haroldsnepsts

oh, the 15 games he played in '09 between Dallas and Montreal? That changes everything. I bet you couldn't name where he played before that without looking. Ericsson maybe isn't the best guy for the 6th spot, but Janik has done little to prove he is either. He just looks better because we didn't see as much of him and he was asked to do a lot less.

Janik played 13 games for Detroit, averaging thirteen and a half minutes a game. So your opinion is based on 175 minutes of hockey. Ericsson was called upon last season to play an average of 16:42 minutes per game, for 62 games. 1,035 minutes last season alone. Not exactly the same thing. Plus Ericsson was used on the PK, and Janik never played a second on it. Remember what a stud Ericsson looked like for those few playoff games? You need a bigger sample to really say that Janik would make less turnovers and that it's an obvious choice. If it's so obvious, why is he waived? Why was he behind Ericsson, who was playing poorly, Lebda, Meech, etc? It's like how everyone loves the backup goalie when he comes in halfway through a game and plays great for 26 minutes. Suddenly he should be the starter.

Exactly. I hadn't heard anything that gave me the impression the Wings thought he was washed up. It sounded like Lillypads wanted more money and more playing time. But he was asking for those things at an odd time considering he is still coming back from a long layoff from the concussion. I can understand wanting some job security, but it seems like the better route might have been to take a short term contract to prove himself again post-concussion. And I have to say, it's amusing to see how much support Lilja gets these days considering his first couple seasons he was getting the same crap Ericsson is now, if not worse.

Strange how Holland keeps waiving Janik then. Wonder why that is? And don't forget last season he was behind Ericsson (even as poorly as he was playing), Lebda, and Meech in the lineup. Don't get me wrong, Janik was great as a plug, but unless he makes some major transformation as a 30 year old, that's about all he is at the NHL level. Which is why it's unlikely he'll get picked up off waivers.

Cammaleri got a game, now I wonder if the Boogeyman will get anything. I guess this kind of play is what makes him worth a 4 year contract for 1.65 mill. http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2010-10-03/rangers-boogaard-to-draw-nhl-discipline-review classy move Derek!

Sorry if this has been posted already, but according to McKenzie he's been put on waivers. http://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie Ah, just saw Mac Attack had it. At least I provided the link.

"Prone to frustrating, untimely giveaways coming out of the defensive zone ... Decision-making and hockey sense continues to be a concern ... Struggles with inconsistency ... Despite excellent size, isn't the imposing physical force that he could be. " Sound like anyone we know? that's not about Ericsson, that's Kindl's description from Red Wings Central. "At times, he over-thinks things with the puck on his stick. Jakub needs to make better decisions with the puck on a more consistent basis. There are some games where he's fantastic and other games where he over-handles it and over-thinks it." — McNamara (March 2010). Everyone here who's so high on Kindl needs to check out what his biggest weakness has been in the AHL. He's turnover prone and still makes inexplicable decisions at times. Hopefully that'll improve at the NHL level, but there's likely going to be some growing pains with him too. Hopefully his presence will push Ericsson and at least one of the two will sort it out and start playing like an NHL defenseman.

Lillypads was pretty awful with the brainfarts when he got here too, even for a seasoned bottom pairing guy. They need to give Ericsson whatever they gave Lilja that finally convinced him to keep it simple and use his size more.

I overlooked that you said "6th." Is that really that mindboggling? You may have been kidding, but you're spot on. Without the minuses, the doom and gloom returns...

Those are just blanket statements, not actually facts. By your criteria we should get rid of Lidstrom and Rafalski as well because they don't meet both criteria. This. Thank god the season is finally starting!!

I don't think I said you shouldn't be disappointed. It'd be easier to be hopeful had he played like a stud this preseason. I get that. But I think there's a lot of leeway between not being hopeful and making him the whipping boy. Not saying you have specifically, but if you cruise back through the thread you can see it's clearly happening already. Take for example the post above mine right here. People are already calling for Janik or Kindl. I think Janik played well as a plug, but there's probably also a reason he's never really caught on in the NHL. And this is all happening before E takes one shift of the regular season.

I stopped reading after this line because you clearly haven't read any of my posts or are intentionally ignoring any of the points I've made several times in this thread. So there's really no reason to bother reading yours as I'm guessing you're refuting the fictional argument you've invented for me.

which could just as easily mean he's trying to do too much. Ericsson is a converted forward with relatively little experience. It's quite possible he could never turn into a solid NHL defenseman. My gut is he'll still turn out to be an improvement over Lebda this season, if only for versatility, and there's the hope he'll develop into something more. But who knows.

Of course it would instill more confidence if he's looked good. But there becomes this pack mentality, where people start criticizing him for every little thing. "did you see how ericsson jumped on the ice! lmfao! Errorson!" Like I said, this isn't the real teams or the real opponents. It'd be nice if he looked like he had it together out there, but I plan to see what he does in games that count with his actual defensive pairings.

yup. Did you notice how there was the word preseason in your question? He hasn't looked great, but I'd rather he make stupid mistakes like he just did with Malkin here in the preseason, so hopefully he learns from that mistake and doesn't do it in the regular season. Basically it doesn't mean much to me how guys look in the preseason because it's just that. The games mean nothing and it's not the real lineups. Most teams and coaches are in experimental mode. So call me crazy, but I plan to wait until the regular season to see how he's doing before I start blaming him for everything.

Seriously, it's not even the regular season and ericsson is already the whipping boy and we're back to Osbad. This place is so pathetic sometimes.

It's a nice thought, but apparently too late. Glance at a few threads around here and you can see that Ericsson has been anointed as the new whipping boy, even before one minute of the regular season has been played. Salei seems like a good pairing. Hopefully it'll help E get his game together and play more physical.

Who was that who gave Ericsson the sucker pass from behind the net? Then he rushes and puts it on Malkins stick. ouch.

Kunitz slew footed Flip (I think it was), and Franzen came over and went after him a bit, Kunitz backed down. matching penalties. Homer took a slashing penalty and was pissed. threw a towel in the penalty box, then got 10 minutes and a game, I think.

With an 82 game season, it wouldn't hurt to shorten the preseason by about 3 games.

wow. what a slew foot there.

It'll be interesting to see, because he's more talented than Ozzy and has the potential to be great. But Ozzy is a lot more consistent. I think Ozzy outplayed Fleury in both Cup finals, especially the first one.

Don't forget LeClaire. Hopefully Ozzy will get it together and be able to pick up 35 games or so.

He would've had to be the worst in the league last year for that to be possible. But to recap, it looks like a close race between Ozzy and Ericsson so far as who will be the LGW whipping boy this season.

I have to wonder if Fleury will live up to his potential or if he's going to remain a talented but inconsistent goalie.