b.shanafan14

Is it too soon to predict a 2-3 loss next game with Z and Pav scoring? Can't hate much in terms of effort I suppose. Howard once again gets lost on the second goal and plays hoop in the shootout. He isn't getting goal support, but he is also getting outplayed by the other goaltender many nights. Looks like he has little confidence (probably at least partially due to both injury and lack of scoring support). Thank God for Pav and Z...

I still can't believe the politics of the game couldn't be set aside last year. He should have been first-ballot for sure. 600+ goals and 2,000+ PIM, 3 Stanley Cups, Shanahan Summit, etc.

I hated watching Shanahan play hockey.....

Man, its gotten pretty bad when we are making excuses that awful. We can't win in the East due to lack of familiarity... you know, because the Eastern teams are super familiar with us but not the other way around. And the losses to the West are just because they are better and deeper. So, we can't really be expected to beat anyone, because we are still learning... but that isn't Ken Holland's fault.

This can't be true, can it?... Dan Cleary has been on the team this whole time??

I would love to see Stevie Y play again. I think both Wings AND Leafs fans would go nuts seeing the Captain lace them up again... BUT as others have mentioned, his knees by all account have kept him from skating much if at all since his retirement. The guy doesn't owe us anything, and with knees as bad as his, it would be both tremendously painful and possibly embarrassing to struggle to keep up with everyone else. I have faith that Stevie would play if he possibly could, and since he isn't, I support him regardless.

That this wasn't the game-winner is a crying shame. That's on you (insert name of just about anyone not named Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or DeKeyser).

Awww, could you imagine a world where reporters asked good questions like that, something that maybe rattles some thoughts free. Instead we get: Is this loss a tougher loss than last game's loss? What did you think of the second goal? Boxers or briefs? Trick question, the answer is boxer-briefs!

What, you don't like Cleary getting 16 minutes as Tatar gets half of that, while deciding to play your young rookie offensive-minded defenseman in Almquist with TurnsItOver McSh*tsHisPants? Are you suuuure?

This makes me ill....

Choke. Choke. Choke. Here we go... First the positives: Great game from Pav, Z, and DeKeyser. All three were rock solid. Good game for Weiss who has completely earned his goat status, but more efforts like tonight and its possible to turn it around. Nice first goal from Almquist; preview of things to come. Now the rest: Kronwall had a terrible game in his own end and the neutral zone. He turned over the puck far too frequently and seemed to get knocked off it too easily down low. Cleary is an empty sweater, again. He has played every game this season, how is that possible? Helm looks out of sorts, but its to be expected. Miller, Abdelkader, and Andersson didn't look good tonight and Abdelkader's late penalty had spoiler written all over it. Overall, Stars had it too easy on all 4 goals, allowed to develop their screens for a well-placed shot or plain old allow to dice in and embarrass us. While Howard surely can't be solely blamed for the majority of the goals, it was another night when I found myself with no confidence in him to make the big save. Terrible effort from a lot of the team at the end of the period. Goal with 20 seconds left in the 2nd. Goal with 1:10 left in the game. Goal with 18 seconds left in OT. I don't know if you can blame the coach for laziness, but you can blame him for a negative trend. And seeing Almquist on the ice during overtime is cool, shows confidence in the kid. Putting him on the ice with Kyle Quincey? That's called suicide.

Wow... super fishy. Could it be true?! I'm giddy at the thought they actually benched him, otherwise they would never be this hush-hush. Sick, injured? Maybe both, maybe neither. Franzen doesn't even know what's wrong with him? Helm is an open book, back, groin, shoulder, knee... we know what he has for breakfast. Ericsson and Smith both get hurt and we get specifics. If Mule is riding pine, could it be that he somehow has Holland and Babcock convinced not to say anything and keep up the injury/illness charade? This is so strange...

Cervical injuries are tricky business, you really have to stay up with them. One day at a time, plenty of rest. You can test it all you want in practice, but you don't really get the confidence back until you've seen some significant game time, bang the bodies, see how it feels, etc. (No offense to lady LGWers, who could eat Franzen alive)

I haven't heard anything about Eaves getting waived. If Tootoo is unclaimed and assigned to GR, we will just barely get under the cap when Ericsson returns (to the tune of like $200K). If Tootoo is claimed, there would then be enough cap room to bring up Nyquist, but they would need to free up one more roster spot, necessitating a move like waiving Eaves or Cleary.

No one is that stupid... and Sammy has a NTC you'd have to negotiate, though its not like he is seeing any ice-time here.

No, that is before waiving Tootoo, thus the reason why the move was made.

Cleary might get claimed for the price tag (good riddance) and maybe a team is desperate/stupid enough to take Quincey on the back end for his $3.7M, but I can't see any way Sammy gets claimed. Miller is one of our better penalty killers and thus more valuable than Tootoo.

With Ericsson's $3.25M back on the books after LTIR, we'll be about $700K or so over the cap.

I can't see how this is possibly to bring up Nyquist. With two games left before waiver exemption is no longer available, they would be over the cap and lose someone once E is back. This move essentially covers a now healthy, no longer LTIR Helm once everyone else is healthy. After its all said and done, we'll have traded Tootoo for Helm, and that's hoping someone claims him.

A loss is one thing. A loss to a struggling team is another. And playing like they did tonight is something else all together. Terrible, terrible effort. Turnovers in the neutral zone without bodies back killed us. Seemed like every time they had the puck it was an odd-man rush.

Most underappreciated: Dan Cleary, for leaving Stephen Weiss-type money on the table to come back. The former gets bagged at 3pts, +2 for $1.75M when the latter is at 2pts, -3 for $5M.... god they are awful...

Definitely not Quincey. Time on ice is the problem, and he leads the team for goals against when on the ice (of course Smith has a higher GA/game). Abdelkader gets a lot of flack but that has more to do with Babcock insisting on playing him in the Top-6 despite being a great and effective 3rd liner.

Alfredsson passed it to Cleary, it looked to completely hop his stick, hit the d-man in the skates, leading to the layup for Helm. This proves that the best thing Cleary can do for the team is just stay out of the way.

Makes more sense, except if it was me, Tatar would be helping Weiss break out of his funk, Eaves would be on the third line, Tootoo on the fourth, and Cleary on the bench next to Sammy talking about 2008.

Does it really matter? Remember carrying $4.5M of cap space two years ago, and almost $7.4M last season? Cap space or no, you need players worth the money (which are rare), trade partners willing to consider our stockpile of has-beens and plugs (even rarer), and a GM willing to deal (for someone other than previous busts like Quincey). We have a bevy of great prospects which Holland, his scouting and coaching staff has done well to pick and development, but in recent years the Wings have survived his decisions, not thrived off of them. I hope Weiss and Alfie come around, and there is plenty of time for them to do so, but the money we have wrapped up in guys like Samuelsson and Cleary is trademark Holland these days. Bertuzzi, Quincey, Tootoo..... Samuelsson and Cleary (in descending order of usefulness) all take up cap and roster space that would be better used in just about any other way you could possibly imagine, let alone readily available options like regular time for Tatar and bringing in Nyquist for good. The Detroit Red Wings: Surviving Ken Holland since 2009.