combined. But the league won't even question it because the league won’t question a guy like Zetterberg that's basically given up his body for the game since the 2014 surgery. And if I remember correctly he specifically came back to play for the 2014 Winter Classic against the Maple Leafs even though he was injured. NHL made $$$ off that.

I quoted you the coaches opinion. You've given me speculation and ass talking; which you seem to be a pro at (not surprised since you voted for guy that does the same). And I've also mentioned in my post that the kids in general are young and need to improve. But all you've done is talk AA down. Objectively, AA's minutes went up and he's gotten a contract some people here thing is overpayment. Subjectively you're extrapolating your ass into nonsense. And I'm pointing out that your hate for AA is far fetched. Additionally, if AA was "good enough" up into Jan 5 and all of a sudden things went down hill which caused him to get benched in February, that still doesn't negate the fact that he was getting praised for his first half season performance by Blashill. You on the other hand are coming up with a narrative the he simply hasn't improved, is stubborn and refuses to be coached. The direct quote from Blashill in January says otherwise. So unless you have a quote from someone in the organization that explicitly says "AA refuses to be coached" then you're talking out your ass. Constantly. Like more than Trump does. Maybe even more than Bush and his WMD nonsense in Iraq.

Thanks for proving my point. Your quote clearly points out that AA is willing to be coached and realizes consequences. Good job proving yourself wrong. There is no cherry picking. The quote you mentioned is an opinion. I gave you a direct quote of the coach himself. So not only are you talking out of your ass but your using another person's ass to talk out of as well. Amazing. You're too easy.

This is a good analysis actually.

So you going to stop s***ting on him and coming up with your own narratives or acknowledge his and his coaches words? There may be criticism, but there is praise and there's also mature acknowledgement on AA's part. Don't really see how that translates to "reluctant to being coached" or whatever narrative you've come up with. Sounds like a young player that has good nights, bad nights and realizes them. Who the f*** is Zandina? Sounds like a little *****.

He's ice time has increased.. Your post again indicates that he's taking more flack than he should. Blash increased his ice time. Holland paid him 3 million per year which people here thought was an overpayment. They want more improvement from him, just like they would want out of anyone young, but based off their actions it seems like they're okay with him while still being cautiously optimistic. Complete speculation and bias. And again, talking out the ass. “I think there was some opportunity presented to him with Mantha’s injury, and he’s earned that ice,” Blashill said after Detroit’s 2-1 overtime win over Ottawa on Wednesday in which Athanasiou scored both goals. Blashill doubled-shifted Athanasiou throughout the game as the team only dressed 11 forwards. The speedster played wing on the second line with Dylan Larkin and Tomas Tatar, and center on the fourth line with Mantha and Martin Frk. He was buzzing the entire night. “I could double other guys up more, but I’ve doubled up Double-A lots because I think he’s played more consistently hard,” said Blashill. “He’s played the type of hockey he has to play to be successful.” His own coach gives him credit. But you can't it seems. https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2018/01/05/are-red-wings-keeping-their-promise-to-athanasiou/ ---- Below are AA's own words after Zetterberg's criticism of the young players. Athanasiou, who lost the puck on Vegas’ fourth and final goal, acknowledged Zetterberg’s message struck home. “Any time you have someone like that speaking out, it’s a bit of a message to make sure you’re ready for the next one,” Athanasiou said. “If there’s one play where you can bear down a bit more, it’s going to make a huge difference.” https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2018/03/09/strong-criticism-hits-home-red-wings-anthony-mantha-andreas-athanasiou/32785007/

Wrekt

Well I told you he wasn't practicing with the team before it became public knowledge didn't I. So trust me on that. But even besides that, read between the lines in Blashill's paragraph in the website. I'm sure "some" details will be out soon enough.

Normally I would agree with you but it sounds like he's had some set backs in the 2017/18 season that was medically well documented and would be proved by the doctors. It probably sounds like it is out of the blue because it was all under wraps but, it's definitely been going on back and forth for months it seems. Maybe the pain is just becoming unbearable during practice rigors and he only wants to deal with it for the games. Wouldn't be surprised if he took a cortisone shot before every few games or something. And if that's documented in his medical history then he's LTIR cleared for sure.

If the euro twins united in Russia, I would watch all their games.

You're not asking for his improvement. You're asking for him to play a brand of hockey that he may not be designed to do. He's a fast, dangling forward. You think him being a 2 way forward is improvement because Babcock probably instilled that in your head for 10 years. I say he should be utilized for his strength. Which is his speed. He's got great vision at reading breakways. He shouldn't be criticized for it. He's still young and learning, he shouldn't be criticized for it. He may become a lot better than he is, he shouldn't be talked off like he'll never reach a certain level after 1-2 seasons in the NHL.

AA and the other kids are 24 or below. In some of your posts you've already written him off. That's my point. You keep comparing him specifically to those players which is where the flaw in your argument is. I'm merely bringing those players up as an argument about how teams in general can be built. When AA. Larkin, Mantha are 28, 29 in their prime, the team will be better and possibly a contender. Much like the team was when they won the first cup in 1997 when Fedorov was 28 (not when he was 24). Red Herring. Moving on. Don't think I said he's the next Brett Hull. But I myself, like others here (even the one's who want more out of AA) haven't written him off. You on the other hand have shown hints of some obvious bias against the dude and written him off just because he doesn't play the brand of hockey YOU want him to.

You're right, he isn't. But it's good that AA is already being compared to him. Shows Nyquist's worth. Especially because AA is already better than him. No s***, but having a premature discussion about him being elite or not is stupid af and using his "elite" status as a supporting argument against him is also stupid af. It shouldn't even be in the discussion because nobody on the Red Wings is elite. We have an elite player in his twilight years and that's Z. That's all.

I think Rasmussen could be our Kadri except much better defensively.

He'll be an easy in for the LTIR. He's got a medical diagnosis that's official. I'm not surprised he played 82 games and 20 minutes every other night and didn't practice. The question is can he do the 2-3 hours of conditioning per day. That's a whole different beast. And that's probably why there's all the question marks. I think if he's able to do the summer training then he comes back and plays another 82 game season. The question is can he even do the training? If not then, he simply won't be ready to play adequately since he would be out of shape.

The only problem is that these players hit the reset button this summer and have to start conditioning and training again ending with camp in sept. I imagine that is something his body may not handle well even if it can play 20 minute games (his ice time). He could go light this summer and skip camp in September but he’ll probably be even slower and worse.

Once Zadina is on that list (if he breaks out into the league well) that list looks a lot better and possibly a little more comparable to the Leafs.

Now compare that to Toronto’s young pieces.

Did I stutter? I thought I spell checked that post.

My brother almost drowned last year. Someone saw him last second and helped him. Sometimes people aren't watching and all it takes is 10-20 seconds and you're under and it's too late. I assume something like that happened with Emery.

The Don.

I'm still a villain. Here's my most recent kill.