haroldsnepsts

Exactly. He didn't have Selanne either and the Niedermayer he had was Rob, not Scott. When you look down the roster it's surprising how average that Ducks team was, other than Giguere.

I wouldn't say Quenneville is a wash with Babcock. He has more Cups but with two powerhouse teams. Babcock has been to the finals three times with very different teams. There's no way I'd want Quenneville over Babs. I think Tippet is a good coach, evidenced by what he's done in Phoenix. But he was an assistant with the Kings, not head coach. And it was in 2002, well before their ascent. The coaches most responsible for the Kings turnaround were Terry Murray and Darryl Sutter. If forced to pick a coach other than Babcock I'd definitely go with Tippet or Trotz before Quenneville.

This is promising: Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive22m DeKeyser at the left point on 2nd power play unit with Eaves at right point. Could be DeKeyser is ready to play and Kindl may be scratched?

He did soften on his statements about his hometown later in the week. http://espn.go.com/boston/nhl/story/_/id/10161478/milan-lucic-boston-bruins-softens-proud-vancouver Until this incident I hadn't heard the stories about his grandparents being harassed and his church getting vandalized. I realize it's not the whole fan base, but based on my personal experience with them at games, on the internet, and the crap like this that you read about in the news, Vancouver fans are the worst. It's too bad because the Canucks were one of my favorite teams growing up.

Per Khan, he is skating. Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive22m Nyquist, Helm and Zetterberg skating today at Wings practice. Franzen and Howard not on the ice. Ansar Khan ‏@AnsarKhanMLive20m Based on the way they're skating it looks like Helm might be ready to play Saturday in Toronto but not Nyquist.

Others have already pointed out the sound evidence that Babcock is one of if not the best coaches in the league. And that's what it comes down to for me. In terms of replacing him, I don't think there's a clear candidate that's better. Holland has been the most disappointing these last few seasons, not Babcock.

So glad the Wings won. Alfie was buzzing all night so it's not surprising he got the winner. When Kronner was applauding the fans after the game, I wish there was a way he could've directed at only the upper bowl. The number of empty seats in the lower bowl is beyond ridiculous.

The reality is though that had Schenn not been so lucky and gotten a concussion, Wilson would've been suspended because it looks bad otherwise. Same hit with a different outcome, very different punishment. The league's policy of basing suspensions heavily on injury (or lack thereof) is idiotic.

I'm happy he was suspended but if that warrants 5 games then Neal should have been at least 8. engelland was at least trying to make a hockey play as opposed to intentionally kneeing someone in the head.

I don't think Getzlaf pulled a Couture and threw himself into the boards. But it did look like a pretty flukey thing.

I don't know if it's actually true but it seems like injuries are up across the league. Last season I thought it was because of the lockout shortened season. But like Mick said last night, there's more and more people thinking the game has gotten too fast and that's what's causing so many injuries these last few years.

Have players even been complaining about the NHL not doing anything? I've heard plenty of fans complain but seems like most players stay pretty tight lipped regarding suspension policies. As for the hit I'm watching on my phone so it's hard to tell but it looks like charging and boarding even without Schenn turning at the end. Not sure how Schenn didn't see it coming though. He had his head up until the end. Edit: wondering if I mistook the OP's point. I thought you were implying it was Schenn's fault. But now wonder if you're saying it's players doing it to each other. If it's the latter then my answer is because there will always be POS players willing to injure guys to keep their spot in the lineup and POS GM's and coaches willing to sign and play them. See: Matt Cooke and Raffi Torres. (just realized when I use tapatalk my posts are basically one long paragraph, regardless of how it looks on my phone)

Agreed. Though I will say a couple of those goals Monster probably should've had. Ultimately it wouldn't have made a difference because the team was soundly outplayed by a physical, great cycling team in the Ducks. But it would have at least made for a less humiliating stretch in the first period if Monster came up big on one of those. And I know this won't be a popular opinion but at this point I'd take Quincey over Kindl, just lower Q's minutes. Instead of being the stabilizing force the Wings need from a more experienced guys, games like this just highlight Kindl's weaknesses. I want to scream at the tv every time he needlessly lobs the puck out to center ice instead of waiting two seconds to make the outlet pass.

He's definitely made some surprisingly bad defensive plays compared to his usual level. Getting beat positionally several times since he's been back. It's strange to see.

Nice save on the breakaway.

Someone should break their stick on Gudas with a good cross check just so the game isn't a total loss.

Replay shows Dats getting beat positionally and then outmuscled on the second goal. Crazy.

I'm not sure exactly what happened but it's another example of a total breakdown on what should've been a routine exit of the zone.

This team has so few finishers it's sad. They find so many ways to almost score it's maddening.

It wasn't a great giveaway but it was a suicide pass from Kindl that caused it. He layed a nice slow juicy pass there.

To be clear, I don't think Kindl is near the top of this team's woes. My beef with him is basically the same as it has been. He's way to easily intimidated and pushed around for a guy as big as he is. And he has the skillset to be much better a player. I mentioned his assists on the PP because I'd venture to guess half of his assists are secondary, and those are even easier to pick up when you get as much PP time as he does. One of the few places Kindl had excelled was on the PP, particularly at getting shots through to the net, but he seems to have regressed there too lately.

I'm guessing the Wings didn't sign Kindl to a $2.4 million 4-year contract because they were content with him being a bottom pairing guy who picks up some points. I'm certainly not happy with Quincey's play but he's asked to do more than Kindl. I'd put them about even at bad play when you factor in how much more Kindl is protected out there. And as I said, Smith is a rookie. This is his first full season in the NHL. Offensive defenseman aren't supposed to be responsible defensively? I'm not asking him to be Nick Lidstrom. I'd just hope he didn't still shy away from being hit and make rookie mistakes. I couldn't disagree more that he should get a free pass just because he's put up 10 points, 5 of which are PP assists. If the Wings defense were set and all Kindl was ever supposed to be was a bottom pairing plug, I'd be pretty okay with it. But they're a young defensive corps that needs guys to step up and he continues to play like a rookie that's 5'10" and 175 lbs instead of a veteran who's 6'3" and 216 lbs (2nd biggest on defense to Ericsson).

I agree that confirmation bias can happen. Like it does with Cleary, Smith, and pretty much any player someone here doesn't like, but you're going way too easy on Kindl. I pointed out Datsyuk getting undressed in the GDT, as did a few other people. But it is a pretty rare event. Kindl shying away from going into a corner to retrieve a puck however, is not. When Dats and Z aren't scoring, they're still busting their ass out there. When Franzen isn't scoring it's often because he looks like he can't wait to get back to the bench. It's been said over and over here but Franzen defenders seem to ignore the distinction being made. With Mule it's not the lack of scoring, it's the stretches where there's a total lack of effort. Kindl's not supposed to be good defensively? He's a 26 year old first round pick originally pegged to be a top pairing guy. In his 4th year in the league he's a bottom pairing D man who still plays like a rookie. His biggest offensive move is to pull a Lebda, carry the puck up ice with speed and then at the slightest bit of pressure, drop pass it to someone like a hot potato. On track to score 30 points is a projection that overlooks he's also on track to be -15. For all the grief Q gets for his plus minus, Kindl is only 4 behind him. And Quincey is second only to Ericsson in even strength minutes, whereas Kindl is 2nd only to Kronwall in PP minutes. Which is why 5 of his 10 points are PP assists. Compared to the grief Smith gets for playing like the actual rookie that he is, if anything Kindl has gotten off easy.

I don't get it either. I'd rather see him try one of his patented moves and get stopped than the lame things he's been trying lately.

I had almost forgotten about the last Tampa game and they had to show the game winner. Quincey getting easily knocked off the puck and Kindl inexplicably leaving the front of the net wide open and following Q behind it. So painful.