evil204
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Posts posted by evil204
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Any other year, I would've said it will help. But this is a new, younger team that needs time to mesh. Mainly the defense - with Lidstrom gone, other players have to step up. Players like Ericsson, Smith, and Nyquist will need all the ice time they can get before the playoffs.
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Question about playoff seeding: Let's say the Sharks win their division and finish 3rd, with fewer points than Detroit. If we were to face them in the 2nd or 3rd round, would they have home ice even though we had more points?
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Well, how about giving Conklin more than one start a month? He's 35. Sometimes, older guys need to actually play once in a while to get into a rhythm. He has one bad game and then he gets to think about it as he rots on the bench while Howard starts 15 straight.
WizardOfOz30 and 55fan reacted to this -
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But how many of these goal-scorers actually score at playoff time? Crosby and Ovechkin get shut down by good defensive teams. Hossa scored in 3 games during our 2009 run. I didn't really feel like goal scoring was an issue in our last two playoff runs.
But, as you documented, our scoring needs a tune-up. It is weird though, because even though we finished 2nd (?) overall in goals scored last year, who could you REALLY count on to score? Franzen when he felt like it? Pav when he wanted to shoot? Hank?
Fact is we haven't had a PURE goal scorer (not to mention a 30-goal scorer) since Hossa and before that it was Shanny? All those teams that we "fear" have a guy or two or three who can net 30-40 goals. We have an iffy one (Franzen) As much as I love and appreciate them, Hank and Pav are PLAYMAKERS and not GOAL SCORERS.
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"My prediction (based on pure speculation) is that Turris goes to the Detroit Red Wings, a team lacking an elite offensive talent"
Ok.
Hossa4Life reacted to this -
I love Holmstrom, but he's no longer effective. He skates as fast as Larry Murphy (present day Larry Murphy, not even NHL prime Larry Murphy) and he's got bricks for hands.
Pull out Homer and put in some young blood. Besides, when he scores anyway it gets called back.
You know, I was thinking this too earlier in the season, but I would say he's given us the most consistent effort out of all our forwards. At least he's working hard every single shift.
Hockeymom1960 reacted to this -
Then go ahead and change it.
I'm curious...have you ever lost an argument?
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I think what we should all be worried about isn't any particular player or whether they're declining...they'll get it back eventually. We know what all these guys are capable of when they want to play. What we SHOULD be worried about is the fact that it's taking more and more for this team to feel any sense of urgency. They got embarrassed two times in a row and, with a chance to turn things around against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs the last two years, showed up with nothing more than an average effort. They lacked focus once again, allowing breakaways and leaving people open. In the past, you KNEW that any time the Wings got lit up, they'd show up with their best effort the following night. Not this year, apparently. This is the same team that sleepwalked through the first two games of the SJ series last year, stopped skating midway through their first elimination game, and didn't skate for the first 50 minutes of their second elimination game. Whether that's a symptom of too much success, or the fact that we've had the same coach for 5 years, the team being too comfortable, etc...the issue has to be largely mental.
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Alright look. Somebody with the Wings said something to this effect once and I thought it really encapsulated this issue. The style we play makes us look dominant when we win but makes it look like we're not "competing" hard enough when we lose. Because we're not running around hitting everybody doesn't mean we're not trying. We play skilled, positional hockey. That means when guys have lazy or bad passing days, we look horrible and like we're not putting in enough effort. I've read quotes from Holland about sticking to the philosophy and game that has lead to our success, even when we get beat by a team that plays another one (Anaheim '07).
That said, Conklin and our overall defensive play in the last two games look pretty awful to me. I am curious to see if Commodore brings a new element with a little energy and grit when he plays.
This is true...but still, they always seem to start slow in the 1st period, getting beat to loose pucks, and really heat up in the 2nd or 3rd. I'm pretty sure 3-4 years ago their effort throughout the game was more consistent. Sure, they took games off, but they had long stretches of games in the regular season where they showed up for 60 minutes every time.
Also, I think we would benefit from getting a few guys who play a more persistent game (think Helm, Cleary), rather than "smart positional hockey." Think Datsyuk vs Ovechkin. Datsyuk hangs around, waiting for the right time, picking his spots. Ovechkin races all over the place, hitting people and chasing pucks. This doesn't mean that Ovechkin is more effective, but players like Ovie can energize the team in a way that Pavel can't.
T.Low and Din758 reacted to this -
The Wings shut Colorado out, the same Colorado that's above them in the standings now.
I don't need to downplay how badly the Wings played in the last two games, it's just pretty interesting how the Wings evidently took the piss in the first five which they seriously dominated opponents and made it look easy. It's pretty funny how the Wings can dominate other teams yet certain fans have a one or two game memory the second they start to lose.
Would you say they skated for the majority of the time in the games they won? Do you think their efforts against Ottawa, Vancouver, Colorado, and Columbus (the first time) are good enough to win against SJ or the Caps? In some of those games...a bounce or two the other way and we lose.
I don't care that they lost the last two games. I know they are going to take nights off and, once in a while, get totally embarrassed. I just think they didn't play all that well when they were winning.
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I don't believe "uninspired" play for a period here and there allows for 5 goals in total for the first 4 games.
The typical remnants of the type of uninspired hockey you speak of, that does in fact sometimes plague the Red Wings, is the team winning a 1 goal game when they were up far more than that, or off to a typical slow start, getting behind, and coming back to win by a goal or two, or coming one goal short. The first 5 games were decisive victories played with a stifling defence and playing for a full 60+ minute game. The last two games were very uncharacteristic of the Red Wings, but that s*** happens to teams during the regular season as they're not robots. Maybe you confused the lethargic Wings with the lethargic crowds in the lower bowl at the Joe? I'm not sure but you certainly aren't shooting anywhere near on target with your assertion of how the Wings played the first 5 games.
Let's see...I believe we only showed up in the 2nd period against Ottawa. I don't really remember how we played against Colorado but I recall Conklin having to make some huge saves in that game. We looked pretty sluggish and out of sync against Vancouver, and didn't start skating until the 2nd period, although the defense was solid. I thought they had a lot of energy in the Wild game. Then they beat Columbus... I guess you could argue they played smart defensively even when they weren't skating - that's not hard to do against crappy teams that can't dictate the pace of the game, make plays, and force turnovers. I saw the same crap from the Wings in the two losses as I did in the five victories - they just weren't able to turn it around in the 2nd or 3rd period against better and/or hungrier teams.
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The thing is...we played uninspired hockey in the 5 victories too, imo. We showed up for a period here and there, and won games against bad teams (except Vancouver, which was playing its 3rd road game in 4 nights). The lethargic play just didn't get exposed until we faced an opponent that has as much talent as we do, if not more.
LidsFan reacted to this -
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I've gotten them from Belle Tire in the past.
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Funny the October games against SJ and Vancouver aren't premium. They probably figured everyone will be watching baseball and football.
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How about Anaheim in 09?
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Having said that he has been kinda reconstructing his game I think a bit
Just curious..how so?
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I really think our problems have very little to do with age, injuries, or the roster. The Wings just lack hunger. Can't blame them...it has only been 2 years since their run of 11 playoff series in 3 seasons.
They didn't show up for half of the series against the Sharks, and yet they took it to Game 7. They lost every game by a goal. If they had just worked a little harder here and there, shown up for one of the first two games, maybe they would have won. Having said that, it is hard to bring it every night against a team that's so much bigger and more aggresive. But we did it against the Ducks in 07 and 09. No reason it can't be done again.. Plus, with all their size and physicality, Thornton and Clowe both finished the playoffs with separated shoulders.
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Guys, our additions will be at the trade deadline when we get all our injured players back.
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This ought to be good... Why do you feel that way Evil204?
They've only played 3 hockey games so far. The three in Boston have just been goonery. Burrows, Lapierre, Marchant, Lucic, Torres...even Kesler and the Sedins. First sign of adversity...cheap shot.
sleepwalker reacted to this -
Neither team deserves to hoist the Cup. What a bunch of thugs. I'd rather see Cindy win it.
sleepwalker reacted to this
Perry hit. Thoughts?
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Let's just say I have a much bigger problem with a guy grabbing somebody's head and slamming it into the boards then a guy being a little late finishing a check.