Drake_Marcus

Overspent on Franzen and Zetterberg? You think he could've gotten better players than those two for cheaper?

Article courtesy of Red Wings Central. Looks good to me aside from a few points: --> It's insane that Larsson isn't even in the top 10, let alone the top 5. This kid's excelled at every level he's played-- over the last two years he's been the SEL top goaltender award winner and an AHL all-star. This season he's been fantastic. --> McCollom is slightly overrated here due to his draft position, although he deserves to be top 5. --> Andersson is overrated by 5-10 spots. --> Axelsson's ranking seems to have been effected by the Swedish interview where he indicated he's not happy in the AHL. --> Smith is overrated by about 5 spots. He's yet to put a healthy season together and hasn't even graduated from college hockey yet. I'm still waiting for him to break out. --> Ferraro is slightly overrated based on draft position, but there hasn't been many hockey games since the draft and he was injured early, so I can forgive that. Edit: spelling

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it is time to put Helm with Datsyuk. There's really not many options for new wingers right now because of injuries, so it can't hurt to try. Helm's not a top six guy as far as skill goes, but his speed does cause turn-overs and significant confusion among opposing defensemen. I can't help but think it'd be worthwhile seeing if Datsyuk can feed off that confusion. Plus it's clear that defensemen are wary of taking Helm on 1-on-1 because of his footspeed, so it'd be interesting to force the to make twice as many difficult defensive decisions by throwing Datysuk and Helm together. The only problem is that the line would still need a shooter because Helm's a non-factor with the puck. It's not a long-term solution, but it's worth trying.

Neither Holmstrom nor Bertuzzi would have the cemented top six spots they have right now if Babcock had even a tiny bit of scoring depth to work with.

I would be surprised if it's under 4 million. I'm expecting a 5 million dollar deal for one season if his numbers are about the same as last year. If his numbers dip significantly I'd expect a 4 million dollar deal, maybe even 3.5 if he's feeling really generous and his stats are really low. No doubt he'll sign for less than 6 million, though, as he know's he's in the the twilight of his career (twilight referring to near the end not to poorly written teen fiction). I guess we're in a wait and see mode. I definitely don't think he'll re-sign before the Olympic break.

Booooooo.

Friday: New Jersey @ Boston Buffalo @ Philadelphia Pittsburgh @ NY Islanders Colorado @ Minnesota Chicago @ Anaheim Atlanta @ Carolina Calgary @ Detroit NY Rangers @ Tampa Bay Toronto @ Florida St Louis @ Nashville Dallas @ Phoenix San Jose @ Edmonton Saturday: NY Islanders @ New Jersey Ottawa @ Boston Carolina @ Buffalo Washington @ Montreal Philadelphia @ Atlanta Calgary @ Columbus NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh Detroit @ St Louis Florida @ Nashville Tampa Bay @ Dallas Minnesota @ Colorado Edmonton @ Vancouver Chicago @ Los Angeles Sunday: Phoenix @ Anaheim San Jose @ Vancouver

Bummer that they lost, but hey-- they've had a killer November, so I can't be mad they lost two games this month. Tatar continues to be red hot! 9pts in his first 13 games as a pro AND he's the youngest player in the league? Life is good. Mursak's looked great as well, especially for someone with sack in their last name.

This is gonna be fun... Turnovers by offensive defensemen over the last 5 games: Dallas: Lidstrom: 2 Rafalski: 2 Ericsson: 2 Kronwal: 1 Flordia: Lidstrom: 0 Rafalski: 2 Ericsson: 1 Kronwall: 1 Montreal: Lidstrom: 4 Rafalski: 2 Ericsson: 1 Kronwall: 0 (injured after playing 4 mins) Nashville: Lidstrom: 0 Rafalski: 2 Ericsson: 1 Atlanta: Lidstrom: 1 Rafalski: 0 Ericsson: 0 Totals: Lidstrom: 7 in 5 games --> 1.4 per game Rafalski: 8 in 5 games --> 1.6 per game Ericsson: 5 in 5 games --> 1 per game Kronwall: 2 in 2 games --> 1 per game A ticking time bomb for turn-overs, eh? If 1 turn-over a game is a shocker you've never seen Mike Green play.

Babcock is a professional first and foremost. And let's put it this way-- even if you're a hot head you don't act in an unprofessional manner if you're working for Mr. and Mrs. I. They wouldn't tolerate it. I like to think that behind closed doors Babcock's given this team hell. They've had so much leeway handed to them defensively over the last two seasons because they're all veterans, but it's time to let rip.

Of the 40 shots 20 were marked as scoring chances. That's retarrrrdddded. 20 frigging scoring chances and zero goals? Wtf? Overall it's not like the Wings played a bad defensive game. They limited the highest scoring team in the league to 2 goals and they limited Kovy to an assist. I'm most surprised that Zetterberg didn't have an amazing game (8 shots aside) given that he's known for raising his level when he plays another elite player.

If your goalie needs to let fewer than 2 goals a game in you're screwed anyway. Yeah you can ask for a stolen game, but you certainly can't count on a goalie doing that very often.

That's a fair assessment. The entire structure of the PK is horrible. The pathetic thing is that this PK medicrity (arguably) cost us a Cup and it's been going on for about 120 games now.

Also, has Stuart or Meech done anything on the PP so far? Give Ericsson a shot already-- he's literally the only guy not getting a shot on the PP. Yet he's got a great offensive history and sits 3rd in defensive scoring (2nd in active d-men on the team). I mean isn't it time Babs throws him out there to take some 100mph slappers? It's not like he could make the PP less effective right now.

Both Bertuzzi AND Holmstrom can go suck it. So can Datsyuk, for that matter, because that entire line blows right now. Blows. I'd also be nice if Lidstrom could step it up offensively during this cold streak. He's getting it done defensively but damn man, this would be a good time for him to heat back up.

Agreed.

Foolish. Kronwall's never made a play as dirty as sticking the knee out on someone. He's been accused of hitting high, but that's different than sticking the knee out. Sticking your knee out on someone has only one possible intent-- injury. A high hit is still a borderline acceptable play in hockey, and as far as Kronwall goes his hits that are argued to be high aren't clear cut cases. Does Kronwall make the odd borderline acceptable hit? Yes. Does he make indisputably dirty hits? No. Does he make dirty plays? No.

Here's an article from m-live: Man... so Babs really doesn't trust a Meech-Lebda pairing. I wonder why. Looks like Lidstrom and Stuart's minutes are going to jump tomorrow. Hopefully he wakes up and puts Ericsson on the PP. I'd also drop Stuart from the PP to focus him on shutting people down on the PK. Given how bad the PK's been, it'd be nice to have the second best PK d-man focusing on the PK instead of splitting his time with the PP. Ericsson's a better choice to split PP/PK time as opposed to Stuart since Stuart is better on the PK. I can't wrap my head around Babcock's stubborn resistance to breaking the Datsyuk line up. If he's willing to move Leino around then put him with Datsyuk and try Bertuzzi with Zetterberg. At least Bertuzzi's instinct to pass will be less painful for Zetterberg than it is for Datsyuk. I'd love to see Abdelkader get a shot at playing beside Datsyuk but Babs doesn't really have many options for the 4th line centre right now...

Well he's due for a big game!

It just seems odd for a guy like Babcock to keep a stagnant line together for so long. He's usually real quick to break lines up and throw new ones together. I guess the relative success of the 2nd and 3rd lines has tied his hands as much as injuries. Then again, last night he switched Miller and Leino, so that must mean he's not too focused on keeping the 2nd together.

The two most important PK forwards are the guys who are out there the most. Back when the PK was good the #1 guy in terms of PK ice-time was Draper. Now Draper's way down near the bottom. Draper's also got a Selke to his name, so we shouldn't underestimate his defensive contribution. The PK forwards are critical to the success of the unit because they move around to cover the extra man the most, right? They're responsible for pressuring the points and jamming up the high passing lanes when they can. The two d-men are pretty much anchored to the net and the opposition forwards that stay down low. Our forward pkers are also critical because they take the face-off. The face-off is basically the difference between 15 seconds off the clock and a chance to change your men and having to deal with extended offensive pressure. Back when Draper was on the PK he was winning the majority of the face-offs... which was a huge key to the unit's success. Another important point to remember is that a guy who knows his #1 job is to be the PK go-to guy is revved up to get out there and kill that penalty early on. As a bottom 6 player he's also got more time and energy to dedicate to the PK in any one game. He's also less likely to be on the ice when the penalty occurs, meaning he's almost always the first guy out on the PK and sets the tone for the kill. Right now it's clear that we don't have that kind of dedicate shut-down centre that wins almost all his draws. Zetterberg plays a big part there, though, and it shows-- he's usually not out on the ice when a goal goes in. Who is? Lately it's been Helm/Eaves. For example, they were out for PP goals against last game. Similarly, the Stuart-Ericsson pairing was out for both goals last game. Lidstrom's been extremely effective on the PK this year. I'd rather they dropped Lidstrom's PP time back a bit to add to his PK time just so they can stop the bleeding. The one sure thing in any one game is that Lidstrom will be dominant defensively.

Well first of all, I said "dedicated" shut down forwards. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are definitely mainstays of the PK, but neither is the #1 or #2 most used guy. In fact, Datsyuk isn't even in the top 4!

Play good defense. Have an iron PK. Score lots of goals. Don't let many goals in. Thanks.

I can buy that. Who are the dedicated shutdown forwards on this team? Helm and Miller? Those two kids are a big step down from Draper and Maltby in their primes. Here are the PK time break downs for the last 4 seasons: Forwards 2006-2007 Forwards 2007-2008 Forwards 2008-2009 Forwards 2009-2010 Defensemen 2006-2007 Defensemen 2007-2008 Defensemen 2008-2009 Defensemen 2009-2010 What are the main themes here? Maltby and Draper fade away to almost no mins. Chelios goes from the #1 PK d-man in mins to non-existent.

When's the last time they were good? 07-08 What's different since then? Aside from the defensive coach not much other than the fact that Draper and Maltby are no longer very effective on the PK. Lilja's also missing. In up until after the 07-08 season, Chelios was an important member of the PK. The farther you look back the more important Chelios was. So we're looking at: 1) McCrimmon blows chunks. His career is littered with defensively deficient teams. McCrimmon is responsible for the structure of the PK and that area is terrible. 2) Our forward PK'ers are different. Maltby and Draper are no longer the mainstays of the PK. They were the common theme amongst all the the successful Wings PK groups in recent history. 3) We only have one dedicated PK d-man. Ericsson doesn't count because he's got almost zero experience being a PKer at this level. Lilja used to be very effective alongside Lidstrom on the PK. Chelios used to be an important PKer too. Overall the only thing you can change is McCrimmon. From his first game onwards the team defense and PK has been far below Red Wings standards. Those things are his job. He's failing to do his job. At some point you have to hold the man accountable. Whether you believe he's 100% or 1% at fault, the responsibility falls on his shoulders because it's his job in the end.