datsyukismyfriend

that's the problem. things didn't look better before they left. there was a five or six game stretch in december where this team somewhat resembled a stanely cup champion. other than that, by and large (even with everybody healthy) this team has in no way resembled a stanely cup champion. they've been skirting by on an overabundance of offensive talent. that's it. with slightly less firepower, this team would be fighting for a playoff spot. all the one goal games, all the last minute heroics, it's all lack of effort. with our talent, most nights, we should be slaughtering teams. it's painfully evident, however, that wings rarely want to win more than the team lining up against them. they almost never work harder, play harder, etc. 50 games into the season and this hasn't changed. it's not habit anymore, it's simply how the team plays now. it's going to take a hell of a lot to get the team playing differently before the playoffs. if they go into the playoffs playing as they've played so far this season, it ain't gonna be pretty.

this season so far has been my least favorite in recent memory. ironically i was so pumped before the season with the hossa signing after winning the cup. more pumped than i've been since the season after the lockout. but i've never seen a wings team care less. it's absolutely inexcusable. with the talent on this team there is no excuse for the terrible defense. i don't know what to say anymore. it's gotten old. i would take a less talented team that actually gave a s*** and earned their multi-million dollar paychecks as opposed to this unmotivated uninspired wealth of talent. give me a team that has to work hard to win anyday over a team that has tried just about every game this year to skate by on talent alone. it's gotten ridiculous. everybody says don't panic. we're fifty games into the season. not a damn thing has changed since game one. not a damn thing. it's time to start taking it seriously. i know people think defense and goaltending are magically going to reappear come playoffs, but that's delusional. this wings team will get eaten alive if they bring this piss-poor we'll-beat- 'em-with-talent-doing-as-little-as-we-possibly-have-to attitude into the playoffs. i'm pissed. i just don't understand it. what the hell happened over the summer? it makes no ******* sense. was mcclellan really that important to this team? was drake? has hossa added nothing to this lineup? i don't get it. our only top-end player that gets a pass so far is datsyuk. he's playing a top notch game night in and out. even lidstrom can't claim that this year. what the hell kind of year is it when even lidstrom can't claim to be bringing it every night? i don't know.

should be an interesting final. all things equal, given rafa's permanent lodging between federer's ear holes, i would say advantage nadal, and significantly so. but after the marathon match, the only time in his career i've seen nadal look truly out of gas, it changes things up a bit. if nadal recovered from thursday (friday for you), he's still the favorite. if not, rafa's got to take it in straight sets. if roger can run him around a bit and push the game into the fourth or fifth sets, nadal's going to be in some trouble. the court itself actually suits rafa's game nowadays. it's slow, very slow for a hard court, and slow courts really give federer fits when he's up against rafa. any court that gives rafa time to move around spells disaster for just about anybody he plays. but fed's got history on his side. the pressure of equaling and passing sampras got to him last year, but he's had a year to live with that pressure and i think he's ready to execute. i'm pumped! go fed! go fed!

unless verdasco can pull off a miracle, it looks like we're in for another fed-rafa slam final. i for one am hoping the mighty fed can match old petey on sunday, but federer rarely plays his best against nadal. nadal is one of the few players that consistently is in fed's head, so it's going to be a grind. rafa's been dominating the entire tournament, but i'll go with fed in four or five (wishful thinking). as much as i would like to see federer get number fourteen, it would be cool to see rafa nab a hard-courter. if he gets this one, that would give him 6 slams and he's 22!! unbelievable. if rafa starts dominating australia like he's done the french and is capable of doing at wimbledon, he could be a serious threat to pass both federer and sampras in slams. i can't see rafa dominating the fast courts of the us open with his game now, but he's shown an uncanny ability to adapt and it wouldn't be too surprising to see him get a us open or two or three or four before all is said and done. maybe in a couple of years we'll have a new name in the goat conversation.

actually, hossa's been on z's line for more than a month. doesn't matter who datsyuk's been with, he produces. the same can't be said for z.

at this point, it's datsyuk for me. fedorov had a few years topping a hundred points, but the majority of seasons he was below a ppg. he was amazing when he showed up. and if he put forth the effort that pavel does, he would have been the better player. but he rarely put forth the effort that pavel does. bottom line: pavel+pavel's work ethic > fed + fed's work ethic

this team is extremely frustrating this year. something needs to be done to address our defensive issues, but what?

wow, looks like our stellar defense and pk are back. in all seriousness, this is the worst defense i've seen on a red wings team since i can remember. they are truly pathetic. no excuses. lazy, disgusting defense. anybody see what happened to dats? i didn't see anything.

exactly. pinning the loss on datsyuk and cleary is ridiculous.

the wings are definitely the more talented team. unfortunately, the sharks are the bigger, stronger, faster, and hungrier team. i think these latter qualities, at least at this point in the season, more than make up for the talent gap between the two teams. another thing they have on us is they can roll 4 lines. their fourth line is better than ours. our top three lines our great, but the drop off after that is significant.

i didn't see the post-game, so it may be out of context, but that's how he's quoted in the game summary on espn.com. "They scored on their breakaways, and we didn't score on ours. We had [Dan] Cleary all by himself, and didn't finish. Pav[el Datsyuk] was home free on a breakaway, and didn't finish. There's the hockey game." http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=290117018

i love how babcock pins the loss on datsyuk not finishing on his breakaway. you ******* kidding babs? dats was your best player tonight. try tightening up your d and putting in the better goaltender. ya think? try getting the hunger and energy out of the wings that the sharks had tonight. that was the difference.

i'm not ready to say san jose is undoubtedly better than the wings, but i'm leaning that way. they are like the wings but bigger, stronger, faster, and hungrier. incredibly exciting game tonight. too bad we ended up on the wrong end. oz needs to ride the pine. conks should be the clear number one. ozzy didn't lose this game single handedly tonight, but he did absolutely nothing to win it (much as he's done most of the season). i don't know what happened to him during the summer, maybe it's being the clear cut number one to start, he seems to play better as back up, but whatever it is, he's not the goalie he was last year. he needs to sit down. mccrimmon should be fired. our defense is a shadow of what it was last year. i don't know what it is, but it's inexcusable. all that said, the sharks are a damn good team. i think the biggest difference is they are hungrier. but they're also faster and bigger and stronger. they are a tough team to match up against. the wings are the more skilled team, but that doens't mean a whole lot if we get as outworked as we did tonight.

too bad we have nobody that will do anything about it.

have the shots really been this lopsided? it doens't seem like it watching the game, it's seemed pretty back and fourth.

i think i officially have hypertension. most exciting game of the season, no doubt. wings can stand to tighten it up a little, especially in their zone (what's new?), and i personally think conks should have gotten this game (nothing against the oz, but conks has been far superior this year). but it's a great game none the less. just don't f@ckin lose wings!!!!

that's more like it

i've considered hank indispensable for a while now, but if there's any truth to this report (which i seriously doubt), he can take a hike. no way does he deserve more money than lidstrom, let alone datsyuk. he's a great player, but that contract is over paying. 5 years at 7.4 would still be high for my taste, but it's reasonable. ten years is ridiculous at 7.5. especially since the cap's projected to go down the next few years. plus hank has back problems, and he's in his twenties. no way! maybe his fame's gone to his head. he has the trophy fiancee with the big extremely fakish looking boobs. he has his own clothing line. he likes to pretend he's a model. maybe the shoe fits. the source is completely unsubstantiated, but if it's true hank can take a hike.

s***ty first period, but the wings came out strong in the second and controlled the rest of the game. we're slipping away from the 60 minute efforts we had going for a while. i was ecstatic to see the fourth line pretty much benched the entire third! draper needs to be scratched with maltby, it's time to see some new blood on the fourth.

totally agree. it's to be expected that the fourth line is gonna let some goals in, but they are supposed to be able to make up for it with physical grinding play. this season, our fourth line doesn't do s***. we need to coax drake out of retirement. draper and maltby are obsolete anymore and kopecky will never reach the status from which he can become obsolete.

well that game was ******* embarrassing. i'm not going to get too mad, because the wings have been playing well lately, but that was one of the worst efforts i've ever ******* seen. stars deserved this one all the way. wings shouldn't have gotten a point. embarrassing.

another dominating game from the wings. this is the team i know and love!!!!!! WOO

great game by our boys tonight. they've been putting in some solid efforts lately. oz looks in form lately, too. great showing by him tonight. ott's a little *****. so's turco

nhl.com still has those stats. they actually have dats up top with 49. malkin is 4th with 42. http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fet...rtssPlayerStats

aside from the playoffs last year, kronwall hasn't nearly lived up to his hype. he's got the talent, but doesn't appear to have the mental game to put it all together. he is probably our least consistent defenseman. he'll have a great game or period and turn right around and have terrible game or period immediately. at least he's dodged his propensity for serious injury for a while. the careless giveaways and errant passes are what gets me the most. he very much needs to tighten up his game in the defensive and neutral zones.