Echolalia

They can ask for all they want, but it's clear Holland (rightfully) isn't willing to part with our top young players/prospects.

It may raise the asking price for Myers, if the Bruins are indeed interested in going out and shoring up their D instead of waiting the storm out.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/torey-krug-to-miss-2-3-weeks-with-broken-finger-as-bruins-lose-another-defenseman-161648529.html Krug out with broken finger, so the Bruins' blueline experiencing even more adversity. I gotta say, as much as I hate seeing anyone get injured, it sure is nice for it to not be the Wings.

This is good. Many of us suspected his biggest problem is getting comfortable with the system and back up to NHL game speed after not playing for the better part of two years. The AHL gives him this opportunity without compromising the Wings' chances of winning each night. Edit: anything following "From what I gather..." coming from St. James I take as meaning "I'm completely guessing here but don't want to come off as uninformed..."

Krsmith its hard to be wrong when you're advocating for change in a powerplay that's currently sitting at 6.7%. I've been a big supporter in Smith seeing some powerplay time, but after giving it some more thought I wonder if we're overestimating his ability. I'm going just off memory so I may be way off-base, but it seems like most of Smith's offensive chances are generated on stepping into a play where a turnover occurs and leads to the opposition being out of position, or if the other team's defense over-commits to one side of the ice and Smith steps into the soft space at the opposite faceoff circle. Smith is a very opportunistic player. Those opportunities don't pop up on a powerplay, because the shorthanded team is obviously playing conservatively. Having said that, I'm still eager to give the kid a real chance at the powerplay, because he clearly has an offensive mind, even if it doesn't necessarily show in his statistics. Quite frankly, what we need is someone who can score from the blueline. Other teams know after Kronwall, the chances of our defenders putting one in the back of the net is slim. You can see how their penalty kill is set up, with a lot more pressure down low, while our defenders have the time and space for a one-timer, but other teams are fine with that risk. Adding a howitzer from the point keeps the pk more spread out and opens up more space down low, because now the opposition has to respect our D. This, I don't think Smith will do (or anyone on our team, save Kronwall, for that matter). Maybe there's someone in the pipeline that can fill this void, but until then, the Wings need to get more creative.

He can't possibly be any worse than having Datsyuk at the blueline

I hear Eric Staal might be available...

No he's a realist, remember?

What a huge victory. Not only to redeem that last one that the Wings let slip away, but to earn two points against a top team (especially when we didn't play the way we could have for half the game).

The first time I read this I thought it said Cleary would be a regular by December

I thought he was in charge of PP

This, and I'm surprised that zone entries are an issue with this team, and I disagree with the way that our coaches are trying to establish the offensive zone on the power play. The past decade or so, the Wings' identity has been all about meticulous puck possession, and precision-passing, and being very patient with the puck and waiting for a hole to briefly open up somewhere and exploit it. We had the personnel to thread the needle on every play, and the intelligence to position ourselves one step ahead of the opposition. That's how the Wings dominated the previous decade. The past few years, while our roster has been largely the same, some key players retired, others got older and more broken-down, and all of a sudden the "well-oiled-machine" that was the Red Wings wasn't functioning like we expect it to. Thankfully the kids came in last year and the team was able to keep the playoff streak alive, but wait, these kids are a whole different breed of hockey player than we're used to. They're all fast and aggressive, and force the tempo of the game up on opposition. This year the Wings look very different, and its not just the roster. Its the way the team is approaching the game. Instead of relying on precision passing, and superior hockey IQ, and patience, this team is playing hard and fast (like Brannigan's love), quick on the forecheck, quick on the backcheck, playing what can almost equate to an offensive swarm. Even the defense have been getting involved, forcing the play at both blue-lines, and carrying the puck up more, instead of playing more passive and patient. It has been awesome to watch at even-strength, and even if the Wings don't necessarily have the goals to show for their work, they certainly have created chances, power play opportunities, and limited the opposition from properly setting up their game plan. So WHY is it that our team is still holding onto this "patience, and precision-passing and higher hockey IQ" identity on the powerplay? I could understand it for a line that had Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Franzen, because they can still play that way. But Tatar, Sheahan, Jurco, Helm (if he gets another crack at the PP), Smith (if he ever gets a crack at the PP), Dekeyser. These kids are about speed. Let's play to their strength and attack the neutral zone on the power play with speed and numbers. If we have to chip the puck deep, lets continue to swarm the play and choke off the opposition. They haven't been doing that. They've been playing the patient game that isn't best suited for their skill-set. And I think if the coaching staff gave them the green-light, we would see more zones established, more scoring chances, and more goals on the power play, at least from their line. I'm willing to keep the old identity for the first power play line now that Datsyuk is back in the mold, but if line one is a change-up, line two needs to be a fastball.

what?

This. Price did a good job to make sure that he pushed into Abby, but Abby was in the crease, and that contact will be called every time.

Howard's bad pass save % is pretty good tonight

is mickey possessed

LGW has pointed out that this team has been without an identity since Lidstrom retired (or around then, more or less). With the influx of these kids, all of whom know how to skate, I think its safe to say that the organization is fully embracing a fast game as the team's new identity. The coaches have changed the game plan to embrace this, it seems, with an emphasis on hard forechecks, and even giving defense the green light to carry the puck through the neutral zone, and playing more aggressive on offensive zone pinches.

Given the way each of them have played so far this year, I'd rather keep Miller and send Jurco down.

Definitely, its frustrating. But in the meantime, the Wings are sitting pretty at 3-1-1 after their first week, against pretty solid competition. Not only is this without our second line center in Weiss, but also our first line center in Datsyuk. If Weiss is able to get up to speed and become the player that he's known to be, the Wings could be dangerous come playoff time.

That last bit I found quite interesting, and Weiss said pretty much the same thing. It's going to be a process, and it's reassuring that the parties involved aren't looking at this as a failure like so many of us fans are, but rather as a small step in the right direction.

I could see this happening maybe a couple years ago, or maybe a couple years from now, but right now a large chunk of our roster has only been playing in Babcock's system and listening to his message for a couple years, if that, so I doubt the message is stale on guys like Nyqvist, Tatar, etc. Maybe Datsyuk, or Zetterberg, or Kronwall, but these aren't exactly the types of players to turn a deaf ear to a coach, either.For the record I think the Wings' solid start against legit Cup contenders and divisional opponents is a good indicator of the entire roster buying into the program.

Jurco hasn't been so impressive so far this season.

I didn't realize how much he relies on networking, not to mention how vast his network is.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/10/stephen_weiss_takes_first_step.html The quotes from this article make it seem like Weiss and Babcock know quite well that getting Weiss up to game speed and comfortable with our system is going to take time, and they're both willing to take it step by step. It's also encouraging to hear that they thing he's making progress and going in the right direction.

I know you're looking specifically for an Aaron Downey type, but truth be told our fourth line was probably already the toughest line for the Leafs to play against last night. I can recall one shift specifically against the Leafs top line where Glendening, Miller, and Andersson had the Leafs chasing in their own zone for a good 30-40 seconds, and generated a couple solid scoring chances as well.