Dabura

I don't think it's necessarily that people are living in the past. I think it's more that our team has been neutered and forced to go without an easy fix to a potentially crippling weakness, which just adds more fuel to the our-team-has-been-poorly-managed fire.

Agreed.

Cleary is worse. But Quincey has a much bigger role. You can get away with one of your fourth-line scrubs being, well, a fourth-line scrub. It's much harder to get by with a problem player in your top four. And it's even harder when you've got both.

But I go on these big rants, and then I think, "Maybe I'm just overthinking things. Maybe I'm not giving nearly enough credit to Ken Holland and the Wings organization. (I know I'm not.)" Maybe if Kyle Quincey isn't on our team this season, we have a winning record at the 25-game mark and no one's talking about the possible demise of the Detroit Red Wings.

It's a good point. Personally, I could live without about half the guys on this roster, maybe more. There's so much dead weight, and/or profound underachievers (e.g. Kindl). You know, it's weird. We don't think of Babs and Holland (mostly the latter, because he builds the team) as risk-takers, and yet, if you look at our team, on paper...it's like, our core + ...a big black hole. Point being, if anything, maybe there's been too much risk? Going with too many guys who would need to play to their maximum potential for us to even get a whiff of the Conference Finals (which is basically what happened last season. A lot of overachieving. Which was great, but probably not sustainable.)

I think what really kills me is how good our last Cup-winning team was. And it wasn't because we'd gotten lucky in the draft or signed 80 all-star UFAs. It was just a really, really well-built team. There was a guiding vision and a strong identity, like frank talked about. We had everything you'd need to beat any team in a best-of-seven series: tons of skill, tons of (*high-quality*) sandpaper, a great goalie tandem, and a brilliant, hungry coach who felt he had something to prove. How could The Powers That Be (Ken Holland) let things get so far away from that? What happened to just being super-smart and shrewd, as opposed to bloated and complacent? I mean, when Holland says, "You've just gotta make it into the playoffs, then anybody can win it"...does he honestly believe that? And don't point to LA. I hate it when people do that. Yes, they came in as an 8th seed, but that was a damn good team. And, interestingly enough, you know how their Powers That Be made it so damn good? They took an honest, sober look at the team and said, "You know what? We need to make changes." And that's what they did. They seriously addressed their weaknesses, and it paid off in the biggest of ways. They didn't say, "Hey, we're the LA Kings. No one even thought we'd make it this far. We're ahead of schedule. Let's just be happy about that and see where things go from there. Then, if it looks like we need to make changes, we'll make changes, provided we can find a dance partner who's willing to work with us. Because, you know, there's no Hockey Store. Derp." They didn't say that. They were highly objective. So you say, "OK, fine. You wish Holland had done things differently. What would you have done differently, since you're so smart?" Firstly, I'm not saying I'm so smart. I'm not saying I'd be a better GM than Ken Holland. We seriously take for granted what it takes to do the job he does. But, at the same time, we're a proud, winning organization...and now we're flopping about like a fish out of water on the deck of a boat. And I've gotta think Mr. I would say that's unacceptable, even if it is somewhat understandable. (No GM is going to be able to ice a legitimate contender every season. Doesn't work that way. We all know this.) The big thorn in my side, the thing I always find myself coming back to, is Lidstrom's departure. It's crystal clear now that he wasn't just a legendary player for this team and organization - he was this team and organization, at least post-Yzerman. And, as far as I can tell, Holland just flat-out dropped the ball on the Nick-will-be-retiring-any-season-now-and-we're-gonna-have-to-be-more-than-ready front. Like, I get not being able to replace #5. But, holy crap, man, give us a better safety cushion than...um...nothing?! (OK, fine - Carlo Colaiacovo and Kyle Quincey.) And that's saying nothing of Stuart and Rafalski. We lose Stuart, Lidstrom, Rafalski, and...well, look at our friggin' blue line! What the hell happened there?! But I could go on for days. /weekly rant

Good stuff, frank.

Well, he used The Words ("the protocol"), so it looks like that's exactly what it is. And, really, for Dats to say he feels...fuzzy (if that is indeed what he was going for)...it's the right call. Maybe someone steps up in his absence. (Stop laughing! It could happen!)

Good thing it's Buffalo. (Nah, we're gonna lose.)

OK, we'll just stick with the 9,000 other incidents. At this point I'm ready to blame him for my kidney stones.

Like I said, we were playing very well before the Sens' first goal, which was his fault, and which took the wind out of our sails. Do we have problems? Yes. Is Quincey arguably our biggest one? Yes.

We were playing so well, maybe the best we've played all season. Then, boom, Quincey. And we never really recovered. He's our opposition's best friend, every. freaking. game.

And Kyle Quincey costs us another game. The worst part about it, beyond the whole losing games and points thing, is that no team will want any part of him, whether through a trade or the waiver wire. 3,775,000 cap hit. Brutal.

We are gonna meet these Sens in the first round. And they are going to rock us into oblivion. Deep in your heart, you know it to be true.

"Our power play is our enforcer." (Too soon?)

Because they play us hard, and we tense up and get all worried that we might lose to a team with a losing record on home ice, and then we lose to a team with a losing record on home ice. Also, we suck. Hard.

Kyle Quincey blew this game.

I really wish we could just, y'know, stop being bad.

How many points has Quincey cost us this season? Fancy stats people, get on this.

I'm totally ok with losing this game. I've accepted that we're gonna lose in the first round. This team sucks.

I hate Kyle Quincey.

Wasn't talking about going deep into the playoffs. That'd be pretty hard to do in November.

I was referring to the draft. You're taking issue with people giving Nill undue credit, but then you give Holland all the credit for our drafting, when Nill had a pretty big hand it. Again, just sayin'.

Neil's in a whole different universe. So: much props.

Jim Nill hates you. Just sayin'.