greenrebellion

I'd be up for that, I can't even come to my beloved LGW board without seeing his name mentioned in every freaking thread. Granted its pretty much always in a negative light, but I'm just sick of seeing his name, period, and this board isn't helping in that regard.

Goals per game is fairly flat recently. http://dropyourgloves.com/Stat/LeagueGoals.aspx Parity is the reason for most of what u mentioned.

Fact is, Eva is trolling all of us and laughing hysterically at his computer since we are all so easily goaded.

This thread is too much. Hudler playing D at the NHL level, you have to be kidding me? And the reason he had no chance on the Richards goal is because he's slower than molasses...his lack of speed certainly doesn't help his versatility.

Where's the "not sure if serious" image when you need it...

BTW...the running joke at the game was that every time Bertuzzi touches the puck it would result in a turnover, he didn't let us down. Bert is really bad out there. Hope he can bounce back.

Just got back from the game, could tell the Kings were tired on the back end of playing 3 in 4 nights, still...Datsyuk looked much better and the D played very well. Howard was big when he needed to be. Zetterberg still looks invisible though Good win nonetheless, hope we can pull it off again tomorrow.

I'll be at the game! GO WINGS!!!

Not sure Babcock can be blamed for any of our problems...The biggest change that this team has experienced over the last few years, and particularly over the last season is that our top 2 players are not “elite” anymore. I mean compare our top 6 to most other Western Conference teams and you’ll see that we aren’t that special skill wise comparatively. The one difference we’ve had over the years that made us such a great team is that our top 2 centers were game changing players that made the players around them MUCH better than they actually are. With Datsyuk and Zetterberg playing at merely human levels this season, their ability to dramatically boost the people around them is virtually gone. Now that the emperor has no clothes, Franzen, Cleary, Hudler, Filpulla, Bertuzzi etc., are revealed as merely role players with average skills in most areas of the ice. This leaves us with a top six that is very much inferior to what most other teams can put on the ice. If you look at other teams secondary top six players, they have guys that can “do stuff” on their own. Couture is a fairly dynamic offensive player no matter what line he’s on. Same with Kesler. Look at Chicago, they have Hossa , Sharp, Toews and Kane, all four of which are solid offensive players far above mere role players who rely solely on those around them. Given the long term nature of the contracts we have, I am at least somewhat concerned that if Datsyuk and Zetterberg don’t bounce back, we could be in for a few years worth of trouble. Getting a couple top tier offensive players that are dynamic in their own right is not an easy task, especially in a salary cap world. That said, I’m not giving up on our top players yet, and even if this year turns out to be a down year, enough of the team has expiring contracts that heading into next year, Holland should have the ability to shake things up a fair bit.

I have no idea how this year will turn out, but if we stay mediocre, I imagine next years team looks dramatically different. We could lose guys like Cleary, Holmstrom, Bertuzzi, Lidstrom, Hudler and bring in a whole new crop of guys including Nyquist and Smith. Should be interesting to see how it all develops.

You wanna be really depressed, imagine what happens if we lose Lidstrom after this year.

I say we tank and go for Yakupov. Franzen - Datsyuk - Yakupov Hudler - Zetterberg - Filppula Abdelkader - Helm - Cleary Worrell - Emmerton - Bertuzzi Lidstrom - White Kronwall - Stuart Ericsson - Commodore

F*** YOU Hulder for not living up to Eva's lofty expectations.

If you look at our top six, it just can't match up against a lot of teams anymore. Bertuzzi is clearly on the decline and is more of a third line player. I think cleary played above his abilities last year, he's a versatile player but probably fits in best on a third line role. Datsyuk isn't the same datsyuk that he was so hopefully he returns at some point. (Might be his wrist). Holmstrom, not anymore. Hudler, no he's useless. I mean how many top six guys do we really have? Zetterberg, Dats, & Franzen.

I'm very concerned about Datsyuk...and Zetterberg for that matter. Datsyuk is not his normal self, he's turning the puck over, he had two really good scoring opportunities today, one he whiffed the shot, the other was wide of the net. So sad to see, hopefully he returns to his super human form that was SO fun to watch. This isn't an OMG panic post, just really hope this is some early season fluke and he returns to form, he is a blast to watch when he is on his game.

I'm a fan of the Hudler benching, even though I'm not a huge Hudler hater. He hasn't had a shot on goal in the last four games and has been responsible for numerous failures to continue a forecheck, still looks really soft along the boards in the offensive zone. Too bad really, I've always rooted for the guy.

Why were you guys all yelling shutout, you know that the reverse jinx doesn't work, it only helps them get the shutout.

Will the real Datsyuk please stand up.

Why is the PK so horrid?

CBJ should trade for luongo

Top line is broken, mayday, mayday, mayday.

+1

15 by nyr in 43-44

I used to hang out with Ryan Suter when he was in high school...maybe he'll be a Wing someday.

As has been mentioned...I think its really tough to have it both ways in the cap world. You can't be very competitive year after year, while simultaneously going after rentals all the time. Holland, probably rightly so, highly values his draft picks/prospects and won't go flinging them around in the hopes of landing someone who may not even gel with the team in time (see Kaberle & Penner from last year). Its exciting to think about for sure and would certainly boost the Wings cup chances this year if they were able to pick up a top six forward, but I imagine they'll hang on to the cap space for the offseason.