Jacksoni

Kucherov out? Good, I detest that individual. Seems to score on us at will. Take Hedman out and shrink their goalie with 5 inches and we might even stand a chance.

May the posts be with us. And please nail Johnson and Kucherov early on to take out some wind, me not likey their sniping ability.

Already wrote in another thread about tonight's game, but to recap my thoughts, they Have to play this way to be a Bubble team at this point. Anything below this standard is an automatic outside view looking at the playoffs. Can they sustain? Probably not, due to emotional weariness over time and injuries to key personnel. But at least they gave us hope, just as the young Leia said at the end of Rogue One movie I saw yesterday. I'll take that hope.

At least the boys aren't going down without a fight. I like that. Zetterberg probably rounded up the team and amassed one last big push. Hopefully he was painfully candid, letting most players know that they likely won't see the NHL too much if they go down like this. Let's see how long it holds, but last nights game against Anaheim was as hard as I have seen them play all season long.

We have been blessed with proven, elite coaches 'lately' in Bowman and to some extent Babcock. Too big shoes to fill for any coach let alone a newcomer at the NHL level. It just is not possible. I am still not sure if he is good or bad. Tricky thing and statistics can be made to point the wrong way, coming from someone with 1.5 semesters of the subject at college. Need more data. Point is that we were expected to drop sharply because of an emptying roster and lesser quality coaching. Which one that bears the biggest blame I can't say, but I can say that the trend is real and will be ongoing unless something drastic happens, like drafting a Lidström carbon copy in the 3rd round and a Datsyuk in the 7th. So in my opinion we need good drafting, lucky drafting, early drafting and most likely a coaching change once that bears fruit. We do have good scouts and with a little bit of luck we won't be on the downside for too long.

Agreed, not bad at all, rather the contrary. We have had our time in the sun. Given the rules, night is approaching for some time.

Bah. I don't like writing the words. They imply pain for the future. However, all in all, you are correct in my opinion. We are where we are because of what this league decided long ago in regards to parity which probably affected us most of all teams. If you can't overpay for talent, you are effectively stuck, in regards to the debate going on. Next step is what Pitt, Edm, Tor have done for many years. Pain and misery..

That's why I was brought up to division 1. ^^

While we are at it, I guess I could play on the second or third defense pairing, being a defenseman for some time (div 1 now, not 2). Wouldn't mind lifting that Cup! ;-)

Lol made me laugh! Great clip, thanks alot. Sheahan has been said to have the hardest wrister on the team for almost two years now but hardly has anything to show for it. He is a dissapointment to me, he has the tools but nothing is happening. Almost seems stale out there. He plays the game tough and commits, but in the end feels like a 9-5 dude showing up just to punch his card. A good 4th liner right now imo, but nothing else.

Lots of discussions in here going left and right. In my opinion after watching the game we plainly got dominated by Columbus at home. Yes, Mantha did hit the post twice. And yes we did have chances. But we did get dominated. Rewatch the game if in doubt. They were superior and we were inferior. It is just the way it was. I believe we are closing in to what marks the end of a line of thinking in this club. It'll hurt a little, but life is a cycle of ups and downs. Deal with it. I'm preparing for it.

It might be so simple that Blashill played such weird lineups and tactics that his incompetence befuddled the Winnipeg Jets coaching staff. Or he's a genius and misunderstood. He sure confuses me so I can't answer that.

I blame this win on Zetterberg. He's slow as a zombie but his skills still make him a player of rank. That backhand is goal was as beautiful as the one he netted the game before. Nice to see him finishing games like this, should help boost team morale and make the younglings fall in line to adopt his mindset.

Yep doesn't look good. We really needed a top defender this offseason and maybe that would not have been enough to bolster things up for 4-5 more wins. I'll go out and skate now and polish my own d-skills. Helps ward off the bad-season mood.

Yes.

As to your first point, after reading you for a couple years you're as redwhiteblooded as I am. I'm just clinging on to another playoff run, and that might be foolish even, just can't help it. Just two different schools of thought, and I can't see any "winner", it's a matter of perspectives. I can even buy into your idea. Just not ready yet. Give me a handful more sour games. Edit: That Zetterberg backhand goal was a true beauty.

I hear you. I just haven't given up on the season yet. Silly of me perhaps, but last I checked I am a Fan. In 2 hours I'll be playing hockey with Larkin's jersey. How about this - once it's rather obvious we won't make no playoffs, put Larkin on 2C/1C all season "long".

I certainly see your point but I am quite skeptical about that. As I see it, Larkin being center does not help the team right now. I put myself on the camp that wants Larkin at wing, although I would like to have him at center once he's ready. I do agree he needs to play center to get better at it, but 1c or 2c is not the solution, simply too costly. Perhaps 3c or even down with the Griffins, if that is at all possible.

I'm only slated to watch 1 game live this season and that was not it. I do agree some things are easier to miss on TV, though some things are also easier to catch as well. Glad you saw something you liked. As for me I though he looked pretty ok, I need to see a few more games before I write something in stone regarding the enigma Jurco.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/11/25/detroit-red-wings-jimmy-howard-groin-injury/94448202/ Is this a repeat from years past? Where Jimmy played like stud early in the season, got injured and looked shaky and nervous when back.

Jurco looked Ok to me, not great but did belong. Some things about him stood out from last year which were that he looked considerably thinner and that he played more of a north-south game. His timing looked better as well, he entered the slot at the right times and probably should have a goal because of it. Looking forward to his next game.

Jacksoni approves of this game! Well done.

Well I don't believe it would prevent any opposition from hitting. I just hope it lessens the chances by a small amount of our players getting hurt and used as rag dolls. They will still get bullied. I doubt they will get overly bullied though when some hardliners are around.

I won't be talking to much as I have a skate session coming up in 15 minutes. Just wanted to chime in that I am Ok with us getting one point. Could have been two points but also it was much more likely that it would be Zero points. All in all, an Ok result. Are there still some people who don't think we need Ott to protect the kids, as I wrote in the New Jersey game thread? How many more injuries do you need to get the point? I know it's not an enforcer game any more, but it is a contact sport where young men are bullied.

So which version of the Jurco return is this, version 3, 4? As far as I'm concerned this should be his last try on the big team. With that said, ease him into it, let him get his pulse up and slowly increase his minutes and importance. One full, hard try to get this enigma working. If it doesn't work, I say waive him.