b.shanafan14

More talk back and forth between the Pens and Flyers, this time from Flyers' assistant coach. Basically said what Milbury said and then backed out of: Crosby (and Malkin) is a cheap shot artist who gets away with more slashes, cross-checks, and sucker-punches than anyone in the league. Here's hoping he doesn't get fined or forced to apologize in this fascist state that the NHL is becoming. LINK: http://watch.tsn.ca/featured/clip651491#clip651491

The Shinguard Assasin. I used to ride him all the time. But when he was at his most dreadful, and I was bagging on him mercilessly, that's when he was always come up HUGE. He did it in OT versus Chicago in the playoffs. He did it Game 1 2008 Finals versus the Pens. He was clutch, but he was Lang clutch. "Why the f*** is this bum on the team?...... ZOMG!!! THAT'S WHY!"

That line already looks worlds better with Nyquist

Remove the automatic seeding of division winners. Period. Stupid rule. You can have your division winner banner all you want, but being the best team in the worst division shouldn't automatically give you home ice over a better team, no matter what the logic is.

I wish I shared your confidence, baseless as it is Word. Really the only reason would be to go home (Parise) or, you know, huge bank.

I'd like to hope, but god knows other teams are willing to pay more. I'd love to see Parise in the Winged-Wheel, though I still think the odds are low. Also from the article, Dallas looks like they'll still want to move Morrow, and so long as they aren't expecting jewels and are willing to take at least some salary back in return, I'd still love to have him here.

Lets go WINGS!! Turn this s*** around! First line pressures with Nyquist. Zetterberg Filppula Hudler get a couple between them with the extra space. Lidstrom +2 Ericsson -1 Detroit 4 - 2 Florida

Word. When I first saw the poll on Mlive last week, that was my first thought. Didn't go near it. Totally bad taste considering what the guy has gone through for this team. Objective or not, I hope Holmstrom and his family don't see that s***.

I'm from the U.P. going to grad school in Milwaukee until May, spending much of my time on campus, so for the past 5 years I've had to rely on these online stream services to watch my Wings. Last season I decided to get NHL Gamecenter Live (the online service), wanting high-quality, reliable streams which I was not seeing from HockeyStreams at the time (its since improved). The service was a huge rip off. $180+ for 2/3 of the games I wanted to watch. Their service would blackout every game on Versus, NBC, and NHL Network. I don't have NHL Network and often would find myself on campus for the evening, unable to get home for games on NBC or Versus. I'd even find times (albeit rare) when I could get home, but Versus or NBC were televising based on region, and despite another game playing on the tube, I was STILL blacked out online. It was ridiculous, paying that much and still having to resort to terrible, buffering, blurry online streams for 1/3 of the games.

I wonder what his death poem would sound like... "We did a lot of good things, we took a step forward tonight, I thought we carried play, their goaltender was the difference, I thought Bert was physical and created space, I thought Mule was skating well ... I have no regrets!!"

Just to clarify: do you mean what would be a success this season, all things considered? In other words, given that the Wings have been playing like s*** during the stretch run, and may very well lose home ice advantage, while having a terrible road record, where would I be "happy" to see them get? If so, I think getting passed the first round would be an accomplishment. Getting passed the second round would be a feat and an improvement, considering the last two seasons' exits and this late season plunge. But if you're asking me what I consider a successful season out of the Wings (and really, where I thought they should be up until the injury/apathy bug hit), it has to be Cup-or-bust.

Agree and disagree. I place the majority of the blame on the players themselves. Most of them have the tools, but aren't playing up to their potential. The effort isn't there and its the players themselves who are at fault; way ahead of coach and management. That said: its the coaches job to motivate and manage his personnel. If things work as they should, a player who isn't playing up to snuff will either be motivated to improve or demoted. In the case of Franzen, he has neither improved on the ice or been demoted to less ice time or scratched. No accountability. In the case of Holland, he has done a great job of getting pieces in place, but in recent years has lacked the ability to pull the trigger on deals which would improve this team. He seems understandably hesitant to mess with the current formula. However, while he refuses to make risky transactions, other teams have begun to eclipse the Wings, while this team seems to stagnate. Players need to play. If they aren't, the coach needs to coach. If that isn't working, the GM needs to deal. The frustration exists because none of these SEEM to be happening.

This. Hell, after the loss to Columbus, Babcock even made a comment about how they had optional skates and perhaps that was a mistake. http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/03/mike_babcock_really_shocked_by.html So what does he do the next game? Optional skate. He must have taken a raise-your-hands vote, right after popsicles and apple slices, and got vetoed Seriously, no follow through and zero accountability.

I understand that 4 years is a long time in the NHL, but if you consider Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Hudler to be playing at roughly the same level they did in 2008 (albeit not statistically, with Z and Pavel down, and Hudler up), who does that leave? Cleary has definitely dropped off, but for the sake of this argument, he's left out of the Top 6. Samuelsson moved on, so his replacement is Bertuzzi. As much as I rode Samuelsson, Bertuzzi is no upgrade. Calling that a wash, probably a downgrade. Of the players left, Filppula has developed into a hell of a hockey player. Franzen on the other hand, signed for another 8 seasons after this one, contributes nothing outside of his goal totals (no backcheck, forecheck, physicality, and diminishing playmaking). He shows zero hustle and has gone on record saying he is bored. His statistical output is diminishing and even though he leads the team in goals, 26 goals from a guy who's only job appears to be scoring goals is unacceptable. He hasn't earned a whole season with the best player in the world, and yet, there he remains. The supporting cast does need to change more quickly than it is, given the last two exits. However, the Top 6 is still our biggest problem, when you're passing 37-year-old Bertuzzi off as a scoring winger and he is floating circles around 32-year-old Franzen who's cap hit is twice as much and is paid nearly 4 times as much.

God, what I would give to hear this team jolted like that. I'm not saying I prefer Tortorella as a coach over Babcock, but things have gotten way too comfortable for the players on this team. There seems to be zero accountability, and the trademark Babcock scowl and silent treatment doesn't have the effect it used to.

.... how? They hit one or two posts, about as many as Nashville. Preds had the better goalie since Rinne is Rinne and Howard was coming back from injury, so the onus was always on the Wing's skaters to outwork Nashville. The majority of the Wings' shots through two periods were on the outside and harmless, and most of the pressure was on unsuccessful powerplays, including what amounted to only a 5 shot advantage for the Wings through 60 minutes. Zetterberg did get robbed by Rinne huge, but Howard also had a save or two that Conklin would have let in (not saying much), so call that a wash. The third Nashville goal was a complete defensive lapse on the part of Emmerton and afterwards the team seemed to deflate completely until the last 3 or 4 minutes. So please explain, how could the Wings have just as easily won 3-1 or 4-1? Not trying to bust you balls, I'm honestly perplexed.

I have supported Babcock, and I think its an over-reaction to call for his replacement, but I'm tired of this bulls*** right here. This last month the Wings have done nothing but lose, and yet after every loss, Babcock seems to tell the media that he "thought the team took a step forward". Are we the Leafs all of a sudden? A step forward is a win, the next step is a couple wins, then several wins, onto consistent winning. The Wings haven't beat anyone besides the Jackets once and the Hurricanes. All their key players besides Helm and Eaves are back from injury. Win or change something. This s*** is grinding on my last nerve. "We lost by less tonight" or "we did a lot of good thing" or "the puck just hasn't been bouncing our way"... make your own luck, god damnit! You can start by putting Nyquist with Datsyuk and putting Franzen down with Cleary.

We as fans do perhaps expect too much, especially given the success of the last two decades. However, the most frustrating thing is not the teams failure, its the unmet potential, squandered chances, and apparent lack of effort. So many players on this team can play so much better if they just applied themselves. The pieces in the top-six between now and 2008 haven't changed much, and yet the play has dipped dramatically. Franzen, who was signed as an offensive threat to what basically amounts to a franchise contract, has gone completely belly-up since signing in 2009, and his attitude seems to be the main problem. Cleary is night and day between this season and last, due in main part to his injury. Bertuzzi shows flashes of brilliance when playing with two linemates that skate. When playing with Datsyuk and Nyquist, it seemed to rub off on Bert and he asserted himself. Enter Franzen to float on the opposite wing and Bertuzzi returns to being a non-factor. I just don't understand how relatively similar lineups can play so much worse. Leadership looks to be an issue, after losing veterans like Drake, Osgood, Draper, Maltby, and Rafalski. Beyond that, there appears to be zero accountability. TOP 6 from 2008 Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom/Cleary Franzen-Filppula/Hudler-Samuelsson TOP 6 in 2012 Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Franzen(-) Filppula(+)-Zetterberg-Hudler

I'm tired of watching 82 games just to have the Wings not show up at the end of the season and the playoffs. "Yay, our playoff streak is at 21 years!" but the last 2 (looking like 3) have been completely benign. The players on the team seem to acknowledge that it is cup-or-bust, we know they all have the ability to play much, MUCH better than they are, and yet nothing seems to motivate them to reach that level again.

Apparently neither do the Wings

Haven't you heard? The regular season is far to boring for the golden soft hands of Johan Franzen to be sullied. He has been saving away goals, backchecking, hitting, and skating for when "the real men" play... *sigh* 3 years down, 8 to go...

Word. Its not being a "spoiled" fan to be critical of these types of losses. Open your eyes, look at the product on the ice, and tell me this bodes well. The effort of half the team is non-existent and it appears to finally be wearing on the players who have invested themselves. As frustrating as a fan to watch, as I'm sure it is to players like Datsyuk and Zetterberg to be a part of.

Luckily, Franzen has been saving up all those goals for the playoffs.

Quincey hasn't been great by any stretch of the imagination, but he's been no Ericsson. Obviously the Wings are just trying to get the defensemen who missed time some time before playoffs, but tonight doesn't seem like a wise time to ice a weaker lineup, no matter what the reason. Come playoffs Smith will be up and chances are, if healthy, neither Ericsson or Kindl will be in.

Wings skaters need to show up, whoever is in goal. But its good to see Howard getting back into things, it'll be crucial to get him going before Round 1 Game 1. Hopefully Nyquist will be 2nd line 15:00 in the lineup instead of 4th line 5:00 in the lineup. GO WINGS!