gcom007

Mrazek is a rookie. As good as he can be, he's going to get hosed as bad as anyone given how bad the D is playing. Our only hope is if a goalie change rallies the team to get their collective ******* head straight and tighten up. Our defense really couldn't be more atrocious than it's been lately.

Oh, I know, I like Monster. I wish him all the luck and health in the world as he's a great backup when he's healthy. The guy is just colossally unlucky though. It's really unfortunate.

Weiss will stick if he has another couple good games, though he should stick either way. It's stupid to have him sitting in the press box all the time. E needs to sit for a game or two. And honestly, I wouldn't mind Nyquist getting a game off to think about his troubles. If you're willing to do it to someone like Weiss for turnovers, why should Nyquist be exempt? He's got to get those terrible habits out of his system and learn fast that the giveaways won't fly. This will never happen though, so whatever...

The full regular season grind is different than what a player on a call up experiences. I'm look specifically at how things have gone with Tatar but more so with Nyquist down the stretch, and I see guys that are still learning to play at an NHL level. These rough patches are a result of that, and considering we're leaning heavily on these guys to produce, their struggles weigh on the team heavier. On top of that, Nyquist in particular has been a turnover machine lately which isn't helping at either end of the ice. Couple that with having the D that we have, ongoing Weiss in the lineup weirdness, Howard struggling, and Mrazek being a rookie, and it really isn't so surprising. I said it numerous times earlier in the season, things were going great, but it was absolutely a best-case situation. I hoped it would continue to go that way, but I'm not shocked it hasn't, nor am I incredibly upset. If we had kept up or find a way to get to that level again for the playoffs, I'm convinced this team can make some noise and contend. But if we don't get there this year, it's not the end of the world. We've seen what they're capable of and it's a fairly bright future. I think it's clear at this point though that the team still has holes that need to be filled if you don't want to rely on guys overachieving to be a consistently solid team.

Not a bad call. We might get a good period or two out of him before he gets hurt again.

"When you are playing from behind every shift is an emergency and that causes turnovers…we have to keep the puck out of our net. Petr will get a chance now." -Babcock I don't disagree with the sentiment, but what about when turnovers lead to playing from behind? I don't think anyone's going to argue that Howard's been inconsistent and oftentimes lousy since returning from injury, but this team hasn't been helping their goalies at all lately. I think it's fair to call out Howard at this point, but you've got to be calling out Nyquist and Ericsson too, and you've certainly got to call out your team defense. Howard hasn't been great, but no one on this team has been much better lately.

Teed up for number9...

Howard will still start in the playoffs unless Mrazek goes on an absolute tear to finish the season, but that's just not going to happen unless the team in front of him turns things around fast. I just don't really expect that to happen the way things are going. But I think the stage is clearly being set for Mrazek to have a chance to win the starting role next year.

Dignity. Oh wait...

Maybe next year.

The goaltending definitely hasn't been up to snuff, especially Howard, but yes, the defense has been as bad or worse than either guy at their worst this year. The turnovers and boneheaded changes are just mind-numbing. It's going to be real hard for Howard or Mrazek to get going consistently playing behind our clown squad, especially with all the help they're getting from the turnover twins up front.

It kinda sucks how quickly this season has gotten ugly. Datsyuk, please, please, please...just please...

We're winning this one, I'm telling you. It's already an ugly one any way it goes, but I think we pull it off. This game is pure silly. I hope that's not E's goal though. That gomer doesn't deserve it.

Ugly goal for Mrazek, but for the love, Nyquist is a disaster lately with the turnovers.

Bench Weiss............

I think we're going to pull this one off.

"A bit deflating..." Indeed.

Nice little bounce back.

You've got to be s***ting me.

Well, great start.....

Just got home, what happened on the goal?

What I'm wondering is whether we're not so much in a slump right now so much as we're not overachieving anymore. Our defense is lousy lately? Well, look at our defense; is it really so surprising? I've been thrilled with how this year's gone and still think this is a very promising team, but I've thought all year that we might be operating in a "best case scenario" mode. Perhaps the reality of what it takes to be a top team is starting to weigh a little heavier on a young team. Maybe they're just more beat up than we know, which would also explain why Babcock's given more days off. In any event, something's gotta give if we're going to have post-season success. If we flounder, I'll hardly call this season a failure, but I'm definitely starting to lower my expectations.

3 games in 4 days coming up. Seems reasonable given that we're also starting to get a little more beat up.

All I got out of this thread was Datsyuk might be back tomorrow. It sucks having Kronwall and Cole out, but having Datsyuk in the lineup has more of an impact than any other player on the roster by far, and the Datsyuk impact is something this team desperately needs right now.

Well, he's consistently inconsistent... We had much better team defense earlier in the year and Howard was sharper. The combination made both parties look better than they are. Now team defense isn't so solid and Howard's not as sharp, and both parties are looking worse than they are. It's tough to argue that Howard hasn't been weak down the stretch, but the team around him hasn't been good either. Howard's making top 10 money so you expect more out of him than you can from some of our other guys, but it doesn't change the fact that he really isn't getting much help right now. Howard, like everyone else on this team right now, needs to get sharper fast, or it'll be another quick playoff exit.