gcom007

I really think the shakeup after Flip went down was a big part of it. I hope even if Flip's back in Calgary that Babcock continues to tinker. I don't think a single line we've had going should be locked in yet. It's too early with too many new guys to not experiment, even if we had had a better start. But we didn't. It's been a rough start. It's time to see what else works.

I'm really glad they left Howard in this game. Even if it hadn't ended so well, these are good character games that will make him a better goalie down the stretch. It was never on him anyways, so it's a solid game for him all in all.

If you let Brad May hit you.

Damn. What a game. No one on the Wings can really hang their head after this one. Biggest point they've earned this season... Lots of positives to take from this game. A solid win in Calgary would be realllllll nice.

Worst shootout showing for Datsyuk ever?

Yes. I thought it was it. BOOM!!! Big stop Howard! Nice to get the first stop especially if we can get a goal here.

Wow, I thought it was over there at the end. Shootout. I don't know if Howard has it in him to meet Khabibulin for the 2 points, but I'm happy any way it goes at this point and props to the Oilers for pushing through the end.

Fine with more glass work. Gives Dats and Z more time to rest.

That's a big 1 point gain anyway it goes. Real big. Down 4-0 in the second??? Any way this goes, it's a positive step. Lots of guys stepping up and some good line mixing. Bertuzzi starting to show glimpses of something special and Eaves having his first breakout game as a Wing. An OT victory would feel OUTSTANDING! GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man, I'm liking Eaves the more I see him. I think he's got a lot of potential. He's got skills and can score but he needs to get his confidence up. This game is a great start especially if we pull off the win. He needs to keep working hard when he gets his chances and he'll keep getting more and it's only up from there.

It sure doesn't hurt to have a guy like Dats on the ice a lot, but I think Flip going down was a good thing because it's forced them to juggle things up and across the board, I think it was absolutely time to really get the juggle on.

BAM. Like I said.

YES!@jasdlkfkl;fjsdf

Good couple of shifts after the break; reclaims momentum. If we keep it up, we're good for one more. Soon.

Osgood's quite right. He is playing much better this year. He's getting no help more often than not, but he's been mostly solid and at times great. If you really think this season is at all like last season for Osgood, you really need to go review the tapes. There's absolutely no comparison.

Bertuzzi, Datsyuk, Holmstrom: bad idea.

Wow Kronwall Wow.

I want to reiterate this again. If we can win this game, I think we'll start seeing a better team. This would be a big win and bring some confidence back while still teaching a lesson. I want a 6-5 regulation win. This team can do it. They're capable. They've got the firepower. Just gotta keep it rolling now.

YES!!! BERTUZZI!!! He deserved that one. He's better than that ugly pass and he's been digging for the net tonight. Nice!!! One more to tie it up!!!!!

Finally a break! And again, Ericcson, besides being a rookie, is proving why he's still far more valuable and worth keeping around despite some defensive breakdowns.

Rafalski's never been the greatest DEFENSEman. While he's been particularly bad on defense this year, he's also got 6 points (which is a tie for 8th in scoring among NHL defensemen). I'm not saying Rafalski doesn't need to pick it up, but at least he has the performance capability to get it together defensively and at his worst, he still helps us put points on the board. Lebda doesn't have the skill set to get tremendously better and he doesn't make up for it on offense. He's just an all around bad defenseman. There's no upside. No, "at least he puts up points." He's just bad. Believe me, I'm not trying to add to the anti-Lebda bandwagon and if you follow my posting at all you'll know I'm not a bandwagon type of guy. But Lebda as our 6th defenseman with a rookie no less as a partner is just an ugly, ugly situation.

Flip's kinda out for the game now... And honestly, I'm not convinced it's not the worst thing. Nothing against Flip being in the lineup at all, but it really forces Babcock to juggle things up now and I think they needed to shake things up; especially Flip's line. Despite being noted by many as being our top line thus far, the bottom line is they're not scoring a lot of goals. The line has worked hard, but maybe they can spread out some of that hard work with some different guys and make some more goals happen.

And as much as an irrational (though perhaps somewhat rational as well) wants to get all hot and blame McCrimmon, it's hard for me to place all the blame on him. Our problems are rooted in fundamentals. So many things that are happening are simple, fundamental issues that the players shouldn't even need to be reminded of. They're not making smart plays again and again. I mean, not that I'm a genius, but I have no idea what I'd say to them that they couldn't say to themselves or McCrimmon/Babcock couldn't/hasn't said. It's not rocket science. The rational reasoning for firing McCrimmon would be a) shake things up and maybe get some guys attention, b) hell, it's about the only PR move they could make right now that wouldn't be potentially detrimental long run. It'd be stupid to make a trade now and it'd be stupid to fire Babcock. I can see them letting go the one guy go who wasn't originally a part of Babcock's coaching staff and let him bring in another guy, but none the less, I doubt it will happen. But if we keep losing games like this through November, all bets are off across the board...

A huge problem still is that we're missing arguably the most important part of our defense in Lilja. Lilja was a guy who was solid for us at a great price. He added a tremendous amount of strength to the 3rd pairing whereas now we've got Lebda in their usually with a rookie which tends to equate to a disaster. I'm not one who typically rags on guys endlessly, but Lebda is blatantly a liability. He's been horrible and he needs to go. It won't happen for awhile, but that guy needs to not be a Red Wing as soon as possible.

Damn, would've been nice to be down by 2 right now, but oh well... If they can come out in the 3rd with intensity and keep pushing, we could still take this game. I don't expect it, but you know, sooner or later we need to start taking games like this just to get some momentum going. We need a big win.