haroldsnepsts

Hudler and a bag of pucks for Kopitar? Please?

That's another one Quick wants back, but I'll take it.

Dats! Off Quick and in.

This is the part of the game where Doughty tries to be Bobby Orr, and often ends up looking more like Lebda. Extremely talented player but sometimes guilty of trying to do it all himself.

good lord. Kindl and Stuart manage to leave Brown alone in the slot.

Smith with 16 shifts and 10:10 TOI to Kindl's 8:11. He keeps playing like this, Kindl's obsolescence may come sooner than I thought. Kopi is a stud in the way Zetterberg used to be.

Honestly I think their color guy Jim Fox is less of a homer than Mick is.

Yeah, Quick wants that one back. Still, love the speed and confidence from Abby to take that shot.

Crap. Smith with the stick between the legs. And Brown is not known for staying on his feet in those situations.

Damn. Ericsson off the post!

Kronner wide open. Nice PP goal!

It's very early yet, but if Smith does keep performing and works himself into the lineup, he could make Kindl expendable.

Yeah. Bad first period for Kindl. He looked a bit rattled by the King's forecheck.

I think Jimmy saved that shot from Brown with his leg.

Agreed. I can see using Hudler on the PP but he's much more effective down low. Him being at the point is a terrible idea, and that goal was the perfect example why. Ahh, welcome back bert. How many shifts before your first bad penalty?

Dats got the goal, but that shows exactly what Homer provides. He had Mitchell and Quick so tied up in front that Dat's little backhand flipper could get by.

Gee, what's the downside of having Hudler on the point for the PP?

I don't think anyone is ragging on Drew Miller. I like Miller. But with Eaves and other similar players in the lineup, it seems like the Wings could've used someone who brought other qualities in his roster spot.

Maybe when Zetterberg sees Kopitar play, he'll remember how he used to look out there. Kings are my second favorite team. Key word being second. Still, they've got a lot more offensive talent with Richards and Gagne in the lineup. For those who want to trade for Penner, take a good look today. We already have an underperforming huge but not very physical winger, and at a much cheaper price. EDIT: I forgot Penner is out with an injured hand. He's so easy not to notice even when he is in the lineup. There was a stretch where Bert and Franzen actually had chemistry. I had forgotten about that until you mentioned it. Hopefully it will return very soon.

Re-signing Miller was the big head scratcher to me once they signed Eaves. Why not go get a bottom six guy who provides something different other than a nearly identical player?

Exactly. With 7 goals in 14 games it might not seem like it to him right now, but goals are hard to come by in the NHL. He just learned the hard way that you need to just put it away and not get cute. And it is scary, if he were on the Wings he'd be second in goal scoring behind Franzen and tied with Flip for second in points.

I was actually just quoting you, pointing out your hypocrisy. Apparently negativity and player bashing is acceptable when it's someone you don't like. I'm touched that you went and dug up my old posts though. It's good to know my hard work doesn't go unnoticed. Yes he was. Watch the replay. Vlasic wasn't his man. He helped out Helm, then went over to the slot and was watching Desjardin and Murray. He shouldn't have gone to the left side of the net because Helm was covering that, ineffectively. Like I said, Ericsson was about #4 on the list of responsibility for that goal. Helm got overpowered inthe corner, Hudler and Smith looked confused as to who had who, Hudler lets Vlasic skate away unchecked behind the net, then Helm didn't cover the left side of the net well. For Ericsson to be at the left side of the net he would've run into Helm, been guilty of running around in his own end, and left two players wide open in the slot. It wasn't his responsibility. I'd put Hudler most at fault, for peeling off his coverage of Vlasic, I'm guessing because he thought Smith would pick him up. Still, he shouldn't have let the puck carrier go unchecked behind the Wings net. It was lazy defensive play on his part.

Big and lazy is worse?? Not sure I follow your reasoning. At least when Franzen decides to play he uses his size as an asset. And trading one lazy player for another doesn't sound like a great idea to fix this team. As stated above, Semin is talented but has a questionable compete level. That's the last thing this team needs. Here's just the latest example:

I guess I could see that. But he curls off so late, Jimmy was already pretty much back in the net. It just seemed like such a late reaction from Kronner. As for Datsyuk, I agree. It's so surprising that he would blow coverage like that. This looks like a team who doesn't trust one another. A team without a system they believe in.

An enforcer won't do anything, but size is definitely a factor. I think the Wings do get dominated physically by the Sharks. They're a big, strong team. On the Vlasic goal for example, Helm just couldn't handle Winchester and got overpowered by him time and time again. The Wings have a few big men, but the forwards sure don't play like it (Bert and Mule), and the defense is trying to learn to play that way, but still isn't very good at it (Kindl, Ericsson). Being outsized didn't matter as much in the past because the Wings could outskill the opponent, but they don't have the kind of talent to pull that off anymore apparently.