wings4thecup06

How many years now have we been saying that for? And how far has it got us? Seriously this team needs a trade of a core player to light a fire under everyone else's asses to show them they're accountable, and to give AA and Mantha a spot to let them know their jobs are on the line if they don't produce

After sleeping on it, I like the Nielsen move (albeit too much term really) and Ott on paper gives us some sandpaper this team sorely lacks. While Vanek might turn good, he's trending massively downwards, and is essentially just likely to take up a roster spot. If this team is ever going to move forward, they need to give AA and Mantha a starting role with lots of minutes. But, we can see, that KH refuses to move the youth of this team forward it would seem and having them compete for jobs at camp is just another misnomer that equals 'you'll start in GR'. I guess I'm just frustrated. Both the Vanek and Ott signings would be good if this team was actually close to competing for the cup - like Stuart and Dallas Drake in 08. But they're not. And the reality is, while they might play well, they're both taking up roster spots for younger guys who need to learn how to carry the torch and actually take us forward. Otheriwse we won't see another Cup for a good decade. These are just my thoughts. But why is KH so unwilling to pull the trigger on a trade, and risk giving up say, Tatar or Nyquist for a good defenseman? Yes they'll cost a lot, but we have too many soft Tatar's and Nyquists, and with numerous guys (Sproul, Oullette, Frk?, Jensen) now no longer waiver exempt, what have we got to lose?

Stamkos was kind of a pipe dream anyway, and to know that he re-signed makes it a hell of a lot easier to swallow than choosing some other team on the market than the Wings. Really though, this team needs a trade. And not someone minor, like Jurco. Someone with bigger responsibility to show that they aren't happy with this team, and that everyone isn't as safe and secure as they thought and that they have to actually take responsibility for playing better. I am very scared that KH will overpay Okposo, Lucic or Nielson and for at least 5 years and we'll have another Steven Weiss on our hands and the Datsyuk money he freed up will be worthless. Much much rather see them promote AA, Mantha, Ouellet and Sproul full time and give Mrazek 60 starts and just go with it. If we miss the playoffs we miss. I'd much rather see the organisation actually take a stance in believing in our young guys going forward and actually giving them the minutes and responsibility to reach their potential, rather than every year tagging on some old aged players way past their golden years who eat up minutes just to make us another easy target for a first round exit, frustrating everyone more in the process. Give us a direction Ken, right now we're stuck in no mans land.

Come on, realistically, no one is going to take Ericsson off our hands. The guy has been brutal at times with his inconsistency, and that contract isn't going to do anyone any favours. If you ask me, KH is kinda f***ed here by this whole situation. Yes he hasn't helped himself with some of the deals he's made (or lack thereof) but like, Datsyuk leaving creates a huge problem. Look at it this way: 1. If he sits and eats the $7.5m cap space, he's going to get torn to shreds because he's responsible for not being able to move that space and then we'd never even have a shot at competing to sign Stamkos, or for that matter, one or two of the better free agents out there. E.g. Backes. 2. If he is able to clear it, he'll have to give up someone he doesn't want to, and considering the fact that there's only one reasonable team that can take on that contract now, the price will be relatively high. So there'll be considerable backlash if he ends up having to give up say, Jurco plus a pick. And then what if he strikes out in free agency? No Stamkos, no Backes, no Okposo etc etc. Really, I think Howard needs to be moved this offseason, but again, that's going to be even harder now with the expansion announcement coming. I'd love to see Ericsson shipped out, but again, who's going to take on that contract and give us a good return? Ideally, I'd like tos ee the kids play. Give AA, Mantha, Ouellet and Sproul full time jobs and hand them the reigns. If we miss the playoffs then so be it. but having Datsyuk leave a year early with an already declining Zetterberg makes this decision to turn the page somewhat easier.

Why is everyone so anti-McJesus on here? Ok, so he didn't play half the season, but when he did he ended up with the 3rd best PPG in the league this year. Isn't that pretty good? I don't think he should get it because he didn't olay a full year, but you can't blame the league for nominating him when clearly he's the best rookie by a mile, especially coming back from a broken clavicle. I hate the NHL hype machine too, but you can't deny that the guy is a superior talent. Would Panerin have scored 30 if he didn't have Kane feeding him all year long whilst on a career year?

Is anyone actually surprised about this? Seriously? I hate the corporate way sports has become, but it is what it is. And sadly, money rules the world. So what can we expect? Enjoy the last season at the Joe while you can. I'm looking forward to visiting the new arena just to see how it is in comparison with JLA, but while I'm sad that the new rink has a corporate name all over it, I'm not surprised in the slightest.

The problem here is that KH will not have the stones to pull the trigger on a trade that might actually get us that top pair D man - we're not going to get it in free agency, but we do have some pieces to trade. My own personal opinion is that I think KH over values our own prospects and young players, and as such wants to hold on to them as much as possible, instead of trading a few of our expendable guys for someone legitimate that would upgrade the team and help us...... Signing Stamkos would be awesome, but i strongly doubt it'll happen.

Dude you can't just do a Ken Holland and over value your own players to fill a top 6 role! (jokes). In all seriousness, Glendening is awesome, but he has hands of stone. He can't play in the top 6. He should be a 4th line shut down guy ala Maltby of years past driving people nuts.

I think its really easy to blame the coach, but the players have to be accountable also. I think both in part are to blame, but can you really help mother nature and the course of time slowing players down? Surely then that does fall on the coaching/management to maximise these players abilities and supplement them with others who can thrive. I don't know if Blashill has done that successfully or not tbh, but there's a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors we'll never know. It does concern me though and has for a long time how this team still fails to get up for the start of a lot of games, or just loses it in the 3rd....

Its difficult to know what to do with the back end, but the fact that Quincey was scratched for game 4 just baffles me. Especially over Ericsson. Granted he had a good game 3 but even then, like, he's been a turnover machine and is far too soft on the puck. I'd personally like to see us re-sign Quincey and get rid of Ericsson, but I know that's not going to happen. No one will take that contract, and we know he isn't going to get bought out either. Smith is far too inconsistent I feel, but has played well with Green this year, so they'll probably stay together. I'd rather see Ouellet up here full time now and get consistent playing time, as last season I thought he was way better than Marchenko, and wondered if Alexei got more time and won that battle because he was right handed? Not to say Marchenko is bad, he's fine. but I don't see him wing more than a bottom pair player really at this point. So something really needs to change tbh.....

AH its all rubbish. They haven't been a good potent consistent PP threat for a long time. Like, they've only got one way to get in, because this team is horrendous along the boards and never wins puck battles. So they constantly do that play where they drop pass at centre back to Dats, and if Pavel isn't out there, someone usually f***s up the entry because the D steps up at the line. Combine that with the fact that they have no potent threat to shoot the puck from the point since Lidstrom retired (Yes Pulkkinen would help, but he's too one dimensional, and even when he was out there this season they didn't even use him at the top of the circle....baffles me) and they are way too static, don't skate or move the puck fast enough to actually get the penalty kilers out of position to exploit the man advantage, and its easy to see why they suck. They get the puck and there's no urgency, it's literally like they're waiting for the opposition to make a mistake or bite first.

This is huge problem. At least if Datsyuk 'leaves' and doesn't retire we can trade him to Arizona so they can reach the floor. Aside from that we're going to have problems with Z, Kronwall too if he doesn't improve from this season. As for the Mrazek vs Howard stuff. My true belief is that Mrazek is better and has way more potential than Howard. But the main reason I want to see Mrazek start game 3 is because I know and we all know that Petr has the ability tp steal a game/playoff series. Big games this kid comes to play. We've seen that quite a few times now.

Thing is about the red wing way is that it USED to be that everyone above was so good that the new guys got the torch very slowly passed to them so that they could take over and keep it going. The problem now is that formula no longer works, because the top guys have declined so much, and the salary cap era has basically put a stop to the Wings getting a steady diet of would be/future hall of famers so they could bring the likes of Datsyuk and Z along nice and slowly until they were ready to be first line players. We don't have that luxury anymore. I respect Blashill and he's a way better coach than I will ever be, but what part of him can't see that Z is falling apart, Gus and Tatar haven't played well together in months, Richards (while he has put up stuff on the scoresheet and willl shoot the puck on the PP) isn't a top 6 guy anymore?? And if AA has been playing well in limited minutes while everyone else around is struggling to score, wouldn't you say that warrants some more ice time????? It's like, how many times has this team been embarrassed this season? The Pittsburgh game a few weeks ago, I couldn't bare to watch it. I've never in my life seen a Wings team embarrassed that badly. They're so stuck in this rose tinted, veterans will save the day philosophy that we're actually royally f***ed. Datsyuk goes to Russia next season, and we're might be lucky to squeeze into the playoffs, but really, is that good enough here? Yes we should be fortunate to play post season hockey, but this team doesn't deserve it. They're way too passive, and I'm glad Abby beat the s*** out of Blunden yesterday, because at least someone cares. Please Jeff. Do something to light a fire under these guys, they've been slow starters for years now. Something has to change. I get it. You don't think Mantha has earned it, and he plays shoddy D apparently. But f*** it. Get him in there for some offence please!!!! I think the real thing is that besides Abby, there's a paucity of players on this team actually willing to go to the net to score. They're happy with putting everything right into Bishop's glove, or right into his bread basket. How is that ever going to get us goals? And the forecheck is non-existent because they refuse to dump the puck in away from Bishop, with our second man in so slow now that the puck is gone before theres any pressure on Tampa's D. After all these years, we're being beaten at our own game....

So we can forget about AA getting more ice time in game 3 or any time going forwards: “Obviously, this seems to be a hot topic,” Wings coach Jeff Blashill said when asked if there’s been discussion about getting Athanasiou more ice time. “I like Double A as a player. I think Double A’s a good player. (Tyler) Johnson was the MVP of the (American Hockey League). Kucherov’s numbers in the (American Hockey League) were off the charts. Double A wasn’t at that level.” Full article here: http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/04/16/detroit-red-wings-andreas-athanasiou/83124606/ I get what he's saying, but he's conforming to the red wings way, and right now, who's to say that that's right? AA scored some big goals down the stretch, has shown flashes of great potential, so why not play him more? he's young and his D isn't excellent, but he's so fast and play him with the right people and they could wreak havoc on the Tampa defense. But no, you have to be elite first in order for that to happen. And also, the same goes for Mantha, he'll be down until he's named postseason AHL MVP no doubt. This is the most relevant quote regarding Mantha post practice today: “I think both Abby and (Riley) Sheahan have done a real good job actually net-front,” Blashill said. “I think the bigger issue is finding a way to deliver pucks to the net. I don’t think our net presence has been an issue. We haven’t had nearly as many pucks delivered to the net, for multiple reasons. One, they do a great job blocking shots.” http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2016/04/16/detroit-red-wings-tampa-bay-lightning-fight/83125722/ In other words, we have a coach who thinks these first two games were close (i'll give him that for game 1, but not game 2) and he's unwilling to make many changes.... I'll actually be surprised if mrazek starts game 3.

I don't get why Blashill has stuck with them together all season long. They just don't work well together. They're too similar in the styles of their game, you need to separate them for them to be effective. I honestly don't know why Tatar hasn't played more with Datsyuk this year really....

I imagine most of them wouldn't like it if one of their players was getting pummelled, especially in the sort of weak, helpless position that Blunden happened to be in. Akin to one of our guys getting pummelled, I wouldn't like it. A hockey fan with no general interest or emotional investment in the series might tho....

Yeah its bad and no wonder. AA played an astonishing 7 minutes last night. 7 minutes??? The guy has speed to burn. let him use it. And Pierre McGuire on the NBC feed was laying it into Blashill last night for not making the match ups harder for Cooper. I don't blame him. I've said this once already, but where is our shutdown line? That's Glendening's role, Helm should be with him, not giving Kucherov and Johnson an inch of free ice. This is the problem, because it's been thought that the likes of Abby and Helm are top 6 players (which they aren't, they're 3rd liners at best) and so our 4th line suffers. This is what made the Wings teams of old so great. The grind line was perfect, and we need that back badly to put a line out there that the other team is constantly trying to get away from. I also, regrettably, looked at the Wings contracts and team situation for the next few years - in light of how bad Kronner, Ericsson and Z have looked of late, i Just had to, and it made me realise how screwed this team really is. It's easy to sit here and say that KH has overestimated his own players and prospects, bt this is a joke: Z - 4 more years at $6m - He looks toast right now. Kronwall - 3 more seasons at a cap hit of $4.75m Ericsson - 4 MORE YEARS at $4.25m Howard - 3 more years at $5.3m So that's 4 guys taking up nearly $20m of our cap hit!! Z can't retire otherwise we get hit with a massive cap recapture penalty, is anyone going to take Ericsson at that contract? Ok so no one probably expected Z to decline as fast as he has, but I think most of us could tell at the time that signing him til he's 40 wasn't a good idea. I guess I'm a little worried about the next few seasons... By the way, when was the last time we saw Kronwall throw a hit?

I agree with you sir. What i really don't ******* understand is why the hell aren't Glendening and Helm playing all night long shutting down Johnson and Kucherov. Seriously? Where is our great shutdown line? I agree also about the Mantha, Dats and Tatar line. They looked good and effective at maintaining zone time. We won't see this at all though, even though our team desperately needs both of these things.

The problem is, if you're Blashill, playing AA, bringing up Mantha, putting a few more kids in prominent positions is basically waving the white flag, something that no organisation looks like it wants to do. There's only one situation you do that in, and that's when you've been eliminated from playoff contention before the season ends. Howard has been fine, not great, and the problem is, this team needs a great goaltender. Mrazek hasn't justified playing in the playoffs since about february. So realistically, why is Blashill going to put him in now? I'm playing devil's advocate now, because i think the wings need to make some changes. Sheahan, Tatar and Nyquist combination hasn't ever worked, I don't know why he keeps trying to go back to it. 14 and 21 are too similar players to have on the same line. It just can't work. Look at Tyler Johnson. Killorn is 6'2 and at least Kucherov is 5'11 but he's turning into a sniper. I don't see any of that same crafty energy from 14 and 21. We are all pining for Mantha to return, and yea i thought he looked good on our PP and played well with Tatar and Datsyuk. I want to see him have a shot, but at this point, I don't think management will do it, especially not with KH's comments about him. NO clue whatsoever. And, he hasn't put up a point since he's gone back to GR. Something has to change, I'm not going to go to town on Blashill yet because what else has he got to help him here? A bunch of old veterans and really, if you stop playing those guys top minutes, who's going to step up and fill the void? This is the fundamental problem. Playing the kids is like admitting defeat, and this organisation is too stubborn.

I disagree with the notion that if we'd stayed out west we would have missed purely because I think management would have seen we need to plug holes more appropriately instead of signing cheap worn out veterans to fill gaps that really have been longing for quite some time. The west is bigger and its tougher. I feel ashamed we can't even beat a depleted team in the East in the first round.

Nothing here will really change unless the wings get blown away tonight. Let's face it. Howard is the starter until he has a horrendous game ala Boston. heaven knows what else. Even Larkin only played 11:30 in game one. Seriously?

The problem with half or mainly all of this argument is that stats (unless they're advanced) don't begin to tell what players do actually on the ice. Ok, so PPG is all good and stuff, but how does that even explain the number of scoring chances a guy creates? Everyone here knows that Anderson is slow, has no hands. Yea fine he can win face-offs and is ok on the PK, but we have 4 good guys we can put on the PK, and this team has struggled to score all damn year long. yes the playoffs are a different animal but look at our series last year. Are Tampa winning that series if Johnson doesn't score 6 goals and lights it up in game 6? Most likely not. This shutdown, have everyone try and be a 2 way forward selke candidate type player just doesn't cut the mustard. Not everyone is as talented as Fedorov or Datsyuk, and if guys have good offensive ability we need to let them use it. Not to say that Mantha is ready, but I thought in the couple of games he was given an opportunity to actually play good ice time, he played quite well. I don't see how having Anderson here helps.

I get what you're saying, but I think you've set your expectations too high. This is a guy who broke his leg in his first pro season, took nearly a year to figure it out at that level before he could start playing at that level. The NHL is a completely different animal than the AHL - just ask Pulkkinen. The fact remains that in the games Mantha was playing (at least the first few before his ice time got unreasonably reduced IMO) he was creating chances, protecting the puck in the O zone AND helping our PP click. Anyone remember the number of breakaways or scoring chances he had? What about his first shift when he broke his stick on a slapshot? And Krsmith, I wholeheartedly agree with your points.... The problem here is is that management/possibly Blashill are being way way too conservative - and it's stifling our offensive potential. I read somewhere that Nyquist and Tatar have had their ice time reduced this season, so it's no wonder they've lost their confidence and their goal totals have suffered. That kind of conservative attitude is why Andersson has been recalled - because they'd rather have a guy there who they don't think will f*** it up defensively, instead of play some more offensive minded players that will actually allow us to retain the puck and keep us out of our D zone. It's a playing it safe mentality that is going to get us eaten alive in the postseason. Now watch as AA is benched for a lot of this first round series, in spite of him scoring a few timely goals. I've been behind management supporting their decisions for a long time. But right now, i can't say I feel the same enthusiasm.

Argh I don't really enjoy bashing management, because I always will feel that they know better than we do, and yea I can live with Mantha being sent down, but what I can't is Andersson coming up AND being inserted into the lineup. It's driving me nuts at the moment, like, is there a plan here? It's more than obvious something here has to change. Richards is just, never even close to a top 6 player, so why is he constantly on the PP, playing is situations where goals are generally scored. He was good, but now loses puck battles, and is slow. It's no wonder this team can't generate any kind of offence because they have no forecheck as by the time the old guys have skated down to retrieve the puck, its already going back the other way. What bothers me is how AA plays only 5-8 minutes a night, and yet has looked at times one of our better forwards, has scored some good goals down the stretch too, yet consistently is labelled as bad defensively. What the f*** do they want, a team of selke trophy nominees? 2 players with big offensive potential - Pulkkinen - ok fine he hasn't been up to snuff, but he and Mantha, don't we think they ought to be given more chance instead of stuck in this system which seems to suck all the life out of our team's offensive ability. It feels like they're just realising we don't have any high end talent anymore, so they're converting to a New Jersey type suffocating D kind of game whereby we don't need any all stars and can squeeze out games. Oh. Except we don't have the D (minus DK) and goaltending. I'd really love to believe in this team, I really would. But I have to wonder who's driving the bus right now because it just doesn't seem to make that much sense. Give your kids a chance to play, let them learn, and if we miss the playoffs? So what.

Yeah these are wearing out. Fast. The other two games announced are St Louis/Chicago, and Pittsburgh/Philly. So that's 4 outdoor games for the Wings, 2 for the Leafs, 5 for Chicago, the Pens and Flyers 3 each I believe and St Louis is the only new team. Seriously. All these match ups just show how much of a cash grab this is for the league. Flyers/Pens is so unnecessary. I could understand if they just stuck with the Centennial Classic and then the Winter Classic the next day, but who the hell needs another one? The league has taken something that could have been really special and ruined it basically in favour of good business and earning more money, which I suppose, I shouldn't complain about because it does make financial sense.