kickazz

First of all: You shouldn't take something out of context and try to start an argument when simple opinions are expressed. That's just silly. Second of all: - The thread was in regards to "success" or "failure" I'm merely using the OP's specific words in adding them to a post in my own objective way. The OP could have used synonyms such as "triumph" and "decline" and I would have used the words accordingly. a) How you got my use of OP's word "fail" and equated it to "loser" I have no idea. Please do explain. - Just because Zetterberg lead the team in points and played 77 games doesn't mean it was a successful season by his standards. His standards. I'll repeat. His standards. a) Zetterberg has a higher potential than 66 points in 77 games. Mark my words he will have a better season next year. He's just the type that doesn't quit. - The statement you quoted is showing his Captaincy and communication with the media, NOT his points per season or overall performance. Who here is questioning his leadership? No one. Additionally, Z is one of my favorite players next to Datsyuk and I've happened to meet him plenty of times in real life and have expressed my opinion that he's been the best captain in the league since 2013. At one point I even said "idk why the NHL thinks Toews is the best captain, cuz we all know you are" and the response I got was a smile. Hope you enjoyed that story

Agreed. See edit.

Success overall. Failure for a lot of individuals. Quincey - lived up fairly well to his contract that pissed a lot of us off. Smith - fail Tatar/Nyquist - success Abby - success Sheahan - sucess Weiss - sucks to be him, fail in babs eyes Jurco - fail Ericsson - fail Datsyuk - success, but injuries dont look good, starting to remind me of Steve Yzerman's knee issues. Zetterberg - fail (I love Z but this was by far one of his worst seasons in point production. He knows it and so do we). I expect him to have a breakout season next year tho. He's had crappy seasons in the past and responded with successful seasons after. Howard - success then fail Mrazek - success (gained a lot of experience) Overall - 100 points, into the playoffs? Success. The team effort balanced out in the end. Young players have progressed well and certain players have proven they shouldnt be on the roster.

Kronwall/ Zidlickey would be too "offensive" and not very "defensive". I think his best option is to split Kronner and Zid and spread the offensive D-men. I was thinking it might be either Kronner with Marchenko or babs splits up Quincy from Dekeyser and puts one of them with Marchenko and other with Zids. I highly doubt Marchenko would be with Kronner so I'm guessing Q and D will be split up.

Just pointing out that you cant just remove "12 points in 10 games" for Weiss; because Zetterberg is the same way. You can't just pick and chose how to judge a player if it's not a universal rule. Z is pretty damn streaky too. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with that. All that matters is overall contribution and meaingfull contribution imo. But the other points you made make sense to me. They shouldnt have signed him then right. So why did they. Waste of salary cap. Look all I'm saying is, they knew what they were getting when they signed Weiss. So the whole "putting him on 4th line" needs to be taken care of as a trade. Because 4.5 million (?) per year for a 3rd/4th liner is pretty damn dumb babs.

It will likely be: Kronwall - Ericsson Dekeyser - Zidlickey Quincy - Marchenko I'd personally like it to be Kronwall - Marchenko Dekeyser - Quincey Zidlickey - Ericsson Don't like the idea of splitting up Q and D. Kronner would have a righty which would boost him pretty well and Z wud be a good offensive defensemen on 3rd line and Q and D would do what they're been doing.

I think Babcock is thinking something like this: "Do I bring in Smith who makes constant errors and plays like an idiot? Or do I take my chances with a kid that can play 22 minutes and make less errors AND is a right handed defensemen? What is the lesser of two evil!?" He went with the latter. But hey who knows what babs is thinking.

It's because Smith was the anticipated next best D man when drafted. A lot of people thought he would be the next Lidstrom. I actually read that type of comparison in many forums and was always skeptical about it. Now that people realize that it was wishful thinking they are upset that Smith let them down. Ericsson was never projected to be a superstar; his expectations arent as high as people had them for Smith. Either way they're both pretty bad.

So wouldn't that mean we cut Zetterberg because he went thru a month with only one goal? But then had 10 points in like 7 games in october (not sure exact numbers). Nah you cant just take "Stretches" away in the game of hockey. But I see your point and I do agree with you that Sheahan is a valuable asset tho.

Boston on the brink of elimination

This game is a definite confidence booster for everyone that played today. Smart move by babs. This should be something to build upon heading into round 1.

True. But by age 26 he was pretty much leading by example and representing the assist captn status.

Do you not sense the sarcasm in either of my statements.

Will be interesting to compare in a month.

Welp. Guess I'll update the thread. After 82 games in the season the scoring leader for 2014/2015 season is Henrik Zetterberg with 66 points. Datsyuk comes in close with 65. Voters seemed to favor Datsyuk with 40 votes to Zetterberg's 26 votes. This is the 3rd time Zetterberg has been the scoring leader for the Red Wings since coming into the league (3 times in the past 5 years). Pavel Datsyuk has finished as scoring leader 6 times (1 time in the past 5 years). They both had tied with 70 points in the 2009/2010 season. These points don't account for games played only total accumulation of points. Hopefully these two continue to lead the scoring even as they age in the years to come! My money is on Datsyuk being top scorer in the 2015/2016 season. Onwards to the playoffs!

Smith doesn't represent his Winged Wheel too well. I mean compare this 26 year old kid to the likes of a 26 year old Zetterberg or Datsyuk or Lidstrom or Federov, Yzerman and the list goes on. If you're from a classy organization then the least you could do is be a big boy and admit the mistake or at the very least be real about it. "I screwed up, learning experience, felt like it was unnecessary on my part".

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/04/11/detroit-red-wings-brendan-smith/25633727/ Asked if that was behind scratching Smith, Babcock replied, "everything is a reflection on everything you do, that's just life." Smith said, "I haven't had a conversation with Babs. Maybe he's saving me like Kronner. I haven't talked to him about it, so I don't know. I'm not sure. I have no idea." LOL. Oh Smith.. You're not as special as you think you are.

Probably Ericsson

Weiss was never known for his defensive prowess and they knew that before signing him. They needed a center to produce points after 2013 because they wanted Hank and Pav to play together on a line.

I'm not a huge fan of Weiss's play but I'm also an objective individual. While it's true that Weiss is a turn over machine etc etc, it's also true that Ericsson is terrible at his position as well. Yet Babcock insists on keeping him as a top 2 defenseman and Weiss as a 4th liner? The point I'm trying to make is that Babs definitely plays favorites and it's costing us more than its helping us as of late. I don't necessarily mean Weiss. I mean in terms of other players on the roster such as Smith, Ericsson, Anderson. If Weiss isn't as defensively sound then move him to winger would make sense. But then to the 4th line grind line? How does that add up? Isn't the 4th line supposed to do just that? Be defensive and grind with full energy. Nah Babs doesn't make sense to me with the Weiss situation. It's obvious he doesn't like the guy regardless of his on-ice screw ups. If it were truly the play style then Ericsson would be benched 70% of the games with Marchenko in the lineup. Mind you I am a huge fan of Babcock.

Worse than Datsyuk?

Imagine we beat them 4-0.

Weiss has a better PPG than our current #2 center. Sheahan. There's more to it than just production. Seems like Babs just doesnt like the guy. We really don't know what happens behind the scenes. Maybe he dislikes Weiss's work ethic during practices or in the locker room. Who fricking knows.

Smith? Maybe if we want to lock in the Wild card spot for sure. Yea. We'd bring him in. But yes the other three you mentioned, I'm wondering the same about that as well. I doubt it though since a healthy team has a better chance of advancing than a beat up team.

Glad theyre resting D and Z. Both tend to break out and perform well after long rests. And quiet frankly I feel like first round will be our toughest challenge.