eva unit zero

Here you go. Definition #1. I'll refer again to two examples. 1. Hudler scored 12 points in 17 games between Christmas and February 7th 2. Hudler scored 14 points in 11 games while playing with Datsyuk between Feb 7th and Feb 28th, leading the team in scoring over that period. Explain to me why he SHOULDN'T be on one of the top two lines when, in the only chance he's been given in that role, he lead the team in scoring and scored at a 100-point pace? That's right, you can't. Because a scoring line is where Hudler belongs. Not some kind of half-scoring hybrid where he is the only offensively talented player and is still expected to score. And not on a checking line.

31 points in 43 games after Christmas. Only 11 of that was with Datsyuk. It would have been higher, but the time after the HDC line was broken up to try and get Lazybones Franzen going sent Hudler to the fourth line with a 5-6 minute reduction in ice time, despite his excellent play. Way to reward hard work and success, Babs. Hudler isn't scoring at all? Bench him. Hudler is scoring more than anyone on the team? Bench him. Huds scored 3-9-12 in 17 games between Christmas and Datsyuk's return on Feb 7th (and the assembly of the Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary line). That's about the pace people were expecting from him. He was playing mostly third line, without any consistent linemates during the first part of that stretch. The second part saw mostly Filppula, but he only scored 4 points in the last 7 games compared to 8 in the first 10 games. People are still mad at him for a slow start. Guess what people? Slow starts happen. If Hudler were to to have said he was injured, would that have made any difference? Franzen's injury at the end of the Phoenix series seems to have given him a pass for poor performance for the entire second half of the regular season.

My expectation is that the cap will increase by $3m, or about 5%, just as it has the past few seasons. If that occurs, I am hoping the Wings can get Nick under contract around $3m and sign both Joni Pitkanen and Christian Ehrhoff. A more detailed post Hudler showed up for the full season in 2008-09. He scored almost 60 points. The problem is he was splitting time between the third and fourth lines. What would have happened if he had been on one of the top two lines? 75? 90?

Largely because Babcock won't realistically consider Osgood a challenger for the starting job unless he's outplaying Howard the way Datsyuk outplays Patrice Tardif. Osgood was better to start the season and was still benched. He was playing great behind terrible defense last season and got the flu, and only played a few games afterwards. Joey MacDonald would get a better shot at the job, just for not being Osgood. Howard is signed for next season. As for Osgood losing, people would get upset that he gave up a deflected goal or a 3-on-1 goal and say "Well, it's Osgood. Another softie." because he had a couple of bad moments early in his career and Wings fans don't forget. Like Claude Lemieux. How many Wings fans will forever hate Claude Lemieux for that hit? He eventually owned up and fought McCarty. Yet those same fans are the "Moore didn't fight like a man, he deserved it" when talking about Bertuzzi, to justify why it's okay to have him on the team. Yet how often did Osgood really ever lose? Fourteen seasons with the Wings. 317 wins. 175 losses in regulation or overtime. 10 losses in shootout. 46 ties. If you count the shootouts as losses, that's a .620 winning percentage. If you count them as ties, it's a .630 winning percentage. Of goalies with 200 games played or more, Osgood is 6th all-time in winning percentage (.539) as calculated by wins as a percentage of games played. Only Martin Brodeur is better in that department (.552), although Ryan Miller (.554) is just below the games played threshold and should pass it next season. Of note? Only 28 goalies have played 200+ NHL games and been credited with a win in more than half of them. Really makes you think about a 400 game winner, doesn't it. All of that rambling aside, Howard has been very good in the playoffs aside from a few bad rebounds or mental errors. I think his form on the Boyle goals in games 3 and 4 were issues, and I hope that doesn't become a problem in game 7. But the defense seems to have that covered, so I'm not worried.

11 games does not a season make... Happy is good offensively, and when he tries hard he can be good defensively. But he has three things working against him: 1. Too slow and too small to consistently play good defense. Takes too much energy, especially if he had to face top line players (as the Wings typically match top lines). 2. We already have too many playmakers on the top lines. He's more of a passer than a shooter and he's even regressed in that area from his last season with us. 3. Most importantly, he has an ultra-short leash from Babs. Too often he gives less than full effort and/or makes dumb mistakes at crucial times. Maybe it isn't entirely fair, but it's there. He could overcome one, maybe even two. Just not all three. Barring any major change in roster, coach, or Hudler's play he won't be more than a depth forward on this team. Hudler/Zetterberg and Hudler/Datsyuk work just fine. Why? Hudler can be both a passer and a shooter. He has a good shot, but as you said he is more a passer and this is because he is an excellent passer. However, Dats and Z can fill either role, so unlike the Huds/Flip combo where you remove Hudler's best skill because he is a much better shooter than Flip, Dats or Z can be the primary shooter of the two. This does not "overload" the top two lines with playmakers because ultimately you want your top two lines to have passing skill, right? The line I placed Hudler on was Hudler/Zetterberg/Cleary, a line we KNOW works very well. Filppula/Datsyuk/Holmstrom we also know works well. Putting Tatar in is untested, but a speedy scoring winger with two skilled playmakers can't be a bad thing, right? Franzen/Abby/Bert works. We know that. Mursak/Helm/Eaves works. We know that. Four lines we already know work well. I really can't see what you are complaining about, unless you simply don't want Hudler whether he helps the team or not. Which is a worthless argument.

Hudler 's swing this season from "burn him, and then burn the ashes, and then put the ashes in an airtight container" to "OMG WTF HE RULZ!!!" in January/February and then back again when his line wasn't producing earlier this series among the general majority of this board was far greater than anything Sammy ever saw as haters or any kind of "swing" opinion. Osgood after the end of the first round of the 2009 playoffs is probably the largest swing ever. "Worst goalie ever to play for the Wings" to "Best goalie in the world!!!"

Hudler is a natural center, was drafted as a center, and played center for Grand Rapids. He's only been a winger since moving to Detroit, because Babcock likes size in the middle. NQA.

It would be a good line, but putting that line together creates a problem in that the Wings then can't have one dedicated checking line unless that line is Abdelkader/Draper/Miller. Which leaves a selection of Z, Dats, Filppula, Cleary. Bert, Homer, Franzen, and Modano to fill the last six spots. Who do you scratch of those 8? I would go with Holmstrom and Modano. So yes, it would work as a line. No, Babcock shouldn't put it together.

He's missed like 7 so far this postseason.

Holmstrom finds that spot because he is the league's best net-front presence, and because he is basically useless outside of that role. A Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Homer line or a Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Bertuzzi line wouldn't be much different in overall style, purpose, and impact. Bertuzzi is a bit quicker and better defensively, Homer better at redirecting pucks. But you can play a third line of Cleary/Abdelkader/Bertuzzi and have success. That wouldn't work with Holmstrom. He's the ultimate unitasker. If you need a guy to have a guy redirect pucks, he's your man. Nobody better. But he's a mediocre player. Helm is one of the team's best players. But he's much better defensively than he is offensively. And when considering your lineup, you don't just list your top 12 forwards, and make them 1-3, 4-6, 7-9-10-12. It doesn't work that way. The Wings typically run three scoring lines and a shut-down line. Helm is the core of that shut-down line. Hudler not being a big, banging forward or having rocket fuel in his skates does not mean he is not capable of top-end scoring. Hudler's numbers from Feb 7th to Feb 28th this season are virtually identical to Datsyuk's playoff stats. Hudler went 4-10-14 in 11 to Dats' 3-11-14 in 10. That scoring pace would have put Hudler at 30 goals and 105 points. And an Art Ross trophy. But no, that's not top-end scoring ability.

Ultimately it comes down to two things. 1) Good defensemen are harder to come by than good forwards. 2) It's entirely possible that Jakub Kindl will be the only returning member of the current top-seven defensemen, come the 2012-13 season. Hudler is not a bad player. I know that's a tough pill to swallow for some of you. But he's a skilled player who has top-end scoring ability. When he's played with Dats and Z he hasn't just "looked good" and shown some of his offensive ability, like many players do. He worked amazingly with them, and looked great; like a legit first line winger. Put him with one of them full time. Let's see what happens. You know as well as I do that, if he's playing with Dats or Z full-time, the worst case scenario is Hudler only scores around 60 points. He's good offensively, he clicks with other good offensive players, and he meshes very well with Dats and Z.

The key point there is the fact that Detroit has a city ordinance related specifically to the throwing of objects in the spectator area or onto the playing surface. If it were done away with, or another ordinance put in stating that it didn't apply to octopuses thrown at Wings games, then there would be no fines.

Assuming the cap increases by $3m (just over 5%) for each of the next two seasons, this is what I would want: FORWARDS Jiri Hudler ($2.875m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Holmstrom ($1.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Justin Abdelkader ($0.787m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.937m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Darren Helm ($0.912m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.875m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) DEFENSEMEN Nicklas Lidstrom ($3.250m) / Brian Rafalski ($6.000m) Niklas Kronwall ($3.000m) / Brad Stuart ($3.750m) Christian Ehrhoff ($4.750m) / Joni Pitkanen ($5.000m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($0.525m) CAP PAYROLL: $62,267,044; BONUSES: $0 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $107,956 Even though the team has only minor turnover, the improvement is significant. In the summer of 2012, the team has 6 players whose current contracts make them UFAs, and 2 who would be RFAs. Add Lidstrom and Osgood to that list in my example. Likely Rafalski, Holmstrom, and Lidstrom would be retiring at that point. For the sake of this exercise, Osgood's choice on retiring doesn't matter as another goaltender would get his salary or similar. For players on my prospective 2011-12 roster who would be signed through at least 2012-13, the Wings would be at 8 forwards, 3 defensemen, and one goalie. Total cost of just under $37.5m. Jiri Hudler, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, and Niklas Kronwall would increase that to 11-4, and if he chooses to keep playing Todd Bertuzzi makes it 12-4. The total cost of the first four should be about $11-12m, and Bertuzzi adds another $1.5m to the bunch. Promote Brendan Smith; that's $875k to the defense, and 12-5. Bring up Tomas Tatar to take Homer's spot on Dats' right side, at least hopefully. That's another $875k. Furthermore, it's a Wings team with just under $13m in cap space that is in need of two defensemen, that already has three top-pairing caliber defensemen. The Wings do lose Lidstrom this (theoretical) offseason, but there are two top-end defensemen available who would be excellent fits on the Wings; it's even possible, though unlikely, that both could be acquired for that $13m. Those defensemen are Alex Edler and Tobias Enstrom. Edler, of course, is preferred. He's younger and fits the Wings' system better, plus he plays with Ehrhoff in Vancouver. If one or both can't be had, Stuart would naturally be an option (unless he was rapidly signed away by another team) and for a third-pairing defenseman, you would be hard pressed to find anyone better than Brad Stuart. FORWARDS Jiri Hudler ($3.250m) / Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Daniel Cleary ($2.800m) Valtteri Filppula ($3.000m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Tomas Tatar ($0.875m) Johan Franzen ($3.954m) / Justin Abdelkader ($1.125m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($1.500m) Jan Mursak ($0.550m) / Darren Helm ($2.000m) / Patrick Eaves ($0.875m) Cory Emmerton ($0.533m) DEFENSEMEN Niklas Kronwall ($3.250m) / Tobias Enstrom ($5.750m) - Will we see 80 point seasons from Kronwall with this pairing? Alex Edler ($6.250m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($4.750m) Jakub Kindl ($0.883m) / Joni Pitkanen ($5.000m) Brendan Smith ($0.875m) GOALTENDERS Jimmy Howard ($2.250m) / Chris Osgood ($0.525m) CAP PAYROLL: $64,756,044; BONUSES: $210,000 CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $743,956 I left a good deal of space open to account for Tatar's bonus, as well as any trades. I don't think this team would need to make anything more than a minor adjustment at the deadline however.

Does Nashville have a city ordinance against throwing objects at sporting events? The Wings fans who have been fined have received that fine under a Detroit city ordinance. The NHL cannot fine a civilian.

Dec 27th to Apr 10th: 9g-22a-31pt in 43gp Feb 7th to Feb 28th: 4g-10a-14pt in 11 gp That is disappointing performance? Granted, he started the season off with 6 points in 30 games...but you said all season long. He's been one of the team's top players for months. Franzen was failing to finish chances Hudler was creating, and Filppula was constantly mishandling the puck. That line was broken up, with Abby replacing Franzen. So now Hudler is the playmaker and the finisher, as Filppula's success in round one simply didn't translate over to round two. I wonder, in fact. The arguments made for Hudler's benching are his mistake on the Boyle goal, and his lack of points in the series. What about Helm? What about Filppula? Helm made the identical mistake. Filppula has no points. Yet they haven't been pulled from the lineup. With Z, Dats, Miller, Eaves, Draper, Helm, Cleary, and Abby in the lineup...what exactly is Flip really providing if he's not scoring points? Faceoffs, you say? He's the fifth best faceoff man on the team. Or why not scratch Abdelkader? He's made key errors, scored no points, taken tons of penalties (14 PIM in 5 games, all minors), and although his physical presence is nice it doesn't really provide a useful advantage against the Sharks. His defensive ability is outmatched by Z, Dats, Helm, Flip, Eaves, Draper, Miller, and Cleary. We know those two won't be scratched, because Flip is part of the 'core' and Abby is a big hitter. But what makes Miller so untouchable? He's not a key part of the PK, he's not particularly skilled offensively, he's a decent grinder but he's not really that physical. The argument for Miller over Hudler is what... Hudler still hasn't scored in the series? Probably.

Hudler's mistake was the 3-2 goal in Game 4, scored by Boyle. It was, however, nearly identical to the tying goal in game 3 which was failed coverage by Helm. If I recall, I was the only person on the board to call Helm out for that failure, yet when Huds missed it in an IDENTICAL SITUATION, the boards exploded with vitriol and haven't stopped. Simple proves that it's not about the mistake. It's about having an excuse to be mad at him. How many members here were giving Huds credit when he was playing great down the stretch? Not many. Just about everyone chimed in on his slow start. Franzen was hot to start the year, and everyone loved that. Only the rare complaint came in about him at the end of the year, when he was scoring less than a 45 year-old female librarian with a mustache. Everyone complains that Hudler doesn't work hard and isn't physical. He works a lot harder than Franzen, and plays a fairly physical style for a guy his size. Give Jiri a chance on a scoring line, instead of simply giving Franzen the "entitlement" of it, and see what happens. It's like Fedorov in 1994. He was the best player in the league, but that Hart trophy never happens if Yzerman stays healthy.

Do not watch it live. Do not DVR it. Do not ask another to DVR it. The answer is simple. After the outcome of the game has been decided, watched the complete game at Hulu.com. Hulu is an official partner of the NHL and provides great streams. I use it for anime all the time. No, I have no financial interest of any kind in Hulu, and yes, it's a legit site.

I want Holland to get Hanzal on the Wings more than just about any other player. He's huge, physical, great defensively, has offensive skill, good on faceoffs. He's 24. Get him in Detroit, put him on the 2nd PP in Homer's role. Put him on the PK because he's one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Cap hit $1.8m right now; RFA after next season. The Coyotes' big weakness is scoring forwards; evidenced by Doan's 20 goals and 60 points leading the team. Hanzal might be had for a good prospect and a pick; perhaps a Pulkkinen and a 1st. Assuming Draper and Modano retire, Hanzal eats up most of their combined cap hit. Eaves and Miller are UFA, plus Mursak and Emmerton are out of waiver options. The team says goodbye to Miller. Mursak and Emmerton step up onto the NHL roster, if only as spares. The Wings add a top-four defenseman such as Joni Pitkanen or Christian Ehrhoff, and if reasonable retain Jonathan Ericsson. Otherwise Jakub Kindl takes his spot and Derek Meech, Doug Janik, or another capable veteran takes the #7 spot. Ruslan Salei is not brought back. Chris Osgood returns at a reduced rate, or retires and is replaced by a cheaper veteran goaltender. Granted; I don't think Phoenix is willing to trade their best forward. Which is why ultimately I'd like to see the Wings get the Pitkanen/Ehrhoff and sign ANOTHER top-four defenseman if possible. Both Pitkanen and Ehrhoff (replacing Salei and Ericsson) would be my ideal, but others such as Bieksa would work if they come cheaper.

Hudler was not himself for the first part of the regular season. He scored 1 goal and 6 points in the first 30 games. Then he scored 9 goals and 31 points in the next 43 games. Most were expecting him the need a re-adjustment period as far as the competition, style of play, and ice surface were considered. If we're looking at periods of play like that, why don't we look at the last 27 regular season games Johan Franzen played? 2 goals and 14 points. Before that this season, he had scored 26 goals and 41 points in 49 games. His numbers are a bit better than Hudler's, but does that long stretch of comparatively low scoring prove he's nothing like the Franzen of years past? That he has reverted to being a 40 point player, but can no longer be trusted as a defensive grinder? Or perhaps the sample size is too small? Given that it's basically the same sample size for both players, I think it's fair to say that if we use that conclusion, then neither player's result can be determined. Lids, Kronner, Raffi, and Stu will all be UFA after next year. Sign BOTH of Ehrhoff and Pitkanen to different lengths (Pitkanen maybe 5 years, Ehrhoff 3-4), and let Ericsson go. If that doesn't work under the cap, trade Stuart; keep Ericsson if you like - I'm perfectly happy putting Kindl in the 6 slot with that defense. Leino was given plenty of chances on scoring lines and on the PP. He was lazy and unwilling to put in the effort defensively to be successful in Detroit. The reason he has had success in Philadelphia is because he has basically been allowed to float and have very little defensive responsibility, but has played with Philadelphia's top offensive players because he has offensive skills. Philly is one of the best fits for Leino and he would be stupid to leave town unless it was for a guaranteed Cup win because he'd make far less money in the long run.

He's bigger and faster, but does NOT have better stick skills. Nor is he better at anything else. Hudler played the Boyle goal the exact same way Helm did the previous game. Babcock sat Hudler in Game 5 for that one Game 4 mistake, even though he was one of the few Wings creating offensive opportunities that game, and has been one of the most effective offensive players in terms of creating opportunities for himself and his linemates. Why did Helm not face the same treatment regarding his mistake defensively, which was identical to Hudler's in every way? Helm is supposed to be the next Draper, the best defender on the team after Z and Dats. Where's his "message" that he screwed up? Modano is the worst defensive forward on the team, with the possible exception of Holmstrom. His offensive skills place him outside the team's top nine; perhaps even without Franzen. He is the team's least physical forward. What possible justification is there for him to be in the lineup? You want him to play the point on the PP? I'd rather just play Rafalski the full 2 minutes. Ultimately, if Babcock's only lineup chance is to bring in Modano for Franzen, I wouldn't be shocked. He has never liked Hudler despite Hudler's skills, simply because Hudler is a small player and he's not fast. Guys like that aren't Babcock's "ideal" player type. Modano will probably play with Datsyuk and have no effect on the game, just like in the Phoenix game, but he might get an assist simply from being on Dats' line and happening to have given Dats the puck ages before the goal. I guess we'll see what happens.

Pass never gets to Boyle if Flip is where he is supposed to be. Hudler screwed up, but so did Flip. And Howard once again looked like a fool leaving half the net open. If I'm Todd McLellan, I keep going to the well of "Cross-ice pass to Howard's left side, shoot high" for a whole bunch of goals.

Eaves is a gritty scoring winger who developed a strong defensive game when forced into a bottom six role early in his career. He's never really had the opportunity on a scoring line but he definitely has the speed, shot, and offensive instincts to play the game as a scorer. Miller is somewhat capable of performing as a scorer, but he's much better as a gritty defensive forward. He doesn't have the speed or offensive skill of Eaves, but he isn't Stu Grimson in the offensive zone either. Helm's biggest problem on offense is puck control. His shot is decent, he can pass well, he knows where to be and what to do, he simply can't hold on to the puck like he needs to. Give him a year or two to work on it and he could be the breakthrough second liner everyone wants Flip to be, or he could top out at 45 points. Abdelkader has all of the skills to play second, third, or fourth line. He simply needs to get his head in gear and play consistent hockey. I would say only Z, Dats, Franzen, Flip, and Hudler have a better top end game than Abdelkader among Wings forwards. The problem is that Abdelkader is so ******* inconsistent you don't know whether you'll get an AHL performance or a top-six NHL performance. Franzen is just as inconsistent if not more, but Franzen is FAR more dangerous to the opposition when he's on. Seeing Draper and Modano, and possibly Miller, head out this summer and be replaced by Mursak and Emmerton should put some new life. Mursak and Emmerton both bring two-way skill and good skating ability, and can be used in most situations.

You're going to ice a lineup full of enforcers past and present, but you're going to leave out Mike Peluso, Gino Odjick, Rob Ray, Basil McRae, and Chris Nilan? Shame. As an enforcer, I'd take any of them over Dummy. And why exactly is McCarty included? Sentiment? Why not put Draper on there too so we can have the original Grind Line while we're at it?

Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary. Please. It's the only line Babs has assembled all season which has been outright dominant every single game it played together. If this is it, then that needs to at least be tried.

Changes that I would like to see made in the offseason: In: F Cory Emmerton (prospect) F Jan Mursak (prospect) D Joni Pitkanen (UFA) D Christian Ehrhoff (UFA) Out: F Kris Draper (retire) F Mike Modano (retire) F Drew Miller (UFA) D Ruslan Salei (UFA) D Brad Stuart (trade) That would provide a lineup which looks like this: Hudler/Datsyuk/Cleary Franzen/Zetterberg/Holmstrom Abdelkader/Filppula/Bertuzzi Eaves/Helm/Mursak Emmerton Lidstrom/Rafalski Kronwall/Ericsson Ehrhoff/Pitkanen Kindl Howard Osgood Miller can be retained if the cap allows, but his near $1m cost and redundant skills make him a likely cap casualty.