YoungGuns1340

Both goals were embarassing for Huet, but Flip and Hudler did a lot of good work. Awesome....goal on an unworthy PP.

Lame call? I'm shocked.

Liljas back to his streak!. 2 points in 2 games I think.

Filppula and Hudler are lighting it up for the Wings.

AWESOME. Wow. Huet SUCKS.

Nope. Its Filppulas goal. Good on him. Just his 3rd so far. Only on pace for 9 goals this season. Yikes.

If thats Hudlers goal, he has more than Franzen and Zetterberg so far this year. Thats nuts.

I think thats Hudlers goal. Looks like it bounced off of him.

Thats awesome. I have a Ukranian friend who met Datsyuk at some Russian "disco" in Pontiac. She said he was awesome to talk to. I'm jealous. And its awesome that he was buying a ton of stuff too.

What adversity? I've heard Wings and Coaches mention that they think the Wings have played well during a particular game or after a game in which they've given an incredibly average performance. With their record and their relative health through nearly 1/3 of the season, I'm not sure they're really taking this as adversity in the same way that they were last February, which did prove to be helpful in the long run. My worry has and always will be desire to repeat. I'm a big believer in motivation and hunger being the ultimate factor in winning a Stanley Cup Championship, and I don't see how thats something that can be fixed with 91% of this team having already won 1-4 Cups. I don't particularly see how thats something that will get better as the season goes on either, unless some changes to the roster are made. This team is chock full of hard-working, smart, skilled and talented players - theres no team in this league that matches us in that regard and its not even close. But there are teams that want it more than we do simply by nature of the fact that they havent gotten there yet. To me, thats what our performance points to. This is essentially the same, Stanley Cup Winning, family-like, chemistry-filled team that we had last year, but somethings off. And to me, thats the desire to work hard and earn what you win. Do I think this team can win the Stanley Cup this year? Absolutely. But I think its going to come down to Holland making some shrewd moves to inject some hunger and energy into this squad for that to happen. I dont care if it happens tomorrow or at the 11th hour of the deadline - but it needs to happen.

The fact that its hockey in it of itself is an issue. Its a niche sport. Fortunately for the state of Michigan, they have a lot of people who support that sport, but they're also largely blue collar supporters. Football and baseball are Americas sports and I think the fact that the Pistons play in an arena not far from bloomfield/west bloomfield/troy/birmingham/rochester may play into that. Getting a lot of fans on fridays and saturdays to me speaks to the economy as well. A lot of people have to leave early from work to get to a game, and some people like to take the following day off of work after a game. In this economy, you have to take all the hours you can get if you're making an hourly wage.

I'm not sure Filppula or Franzen would be great for Hossa either, but how do we know if we don't try it? I'm just saying theres really no two guys on this team that are dominating so much together that it would be a risk to set them up. Why not try Hossa with Flip or Franzen? Why not try a stacked line like you suggest? I just don't understand why Babs has to stick to his guns when there arent really a pair of them that are dominant, particularly when Hank and Datsyuk are nearly being eclipsed by the likes of Hudler and Sammy. With the way Hossa and Hudler seem to be pointing up points with support from all kinds of guys, maybe they'd both be capable of producing with a guy like Franzen or Flip as their center. It'd be worth a shot. My biggest issue in this is that maybe if we found some better chemistry up front that produced consistently (whether it shows on the score board or not), it might have an effect on the overall team. Same thing with the defensive pairings. Its driving me crazy how Babs is so reluctant to make anything more than minor changes to our lines and pairings despite the fact that we're not playing our best hockey.

Do they really though? They've had spurts where they've looked awesome together, but that happens when you spend 25+ games together. With the talent of a top 10 center and a top 10 winger combining, you'd think they'd at least both be operating at a point per game pace. Especially with the offense this team has been putting up. Hudler is one point behind Datsyuk. Sammy is three behind Datsyuk. Zetterberg isn't doing much better. Even without statistics, Hossa and Datsyuk together have been pretty wishy-washy despite 25+ games together and incredible talent.

Yup. Its a Catch-22. Both sides are to blame - defense and goalies. Our defense isn't confident in our goaltenders, our goaltenders aren't confident in our defense. Its obvious that Ozzie doesn't have much confidence right now. You can tell from the way hes handling himself in the net. Thats gotta change. The Wings really need to buckle down for a few games and play it tight defensively to get it back on track.

Again, way to jump down my throat. I'm not saying we aren't getting offense. I'm just saying our lines aren't particularly cohesive on a regular basis, which has an effect on team chemistry. We had 6 goals tonight - but from a patchwork of guys. Again, I'm not saying thats a problem, but our big guns arent really going like our big guns. Datsyuk is below a point per game pace. Zetterberg is barely there. And Hudler is now tied for 2nd in goals with Franzen and Hank. Yeah, we had 6 goals tonight. I'm happy. But there have been times the past few games where we've faced hot goalies and good defensive teams and still havent been able to break through that. Maybe we'd be able to if we had some more dominate lines in terms of chemistry.

I'm not saying offense is a problem, but chemistry kind of seems like it is. Whenever lines have good chemistry, it always seems to rub off on the rest of the team. Maybe an adjustment of the lines would help the overall cohesion of the team.

Maybe its just me, but it seems like it wouldnt be such a bad idea to reunite Datsyuk and Zetterberg. They're never as good separately as they are together. It might be an idea to go with Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Franzen for now, and then maybe Hudler - Filppula - Hossa. I don't know, but it seems like Jiri Hudler and Marian Hossa score no matter who they're with.

Kudos. I don't think I'd have the balls to show my face on national TV so quickly after failing at my job. Especially one I was so hyped for.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I see the Hossa situation being incredibly different from the Zetterberg situation. To begin with, Hossa was going to be signing a contract for one year and one year only. That was known from the beginning of Hossa's interest. Secondly, Hossa wasn't a Wing. He didn't embody the Wings. He was essentially hopping on the coattails of the Wings. Zetterberg is in a different situation. (1) Hes been a wing since "birth." (2) His winning the Conn Smythe as the Wings best player represents a passing of the torch between Lidstrom and Zetterberg and (3) Zetterbergs new contract will be much longer than one year, and by nature of that fact, will extend much longer than Lidstroms future tenure with the Wings. I don't think Lidstrom is going to get to dictate the pay of someone who will receive that designated salary long after hes gone. Especially when you consider the years for which Zetterberg will be signed on this contract will potentially be the best of his career, and that his role on this team (and his value to it) will only grow in Lidstroms absence. Now, if you want to say hes gonna make less than Lidstrom does now because the cap is going down, then I could believe that. But I dont think its going to be because Zetterbergs salary is restricted by the "Nick Lidstrom Cap."

Yup, thats pretty much the way it goes. I grabbed a copy of the CBA a while ago because I was wondering the same thing. I originally thought they would issue some sort of referendum if the cap went down, like they did when the cap was first implemented. Maybe not reduce every players salary by 24% but maybe by allowing teams to buy out players without penalty against the cap. But nope. Can't do that. You basically have to figure out a way to make it work on your own - buy-outs that count against the cap, waiver wire, or trades. I'm guessing its supposed to act as a deterrent from teams spending up to the absolute cap limit, which obviously hasn't worked.

So they just arbitrarily pitted the Red Wings and Blackhawks against each other. Right.

My statement makes sense if you understand it. But you don't. Your intellectual capacity seems to be the problem - not my statement.

Yeah...except that there are 11 other players who play Hossas position. Who exactly would be put in over Hossa that is more of a Red Wing. So, no. It isn't "by that logic" because thats not even the logic I'm using. As for Ty Conklin playing for the Pens - again you missed the point. The Hawks and Wings are historic franchises. The Sabres and Pens are not. Theres a reason they're pitting two Original Six teams together instead of, say, the Sharks and Wings, which would put the focus on firepower.

Hudler has 5 even strength goals. Considering he gets about the 9th most even strength time and has the third most ES goals, its not just all about the PP. Unlike Filppula, Hudler knows what to do with the puck when he gets within 20 feet of the net. Filppula always seems to make the wrong decision in scoring position. As for Cleary - he gets a free pass. No being able to see is going to affect your passing, shooting, and positioning.

He didn't even hit Malone! And then Malone blows not the first opportunity, but the second one too! Its like an epic battle of the overpaid pseudo-2nd liners.