Echolalia

The best statistical shooters on the team last year were Eaves , Helm, and Tatar. Eaves isn't on the team anymore. Helm converted on 1 of 2 attempts for 50% total. Tatar converted on 33% for third best on the team. Not very good odds.Zetterberg was 0 for 4, which means last year he was not among the best shootout players on the team. He was tied for the worst. Franzen was also tied for the worst with a total of 0 shootout goals. So I'm not surprised to see Nestrasil get the nod over Zetterberg and Franzen. Statistically speaking there's literally no way he could perform any worse than what we've come to expect of them. When your team is as bad as the Wings have been in the recent past in shootout attempts, it's not that difficult to crack the top 3 as a new face from the AHL. I'm surprised that Nyqvist got the nod over Tatar in the shootout, though, but maybe Babs was trying to ride a hot hand through the shootout.

They've all been average. Zero great saves.

Sure but how's his bad-pass goals against

Average save at best

I wasn't too impressed with Pulkinnen when he was up either. He definitely wanted to release that bomb of his, but I don't know if he ever got a clean, hard shot off in any of the games he was up. His time and space were cut down too quick for him to properly tee a shot off. Aside from that, he was ineffective. Now that isn't to say that he won't be a regular NHL player (although I still have my doubts), but as of right now, I'm more comfortable with the guys in our lineup than Pulkinnen. The one individual (maybe two) that I would prefer to see with Detroit is Oulette and perhaps Jensen in replace for Lashoff and Kindl. The Weiss situation is odd in that he has the skill to take a roster spot, but for whatever reason has been unable to do so. Its all speculation because we obviously don't have access to practices or team meetings, but I can only guess that having not played hockey in essentially 2+ years, and being with a new team and a new system that he hasn't really had a chance to grow into last year, Weiss is still knocking the rust off his game, which seemed apparent during the preseason. I mentioned this in a thread in the past, but in the preseason, Weiss definitely looked more quick and involved than last year, but his timing was terrible, and he didn't seem in synch with the flow of the game. That may take some time to overcome. We're only a week into the new season, and all in all I think the team that has been dressed has played pretty well so far, so there hasn't been any urgency to put Weiss into the lineup, but it will be interesting to see how he looks when he finally gets the nod.

I will say when I first started posting here, I don't think the mods put much effort into explaining why certain threads were deleted or why some posts were edited, and it was very confusing for me to have a discussion, leave my computer and come back a few hours later and have no idea what happened to the thread I was in, or the posts that I was responding to, posting, etc etc. It was confusing and frustrating, and I didn't agree with it because in some instances I had content deleted and had no idea whether my post was offensive or not, or if the thread was just given a general cleaning and everything from post x to post y was removed. It was also odd to leave a civil discussion and have it get out of control while I was away from the computer (and thus oblivious to the thread degrading), and come back a couple hours later to have the entire thread mysteriously removed (not just locked but removed from visibility all together), and have no idea what happened, or why, or if I was even a part of it. Since then the moderators have been much better and explaining why things are crossing the line, and demonstrating more transparency with edits and deletes. I also appreciate when threads that need to be locked for whatever reason are kept visible to the posters to see exactly what happened for the thread to be locked up. That clarity I think is important.

I personally don't see much of a problem with the moderation. In terms of the thread that was locked in GDT, the vast majority of us saw where that thread was headed just based on the OP. People commented, gave their opinions, things started going sour, and the mods still kept the thread alive, based on what small chance that it had of actually succeeding. This warning came amidst a sespool of attacks that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. After the warning, instead of trying to get the thread back on topic, the subject abruptly changes to discussing how terrible the moderation is.... In a Jimmy Howard thread (that in actuality was a Jimmy Howard bashing thread). I really don't see why people are suprised or angry that that particular thread was closed. As for the particular post of the guy eating popcorn (or whatever it was) that was an immediate response to the initial warning, I probably personally wouldn't have deleted it, but I'm also not a mod that has to deal with cleaning up our garbage every day, so I might be a little naive. But even going off of basic thread etiquette that post was further detailing and already fragile thread. That kind of stuff had better chance of staying alive in a healthier thread, not one where the mods are already pissed off.

For the most part, I think it was the right play. He was covering the right side of the net in case Getzlaf passed to Kesler. If the pass goes through, Ericsson is in good position to block the shot, especially if you add in a push-off from the crease to cut down the angle. Kesler wasn't that far off the post so it wouldn't take more than one good stride/push to get up into Kesler's grill. This is also why Ericsson was on the right side of the net, and not situated between Getzlaf and Kesler like a typical two-on-one would be.At the same time, Ericsson needs to respect Getzlaf, which is also why he played the two-on-one so close to Jimmy. Getzlaf had half the crease/net to work with before he's in Ericsson's reach. If Ericsson commits any more to Kesler, Getzlaf has even more space, which is a no-no. The one thing I would have liked to see is Ericsson close Getzlaf into his side of the ice by diving out on top of the crease as Getzlaf approached. At that point, cutting the top of the crease off would have effectively prevented any pass attempts cuz Getzlaf is already in so tight, but it would also cut down Getzlaf's space even more. He'd still get a point-blank shot off, but that space over Jimmy's shoulder would have been a smaller target.

Thank god the season is 82 games long. If the Wings keep playing the way they have been over these first two games, this loss (and the nonpenalty) won't mean a thing. Having said that, this team looks like an entirely new team compared to last year. They've been really fun to watch so far, and at least through two games, the overall team approach is much different than in the past. The Wings' strategy is much more aggressive and based on speed, which is wonderful to see, because I don't think the coaching staff realized just how quick this next generation of Wings are until they were in the lineup last year. We've been without a solid identity the past few years, but it looks like they're fully embracing quickness, at least based on two games of hockey.

This is too awesome

HAY LEAGUE LOOK! Kindl played a real live nhl game and allowed 0 goals while he was on the ice and had a shot on net and a very wise 2 minute penalty that would have def been a goal and lead his team to victory please trade with us now

Helm just wasting everyone's time on the power play lol

Lol asking Weiss the hard hitting questions.

Haha me too! I was like "well bless you for coming to us first" LGW.... removing men from basements since 1996

I'm sure that's the eventual plan, but I think right now the big thing is getting him back to game form. He's been off the ice for the greater part of two years, and now that's he's ready to come back, its with a team/system/coach that he hasn't really had an opportunity to play with at 100%. He had a hop in his step during the preseason that was absent all last year, and he was looking to get involved more, but Weiss' timing was way off. He wasn't completing passes well, he didn't seem in synch with his line-mates, or the game overall, for that matter. I don't know what Babcock and co are thinking with benching him because I obviously don't have access to the practices or lockerroom, but I have to imagine that they want him to get back up to speed, and comfortable with the pace and the way the Wings play before giving him time on the top 6, against other team's top players. I suspect this process will take a few weeks.

There it is!!!

Who's Greg Brady?

My head just exploded

I agree with this, and if Smith was on the PP, I wouldn't want him as the high defender. But if Kronwall or Dekeyser was the high defender, Smith could work one of the walls.

Was sirdrake the one who started the "whats to stop Chelios" meme?

Oulette needs to be with the Wings. Simple as that.

This is what doesn't make sense to me. I'm a bit surprised that they're going with 1 defender for each line, especially because Smith has the potential to be a difference maker on the power play, and Oulette (whom I think deserves to be on the team over Kindl and Lashoff, at least based on preseason performances) also showed he knows how to generate offense, albeit in a small preseason sample size. I would certainly rather Smith in over one of Helm or Nestrasil, specifically Nestrasil because I don't even know if he's a reliable NHL player yet. My biggest reservation on Oulette on the powerplay is during the preseason on the man advantage, he threw a terrible pass into the slot from the half-wall which was immediately picked off for a breakaway. It only happened once, but those kind of risky moves are exactly the thing that coaches get aneurisms over, so I can see Babcock (or actually, who's the PP coach now?) holding him off the powerplay in the regular season until Oulette is smarter with the puck.

Well we need 10 players for two power play lines. Last season Helm was 11th in points (despite missing half the season) and with Alfie gone, not to mention Datsyuk is currently injured, so that puts Helm square in the top 10 point producers on the team, at least for now. Just for the record, he was also 11th in points on the team two years ago, 12th on the team three years ago, and last year he only played in one game so we don't have any data to work with from that season. Anyway, if you want the team's best scorers on the powerplay, which is what you seem to be implying, Helm currently makes the cut. That is, unless you have a good feeling about Miller or Andersson out there.

I think that mostly has to do with his stone hands in front of the net

Actually that's an interesting thought. Helm might be able to back the defenders off the blue line a bit.