Andy Pred 48 337 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Just looking at previous comments regarding the little man and his ice time. Many people on the boards had suggested that Hudler wouldn't do any better production wise with more TOI. Well since Babs has given him 16mins on average from the Chicago game on the 27th Feb, he has 2+2 in the 6 games and is a +4 to boot. I just feel people should start to give the guy more credit than he is getting. His defensive play was a major concern for many fans but he has answered these by currently sitting 3rd overall in rookies with his +11 rating and has only been a - rating in 6 of his 63 games so far. In all I think he has done better in that area of his game than many thought and although come playoff time I think he may well be the unlucky 13th fwd, there will be a few so called senior players needing to pick their games up or they could find that they will be the healthy scratches. As a sidenote, and before anyone says, yes the AHL ain't the NHL I know but Hudler has played 20 playoff games for GR and has 28 points, not a bad guy to have in reserve. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Schneids_is_awesome 0 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Yea, i hafta agree with you on Rex. He's been playing much better hockey, scoring goals when he gets the chance, playing d-fense etc. His size worries me for the playoffs mostly bc the playoffs are a lot more physical than the regular season for some odd reason. The Wings will be lucky to have him as the 13th forward, knowing that if anyone else decides to get injured there is a good replacement sittting on the sidelines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlueMonk 102 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 He's playing very well, to the point that I'm happy to see him on the ice. It's too bad the rest of his teammates are nearly as small as he is. If he ever gets a banger or two to work with, he could produce a ton of points. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyCrazy3033 168 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Little Rex is a great player that can easily dominate a game. I just wish he'd be able to stay around come post season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akustyk 84 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 he's a fine regular season player so far. whether he is visible in playoffs (which depends on as much on him himself, as on Babcock to give him physical line partner) - I'd have to wait. I like how he's playing and he definitely beat my expectations but I'll try my judgement in May/June. he definitely has skills and a big heart which is great Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zata40 3 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) HUDLER SHOOTS.........SCORES!!! little guy, BIG skills Edited March 12, 2007 by zata40 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mudvayneowns91 0 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 He's playing very well, to the point that I'm happy to see him on the ice. It's too bad the rest of his teammates are nearly as small as he is. If he ever gets a banger or two to work with, he could produce a ton of points. I agree with you, but what do you think about when Bertuzzi comes back. also i'm not too crazy of Bootland Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest GordieSid&Ted Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Just looking at previous comments regarding the little man and his ice time. Many people on the boards had suggested that Hudler wouldn't do any better production wise with more TOI. Well since Babs has given him 16mins on average from the Chicago game on the 27th Feb, he has 2+2 in the 6 games and is a +4 to boot. I just feel people should start to give the guy more credit than he is getting. His defensive play was a major concern for many fans but he has answered these by currently sitting 3rd overall in rookies with his +11 rating and has only been a - rating in 6 of his 63 games so far. In all I think he has done better in that area of his game than many thought and although come playoff time I think he may well be the unlucky 13th fwd, there will be a few so called senior players needing to pick their games up or they could find that they will be the healthy scratches. As a sidenote, and before anyone says, yes the AHL ain't the NHL I know but Hudler has played 20 playoff games for GR and has 28 points, not a bad guy to have in reserve. I think most folks knew that he was talented. In watching him this year I didn't realize how talented he was though. He's a decent skater and he stickhandles very well when he's not getting knocked on his can. I really like his shot though, he's got a quick release and he can really let it fly which I was pretty shocked to see. Overall, I think his offensive upside is tremendous. He needs the icetime and he needs some bigger players around him as well. Alot of small guys are successful and most players in general don't have as much raw offensive talent as Huds. You can just see it in him. He's very creative and I think he'll really put up some points someday if given the chance to and provided he's got some brute force that can score on his line. I just don't want to see any laziness in him. He needs to play hard all over the ice before i'm completely sold on keeping him around and developing him for the future. But offensively there's no question he's got the goods. Hasn't he consistently shredded the AHL as far as scoring points goes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Everyone who likes Huddles is right and everyone who dislikes him is wrong. That's what I say. I wuv huddles. He's got tons of energy, doesn't give up on plays and has great hands. I also think he's got the touch of a 30+ goal scorer (well later in his career at least!). Honesly I think Filp and Huddles are great prospects, but Huddles impresses me the most of all the rookies this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HockeyCrazy3033 168 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 The thing is come playoff time when the entire roster is healthy, Huds will be the odd man out because we all know Babs isn't going to choose him over Flip. I just wish they both could play in the post season. He should at least rotate them, IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akustyk 84 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 The thing is come playoff time when the entire roster is healthy, Huds will be the odd man out because we all know Babs isn't going to choose him over Flip. I just wish they both could play in the post season. He should at least rotate them, IMO. I'd pick Flip over Hudler, too. but I'd also try putting Hudler in Sammy's place Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flip-check 6 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 The thing is come playoff time when the entire roster is healthy, Huds will be the odd man out because we all know Babs isn't going to choose him over Flip. I just wish they both could play in the post season. He should at least rotate them, IMO. I think someone should clone Flip's shoulders and surgically implant them on Rex. Then we'd have a great reason to rotate the two! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bogeygolfer 4 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 The thing is come playoff time when the entire roster is healthy, Huds will be the odd man out because we all know Babs isn't going to choose him over Flip. I just wish they both could play in the post season. He should at least rotate them, IMO. a HUGE if, when do we ever go into the playoffs with a completely healthy roster??? in reality Fischer and Johnson are injured so technically we won't Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heroes of Hockeytown 694 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 I wuv huddles. This concept of 'wuv' confuses and infuriates us! Seriously, Rex is a good guy. If he does get the boot once the playoffs start (as opposed to, I dunno, KIRK MALTBY), at least we can take solace in the fact that he's gonna be around full time from then on out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gbdet 0 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 The thing is come playoff time when the entire roster is healthy, Huds will be the odd man out because we all know Babs isn't going to choose him over Flip. I just wish they both could play in the post season. He should at least rotate them, IMO. I thought that too, but after seeing Filppula's name on the GR Griffins playoff roster (and Flip being able to go down without having to clear waivers) Im not sure anymore. I wouldn't be surprised to see Hudler stay and Flip go just because of these reasons... and even more so now that Huds is getting good icetime and actually playing very well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kp-Wings 3 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 a HUGE if, when do we ever go into the playoffs with a completely healthy roster??? in reality Fischer and Johnson are injured so technically we won't Johnson has retired. And it's pretty much a given that Fischer has too. I like Hudler. I was skeptical at first, and actually went as far as to say Krys Kolanos was more deserving of a spot. He really proved me wrong, and I hope Hudler finds a spot in the playoffs. He works hard, and has been scoring a lot of goals lately. He deserves it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 This concept of 'wuv' confuses and infuriates us! Hahahaha candy hearts are intergalactically hated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FinWing 26 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 It's been good to see Rex play a feisty game with some attitude and balls, he's going into traffic areas etc. Hopefully he can overcome the size issue, he obviously has smooth hands and a helluva shot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Crymson Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Just looking at previous comments regarding the little man and his ice time. Many people on the boards had suggested that Hudler wouldn't do any better production wise with more TOI. Well since Babs has given him 16mins on average from the Chicago game on the 27th Feb, he has 2+2 in the 6 games and is a +4 to boot. I just feel people should start to give the guy more credit than he is getting. His defensive play was a major concern for many fans but he has answered these by currently sitting 3rd overall in rookies with his +11 rating and has only been a - rating in 6 of his 63 games so far. In all I think he has done better in that area of his game than many thought and although come playoff time I think he may well be the unlucky 13th fwd, there will be a few so called senior players needing to pick their games up or they could find that they will be the healthy scratches. As a sidenote, and before anyone says, yes the AHL ain't the NHL I know but Hudler has played 20 playoff games for GR and has 28 points, not a bad guy to have in reserve. After consideration, I've come to believe that Hudler is a very unique player. He's tiny, but he's tough and he can work into very small spaces to make plays. However, his uniqueness can also be a problem, in that he doesn't fit into the average hockey design; he plays differently. This is a double-edged sword. I know we'll have space for him next year, though perhaps not on the starting roster. Who knows? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Offsides 21 Report post Posted March 12, 2007 Huddles is great! I know he'll be the guy to get the boot, which I don't think is fair if he's playing better than some other players...I can think of a couple. For the playoffs I want in the people who are feisty and really want to prove themselves and score and win, so I hope he cracks the roster if possible. I definitely think as a regular he would shine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted March 13, 2007 I've been surprised at Rex a bit. I wasn't one to harp on him if he did bad, but remember how he came to the Wings so young at 19 and just struggled immensely? Also, I'll admit I barely play butkus to any minor league action anywhere, so I really didn't know how he was developing over the years at Grand Rapids. And the 4 games he was up with the Wings last season, there wasn't really much pub about him good/bad. So, I had some doubts on him, whether they were fair/unfair. He could be a wild card going into the playoffs, a guy who won't be counted on for 15-20 minutes a game in all likelihood, but we need him to chip in a timely goal every now and then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Airborn 0 Report post Posted March 13, 2007 I'm a little shocked that Hudler's main flaw has yet to be pointed out. He is slow. I mean REALLY slow! For a guy who is only going to provide value as a "scorer", this is a serious flaw. I will admit that he is nowhere near the defensive disaster he was made out to be, to which I'm sure some credit should go to Babcock. However, I don't see Hudler as a 2nd line (or above) player until his skating improves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Feldmarschall 9 Report post Posted March 13, 2007 He's slow for his size, yeah, but so were Hull and Luc. It's not necessarily a huge disadvantage, even in the "new" NHL. I've been very impressed with him. As has been said, he makes Sammy's spot look a bit less critical, because at least Hudler hits the net more often than not. I like his attitude and ethic, too. Despite Flip's slightly bigger build and quicker feet, he seems to get knocked off the puck more often than the smaller and trickier Rex. And nothing beats him getting scrappy with the comparatively gigantic Kubina in that preseason game, I still like that one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akustyk 84 Report post Posted March 13, 2007 He's slow for his size, yeah, but so were Hull and Luc. It's not necessarily a huge disadvantage, even in the "new" NHL. forget Hull and Luc. Hatcher was the ultimate sloooooooooooooooow motion guy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BadAndy 0 Report post Posted March 13, 2007 Last season in GR, I went to around 30 games, including all but 1 playoff games. I had a good chance to watch Hudler play. He was very impressive in the AHL. I think the game 7 against Manitoba he had 5 assists, in a 5-4 Win. His offensive instincts are incredible. But he is not a good skater. He really needs to go into a system like Ellis and maybe Himelfarb did to improve the skating. A small forward with good hands can be useful... if they are quick. I'd love to see Hudler stay with the Wings, but if he doesn't improve his speed he will be trade bait next year at this time. As Babs said, he is always in the right place at the right time, and does score timely goals. His defensive game has improved since the start of the season. He is averaging 9 minutes of ice time per game. Least of any of the top 30 rookies, ranked by points, on NHL.com. And as was stated, 3rd in +/-. I hope we see a bright future with him in Detroit. -- "Bad Andy" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
