Zetts

Edit: My mistake, someone else already covered it.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120525/SPORTS05/120525041/1053/sports05 http://www.thescore.com/home/articles/282076-dominik-hasek-wants-to-make-an-nhl-comeback I can only imagine the meltdown around here if Holland signed him as the new backup.

I'm usually one of the last people to get negative I think...but now I'm getting more than a little worried and pissed. A mid-season crap-fest is one thing, but the playoffs are kind of approaching. You'd think the Wings would be starting to pull their heads out of their asses about now.

I agree that next year he deserves serious consideration. But as you said, he's not having a great season in Grand Rapids, and even if he was, he couldn't jump in and be a game-changer...or frankly make much difference at all in the remaining couple of games. Also, Nyquist is better than Tatar and played 8:50 tonight. Tatar can't do a whole lot with that type of ice time (nor could Nyquist). So the coach is also working against you on this one. The answers have to come from within the current roster. And also from players as they return. I can't wait for Helm to be back.

He looks pretty chunky. Either that or those apparent lovehandles are actually the biggest obliques I've ever seen.

Random observation: this site still has us as having a much better chance than Nashville of finishing 4th (59% vs 33%).

Last year there was also a team that was actually good in that division. Alright, perhaps a better description is that it's the most uniformly mediocre division. I'd still be embarrased to be in that 3 slot and playing a 6th place team with more points. Obviously, I'm sure the team will take the home ice happily, but I doubt there can be a whole lot of pride in that.

Who thought that the Pacific would so uncompetitive with the other divisions? I didn't see that one coming. Almost everyone picked either SJ or LA to be first in the conference. Right now Dallas (leading the Pacific) is 17 points back of St. Louis (leading the Central) and 11 points back of Vancouver (leading the Northwest). That's embarrassing. It's like the Southeast Division of the Western Conference. Edit: And that's even after Vancouver is 3-5-2 in their last 10, while Dallas is 7-2-1.

People here trash Franzen, then suggest Alexander freaking Semin? Really? Semin is softer, has fewer points, and makes way more money. I'll pass. Suter would be great. As would Parise. It should be easy to make one work, but would be hard to make both work. However, as has been mentioned, there's a fair amount of uncertainty with regards to the CBA, so who knows.

I agree. What the hell is that fourth line?! And as much as it pains me to say this, Holmstrom's not too useful anymore. He plays on the fourth line and as a powerplay specialist. But he doesn't provie much energy, and our powerplay is TERRIBLE. It (sadly) should probably be his last season. He was a great player for us, but it's time to move on. Having said that, the fourth line really isn't our biggest problem. It's pretty far down the list actually.

Yeah, it's shocking that the best player in the game is more exciting than Emmerton (and Hudler, Franzen and Zetterberg).

Are we even sure that Crosby can stay healthy for more than 10 games? How do we know that he'll hold up to the physical grind of the playoffs? I'm sceptical.

You'd think that would be the plan, but they've already re-signed Bertuzzi, so I'm not optimistic.

I'm off to sleep. Is it too much to hope to see a headline in the morning along the lines of "Babcock calls out underperforming Red Wings"? My lord, Franzen is infuriating. Granted, he's our leading scorer, but he's got the ability to do so much more. I understand that the regular season can get monotonous, but that's where a coach should come in for motivation, no?

You're right, we'll likely be fifth. It was more a response to a couple of comments saying that we'd be the 7 or 8 seed which obviously won't happen. I can hope that we play the Stars though. And yes, the Stars aren't a sure bet for the Pacific, but they're by far the most likely to win it. Also, the Sharks are 2-5-3 in their past 10. That's not going to help them even make the playoffs at all.

I'm still extremely curious why he was relegated to the fourth line after a great first few games. He suddenly started sucking after that move. Maybe he got in a particularly bad argument with Babcock?

We'll almost certainly end up either 5 or 6. I'm actually rooting for 6th though...we'd have an easier opponent (Dallas). We're on a horendous streak, but there's no reason to be too negative. We all know that the Wings can play better, and often do for the playoffs. If we play Dallas I'm pretty confident that we'll at least win that round. Perhaps that's blind optimism, but you've got to find some hope somewhere here...

Mark Mowers v2? He is somewhat invisible, but he's the least of our problems.

A Mike Commodore wrestling match wouldn't change anything. *IF* the Wings wanted to use fighting to change momentum, we could hopefully do better than a fringe NHL defenseman who rarely fights, and at that doesn't do it too well. Sadly (IMO anyways), the Wings don't value fighting. I'd support a rough, aggressive team. But that's not the Wings. So let's not kid ourselves, the difference of one or two extra fights on their own is worthless.

Perhaps. Your alternative for a backup is Ty Conklin right now though.

While I have no idea how it is now, Radulov had reported work ethic issues around the time he was drafted, and for a couple of years thereafter. But even ignoring that, I'd suggest Radulov is a lot more comparable to Hudler, than an elite talent like Jagr.

Ask Hudler.

I agree with the OP that the negativity around here is frequently overboard... However, when you're going to start saying that a group of people know nothing and that they're ignorant about a certain player, it would behoove you to actually spell the player's name correctly. At least it was good for a laugh though.

Even ignoring loyalty, I'd never do that. Nash has surpassed the point-per-game mark ONCE in the NHL with 79 points in 78 games in 08-09. Zetterberg (who's considered to be having a terrible year): 44 points in 58 games - 0.759 points/game Nash: 39 points in 57 games - 0.684 points/game Admittedly, Nash hasn't exactly had amazing players in Columbus, but he's not quite the offensive juggernaut that he's sometimes made out to be. In Detroit he'd play with better players for sure, but he would no longer be the go-to guy in all offensive situations...there are several factors. Even playing with Datsyuk, my guess is he'd never pass much more than 80 point seasons. Add to this that Zetterberg is better defensively and a playoff beast, whereas Nash is a fairly unknown commodity come playoff time (3 pts and minus 4 in 4 playoff games) and I'd take Z in a heartbeat. Also, great play for Team Canada is not the same as playing on the Wings/in the NHL.

This was what stood out to me: I didn't remember that one. Boy would that have been a bad trade.