WingedWheel91

Who really cares? Honestly. Why do any of us hope to make the playoffs? This team is a pile of dog s*** that needs to get so much better in so many areas; forget this streak - high draft picks are the only path to success in Detroit. Have any of you watched Boston, Philly or the Islanders lately? These "fringe" teams are actually showing urgency and dominating most games they play, last night Boston outshot the Devils 40-15 on the road and somehow lost 2-1. Did you watch the PHI and WPG game before that? The 1st period of that game PHI should have been up by 3... These are what playoff teams looks like. Meanwhile in Detroit, we somehow avoided a 3 goal collapse against the f****** Sabres, but don't worry because we followed it up with a loss to an even worse team (without Subban and Price) in MTL. If we limp into the playoffs like a bunch of wounded ducks, are we even going to score a goal against Washington? Actually that's impossible, because we're so bad that we can't even catch the Flyers for the 2nd wild card spot now. If we somehow catch Boston, which would require beating them in Boston on the second game of a back to back next week (LOL) - Do you guys even want to, or care about watching us lose in 5 to Tampa Bay? Datsyuk is gone next year, Zetterberg and Kronwall are not who they were - and Stamkos isn't coming here. I would much rather lose the next 5 games and pray for a good bounce on lottery night, than crawl into the playoffs and pray for a miracle against a team much better than we are.

If Mrazek has shown us anything the past 2 seasons, it's that he is streaky as hell. The thing about streaky is that neither outstanding or terrible play seems to last... We know which of the two he has been lately. Here's to starting a new one tonight.

It's probably true that we need to improve our Defence more than our Offence, but it's also true that our team isn't very good. And to be a good team, you need to have chemistry as a 5 Man Unit... How can this be attained considering the turnover our Roster has seen in the past 3 seasons? Just this year we have introduced Larkin, Anthanasiou, Richards, Mantha, and Pulkinnen to our group of forwards. Green and Marchenko to our group of Defenceman, and don't forget about our Head Coach. Do we need a better puck moving defencemen? Probably, but we do have 3 pretty good ones in Kronwall, Green and Smith. Do we need a physical top 6 winger? Probably, but Abdelkader is pretty good at what he does. What we need is familiarity and cohesiveness... need any proof? Look at our PP from last year (2nd overall) to this year (Bottom 10 most of this year - until lately). We didn't lose a single member and actually added more individual talent in Richards and Green (the elusive RH powerplay QB we so desperately needed) and the results couldn't have been worse.

Here's the problem: Boston has 6 games left, all staggered by 1 or 2 days of rest. We have 6 games left, but 3 of those games will be the 2nd game of a back-to-back played on the road. Including our most important game of the season on April 7th in Boston.

PUCK DROP: 7:38 PM EST VS THE 23RD RANKED TEAM IN THE NHL WHO SOMEHOW ONLY HAVE 6 FEWER WINS THAN WE DO. START TIME: (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH PUCK DROP) -8:46 PM BECAUSE GOD KNOWS WE'LL BE DOWN 3-0 AFTER THE 1ST. DET LINE COMBOS -DATSYUK, ZETTERBERG AND (10) OTHER FORWARDS WHO CAN SKATE LIKE HELL, CREATE VERY FEW SCORING CHANCES, SUSTAIN LITTLE TO NO OFFENSIVE ZONE TIME, AND SPEND MOST SHIFTS RETRIEVING PUCKS OUT OF THEIR OWN ZONE. -KRONWALL, DEKEYSER AND (4) OTHER DEFENCEMEN WHO CANT RETRIEVE, OR MOVE THE PUCK OUT OF THEIR OWN ZONE. ALTHOUGH (1) DISPLAYS A NIFTY T-DRAG FROM TIME TO TIME (BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT 6,000,000 PER WILL GET YA!). -1 GOALIE WHO CAN ACTUALLY HANDLE THE PUCK BETTER THAN MOST OF OUR DEFENCEMEN, BUT ISN'T STARTING TONIGHT BECAUSE HE'S BEEN HANDLING TOO MANY PUCKS INTO HIS OWN NET LATELY. DET INJURIES: (THE MOST DEPRESSING LIST OF ALL) -DREW MILLER THAT IS CORRECT. WE LITERALLY HAVE (1) 4TH LINE LEFT WINGER INJURED - AND WE STILL CANT SCORE. TEAM SCOPE: DET - THERE IS LITERALLY NO WAY TO PREDICT HOW THIS TEAM WILL PLAY TONIGHT. BUF - THERE IS LITERALLY NO WAY TO PREDICT HOW THIS TEAM WILL PLAY TONIGHT. PREDICTION: AUSTON MATTHEWS WILL BE SELECTED 1ST OVERALL IN THE 2016 NHL ENTRY DRAFT.

LOL - I'd say after watching that game our chances went down by 4.3%.

All in all, We played well most of the game... Keep in mind this is by far the best team in the league, in their building. Mrazek let in 2 terrible early goals, and we still battled for most of the 1st/2nd. Had that Pulkinnen chance tied the game at 2, could have been a different outcome... Observation #1 - Mike Green is highly overpaid. Observation #2 - Andreas Anthanasiou was our best forward... again. Observation #3 - Our team has capable forwards who never get the chance to sustain a full shift in the offensive zone - this gets fixed by adding an elite Defenceman... Not an easy fix, but our team WILL NOT win multiple rounds in the playoffs until we have one.

I think the gap between Crosby and Toews not only as draft picks (#1 vs #3), but also as Rookies was alot smaller than the gap between Mcdavid and Larkin is today. Connor McDavid is an unbelievable talent, dominating most shifts he is in on the ice, playing for a horrific team - Dylan Larkin is currently being outplayed by (his 3rd Line, Left Wing, Recent GR call up) Anthansiou. Moreover, just because McDavid is going to score 20-40 points more per season than Larkin likely will, it does not collaterally mean that Larkin is an elite two-way forward which will get his team more wins. It simply means that Connor Mcdavid is an elite offensive player, which also helps a team win games. The success of the Chicago Blackhawks has more to do with organizational success/stability than it does with Jonathan Toews. Things like: Having the best coach in the league, the best Defence pairing in the league, the best offensive player in the league and the best secondary scoring in the league for almost a decade - certainly helps win championships. Not that this was your main argument, but I would be hard-pressed to take Toews over Patrick Kane right now... I know what your saying, but I also know you wouldn't take Larkin over Mcdavid if you had the chance. No-one would.

Jesus Christ... I guess the focus won't be on puck possession. I didn't even know we had this many career grinders? Larionov was too old for hockey 15 years ago??? He's gotta be 60.

Who knows though - these guys are still so young. Larkin, Mantha, Anthanasiou, are all 21 or under... Throw in our teenagers like Svechnikov, Saarijarvi or our 1st round pick this year and ask yourself can any of these guys be superstars in 4/5 years (when they will all be 25 or younger)? Such a long time from now, it certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility.

Pulkkinen is certainly quick enough but he may not be strong enough - which is a big problem to have because if you aren't able to create your own shot as a scorer, your better suited for the bottom 6. If your his size, bottom 6 probably isn't a great fit. Hence the number games he has been scratched.

We rank 9th in Goals Against per Game, 14th in PK%, and 14th in Shots Against Per Game. We rank 22nd in Goals per Game, 21st in PP%, and 20th in Shots Per Game (something I would have never believed), If this team is anything, it's probably defensive minded.

I think our lack of scoring has less to do with individual talent, and more to do with the system we need to use to win games. It's no secret, this team (like most) are at their best when they don't give any chances to the other team. To play this way, you generally aren't in a position to accumulate a lot of scoring chances - because unless the other team is Edmonton, most opportunities are coming from the perimeter or the PP. To further that point: What's the biggest offensive difference between this season and last? We were still a below average 5 on 5 team last year, but our PP was cashing in at 23.5% - good enough for 2nd in the NHL. This season, we are 21st in the NHL at 17.5%. A staggering statistic considering we returned all 6 PP forwards from last year, and then added Mike Green and Brad Richards. All in all, our roster needs a top pairing Defenceman before we need another forward. This makes a huge difference on 5 on 5 play and allows the forwards to play a more offensive game... Until then, we will continue to sit a guy like Teemu Pulkkinen because he can't play in a defensive minded system.

I don't think Defense will be our issue this year... You can't make season altering decisions based on a 6 game conclusion. But - if you were to do that, you may consider the following: #1 - Pavel Datsyuk (a top 3 defensive center in the world) has yet to play. #2 - Dan Dekeyser (our best defensive defenceman imo) has played 1/5 games. Which creates imbalanced pairings. #3 - 2/5 games played so far, were the second game of a back to back. In those 2 games, we have allowed 7 goals.

lol why is this always a personal battle against Franzen? . He said he was "one hit away from being done". He never took that hit, but looks like he still might be. This isn't complicated. Johan Franzen was a great player for a decent stretch of Red Wing hockey, and I'll never forget what he was able to accomplish during the 2008,2009, and 2010 playoffs - actually those 3 postseasons are primarily what I'll remember him for - even if he come's back again. But what doctor can honestly look at his age, his concussion history, his most latest setback (for no obvious reason), and the long term effects of multiple brain trauma injuries, and say... "Johan, you're good to go bud!!". It isn't "convenient" to say his time is done, or because you don't like that he's lazy, or that we have too many forwards so forget about him. It's common sense - that when an NHL player come's out and tells everyone that if he takes one more check to the head, his career is likely over - no one benefits from him being on the ice. Especially not the guy playing.

I still don't understand why he wanted to come back... Considering what's happened (recently) to so many athletes in regards to traumatic brain injury, and the long term effects we've been exposed to - why would someone (who's admitted his career ending vulnerability to even one more hit) decide that at age 35, playing in the NHL still a good idea? He's never going to win his first Stanley cup again, never lead the league in scoring again, and never sign another contract - given his accomplishments, and the money he's guaranteed - I'd like to know which doctor(s) supported this decision.

You are bang on with your assessment of Dan Cleary... Intangibles are so often overlooked, and he doesn't hurt this team by signing a 1 year contract. No need for the up-roar. However, Dylan Larkin.... the thing with Dylan Larkin.... is that he's probably already better than Jurco and/or Pulkinnen. Yes, there looks to be a seamless transition next year for Larkin to step in for Richards as our 2nd line Center, but he's already starting this year a our 1st line Center... I think our coaching staff senses something special here and why shouldn't they explore it? Nothing wrong with having a deep team...

When you consider that over 70% of NHL Defencemen shoot left handed, It certainly helps to have a Right Handed shot when it comes to bubble players in the pre-season and/or free agents in the off-season. No, you aren't cutting Nick Kronwall to make room for Nick Jensen, but the theory of having an equal number of each stems from basic (positional) fundamentals and not just because it's simply good to have a balance of both. Ideally, you would like to have 3 LH and 3 RH Defencemen at all times - because it's much harder to play the opposite side as a Dman than it is as a Forward...Alot of Forwards actually prefer to play their off-wing because its beneficial in most scoring area's around the slot. As a left handed Defenceman playing the right side, it is much more difficult to retrieve the puck off the boards and move it quickly when sustaining offensive zone time... At NHL level, retrieving pucks on your backhand at the blueline to keep the zone (especially at even strength) typically gives the opposing team too much time to make a play. It's also harder to "play catch" and set up your offence at the top of the zone if both Dmen are Left Handed, and opposing teams will key in on this. Not to get too crazy, because we are talking about the best in the world here... but it's also easier to pivot, and force opposing forwards to the outside when you are playing the correct side. On the PP, it's also beneficial to have both shots out there (think Lidstrom, Rafalski) - because once possession is established after the faceoff is won, the Defencemen can "switch" and create two shooting lanes as opposed to just one. Doing that, also creates room down low because the shorthanded team has to send 2 guys high... It's not really overblown, and although you aren't arbitrarily a better player based on the fact you shoot right handed, you can certainly put your team in a position to be better. This is why they command more money every off-season, and more demand every trade deadline then left handed shooting players.

I just cant believe Mike Illitch approved a trade (involving one of his best players) to a team in Toronto.

First of all, if Johan Franzen is healthy - Drew Miller is the odd man out... every time. Second, I really don't know why its so difficult to imagine Nyquist on the third line. Sorry to piss everyone off, but Gustav Nyquist only recorded 30 even strength points this year - and was invisible during the playoffs (where powerplays are typically less frequent). I'm not saying he's garbage, I'm not saying he's useless at even strength, I'm only saying that Johan Franzen certainly isn't playing on the 4th line, and probably needs to play with Hank or Pav to maximize his effectiveness, but also to create space for either one more so than Nyquist will. By the way, you also don't coach or play the game simply to avoid injury - because that's when you get hurt. Playing Franzen in a limited role does absolutely nothing for the team, and both parties would be better off without him in the lineup if this were the case.

I think a lot of people are underestimating what Brad Richards will do for Teemu Pulkinnen... Once Datsyuk's back, the lines could potentially look like: ZETTERBERG - DATSYUK - ABDELKADER TATAR - SHEAHAN - FRANZEN NYQUIST - RICHARDS - PULKINNEN JURCO - HELM - GLENDENNING I understand Franzen's health is a massive question mark and he is by far the weakest link in our top 6, but can you imagine that 3rd line? Not a lot of size, but speed on the outside and a fantastic playmaker up the middle... 25-30 goals this season for Pulks may not be as crazy as it sounds...

Hmmm possibly a new record... Looks like 120 seconds and only 1 post to turn this one into a Franzen thread. #LTIRetire

Not a problem - published on February 9th of this year. http://thehockeywriters.com/managing-the-johan-franzen-salary-cap-situation/ Like i said, the only stastical positive Johan Franzen provides us with is a powerplay that operates at 2.7% better. Pretty sure Mike Green has that covered.

Wrong. Best case for both Franzen's long term health and the future of the Detroit Red Wings is the same thing. LTIR. Marc Savard, Chris Pronger and Nathan Horton all got paid the money the earned, without counting against their teams Salary Cap. It isn't simply convenience or the use of a scapegoat to suggest this. I am not pretending to know him personally and care for him more than I actually do - I admit I believe the Red Wings are better without him, and statistically this has been proven through advanced metrics. But at the same time, we have also started to further understand the long term effects of brain trauma to professional athletes, and no one wants to see Johan in a situation like some of the former NHL player who have suffered - regardless of how you feel about him as a hockey player.

"were in the eye of a s***icane here! Johan's a low s*** system" - Jim Lahey