Drake_Marcus

Yeah, but that face is as common on Babcock as this one is on Mindfly:

To be fair to TO at the time they beat the Wings this year they weren't that far down in from the Wings in the standings.

Now I'm totally sold on going down to Arby's for a sammich.

That's some good karma for the fan who gave his seats up. I hope good things come his way I'm glad your son had fun at the game! There's nothing cooler than seeing your favourite player score in person.

Now it's just a waiting game until Carmen comes in to explain that Crosby already has a thick, lustrous beard and that we're all haters. Of course he'll throw in that Ovechkin's genetically incapable of growing a beard.

Seconded.

I'd get drunk too quickly.

Yeah, I just don't get him right now. He's still got great hands but he's not really the bull around the net he was in his prime (something we already knew). The big issue I don't get is why he doesn't just throw tons of shots on the net more often. He seems to favour trying to go around the defense instead of shooting through them. Does he have shot issues to do a wrist, elbow or shoulder injury of some sort? I'm not really knowledgeable enough about shooting mechanics to pick up on that sort of thing.

Watched the whole game on TV. Ericsson was fine, got an assist and was a +1. He made a bone-head play where he made a high-risk pass up the ice that Getzlaf stepped in front of and passed to Perry for a momentum killing goal. Definitely something he knew he shouldn't have done-- the look on his face made it clear Babs wouldn't have to chew him out much. Aside from that he stepped into a dance with Perry but had his helmet flip down around his face with the chinstrap holding it around his neck awkwardly. He tried to unclip it with one hand (and Perry was definitely not dirty because he didn't throw a punch and allowed Ericsson to try to remove it) but the steam blew off and the refs stepped between them before he could unclip the strap. After that bone-head play with the pass to Getzlaf, Ericsson recovered very well. I can deal with him making a few bonehead plays each game given that he's a rookie. As long as he recovers from them like he did tonight we're fine. Hopefully the plays won't lead directly to goals, but hey-- that's what happens when you're learning the game at this level. Bert made some s***ty choices when deciding whether to shoot or hold onto the puck even though Dats handed him golden opportunities multiple times. He had a fairly rough game.

I wonder if his play last night is linked to the newspaper article? Maybe he started to think about leaving and lost some of that drive?

Definitely. "I'd like to return to the elite league" sells more copy than "if I continue to struggle I could see myself returning to play for my old team in Sweden".

Gross. Williams in the top 6? No thanks. I guess he provides the Samuelsson-eque shoot first aim later approach, but I'd much rather have an intelligent hockey player up there who's got better hockey sense. Throw Leino up there and he'll provide a more intelligent shot selection. William's near random shoot selection is what derailed the Leino-Filppula-Williams line early this season in my opinion. (although that exact line was red hot in the preseason, so go figure) EDIT: Plus I'm a big proponent of splitting Zetterberg and Franzen up if it means giving Datsyuk a premier scorer to pass to. Although Z-Mule have been brilliant together in the past, it's also a combo that's contributed to decreased shots from Zetterberg. Zetterberg isn't an elite offensive forward when he's looking to dish the puck to his wingers. He's a dominant force out there when he's shooting the puck 6+ times a game. Playing with Franzen means one of your wingers is always looking to shoot or drive the net. Zetterberg and Franzen are pretty much the same player in terms of line chemistry (aside from Franzen's ability to crash the net, although when it comes to shooting the puck in close Zetterberg is at least his equal). With Z, Dats and Franzen on the team the only sure thing about the ideal line combinations is that Datsyuk should be dishing the puck to Z or Mule.

Fixed it.

He's still good enough defensively to play heavy PK time. But yeah, it's still a work-in-progress, as you'd expect with any rookie d-man in the NHL. I have no idea why he isn't on the PP aside from the fact that he's a left hand shot. He's got a 100+ mph shot, so he's definitely got a weapon they could use out there. There aren't many players in the NHL with slapshots at or above 100 mph.

Deal!

The other guy was being sarcastic in regards to the feeling prior to the recent games that the Wings would struggle to score. The give away that he was being sarcastic was when he remarked that they got hat-tricks all the time last year (noting that the Wings didn't score a single hat-trick last year).

And again that came through an interview with a Swedish newspaper. Part of the situation is the leading questions, expectations of the interviewer and the effort to keep doors open back home if this doesn't work out. I think the responses would be different if he were talking to a reporter in North America. On top of that it's worth noting that certain subtleties are always lost in translation, and that's something that never ends up being a positive thing when it comes to discussions of contracts and statuses in sports.

Yeah, while I prefer keeping Dats and Hank together, I think having them always play together on the PP will help keep the chemistry going between them. Right now we just don't have a the extra elite forward to hold the 2nd line together. I suppose we could do this when everyone is back, though: Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Franzen-Filppula-Cleary Bertuzzi-Williams-Leino Draper-Helm-Eaves The problem there is that Williams is a crappy centre on the Wings because he's not responsible enough defensively. Even without Draper and Helm glued together we lack a quality 3rd line centre. Helm could do it but he doesn't provide the offensive upside Filppula does when he's on the 3rd. Plus, Helm is waaaaayyy more dangerous when he's with other guys who can keep up with his insanely fast skating. Right now the big concern is either getting Bertuzzi's shot selection and timing back or getting someone else up with Datsyuk who can actually do something with the puck when handed it. I'm sick of seeing Bertuzzi hold the puck or try and pass it when Datsyuk hands him a brilliant scoring chance on a platter. Bertuzzi's a great guy to bull around, but he doesn't seem to have the hockey sense you'd want from a guy who's going to be Datsyuk's goal-puppet.

Sarcasm detector fail.

If they went through with this contest without planning for a single payout, let alone the worst case scenario, they deserve to go under. I imagine they actually end up making money in this situation. Enough people will buy something else with their small curly fries to justify giving away the fries. Plus how much does one of those fries cost to buy? $1.00? That means they're worth only pennies in material costs (noting that in this case other overhead isn't necessarily important to factor in). What percentage of people will buy something to go with the free fries? I'm betting a good chunk of them will.

I wouldn't shift the line-mates that aren't impressing alongside Datsyuk down to Zetterberg. Leave the Zetterberg line as intact as possible in light of the success they've had ever since they were put together. They haven't had a bad game since. Also, the Filppula line above was great in the preseason and in Sweden, but hasn't produced since. I think it's safe to shake them up. I'd go with: Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Leino-Zetterberg-Cleary Bertuzzi-Filppula-Williams Draper-Helm-Eaves

Franzen's the key there. Filppula and Williams can be replaced by young guys stepping up, as we've seen since they were injured, but Franzen can't. While I don't want to diminish Filppula's contribution by saying his production is replaceable, you have to admit that the bottom 6 have stepped up and done just that. Franzen's a 36+ goal guy. The management expected 40+ goals this season, with Franzen competing with Zetterberg for the team lead in goals, so losing him was massive. Once Franzen's back this team is all the more fearsome. He'll make the 2nd unit power play much, much deadlier. Add Filppula as the 2nd unit PP set-up man and the difference will even more dramatic. Right now the 2nd unit's looked really good, but a big part of that is how hot Kronwall is right now.

Last season ring a bell? Conklin was never really cold, but they knew they had to get Ozzie going as quickly as possible. Although Ozzie hasn't been bad this year, he's still not up to his 07-08 form.

Ahh, so damn 30 million of us because of one man, eh?

I also just wanted to make a note of the fact that the Hawks lead us by 1 pt with both teams having played 18 games. However, the s***hawks have played 12 of their 18 games at home, while the Wings have a perfectly balanced 9 home 9 away schedule so far. On the road the Hawks are only 2-3-1 (which is the same winning percentage as the Wings when it comes to road games). Furthermore, after this game the Wings rank 1st in the West in Goals For per Game and 4th overall. However, they're a pedestrian 17th overall in Goals Against per Game. In the power play the Wings are ranked 1st in the West and 3rd overall. However, once again the goals against are killing them-- with a penalty kill ranked 27th in the league. The biggest mystery is why the PK is so terrible on the road vs home. At home the Wings are tied for 7th in Power Play Goals Against. On the road? They're tied for 20th in that category. It's a similar situation with the PP, but not quite as dramatic-- 3rd in PP Goals For at home and 14th on the road.