haroldsnepsts

Backstrom was definitely to blame for a couple of his incredibly lazy back checks. But I'm not convinced Semin has suddenly changed. He was a healthy scratch a couple times this season for lack of effort. And we're talking about a 28 year old, not some kid. It's not that he's terrible. It's the same issue we have with Franzen. For as talented as he is, he should be more of a factor in games on a nightly basis. Instead he only seems dominant on some nights when he feels inspired. Maybe he's finally decided to work hard every night but it's definitely still a gamble.

Bye Vancouver! Enjoy your presidents trophy! Kopitar is awesome. He plays a game similar to Zetterbergs.

Viewed as a single suspension this is the right move. Torres is a repeated headhunter and dirty player. He goes out there trying to injure guys and needs a wake up call. The fine and suspension earlier this season clearly didn't do that. Looked at in the context of the playoffs it's just another example of shanny being wildly inconsistent especially where star players are concerned. The real tone will be set when he actually suspends a Neal or Oveckin same as he would a 4th liner.

Maybe it's me just not wanting to be so disappointed with Shanny, but I have to wonder if the GMs were in his ear all season long and that was a factor in where he ended up versus where he started.

NBC sports is carrying the CBC broadcast. These guys are brutal. It's like listening to Olczyk covering a Blackhawks game.

I'm not sure I agree. If he is it's not by a wide margin. The biggest drawback with Mitchell is his health. But he plays a game similar to Stuart's and his honestly more physical in front of his own net. Plus he's got great reach with that Chara sized stick. He's been great for LA this year. I don't know that they'd want to get rid of him unless it was a swap for Stuart. they need veteran presence and a stabilizing force and he's been both of those.

It was scheduled for Wednesday but Torres and the NHLPA requested Friday. So he's suspended indefinitely until they determine how long after they've had the hearing. I'm guessing it'll be a decent suspension considering the hit was late, he jumped up and hit Hossa's head, Torres has a history of these kind of hits, he's a repeat offender, and the playoffs have been nuts this year in terms of cheapshots. It's still baffling that no penalty was given on the play considering the kinds of hits they've been tossing players for.

Here's a link. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/id/7828639/phoenix-coyotes-raffi-torres-faces-nhl-hearing-hit-chicago-blackhawks-marian-hossa

Exactly. And maybe not even the assistants, honestly. Babcock brought in some very green coaches. There's a chance they've learned a ton this season and will be better next year. But this roster needs a shakeup for sure. If there's any silver lining in guys like Lids and Stuart leaving, it's that it forces Holland to do more than tweak the lineup.

I don't disagree, but when your team isn't doing well especially come playoff time, you look to your big players. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen. Dats and Z haven't been bad and even when they're not scoring they're strong defensively. When Franzen isn't scoring he's not doing much else. You can't rely on him to hit because half the time when he does it it's because he's mad and bound to take a penalty. And like I said in another post, he's a known floater during the regular season, taking games off. And the answer is always "wait until the playoffs." The Wings can't wait much longer.

Watching the goal where Lidstrom, White, Hudler, AND Howard all follow Erat to the corner, I can't help but think "What the hell is going on with this team defensively?" They can play a mostly solid game but then look like the little kids who play hockey in between periods, everyone on the ice following the puck wherever it goes. That's not the kind of crap they usually do in the playoffs. They may not be super fast or big, but they're usually experienced and poised.

It's not all Rinne though. His defense has bailed him out and made some huge saves too. Neil, Fisher. Then he's gotten a couple fortunate bounces. Don't get me wrong he's very good for sure but it's team defense. They collapse down low and push the Wings to the perimeter. There were juicy rebounds today but the Wings don't have enough speed, size or fortitude to go to those hard areas of the ice to get the dirty goals. It's great that so many goals came from our defense in the regular season, but it was probably also a sign that we needed more ugly goals around the net. Because in the playoffs guys are blocking those shooting lanes from the point.

In 3 games Johan Franzen has one point, the goal that bounced off him into the net. 9 Shots on goal. 8 penalty minutes. -1. Where's the playoff beast that's the justifies tolerating his half-assed regular season play?

Nope. This is such a myth based on a handfull of youtube clips. It's a disgrace to say Vladdy lived off this. He was a predatory hitter like Kronwall is and Stevens was, but Vladdy kept his skates on the ice. Stevens too. Of a career worth of hits, people base it on a few borderline hits from Steven's top ten most devastating on youtube and act like he did this all the time. You could make an argument for the Kariya hit, Lindros too. But over his career Stevens was a clean but devastating hitter. Elbows in, skates on the ice. Torres time and time again shows up late and launches himself off his skates. He's a dirty player. That has nothing to do with what Stevens and Vladdy did.

Holland I could believe, though I'd still be surprised he'd admit it. But Nill? Are you sure?

At the start of this series I was rooting for the Hawks to lose. After Smith's antics, Shaw's b.s. suspension, and Torres continuing his headhunting, I hope the Yotes don't win another game. I can't believe Torres was allowed to finish that game. After Quincey gets tossed for his hit, Shaw gets tossed for his, how does Torres not get tossed? I'm guessing because it was so late that the refs didn't get a good look at it. I know people always complain about officiating, but this is the first time I've thought overall that it was a mess. The officiating and credibility of this league is in jeopardy. And naturally it's happening with the most tv coverage hockey has seen in a while.

Getting rid of Babcock would be a mistake. I'm sure there's some message fatigue but he's still a great coach. What he needs more than anything are players who compete hard every night. This lineup needs a shakeup before they need a new coach.

Neal got one friggin game? Didn't he have two separate disciplinary meetings? And that equals one game? Shanny, I loved you as a player but you're a joke as disciplinarian. You're seriously worse than Campbell, which is really doing something special.

If the Wings don't make it out of the first round, mostly I'm just ticked that Holland didn't do anything at the deadline. Lids and our star players aren't getting any younger and he had cap room. This was the year. If the Wings don't make it to the second round, Lidstrom should hang 'em up. He should go out relatively on top rather than trying to carry the team on his 41 year old back and listen to Holland explain away his lack of moves to make the lineup deeper.

I'm trying to hold out hope that the Wings come back, but the Preds have the look of a team that just wants it more. There's just this intangible thing in the playoffs where your team desperately needs a goal and someone steps up. Bounces seem to go your way. Pecker is a very good goaltender, but he's also had his defense bail him out and sometimes just get plain lucky. It's like there's a force field over the goal line. But usually those kinds of breaks go to the team that is competing with everything they've got every shift. The Wings just don't look that way.

holy crap, the headhunter got another one. Torres is a POS.

Just a friendly reminder, talking about the game, including bitching after a loss is on topic. Lecturing other people about their posts and what constitutes a "real fan" is not. Talk about the game and the team, not each other please.

The Wings dominated that period overall. You're pointing out one failed shot but ignoring all the times they came within inches of scoring.

Stinks the Wings didn't score that period. Preds weathered the storm.

All the Swedes look alike to them.