BigAl'sWings

I'd like to know what you guys think of Blashill. Blashill, in my opinion, has been a good change for Detroit. It is so nice to see Mike Babcock struggle in Toronto while Blashill is having decent success here in Detroit. I'd like to see him get a bit more pissed off, however. It seems like Blashill has done a good job at keeping the Wings in a close game all the way through. Here in the first 11 games, there has only been one or two instances where Detroit was clearly going to lose (Edmonton and Carolina game 2?). If you asked me, I'd give him a B thus far. Remember, its his first year in the NHL and he has had to deal with his fair share of injuries thus far.

The Wings will finish third in the Atlantic Division, just like last year. Remember, they are playing without their best forward right now and still have found some ways to win. They made some good adjustments tonight and I think they will be a much more consistent team when Pavel is back in business. Atlantic Division 3 spot verse Tampa in the first round (again) this time the Wings will come out on top!

I like the idea of getting a player of dustins tier. However, every team is only interested in a few players: Nyquist, Tatar, maybe a few prospects, you get the point. They dont want grinders like Jurco. Perhaps Pulkkinen and a draft pick or two could score Byfugelin.

Greetings Wing's fans, I was certainly impressed to see the Wings pull out today with a win. Nothing is better than seeing the Wings put up five goals and allowing us fans to sit back and watch rather then be on the edge of our chairs. I even begun to listen closely to Daren Eliotts terrible commentary, which is something we have not been able to laugh at due to their horrible losses this season. The Red Wing's showed a lot of fans tonight that we cannot judge them 10 games in. On the back end of a home and home series with Ottawa, they dug deep into their pockets and showed us that they could skate well. Usually, the Wing's skate slowly on the second day of a back to back game set, but tonight they really had nice bursts of speed. After the special teams began taking a lot of criticism and there was a lot of question on whether or not the Wings knew how to be physical, they came out and owned both creases. Anderson seemed to have guys in front of his net at all times, while Mrazek was able to see most of the shots that came his way. Zetterberg and Larkin play with passion. That is an understatement, Zetterberg and Larkin want to win bad enough to put themselves in uncomfortable situations. This is the most impressive hockey I have seen from Z in a while, and Larkin has been a pleasant surprise. He has as much energy as a young child who never seems to run out of gas. It was great to finally see the defensemen taking some risks. Brenden Smith was very active offensively, DeKeyser buried a nice goal, and Jonathan Erriccsson seemed to have some sort of offensive touch for once. It'd have been very rewarding for Smith to have scored on that breakaway, though... Now, there were some problems that stuck out like a sore thumb today. The Red Wings struggle at making simple plays when they have pressure on them. Simple passes are missed and the puck does not get out of the offensive zone. The D Men miss the forwards and an icing is called. The power play breakout cant find any rhythm after one or two attempts, and then it is two minutes of neutral zone play. And, the Wings let their foot off the gas today and played lazily in the last ten minutes which resulted in the closer score. Nevertheless, if youve read my article all the way through, I hoped you gained some insight. Go Wings!

Obviously as Red Wing's fans it pains us to see them obtain just three points in seven games. They have made mistakes we frequently see made at low levels of hockey which is very unfortunate, but when you have a young, injured team it happens. You can recap the last two games as silly mistakes in the defensive end allowed the Senators and Hurricanes to win. To elaborate, Petr Mrazek misplayed the puck against the Canes, leading to a goal. This is a mistake that we can only look to Petr and shake our heads because this type of play is very deflating to the morale of the team. Then, after Kindl tied the game, Jurco couldnt get a puck out of the defensive end which lead to the game winning goal. It would be nice if some players like Sheahan, Tatar, and Helm could step up and make plays on their own offensively also. Then, last night against the Senators was more of the same. Zero physicality in front of the Red Wings net lead to two Ottawa goals. There were, however signs of life in the offensive zone last night, which is a good sign. Larkin missed an empty net, Abdelkader got stoned by Hammond, and I thought Sheahan had a couple decent scoring chances. Now when we look at the depth of this team right now without Datsyuk and Richards, we can conclude that there simply is none. After Z's line gets off the ice, there is a lot of question about whether or not theyll come off without giving up a goal. Goalies have been stellar so far. There really is not an excuse that they cant match their goalies performance. By that I mean that if Howard allows just two goals, how hard can it be to dig a little deeper and score two goals and send it to OT. Obviously this is easier said than done, but this is where I'd like to talk about the lack of scoring production after the top line. Larkin, when he plays center, does a nice job. He sets up Helm and Tatar beautifully, when they then take too long to shoot or take a desperate shot that gets blocked. This has to change because these players are very capable of scoring. The third line, lead by Sheahan, cant even get into the offensive zone. They just let Teemu Pulkkinen take a bad slap shot that doesnt go anywhere near the target. I expect way more out of Sheahan's ilne than just about zero goals (two of Pullky's goals came on a different line). Jurco hasnt scored and I dont beleive Sheahan has either. I dont expect the fourth line to score, and I am very happy that they know their role. It is simply to dump the puck in and let the top three lines rest, and they do a terrific job of that. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel. Datsyuk will be back soon and therefore the Red Wings will have much more depth. I do think that these players will build chemistry as well in the next couple weeks, but they need to win to have some confidence. A few things Id like to see soon is a better PowerPlay, a better effort in the D Zone (mostly around the front of the net), more blocked shots, and more shots on goal. Hopefully they will beat the Sens tonight. Go Wings!