Right Now Is This Year's Team Better Than Last Year's?

[Sleight 0]

Any thoughts? I see this year's team as being a bit grittier and I feel more confident about our goaltending situation. As far as goal scoring I am a bit concerned (although that is what ultimately did this team in last year's playoffs IMO) and without Stevie I don't see as strong leadership...no shot at Lids, but let's be honest Y was one of the best captains ever.

I'd like to hear some of your thoughts. And I don't mean points wise or results wise, I mean as an actual team, is this year's playoff team better than last year.

[Cicada 4]

not "better"...

better suited to compete in the playoffs though certainly

[betterREDthandead 58]

With or without Bertuzzi?

[wingsfan75 2]

There are definitely things that i like better about this team over last years team. Firstly, we are a much younger, grittier, faster team than last season. This makes us much more suited to grind it out with the opposing team in the playoffs. We are much deeper too in talented offensive players. They are more talented but not as experienced so that takes a bit away. Goaltending is definitely better than last year. No shot at Manny but I think Dom's much more stable and that says a lot. Leadership-wise, I don't see any problems in that department.

[zaxx 0]

Last year we had an unprooven goalie and the team never had a chance to gain the confedence to rally around him. This year we have Bert and Calder to get the grit going and Hasek to make the big save. Those two factors will help us keep momentum and energy through the playoffs. Not that Manny was a bad goalie just that he did not make enough big key saves to get the team to rally around him.

Take my word on this, a few big hits on Phan, Ig, Conroy combined with some frustratingly crazy sazes out of Hasek and Detroit will have the momentum and energy to break Kipper.

[Icteria virens 11]

better, although we have a tough first round match-up.

Am I the only one thinking it would be better for Nashville and Dallas to win their series b/c we seem to play better against them? We don't play well on the west coast or in western Canada although it's hard not to vote against Nashville. We also wouldn't be flying across as many time zones.

[Guest Crymson]

Any thoughts? I see this year's team as being a bit grittier and I feel more confident about our goaltending situation. As far as goal scoring I am a bit concerned (although that is what ultimately did this team in last year's playoffs IMO) and without Stevie I don't see as strong leadership...no shot at Lids, but let's be honest Y was one of the best captains ever.

I'd like to hear some of your thoughts. And I don't mean points wise or results wise, I mean as an actual team, is this year's playoff team better than last year.

Better, yes. A completely different playing philosophy, much better defense, more grit, better goaltending etc.

[TheWestWing 71]

No.

Last year we had an unprooven goalie and the team never had a chance to gain the confedence to rally around him. This year we have Bert and Calder to get the grit going and Hasek to make the big save. Those two factors will help us keep momentum and energy through the playoffs. Not that Manny was a bad goalie just that he did not make enough big key saves to get the team to rally around him.

What kinda drivel is that - 'didn't make enuf key saves....blah, blah, blah.' If the team cant 'rally' around a 29l lb piece of metal, then they're not much of a team. We were the better team last year - we just got outplayed. Manny didnt go 35-8 last year by himself - the team did.

I'm not worried about GroinBoy making some great saves (he will), or giving up some softies (again, he will). Assuming he has got the diving outta his system, I'm more worried about him makling a bonehead play or HighAndWide turning it over at the blueline.

We shall see.......

[Zetter is Better 0]

This is a tough one.

We lost a bit of leadership with Sevie and Shanny leaving but with that, it opened up spaces for the rookies Filps and Hudler. We added some much needed grit with Bertuzzi and Lilja stepped up a bit near the end of the year (better late than never). We added a much needed scorer and 2nd liner with Calder. Zetterberg had an amazing season even though it was cut short and Datsyuk picked up the slack and finnished the season very well.

I find that the team gelled a little more this year and really started playing as a team.

[hillbillywingsfan 792]

i think we are better prepaired for the playoffs this year. we were fighting for that top spot and just didn't get it handed to us on a silver plate. we were playing more playoff style hockey at the end then last year at this time. and we have calder=)

[datsyukismyfriend 4]

without a doubt.

[Rice 42]

Yes, this team is better.

Last year's team faced almost no adversity during the regular season. Draper was a top six winger. The team as a whole was pretty one-dimensional and had no answers once the Oil started trapping. Datsyuk and Zetterberg have each matured into much better players. Legace was terrible in the playoffs and brought the whole team down. His attitude was a cancer and it seemed every time the Wings had some momentum he let in another softie.

Hasek brings the "f*** you" attitude which is much more productive for the entire team than the "hang myself" attitude. The Wings have the capability to dump and chase, especially if Bertuzzi is in the lineup. Williams is gone. Lilja isn't in the top pairing. Draper is back in a checking line role. Hudler and Filppula have added youth to the lineup as well as two fresh bodies that haven't won it all yet. The Wings had some serious injuries in the regular season and dealt with them. They stood up to physical play and showed they could grind it out and win one goal leads.

Last year's powerplay had a 22% success rate. This year, the Wings scored 17% of the time on the PP. This is a big disparity and the Wings still managed to win games. The team's 5-on-5 play is much better as last year they were pretty dependant on the powerplay. They've shown the ability to suffocate teams, keeping shot totals to 25 or below. The Wings had the most shots in the league and the least shots against.

I think this team is much better prepared.

[glasgowcelticwing 18]

I don't know the answer to this. We've strengthened the team with the pyhsical addition's that we all new we needed and wanted last season. But we also lost so much in leadership and insperation. Then again we got a world class goaltender in net now. We'll just have to wait and see if we're better once the cup's been won or lost.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Better than last year? Sure. But here lies the problem...what other team in the West cant say the same thing? Anaheim is better, as are San Jose and Minnesota. Nashville is much better as well as Vancouver because of Luongo. Calgary is drastically improved offensively, but it remains to be seen whether they'll recapture their physical edge. I guess Dallas is probably the only team thats pretty much the same.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Right Now Is This Year's Team Better Than Last Year's?

Exactly!