YoungGuns1340

Did Commodore take that in the sack? Damn..

Wow. Our best shift of the game comes with the Eurotwins on the ice together? Shocked...

What the f*** was Sammy doing on that play? SKATE TO THE PUCK. He was tentative, couldn't make up his mind, and no sooner is the puck out of the zone and Columbus on a break ON THE POWERPLAY. Sammys been terrible lately..

I'm not disagreeing with you - I was just wondering why you chose to call it "strange and inconsistent". I think its incredibly consistent mode of playing myself, but maybe you were talking about a different aspect of things. Good way to get the call by Lebda.

I like Babcock, and I think he *could* go down in history as one of the best coaches in the game if he sticks with it long enough, but hes more of a Bowman wannabe with the line combos he comes pulls out sometimes. Its not so much that he puts out crazy line combos - but its that he takes way too long to change things when his "experiments" clearly aren't working. Sammy has looked terrible playing with Datsyuk since Hossa's been hurt, yet hes really taking his time making a switch. Same thing with Kopay on the top line earlier in the season - he looked good there for about 2 periods, yet he stayed on that line for a good 5 games before Babs decided it wasnt working. And in the time he took to change it, that lines ineffectiveness was costing us.

What do you mean by it being "strange and inconsistent"? Columbus is just the flavor of the year in that regard. Edmonton, Nashville, Calgary, Anaheim, New Jersey (all in the past)....Mediocre teams with a smart coach and good goaltender have been employing this for years. In fact, if it weren't for the Wings offense, I'd be very apprehensive about them even getting out of the round when facing a team like this. Fortunately, the Wings are incredibly well-equipped when healthy and motivated to beat these boring, defensive, goaltender-reliant teams.

Really sad news - they seemed like a great pair.

Might help to read the article.

It would be sweet if Tampa grew a pair and bought him out, making him an FA, and then the Wings could pick him up for Pennies. Jiri Slegr rides again!

Jokinen - 2 goals Leopold - 1 goal Guerin - 1 assist Upshall - 1 goal Comrie - 1 goal, 1 assist Campoli - 1 goal Anropov - 1 assist Dawes - 1 assist Hamilton (signing) - 1 assist Talk about immediate payoffs. Damn. All those guys are playing their first game for their new team, excpet Comrie and Campoli

Don't worry. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that McCarty is in ahead of Helm or Leino. Even Maltby's place isn't secure. I could see Maltby starting the playoffs, and then getting benched in favor of a younger kid pretty quickly.

I understand the idea this is getting at, but its somewhat misleading. It makes it sound like Hossa was on Holland's agenda from day one, and his primary goal was to use up the rest of his cap space in the off-season by signing Hossa, when in reality, Hossa kind of "fell into Holland's lap", so to speak. It begs the question what this team would've looked like after the deadline had Hossa not signed himself over to the Wings so willingly. Since the implementation of the cap, hes been known to "save his cap space for the deadline." I don't mean this as a critique of Holland at all - I'm just saying that stars kind of aligned for this sort of thing to happen.

Uh, what? Lilja has yet to be a scratch, and has been playing phenomenally this year. Meanwhile Lebda has been a healthy scratch, and is decent when at his best. I have no idea what made you draw that conclusion. Perhaps the Wings penchant for not overdoing it with big players?

Since when is a cup run in the hands of a 5th/6th defenseman?? Ericsson gives the Wings something that they don't have on the back end - a huge, strong, mobile body. He's like a baby Chara back there.

Ericsson has to be in the lineup. His work along the boards behind the net is going to save us on many occasions in the playoffs. He really knows how to use his size to work the boards back there, and that has been a big problem for us. I'd like to see him paired with Lidstrom in a shutdown role. Hes going to be invaluable when it comes to containing big forward like Iggy, Jokinen, Marleau, Thornton, Nash, Morrow, etc. Maltby sits, without question, and Helm is in. Regardless of the numbers, Helm is our most energetic player, and he loves to hit. He almost reminds me of Tootoo the way he plays the game, except without the classless thuggery and bulls***. Hes a little fireball out there. For the last spot on the third line, I think its a toss-up between Leino and Kopecky. Kopecky has been playing much better of late, but so has Draper. We have a month and a half left to see if this is a fluke or not. In short, the usual suspects with the following changes: Maltby --> Helm Lebda --> Ericsson Kopecky --> Kopecky or Leino

I don't know why its always assumed that keeping Franzen and Hossa means letting just one guy go. If Franzen and Hossa are re-signed, then BOTH Hudler and Filppula are gone.

Good win.

I was wondering the same thing.

Nice job there Conks. Like a wall.

Sammy with the EN.

As much as I shouldn't, I like the fact that the Jackets are finally in a playoff spot. It makes playing them actually seem...relevant.

It was the Franz. Oh well.

Nice job, Mule, Conks.

Man Hank looked like Ovechkin there. He took like 8 shots from his ass.

Bringing the various Griffins up - including Howard - has really given the Wings the shot in the arm that they need. Raffi, Kronwall, Stuart, Drapes, Malts, Kopay, Flip, Ozzie - they're all playing so much better now, with much more urgency. Theres something to be said for reminding someone that their spot is never guaranteed.