YoungGuns1340

Ian Laperriere should be a Wings target. For the playoffs. Kenny and Mick agree

And when that happens, you need your goalie to be sharp. I'm sick of this attitude that if the shot is remotely difficult to stop, then its ok to let in. If an opposing goaltender was letting in screened shots with the frequency that Osgood is, we'd be scoring 10 goals a night with the amount that Franzen and Homer screen the oppositions goaltender.

Uh oh - it was a remotely tricky shot. Osgood is excused.

The continual improvement of youngsters like Zajac and Parise has made a huge difference. Colorado always had a ton of two-way guys who were gritty and hard-working, but they were missing a complete top 6. No with Elias and Lagennbrunner having somewhat of comeback seasons, and Zajac and Parise runing around out there, its been a huge difference. But youre right - the Devils can still win by scoring just a goal or two, and we can't.

Its perennially ranked one of the best, if not the best, in the NHL by the players. Might just be an off day.

My concern is who he'll replace if the there aren't any injuries. I can't see Babs scratching veteran Maltby, and I'm concerned that because Kopecky didn't get to play in the playoffs last year because of the injury, they'll give him a free pass to playoff hockey. And those are the only 2 options for the Wings. No way Babs scratches anyone else - even Draper.

The fact that the Devils can do so well without Brodeur, on the one hand, is encouraging when I think about not having Lidstrom in a few years. On the other hand, it could just be a testament to the fact that you dont need a great goaltender if you have a great system.

Sweet. Ovechkin got his 39th. Now that Green has his record, the Caps can go back to setting up Ovy instead of looking for Green.

Yeah, hes looked better. But in general, the Coloardo defense is going a great job of chopping up our puck possession game. The lanes are all blocked up, and its been hard for him to get his stick on the puck.

If Helm isn't on this team in the playoffs, then Babcocks head should be on a silver platter. Hes on pace for 255 hits over a an 82 game season and is the fastest skater on this team. Not to metion, does the kid ever quit? Hes like Homer, except all over the ice. Hes taking abuse, and just keeps on going. Are those things not crucial to the playoffs? Moreover, are those not the things the wings have been lacking all season? Helm almost reminds me of Jordin Tootoo in the way he throws his little body around and plays like his pants are perpetually on fire.

Is it just me, or does the oppositions defense always play our forwards hard on the boards, pushing them and giving them a hard time....yet....do we ever do that? I rarely notice our defense pushing and shoving the oppositions forwards along the boards in the defensive zone.

This game is a battle of the defenses. Raycroft nor Osgood has looked impenetrable, but Colorados D is killing, and ours is running around disorganized.

I think Cleary should be taken off the ZD line. Nothing against Cleary, but with the way Colorado is defending, we either need to score by bowling through their offense, something we can't do with the personnel we have, or really get into some creative passing and quick skating to get to the open lanes. Cleary won't help with that. I'd put give Flip, Hudler, Leino, or even Helm a whirl on that line for a shift or two.

I'm surprised at Leino's skating. With the way his skating was said to be a weakness of his, it doesnt seem to have posed too much of a problem for him.

I didnt see the game against CBJ, but in the game against Minny he started to really use the body again. Maybe hes just getting to playing the physical game. Maybe the coaches had a talk with him.

Haha, I love how Datsyuk goes for the hit these days. He got beaten to the puck, but still made an effort to lay on the body. Love it. And Kronwall is so much better when hes playing physical....and not playing with Stuart.

Holmstrom has to be the most underrated player by far in terms of how much he means to his team. Even more so this year with how we've relied on our PP to win us games at times.

Refs don't usually call two penalties to put a team down on consecutive 3 on 5s. Unless its against the Wings of course.

Nice way to f*** it up, Kopay.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. He looks really tired, too. Not like himself. I wonder if he has a mild case of the flu or something. Thats been going around. Hes usually a lot more energetic too.

What the hell? I turn on the game at 18:59 of the first and theres already a goal against? What happened?

I want Datsyuk to have a big night - 3 or 4 points from Datsyuk, and hes tied or takes over 2nd in the NHL. Parise is 2 points behind Datsyuk, but after the Sharks-Devs game ends, he'll have played 2 more games than Datsyuk. So far, through over 2 periods, Parise has 0 points. GO 13.

Henrik Zetterberg socres 691 of the goals and becomes a 900 goal scorer overnight.

Actually, Holland and co. saw Filppula's potential last season. I'm not saying that they don't now - we have no way of knowing what they really think, as Holland isn't one to publicly degrade his own players - but I'm not going to sit here and suggest that Holland still thinks giving Stuart 3.75M per year or letting Quincey go via he waiver wire were good ideas. My guess is if Holland had the choice again, he still would've retained Filppula, but would've opted for a much shorter contract that offered more flexibility. Also, you can't use history as some sort of indicator in a post-cap world thats a mere 3 off-seasons old. When was the last time Holland was operating under the salary cap and actually did have an overpaid forward on the books without an NTC and with 3 other valuable forwards to re-sign who are all out-producing Filppula in a few, or many, regards? And with the salary cap expected to decrease in the coming yeras? Any pre-existing conditions are no match for the situation Holland is in now.

I think its more an indication of the Red Wings philosophy, which is to balance all aspects of ice time in all regards. An illustration of that would be the fact that Datsyuk is a Top 5 forward in the NHL, yet his time on the powerplay ranks 88th overall. He plays 3:22 per game when, if he were to be best utilized, he'd see 4-5 minutes instead. Same thing if you take a look at the penalty kill. The fact that Zetterberg is our #1 choice when its a 3 on 5 says hes our #1 PKer. But in PKing ice time among forwards, he ranks 3rd behind Draper and Cleary, and doesn't even average 2 minutes of ice time per game. In general, Draper has the most PK time with only 2:12 per game (92nd in the NHL in that respect) whereas most teams #1 forward Pker would see over 3 minutes SHTOI per game. The Wings operate so as not to overuse or wear out any one particular player. It has always been the Wings MO to balance the ice time, and the fact that Filppula's role on the team is likely the most amorphous of any speaks to his ESTOI. Draper, Maltby, and Kopecky are here to provide energy and checking (they don't really do that, but thats another debate). Sammy is a secondary scorer whos meal ticket is the fact that he can play the point. Hudler is here to put up points and set up his linemates. Homer and Franzen are supposed to be the net front presence. And then of course Hossa, Hank, and Datsyuk are, in general, supposed to do it all. That leaves Cleary and Filppula. But even Cleary is used more often in specific roles - playing the net when injuries occur, being a physical forward, and being our #2 PKer. That leaves Filppula. What is it exactly that Filppula does? He's 10th in PPTOI per game, and hes 5th in PKTOI per game. Hes not a net front presence, isn't a particularly great plamaker, isn't a great goal scorer, and isn't physical. What he is, in my opinion, is a fresh player that is tossed around when the team needs a change, or a line needs a boost. Hes a complement. Hes a great substitute when a player on a line needs a rest. Hes a utility player, and in general, the coaching staff is likely still trying to figure out just exactly what role they want Filppula in.