Echolalia

It's crazy because I didn't even know who the kid was a couple weeks ago, but I gotta say Jensen looks like the biggest difference-maker of the bunch from what I've seen. I can't believe how solid he looked at all ends of the ice. It doesn't hurt that he has a good set of wheels and a right-handed shot either.

where did Jensen come from? I've heard nothing about this kid at all and I think he's been the most impressive defensive prospect so far.

Yeah Lashoff has been pretty bad..

Haha Nyqvist dodging a check subsequently leading to two Pens colliding. Edit: and Tatar laying out Erhoff

Actually Lashoff looked like the one who screwed that one up. He was caught up way too high, covering absolutely nobody, while Kindl was stuck responsible for two bodies in front of the net, although he was out of position to effectively do that. Weiss also looked lost on that play, but with Lashoff so high up, I don't know if Weiss noticed a second too late to cover for him or what happened. He was in an awkward spot on the ice. I would like to see another replay of the play just to see if there was a winger who coughed up the puck on a potential breakout, and Lashoff was anticipating the puck to go to center ice. I can't remember those details of the goal.

He's reminding me more and more of Zetterberg

Nyqvist has looked real solid.

sigh, Kindl already losing his man at the blue line and allowing a mini 2 on 1 I like the scheme of our powerplay so far this year. They're running a 1-3-1, but the net front presence has their stick wide of the net, almost behind the goal line in that soft area, which provides an interesting pass option for the guy on the boards, if the player can be strong enough on the puck to bring it to the front of the net.

Attempting standard practice (or any practice) and successfully executing it has just as much to do with the coach and his motivational skills, practice regimes, interpersonal relationships, ability to teach, develop, etc etc as it does the players successfully carrying out their responsibilities, so I will fundamentally disagree with you there.

Adopting standard practice is heroic when everyone has written off your roster as a bunch of patches and bandaids that have no business making the playoffs, and you still find a way in. As I mentioned above, Trotz failed to successfully adopt standard practice last year and his roster was more competent. Same thing with Tippett and just about every coach in the NHL who didn't make the playoffs. Babs got further than every team below the Wings despite having less proven talent than each of those teams. And as I already alluded to, there's more to it that just telling your roster to play within a certain system. A large chunk of our roster had little to no NHL experience. They hadn't played the roles that Babcock expected them to play in the past. He had to have everyone on the same page, and buying into the system, and help a lot of these kids grow into competent NHL players. He also had to do with without many of our on-ice leaders present to help ease the transition. The rest of your post seems like you're implying that I don't think the kids deserve much credit in getting us to the playoffs, which is incorrect. I mentioned a few posts above that Nyqvist's streak was an anomaly, and without that anomaly the Wings don't make the playoffs. I also don't think the Wings make the playoffs without Tatar leading by example and showing the amount of heart that he did. I don't think the Wings make the playoffs without Sheahan and Jurco stepping up, or Gus when Jimmy was faltering. I also don't think the Wings make the playoffs with anyone else behind the bench. And I think were at the point in the debate where both sides have said their thoughts, and we're both content not budging.

So what if they lost more close games than not? That doesn't discredit the fact Babcock had the team playing a style of hockey that gave them a chance to win on most nights. Sometimes you get the bounces, or a kid gets a hot streak, sometimes you regress to the the mean and the team with more skill actually wins. I hope you can identify more strategy than just trapping, kip. You're better than that. Babs had everyone back checking hard, supporting the puck tightly, playing on the right side of the puck at all times, even if it meant less chances for an odd-man rush in our favor. The team was playing a soft swarm in the defensive zone pretty effectively, and doing a good job keeping the puck along the perimeter most nights. They've been relieving deep zone pressure by going up the middle for years and other teams are just now starting to adapt that strategy as well. In the offensive zone players are rarely caught deep on a turnover. And again, many of the guys playing last year started in the AHL and thus didn't have any experience playing under Babcock, so I imagine there was an added variable for adjusting to playing under a new coach and a new system, with a new role.And just for the record, the three teams you mentioned who also play the trap effectively failed to make the playoffs last year, despite a healthier roster than the Wings.

You're interpreting my post incorrectly.Babcock's system allowed a bunch of AHL players, bottom six forwards, bottom three defensmen, and Kronwall to keep games close and competitive against NHL talent on a nightly basis. If it's only a one goal game, Nyquist, or Tatar, or whomever has a chance to play hero. If it's a two or three goal game, it doesn't matter if Nyqvist has the hot streak, because the Wings are still losing more games than not. Nyqvist's run was an anomaly that any coach would take advantage of, but most coaches wouldn't be in a position to get a win out of that anomaly with the roster Babcock was given on most nights.

Nyqvist played excellently and definitely beyond what anyone was expecting him to do, but he was also playing in a system that Babcock ser up for the Wings to maximize their chances in. Nyqvist was able to win games because the system he was a part of kept the games close despite the Wings' obvious defensive weaknesses personelle-wise. Theres a lot more to the process than putting the obvious player on the obvious line. Nyqvist was a big part of the Wings getting into the playoffs, but let's not pretend that was all in spite of Babcock's work behind the bench.

hahaha

Mrazek is making shutouts his thing. 3 shutouts in 9 games last year. I don't know what he's played in the preseason this year but at least one full shutout so far.

You're asking a lot

Oulette has looked pretty solid (aside from an ill-advised pass in the first), he's more physical than I realized, with a couple solid hits. He seems to do a good job protecting the crease after rebounds too, but other than that, I think the three of them have been pretty quiet tonight. Although Jensen has been stealing the spotlight for the prospects, and Smith has been a surprisingly steadying force. I like that he's been taking it on himself to lead the defense, and he looks pretty comfortable in that role so far.

I wonder if he even realized it was a 2 on 1. I was a bit surprised at how he committed to the puck carrier the way he did.

I gotta say, Mrazek is solid as a rock. The kid comes out 15 feet to challenge the shooter.

Nestrasil with some sexy sauce on that pass to Jensen

Smith with a savvy play on a 5 on 3 drawing a penalty

He's been much more mobile and involved throughout the preseason, not just tonight.

will this be televised?

I think the shelf life argument is true to an extent but I don't know if it's really applicable for the Wings, at least right now. Many of the players on the Wings squad are fairy new to working with Babcock, so I don't see how his message would go stale on them. Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Kronwall, Franzen, Cleary I could see the argument being more valid because they've been around for a while, but the above players seem to buy into the system pretty well (maybe not Franzen but who knows what's going on on his head half the time), so I don't think Babcock has lost his swagger in the lockerroom.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2014/09/red_wings_darren_helm_says_fac.html Helm says his groin is feeling good