norrisnick

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Posts posted by norrisnick

  1. Posted · Report reply

    He's played well, but he could be doing better considering how he was out there a lot against that top line for Anaheim, which singlehandedly gashed us.

    I expect him to be even better in this upcoming series, though.

    Getzlaf and the Ducks did most of their damage on the PP.

    Getzlaf had 10 points and was -2. Nick had 7 points and was +2. I take that trade off all day long.

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Nick is slowly but surely putting up some ridiculous career playoff numbers.

    Fun facts:

    Nick is tied with Stevie for most career playoff assists as a Red Wing with 115.

    Nick is tied with Howe (and Murph, and Bossy, and Macinnis) for career playoff points at 160.

    With 1 assist Nick would tie Larry Robinson for 10th all time in career playoff assists.

    With 3 points Nick would tie Denis Potvin for 3rd all time in career playoff points from defensemen.

    Nick is sitting at 8th all time in career playoff games played. Possibility exists to move up to 3rd (11 more games) behind only Roy and Chelios.

    Nick is the all time leader in playoff game winning goals by a defenseman.

    Toss in his 4 cups in a 27-30 team league. Conn Smythe. Cup captaincy. Etc... and his playoff resume is just unbelievable.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    He still had those other guys backing him up though. I don't think he can do it by himself. I don't think there's anyone in the league where you can tell them that Pavel Datsyuk is their responsibility alone and have that work out real well.

    It wouldn't take much for Q to give Pahlsson and Keith some game tapes of this series and tell them to do EXACTLY what Marchant and Niedermayer did. They have the ability, mobility, and stamina to hound Pavel (or anyone for that matter) all game long. Keith is very very good.

  6. Posted · Report reply

    Datsyuk personally killed 30 seconds worth of a 5-on-3 last night. And he made the play on the Sammy goal. He had twice as many assists as goals this year so why shouldn't he be considered valuable if he's picking up assists?

    Everything will be fine. The Ducks keyed in on Datsyuk and Zetterberg, hard. And they have the personnel to do it. Chicago has no Marchant, no Niederwhiner, no Pronger, none of that. Look up and down their roster, does anyone scare you defensively? Keith, maybe. Whether we like the Ducks or not, they had the horses to stop our best players but not the depth to deal with ours. Chicago doesn't have the top-notch defensive talent you need to stop our top three consistently over seven games.

    Sami Pahlsson. He should have won the Conn Smythe in '07 for doing precisely what the Ducks did to Pavel this go round.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    There is this thing called reality that I am trying to get across here. He is playing his ass off, but not scoring. Why? Because they focused on him. Respond by adapting to that focus, not just wishing. I'm just glad you aren't in the military or running a large company.

    No matter what happens, the Ducks are going to focus on Pavel. He's got to fight through it. All the best players do.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    That's kind of silly. Babs made one adjustment and it didn't work for Dats, but helped Hossa. Why stop there? Why? Just wishing, hoping, expecting change when you do nothing to impact a change is magical thinking. Is that what coaches get paid to do - wish, hope, think things should turn around? Gee, I thought they were supposed to implement strategies, make adjustments to those strategies to counter the strategy of the other coach. Well, the other coach had a strategy - let's bottle up, swarm and suffocate their star player and by golly it is working. Our coach says, "Try harder, you have to make chances turn into goals..." It is ludicrous! It is like the head of GM saying, "We need to sell more cars." Duh! Perhaps through sheer willpower Pavel may come through, but it is all unnecessary and unfair to him as a player.

    Babcock can't score the goals for Pavel. There are no magic coaching tricks that are guaranteed to result in offense. Or magic line combinations. At some point it falls on the head of the player. The player still has to play. The player still has to execute. This isn't football where bad play calling falls on the coaches head.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Gee, I'd rather of seen this headline:

    Datsyuk Speaks to Babcock on Plane Ride about Lack of Effective Coaching (Wants line mate that can help open things up).

    Come on guys (of all genders), we have seen this from Lewis and now we are seeing it again. When Dats and/or Hank aren't producing they are being swarmed and the Wings fail to adjust with new line combos. I really do agree with the other posters here. Homer is great, but the ZDH line is not cut out for the Ducks. It needs a third skill guy to eliminate double teaming/swarming Datsyuk as an option. This is not chess level thinking. It is checkers. It just isn't going to change through sheer effort or time. If anything, not changing a thing will give the Ducks to perfect what they have already figured out how to do - shut down Datsyuk. If we don't see new lines tonight we do not see Datsyuk producing. Babcock is like a general or admiral with a great weapon, but it being used incorrectly. Hey, if you think I am nuts ask if Scotty would have let this go so long?

    Scotty would have put Pavel on D by now.

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I can't believe you're NOT equating the furious comeback with the brawl. Seriously. Wow.

    If the brawl was so integral, how and why did the Wings allow themselves to fall in that hole to begin with? It's not like the Avs were up 5-0 and then the fights happened and the Wings stormed back.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    Even though that 97 WCF started with Roy stifling them, they knew they could get him, and the team, because of that March 26th game. They would not be pushed around and they would find a way to crack Roy.

    To those answering that it meant nothing, show and explain yourselves!

    o/

    People are equating the brawl in the 1st period with the furious comeback in the 3rd. After the fights the Wings still allowed 4 more goals and fell behind 5-3 in the 3rd. It was the goals that won the game, and planted that seed of optimism that the Wings could beat Roy. Lemieux was insignificant. Patrick Roy was always the central figure of the rivalry.

  14. Posted · Report reply

    The Wings do not win the Cup without that game. Colorado was renting the penthouse in the collective heads of the Red Wings. The Wings were "too soft" and not good enough to compete with them. This game proved to the Wings themselves that they could play with Colorado, and they proved the world that they could win afterward.

    Exactly. And the bolded part is the key here. If the Wings don't win the game they get swept in the season series the year after they get ousted by the Avs in the playoffs. They had to WIN that game. They had to score on Roy. They did both.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Hate to break it to you pal, but THAT goal that hold in such reverence is a direct result of that ass whipping.

    So directly tied to the result that the Wings gave up 4 more goals to the Avs and had to muster up a furious 3rd period comeback to score 2 goals to tie and then a tictactoe play from Igor to Shanny to Mac in OT to win it. Without that comeback the fights wouldn't have been anything more than a minor blip in Wing fans' consciousness.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Scoring goals is great fun - that is when you can score them...Something we had trouble with last night

    Choosing to be a bystander, and not coming to the aid of a vulnerable teammate will not do well for any team cohesiveness.

    And I think it's more important that the Wings figure out the scoring goals part than the fighting part. Pretty simple concept.

    I highly doubt any Wing has even an ounce of doubt regarding Lidstrom's dedication to the team.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Are you implying that, somehow, your recollection of that event is better than theirs? You need to stop now. Seriously.

    If any of the Wings then or now felt that Mac beating Claude was more important than Mac beating Roy? Yes, I'm not only implying that I'm flat out stating it.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    Yet it was the fights that built the camaraderie within the team, & they won the game from the emotion built-up from the scraps that took place throughout the game.

    Saying that standing up for a teammate in the heat of a battle has little to no effect on a teams psyche (or that it is a waste of energy) isn't fully aware of the positive effects it can have.

    It isn't all positive. Lilly getting his brain scrambled and Kop getting his face cracked aren't really a rah rah building points.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    Ever heard of camaraderie?

    Kinda builds within a team when they all stick up for 1 another, and not looking out for yourself by backing down when a teammate is in need.

    There's a lot more hugging and hootin' and hollerin' when they score goals. They should give that a try in game 7.

    I think winning the Cup together might form a bit of a bond as well. That thing is won between the whistles. Not after.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    Stop misdirecting. Nobody is talking about misconceptions. I'm talking about McCarty dragging a turtle to the boards and pummeling him. I'm talking about Igor Larionov starting s*** with Forsberg. I'm talking about Brendan Shanahah tackling Patric Roy at center ice. I'm talking about Vernon beating the piss out of Roy in front of a home crowd.

    These are the ugly things you have to do from time to time in order to win the Stanley Cup. The Ducks have called out the Wings in a big way. Did you really expect to breeze through the playoffs year after year all squeaky clean and smiling?

    Misdirecting? The Wings don't have to beat up the Ducks to win the Cup. They have to score more goals. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

    It wasn't the fights of the March 26th game that were important. It was the goals. If we don't win that game we get swept in the season series. We touched Roy for 6 and won. Mac's OT winner was infinitely more imporant than his pummeling of Claude. But it all gets clouded up in sentimentality.