Drake_Marcus

Here's what I'd do with the full roster all healthy: Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Leino-Zetterberg-Ceary Bertuzzi-Filppula-Williams Draper-Helm-Eaves

No thanks. You guys wore the Wings down so badly they were just a bunch of walking wounded when they finally met the Pens.

Luckily Zetterberg is here to hold the fort while Filppula's injured.

I agree with you short-term, but we know the starter spot is solidly in Ozzy's pocket.

Oh Ozzie will surely get the goal back. The Wings know they have to have Ozzie hot going into the playoffs. Howard's strong play, if it continues through the season will be critical for him because he has to prove to Holland that he doesn't have to shop for a veteran back-up at the deadline.

Despite the lack of points, Leino's been a big part of that. His puck retrieval and ability to hold and dish the puck have been really important to that line's success. At least one of Z's first goal came due in part to Leino's hard work against the Duck puck carrier.

I hope that doesn't surprise you at this point.

Yeah, but this is what mindfly looks like in real life:

Did anyone see if Dats made that pass on the last goal? According to the boxscore he wasn't on the ice, but he could easily have been on only for the faceoff then jumped off.

Weird-- the play by play guys said Datsyuk made the pass to Z on that last goal (I couldn't tell because my feed is terrible), but NHL.com has Kronwall listed as the only assist.

CURLY FRIES

Dear Mr. Helm, I'd just like to thank you for that amazingly timely goal on Hiller. You've been providing this team with tons of excellent checking, defensive play and energy but damn son-- that goal was very, very, very timely. Thanks man! Marcus

Zetterberg to Getzlaf: "Anything you can do I can do better."

Uggg... what a nice shot by Getzlaf. *sigh* I hate that f*****.

Also, there's only one word to describe the lack of offensive pressure by Datsyuk's line: Bertuzzi. He's been playing well in most areas, but his shot selection and timing is just screwed up. I wish he could use Datsyuk's great passes better.

Oh, and anyone notice how Lidstrom's consistently putting points up lately? I can only laugh at the people that counted him out early because he made his patented slow start. Lids will be back on top again soon

Once again Zetterberg has no solution for Getzlaf... Z struggled to contain Getzlaf in the playoffs too. I just don't get it-- it's like Getzlaf is his cryptonite. GOAL BY Z! W00t! Leino looks great out there tonight, he just isn't getting rewarded for his hard work.

Yikes... that was a soft goal We'll see how Howard recovers. Come on Jimmy!

Great play by Rafalski.

That penalty was bush league.

As George Malik said on his page, when you read the original interview from the Swedish reporter the questions are pretty leading. It's not like Axelsson came out and complained to GR the press, he answered some leading questions from a reporter working for a Swedish newspaper. He was probably too honest when he answered those questions, but he did make a point of saying his agent hasn't been involved in looking into work in Sweden when they asked him, so it's not like he's saying he'll ditch tomorrow. Now that the word's out there I imagine the Wings will take him aside and talk to him to nip the problem at the bud. As far as his earlier discipline issues go people should take note of the fact that once he found a new SEL team after his original team demoted him his attitude took a 180.

Like Micky said-- Ericsson's a bit of a gambler offensively, so it's not a matter of telling him not to try and make passes like the one that hit the Ducks player and dropped in front of the Duck for an easy pass for that goal, it's a matter of asking him to be a bit more careful... he'll learn to read the play more astutely and make those kinds of risky passes at the right time when he's more experienced. Kronwall used to do the same thing far too often. Other than that he's been much stronger defensively than he was when he started this season. I wish Babs would put Ericsson on the PP to satisfy his offensive urges. I can't help but worry that he might start to lose his high end offensive instincts if he's kept back as a defensive d-man for the first few years of his career. Giving him some PP time seems like the best way to have your cake and eat it to in that situation.

Agreed. From what I've read he seems snake bitten right now. Still, the Wings need to get all over this right now. They lost a promising young guy in Ryno due to this bulls***-- they can't afford to lose an even more promising prospect in Axelsson. Hat Trick Dick is one of the top offensive prospects in the system right now.

Helm is definitely the kind of guy who exemplifies the saying "speed kills".