Dabura

Pouliot scores. Sabres lead 1-0. We are playing like garbage again.

twss?

It's so boring. Wings to the PK. Larkin's second slashing penalty of the night.

Two bad teams playing bad hockey.

Sabres' power play looks awful. Glendening with a big hit.

Oh snap, I'd completely forgotten! Lemme check it out now...

May not be able to watch this one. Comcast is being s***, as usual. I hate these NBC games.

HYPE! Prediction: Frk scores two goals.

I wonder if Svechbro's injury will hurt his stock. Maybe he slides a bit. That could be big for us.

I mean...yeah? I mean...yeah? I mean...yeah? I won't throw my lot in with everyone who's ever said it, because I agree that many of the people in question aren't making robust, coherent arguments and that they just like to complain for the sake of complaining and will always find something to complain about. (I can speak from experience; I like complaining about the Wings for the sake of complaining about the Wings. It's cathartic and it's a nice, comfy way to kill some time.) If your point is "Fans are silly," well, you're not wrong. Fans are dumb. It's a truism. However, I'm not going to agree with you that "DO SOMETHING!" is not at all justified. You can tell me about how hindsight is 20/20. You can tell me about how we didn't know Smith, Sproul, Kindl, et al. wouldn't become cornerstone defensemen. You can tell me about how in an alternate timeline we sign Ryan Suter and win the Cup in 2013. You can tell me about how making trades for the sake of making trades is a stupid man's game. You can tell me about how people who look for things to complain about will always find something to complain about. That's all well and good. I won't dispute any of it. But I can be mostly on-board with what you're saying while at the same time maintaining that Holland really should've traded for a defenseman or two by now. I'm not pushing a radical notion here. I didn't start clamoring for a big trade only when it became clear that the Cup window had closed. I've been saying we should make a big trade right from the moment I learned Rafalski was retiring, when we were still a legitimate Cup contender. I had wanted Brent Burns. I didn't want to count on Suter signing with us. I didn't want to count on "Kronwall-???" being anything more than a stopgap first pairing. I've always believed trading was the way to go. If I'm guilty of anything, it's being too focused on winning one more Cup before the Cup window unequivocally closed. We could see the overall decline on the horizon as far back as 2011, but until somewhat recently I was of the opinion that a big trade or two could keep us in the hunt. I'm fine with drafting and developing. I'm fine with not making trades left and right. But Holland has gone out of his way to avoid trading roster players, and that bothers me. Our D situation has steadily degraded since losing Rafalski and Lidstrom and all along the way I've been saying, "Y'know, a trade might not be the worst idea in the world, especially if we're genuinely trying to remain truly competitive and genuinely trying to avoid a long rebuild." But, alas... "We lost Rafalski, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "We lost Lidstrom, but it's alright, we'll thinking of something." "Kronwall isn't an ideal 1D and Smith and Kindl aren't really panning out like we'd hoped they would, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Not one of our prospects has become a solid top-three NHL defenseman, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Kronwall's not getting any younger, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "It's looking like DeKeyser is probably nothing more than a second-pairing defenseman, but it's alright, we'll think of something." "Kronwall has no cartilage in his knee, but it's alright, we'll let him play 20 minutes a night. We need him." And now we're back to "We have some prospects, it's alright, we can kick the can down the road." I don't like that it's gotten to this point. I don't think bringing in a Haydn Fleury and/or a Jared Spurgeon would radically alter our fortunes, but at least we'd be helping our D situation. Having a more capable back end could at least clear up the picture a bit. The way things stand right now, we look like a team that's going to have to suck for a long time (if we're being brutally honest). But what if we flip some non-essential pieces for a couple of talented defensemen and the addition of those defensemen makes the team measurably better? Maybe our breakouts improve and our transition game improves and our power play improves and our shot attempts increase and our forwards start scoring more goals and we discover that we actually have a very capable forward group? And maybe the trade value of several of our forwards increases and that opens up a world of possibilities? Maybe Howard and Mrazek start looking like all-stars because we're spending less time in our zone? It might not play out that way, but at least we'd have a better sense of where we are and what we have. I don't think sticking with what we have is doing us much good, aside from helping us flirt with lottery territory.

I should add that I'm ok with waiting it out and letting things play out for the next few years. I've kind of accepted that that's likely how it's gonna be. If it means stockpiling assets to the ceiling, including a handful of sexy first-round selections (assuming we're a basement team for the next few years), then, sure, let it happen. I'd still like a trade or two, though.

More than anything, it's the inaction on the trade front, in the face of a slow and dispiriting decline, that has soured people. Swinging a trade for a really good defenseman doesn't necessarily fix the team and it probably doesn't stave off the overall decline, and maybe the trade backfires and blows up in the organization's collective face. But, personally, I feel we've reached the point of ridiculousness re: not adequately addressing the elephant in the room. "DO SOMETHING!" is not an intellectualy compelling demand, but at this point I think Wings fans are justified in voicing it, even if they don't all grasp the complexity of the Wings' situation and the pros and cons of trading x package for x defenseman. The Detroit Red Wings are in a hole. Maybe we were always going to end up in this hole, regardless of how many trades Holland did(n't) make. But I think we could've at least prevented the hole from getting as deep as it is. That's in the past, though. In the here and now, I think we have enough forward assets that we can acquire a player or two that could immediately improve our situation in a significant way without dealing a huge blow to our forward depth. We need help on D. If Holland is genuinely aiming to pull of a successful rebuild-on-the-fly, something's gonna have to give. One of Hronek, Cholowski, Saarijarvi could become a cornerstone defenseman, but I wouldn't count on it. We could get lucky and land Dahlin, but I wouldn't count on it. We're not getting Doughty or Karlsson in 2019, just like we didn't get Suter in 2012 and just like we didn't get Stamkos last year and just like we won't get Tavares next year. Maybe it's time for a significant trade or two. There are worse things Holland could do.

It's both; the two aren't mutually exclusive.

I vented. I feel better now.

So far this season I actually haven't had much to complain about re: Blashill's coaching and decision-making. Tonight was the first game of the season where I felt like the other coach just straight-up owned his ass. Travis Green had a clear gameplan and the team executed it extremely effectively. We had no answer. I think this loss falls mostly on the players' shoulders, but the lack of in-game adjustments was baffling. We came out of the second intermission playing the exact same game that had put us in a hole in the second period and Blashill didn't seem to give a f***. He and the players were totally outclassed tonight and they all took it lying down. Every single play that Z made with the puck tonight was a forced, low-percentage play. Brutal. Just brutal.

He's a 4D that we need to be more than a 4D because we don't have anything resembling a true 1D. I'm just saying there will probably be puff pieces written about how DeKeyser is a stabilizing presence on our blue line and how we desperately need him back, all when everyone -- including the Khans and St. Jameses who get paid to be mouthpieces for the organization -- knows we have one of the very worst D groups in the league even when DeKeyser is in the lineup. And it continues to piss me off that things have gotten this bad. tl;dr Our defense sucks and it's depressing as hell that, after five years of no Lidstrom and no Rafalski, this is the best that Holland could scrape together.

Ouellet had another costly turnover tonight and Green looked drunk and none of the defensemen were good -- but the Canucks exploited the bejesus out of Kronwall and Ericsson tonight. I'm sorry, but you can't have Kronwall and Ericssson in the top four, and you can't give Kronwall -- who literally has no cartilage in one of his knees -- first-pairing minutes. And when Kronwall is pinching and pressing all over the place and it keeps resulting in odd-man rushes and you don't force him to cut that s*** out, you are bad at your job. "This shows how important DeKeyser is to this Red Wings team" will be the storyline, and it's true...to an extent. He's important because he takes some minutes away from Kronwall. Bring up Hicketts. If there's no space, make space. This D group needs to not be a thing anymore. Not that I'm surprised by the results, mind you. Just saying.

Awful, awful game. One of the worst efforts in recent memory. Everyone was bad, no one was good. Travis Green coached Blashill into the ground.

People paid money to see this game.

Wings to the PK.

Starting the period with the fourth line, when you have last change. Great idea.

Bottom line: the Wings didn't come to play tonight. They straight-up thought they could take the night off and get away with it. And Blashill has made zero in-game system adjustments to counter the obvious ways in which the Canucks are taking advantage of us. Absolutely pathetic.

Because he's from Michigan and he knows DeKeyser.