b.shanafan14

The 3rd period collapse has to stop. Tonight the officiating contributed directly, but the trend remains. Howard needs to bear down, our defense needs to play more conservatively, and overall discipline needs vast improvement after 40. You can tell the moment the opposition starts to get some zone time and the Wings start playing nervous and turning over pucks. After that its just a matter of time. Get it fixed, Babs!

Another great game by Nyquist and the kids. Now if only some of our other players could score...

Down the stretch its the veterans that have let this team down big time. Franzen-Legwand-Alfredsson line has been getting pushed around too easily and Mule hasn't done jack to carry this team forward while his compatriots are out. In the last 9 games, Franzen has a single assist and is -4.

Stretch run to make the playoffs. Missing key players, but pushing on as a team. Kids are hauling the mail. What has Franzen been up to? 1 assist and -4 in the last 9 games.

Great game by Smith, terrible game by Kindl and Lashoff causing unnecessary pressure against, Franzen took the night off, and disappointingly we gave up yet another two goal lead, including a one goal lead in the third. Luckily Nyquist-Sheahan-Tatar made sure to secure us a point. Huge game versus Columbus on Tuesday. A loss ties us in points and games-remaining with BJs holding the tie breaker. A win separates us by 4 points, and keeps us above the pack.

Nyquist's 19 goals in 43 games are good for tops on the team, and prorated over 82 games puts him at a 36 goal pace as a rookie with ever-rotating linemates and responsibilities. The sky is the limit for this kid in coming years and really shows more glaringly the poor free agent decisions Holland has made over the past 4-5 years. Until his hand was forced, Holland had through his own awful signings of Samuelsson, Bertuzzi, Cleary, and Tootoo buried our 3rd-most talented skater in the minors. Too many signing touted as "bargains" or "good fits" as an excuse to sign inferior players to fill the wrong roles on the wrong side of their prime instead of signing a single impact player or allowing over-ripe prospects to step up and learn. Nyquist, Jurco, Sheahan, Glendening >>>> Samuelsson, Bertuzzi, Cleary, Tootoo Simply put: Stop signing over-priced plugs as some consolation price for missing out on true impact players. Hopefully next season we cut some fat, use what we have in our young guys, and sign someone useful to fill important roles - a big bodied scorer and a top-4 defenseman. Looking down the line, the only UFAs that could/should be resigned are Legwand, Alfie, and Gustavsson.

Red Wings players available include: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, Abdelkader, Dekeyser, Franzen, Alfredsson, Ericsson.... and Luke Glendening?

So..... who goes? Won't this also exclude AHL players that have two-way or entry-level contracts with the big club? Its essentially just going to be WJC all over again, minus most of the real blue-chip prospects, sprinkled with the odd unsigned/retired veteran or undrafted player. I think Canada and U.S.A. will be hit hardest, so I'll be interested to see how long a ban like this will last when we are no longer getting much sniff at the medal stand. They (Bettman and NBC) would probably be taking a big ratings hit in what all of us would probably consider to be the most entertaining event among the variations of human torpedoing, skiing, and ice dancing. It doesn't work like it did before the NHL started sending players. Nowadays, the best players should always play. Period.

The Wings defense and goaltending was suspect all game, and you can't spot a team two two-goal leads the way they did out of the gate and expect to win.... THAT SAID, when OT started it was 4-4 and the game was decided after that point. It was decided by a dive, and after the refs let plenty of grappling go in the 3rd. They decided the game the second they decided (read: chose) to call another soft trip and obvious dive. After that, the script went perfectly, OV with the winner at home in OT on Super Bowl Sunday.

Great game by Z, Nyquist, and the kids. Really, extraordinary. Howard couldn't find the puck, our defense was all thumbs and left feet, and the officiating was soft as hell. The pathetic thing here is, again, how the league's officials reward these dive-artists. The Wings fight through the same holds, hooks, sticks in feet, and cross-checks that made the Caps fold like a lawn-chair. What is called a penalty and what was let go after the 2nd period was completely unpredictable, and thus terrible.

This isn't news, but it never ceases to infuriate. The biggest difference in games like this is that the Wings refuse to go down, while the Caps flop, throw hands up, and dive relentlessly. The league has done nothing to fix the diving and bulls***. The second we got to OT I knew what the perfect ending for the network was: penalty and OV goal.

Ha. Looked at the injury list, saw Weiss and thought "oh yeah, he's on the team...."

Hudler could have helped with scoring, but so would any of the players who are currently or have previously been injured for long stretches this season (Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Helm, Alfredsson, etc.) Hudler was never over-overwhelmingly good in the shootout either, so I don't see how he is a game-changer there. His skating and defense were both weak, and he never really played much center when he was here if I recall correctly, nor would he now when we're healthy. I don't really see how Hudler helps us this season. Our problems scoring and with the second-line center position have to do with injuries to players who are better than Hudler (especially how he was when he was here). Our problem in the shootout should be remedied by playing stronger in regulation and OT to close out games before the skills competition. As bleak as things look at times, we are tied in points for the last playoff spot in the East despite missing significant players, subpar goaltending at times, being unable to gain any momentum or chemistry, and all the while during what was bound to be the big transition year we've all been dreading. Get healthy, get settled down and familiar (read: gain consistent lineup and establish chemistry), and make a push for the playoffs, then anything can happen - as we saw again last season when we went from getting a spot the last day and sticking around 14 games and several OTs against two teams that should have been head-and-shoulders better than us. EDIT: Sorry, started with the Hudler thread and got sidetracked. The point, however, should be in tact. Of all the things we need to be better, losing Hudler is hardly the cause, nor would it be resolved if he was still here.

There you go, fixed. I have a problem with us going to so many shootouts instead of ROW to begin with. Fix that and we won't have to worry about getting the second point in the coin-toss, dice-roll, jump-ball equivalent. Play better for the first 60-65 minutes and we'll spare ourselves the frustration of the skills competition.

I was going to make a Sex Panther joke (60% of the time it works every time), but it only worked the once for Eaves. We sent out two shoot-first right handers (and predictably so) against a left-hand catching netminder who knew it was coming, and both waited too long to take the shot, having nearly no angle. Big choke tonight. The Tatar goal should have been the dagger. The defense didn't know which way was up and that PP was played awful by Babs, should have been a power-kill but instead we end up pinching and caught. Monster wasn't in the form to bail the team out tonight and got no help from his defense which doesn't have the benefit of the injury excuse. Great game from Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco. No excuse to cough of two two-goal leads in the 3rd, to lose to a bottom-feeder at home, and to do so after managing 4 goals even with Pav and Z out. So much for turning the corner. Hopefully they'll get a wake up call after that awful 3rd period tonight, on top of getting Z and Pav back soon. EDIT: All that said, the no-goal call on Cleary was absolute crap, especially the way the Panthers were crashing the net all game, and the missed double-minor high-stick on Tatar at the end of the game would have changed things as well. Perfect storm.

What the hell is going on? I can't watch the game, visiting fiance's folks in Illinois, but I'm watching the game ticker and see we only had one shot on goal through like 12 minutes.

I've always hoped Eaves would be able to get in a groove with his terrific wrister. We all know he had 20 in a season once in his career, and whenever he uses that shot you can see how. He isn't the greatest skater in the world, but he works hard, good PK guy, and when he shoots it like he did tonight, it makes you wonder how he doesn't score more regularly.

Huge win. Great battle from the young Wings. Great game from Tatar again; really great to see him coming into his own. Who'd have thought Helm with the shootout winner over the Blackhawks. Time to start clawing our way back into this thing...

How was that a PICK? He was getting back onside.

Great shift from Tatar, Jurco, and Sheahan. Better be 5-on-3 on the way. Clear slash broke the stick on the delayed call.

What patience with the puck displayed by Zetterberg, eh Edzo? "Patiently" turned his stick to Nyquist.

Being back in the lineup for the first time in a while helps too, eh

I know it goes completely without saying, but NBC crew is awful... I swear they are getting worse and worse and hiding their bias less and less.

Did Pierre just qualify his statement: "If you're a fan of Henrik Zetterberg..." ?

Soft penalty followed by a solid screen by Kronwall.... *sigh* On a more pleasant note: QUINCEY!!!...?