Dabura

Anxiety issues can be debilitating. I don't want to "take the ball and run with it," but a flare-up or (re)lapse of some kind, maybe compounded by the flu or an upper-body injury, seems plausible to me. Because we know for a fact that he has struggled with anxiety in the past.

I'm not saying Holland is a terrible GM. I just think he's full of s***. Always these tired lines about parity, homegrown talent, looking for a dance partner, blah blah blah. Dude, you're (supposed to be) The Best GM in Hockey. Shut up and make some magic. That's what you get paid to do, not make excuses and twiddle your thumbs because, gee golly gosh, there's just SO MUCH PARITY! Our forward corps is garbage, and our blue line really isn't much better. We're not even close to serious Cup contention. We can't even score! Maybe that'd be good enough for, say, the Washington Capitals - but not the Detroit Red Wings. It's embarrassing. We should be ripping the Eastern Conference to pieces. Instead, we're super-ok with what can, at very best, be called middling mediocrity. It's been 19 games. We're looking at another first/second-round exit. No, that's not acceptable, and no, we shouldn't be happy just to be making the playoffs. We're the Detroit Red Wings. We win Cups, not moral victories. /weekly rant

http://www.downgoesbrown.com/2013/01/nhl-goal-celebrations.html

(Don't drink the water.) Babs seems genuinely clueless these days. I really have to wonder if his troops aren't starting to tune him out. But, hey, sort of good news: we're tied for second place in the East! Here's the breakdown: http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?navid=nav-stn-main# Obviously the big thing is games in hand - we've played more games than all of our immediate competitors, except for the Caps.

This is, I think, the first time I've seen the poops referred to as well, "the poops." I laughed, and now I feel like a seven-year-old. Thank you for bringing out my inner child.

It just occurred to me: pretty much every one of our forwards not named Datsyuk or Zetterberg, and maybe Alfredsson, could be considered a bottom-six forward. Meaning: our top-six blows. Which I guess we already knew, but yeah.

Evander Kane was scratched on the night the Jets destroyed us. David Clarkson missed the first ten games, nearly all of which the Leafs won. There are more examples but I can't remember them right now - the point is, sometimes less can be more. I fear Babs is senile.

Kenny is full of s***.

How many OT games have the Sharks lost? I'm looking for anything to make me feel better about our clearly crap-ass "team."

Maybe Babs should scratch Datsyuk and Zetterberg. Force the other guys to do something.

We're not even mediocre. I wouldn't trust this team to score a single goal against the Sabres or Panthers, let alone beat them.

We suck. But we REALLY suck at home. Which I don't understand. But it's pretty obvious that we're one of those road teams this season.

While I'm definitely in favor of sitting Cleary, this whole "We need more secondary scoring, and Cleary isn't contributing at the level we need him to" business rings hollow for me. Like, Babs is only now realizing that Cleary is basically a glorified enforcer (who doesn't intimidate, never mind fight and enforce)? The guy can barely get through a shift without falling down - and when he's on his skates, he's one of the slowest players in the league. And these aren't new issues, nor is it hard for even the casual fan to notice them. (My dad, an extremely casual fan, calls Cleary "Mr. Tar Pit.") It just strikes me as a very convenient "statement" meant to give the appearance of a "shake-up," when, in reality, you're sitting a borderline fourth-liner who was re-signed for "veteran leadership" and sentimentality, not point production. But maybe I'm being too critical. Maybe Babs' head really has been so far up Cleary's butt that he really is only now realizing his FAVORITEST PLAYER EVAR is not a top-six scoring winger. If so...yikes.

And Helm is much more physical, gritty.

I hate the guy, but he is without question one of the best defensemen of his generation. He threw crappy teams on his back and carried them to greatness. Had he been a Red Wing, and paired with #5, we would've been an unequivocal, balls-to-the-walls Dynasty.

Nyquist is also ridiculously quick and speedy. We basically don't have a second line, period.

If we lose, Cleary will spend the rest of the season on the first line.

Was monstrous for us in his prime, and was scoring 40 goals for us even when he was "washed up." A very special player. We need a Coffey trade 2.0 in the worst way. This team needs teeth.

He may be the most injury-prone player in NHL history. But I do like him, as a player and a person, and I do think the buyout was kinda bull. I get the sense that Ian White is kinda hard to work with. Which would be one thing if he were really good, but he's not. #5's departure exposed him, IMHO. I don't see the Blues winning the Cup this season, but sometimes I catch myself half-wishing Hitchcock was the guy behind our bench.

I'm going with anxiety.

Doing some catch-up reading. Just wanted to point this out: http://www.freep.com/article/20131111/SPORTS05/311110023

Ouch. Sorry about that. Duuuuuude, Bob Rouse keeps randomly (or not randomly) showing up in pages I read on the interwebz. WTF?!

What I don't like about Cleary this season is that he knows he's got nothing left. You can see it on his face every time FS-D shows him making his way back to the bench. (They're doing it a lot this season.) And I firmly believe it's why he had his "existential crisis" and didn't try out for the Flyers. He knows that any other coach in the league would probably laugh at him. Literally, laugh at him. I know a man has to provide for his family and everything, but we all know there's a very well-paying job waiting for him in the front office. That's where he'd best serve the team and organization, IMHO.

Thanks, ET. Who did we lose to on the 19th again?

Neither have I, friend. Neither have I. Franzen - Helm - Cleary? Looks good, on paper. Definitely a Mike Babcock line (playmaker = Franzen, goal scorer = Alfie, sandpaper = Helm).