Dabura

HE NOES WUT IT TAKES 2 WIN

I wouldn't say Larkin's the better player, but certainly he's been the team's MVP. I've said it before - I think there's a bit of Jonathan Toews in him. He won't be as good as Toews, but he's that kind of player.

About the game - I was only able to catch the third period. Canada looked like classic Wings puck-possession hockey, US looked like...modern-day Wings hockey. Canada was incredibly dominant. They flat-out owned the puck. It belonged to them. Larkin tho. Holy s***. This is his team; Eichel has not wowed me.

So… Canada is up 3-1 late in regulation. Larkin scores to bring his team within one. Canada scores an empty net goal off a couple DeAngelo screw-ups. Dagger in the heart. Horrribly deflating. Game is over. Larkin scores again to bring his team within one again. Canada scores another empty net goal off another terrible turnover made by another US defenseman. Horribly deflating. Game is over. Larkin, if I’m not mistaken, didn’t see the ice after his second goal. Granted, there were only 45 seconds left, but, I mean, c’mon. He’s singlehandedly given your team a fighting chance, twice, in the span of a few minutes. He was pumped as hell. Give him the chance to net a legendary hat trick. Am I alone in feeling this way?

Kronwall has 5 goals and 16 assists. Zidlicky has 4 goals and 14 assists. Zidlicky isn't exactly ideal, certainly isn't a long-term answer, but he does offer what we need on the back end: offense (great passer and shooter), scoring, a RH shot, power play prowess. And his cap hit's only $3M.

According to Elliotte Friedman, the Wings are (or, might be?) interested in Antoine Vermette. Not sure how that'd work. I guess Helm would be the odd (center)man out...? Or does Juco just get sent down? http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/669378

I keep reading it as John Scott's Butt Ends Tim Jackman's Face.

Kindl or Lashoff. Unlikely they'd go for either of those two, but if they're looking for essentially a third-pairing defenseman who's more than a facepuncher, you've got to at least talk to them.

Glendening is the prototypical fourth-line center of today's NHL. Very limited offensive ability, but - like you said - great in the faceoff circle, great on the defensive side of the puck, and capable of keeping the opposition's best players off the score sheet. It makes sense that he'd see more even strength ice time than usual in a game where we're getting our asses handed to us. Firstly, we're probably going to be taking a lot of d-zone draws. Secondly, you want your big guns out there as much as possible, but you also probably want to keep them away from the line that the opposing coach is trying to match against them, so you try to get your Luke Glendening out against that line and your big guns out against a lesser line. That's probably going to give you your best shot at erasing a deficit. More than anything, though, I think Babcock just trusts Glendening. He knows what he's getting from him every night, he knows he can count on him to play some very tough minutes. He's consistent, reliable, hard-working, doesn't take a shift off. He's a stalwart. When most of your guys are running around like morons (see: tonight), having a Glendening and a Miller can be a really big deal. They can set a better tone. They can help keep the bottom from falling out. Didn't really happen tonight, I guess, but I don't think he was riding his two most offensively challenged forwards because he hates offense or what have you. Mike Babcock knows what he's doing.

Correct. Babcock demands that his wingers sag low in the d-zone and cut off passes between the forwards working low in our end and their defensemen up high at the points. Failing that, our wingers are supposed to get in the defensemen's shooting lanes, otherwise we're gonna see...well, what we saw tonight. Low to high, shot from the point, low to high, shot from the point, low to high, shot from the point. We weren't "cutting off the top," as Babcock calls it. We were chasing, fumbling, huffing and puffing, playing like morons. And the best/worst part? Their wingers did a great job of cutting off the top when we were operating in their end. We generated incredibly little sustained o-zone pressure because they were present and accounted for and using their eyes and ears and brains and sticks and bodies at the half-walls to limit the interplay between our forwards down low and our defensemen up high, and when our defensemen did have possession up high, they were great at blocking lanes and options and fronting shots. They had a plan and they executed it to perfection. We're not playing smart, not playing hungry, not executing, not bearing down for a full 60 minutes. We're phoning it in for the first half-hour then trying to pull some magic out of our collective butt in the third period. That's not winning hockey.

Your supporting evidence being what? Are we being routinely blown out by "Big Physical Teams"? Do the Kings give us all sorts of problems every time we face them? Did the Jets blow us out earlier this year? Was the original kid line of Nyquist-Andersson-Brunner completely ineffective against the Big Physical Ducks a couple years ago? Pretty much every team is bigger than the Wings, pretty much every team is more physical than the Wings - and it means pretty much nothing in terms of competitive (dis)advantages. The Big Physical Bruins have been ravaged by injuries to their Big Physical Players and have struggled. The Big Physical Blue Jackets have been ravaged by injuries to their Big Physical Players and have struggled. The Big Physical Jets have been ravaged by injuries to their Big Physical Players. The Big Physical Kings have been ravaged by injuries to their Big Physical Players. The Big Physical Ducks have have been ravaged by injuries to their Big Physical Players. The Big Physical Flyers are terrible. The Wings are a top-ten team by most measures and are within striking range of first overall, all while having a winning (if limited) record against those Big Physical Western Powers. (Remember when the Kings obliterated us a couple months ago? Neither do I!) If we were halfway decent in the shootout, we'd be right at the top of the standings. And it wouldn't be a fluke, because, by nearly all measures, this is in fact one of the better teams in the league.

Clown shoes on a drunk baby giraffe. That's all I've got. Had Lucic and Bergeron been in the lineup, the Wings probably would've won. This is how it tends to work with the Wings.

Throw it at the net, good things happen. A concept the Wings don't fully grasp...

Larkin gets player of the game honors, again. Larkin has been the team's MVP so far, no question. Leading the way on both sides of the puck.

Larkin with another goal!

Both. Mostly it's the speed; they all have great wheels. But they're different players - Athanasiou being a producer, Larkin a playmaker, Helm a banger.

The Devils may move Jagr.

I just wanted to point this out: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2014/12/29/detroit-red-wings-gustav-nyquist-overtime-goal/20989303/ Maybe the most un-Babcock Babcock quote ever. It's good to know he's right there with everyone else in Wings Nation in terms of the emotional ups and downs. Picture him doing the Macarena in private.

It might just be that he's not feeling right. And, who knows, maybe he helps the fourth line spend a little more time in the o-zone like Jurco's done for them. I don't really have a problem with it. He can still feature on the power play.

No Lucic, no Bergeron. If you read between the lines, Lucic is a healthy scratch. Because Prout. Light 'em up, boys. 9-0.

Imagine a line of Athanasiou-Larkin-Helm. We'd call it...The Fast Forward Line. "Man, this game is really dragging. Press Fast Forward!"

Two goals and an assist for (and some great PKing by) Larkin against Germany. He and Sharipov (German goalie) got players of the game honors. Sharipov was lights-out incredible; Larkin easily could've had a couple more points and the final score could've easily been 12-0.

Word on the street is the Wild might be desperate for a competent depth defenseman. Ballard's absence is hurting them, Prosser/Falk/Folin = meh, Blum hasn't earned a spot, and Dumba needs more time in the minors. Kenny should be all over this.

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2014020515&navid=nhl:topheads Nailed it.

Duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...duck...GOOSE!!!