Babcock's coaching.

[regwinguofmfan 0]

Im not being overly negative.

You have a selctive memory on Mr Langs turnovers that cost us last year, one of which led to a breakaway goal late in a tied game last year that was the game winning goal.

Im not sure I have said anything negative about this team all night.

Ive pointed out that the special teams suck and it looks as though babcock is in denial about the skill level of certain players.

Edited April 20, 2007 by regwinguofmfan

[Packer487 3]

Lebda should be on the other point. When you look at him as a player: World class speed, good shot, jumps into the play, good passer, average on defense you know what TSN or Hockeysfuture would write about him? "Power Play Specialist".

I've always been against forwards playing the point. I understand the reasoning, but I've honestly never seen it be all that effective. Michigan tried it a bunch this season too with Cogliano and it never worked.

Forwards just aren't used to the positioning, they're not used to being responsible for holding the puck in, they don't know when to step and when to drop out, etc. There was one play tonight where we won a faceoff, and it softly rolled to about 3 strides in from the blueline and Samuelsson was caught in no man's land because he didn't know if he should come get it or not. Any defenseman on our team would've known that he could go get it safely, but Samuelsson didn't. Then he panicked and threw it across the zone and it came out anyway.

Lebda would be great on the PP. There'd be one less person on the ice too....so there'd be less resistance for him cruising in 5th gear up into the zone. I don't get it.

I thought Babs did a nice job tonight. The changes he made to the lines worked even strength. The problem is that our power play is lifeless and our PK absolutely blows. I can't figure that one out....Too much talent on this team for the special teams to be that bad.

Oh and our top line is invisible. Datsyuk scored his 2 goals, so he met his quota for the next 5 playoffs. I'm not ready to make my "I'm sure glad we signed him for $50 million" crack just yet, but the jokes are running through my head. Quick suggestion for a fix: Move Bertuzzi up to the top line. If we're dumping and chasing, we need a big body to go in the corner and get the puck. Holmstrom can muck and grind, he just can't skate. Bert is looking more and more comfortable, he can play in front of the net like Homer, but he's more talented overall.

I'm sick of the same old s*** happening every season. We run into a team that squeaked into the playoffs, but they've got a hot goalie of course, and they force us to dump and chase and we can't do it. And yet we still outshoot the hell out of them, but their goalie has like a 95 save percentage and it ends up being much harder than it should be. Why the hell don't we practice this stuff during the year? I know they love being a puck possession team, but teams don't let us play that way in the playoffs. So lose 5 or 6 more games in the regular season but try stuff out so that when it gets to playoff time we have a clue what the hell we're doing.

And yet, honestly, the series is probably where I thought it'd be right now. I picked the Wings in 6, so obviously I had them winning game 6 in Calgary--but losing 2 games elsewhere. So what are the two most likely games for us to lose? Both of the road games. And yet, I'm beyond aggravated.

And it pisses me off yet again that we're not in the East, because all those teams with the exception of Buffalo suck. All of them. It'd sure be nice to be the #1 seed and get to face a team like the Islanders once in awhile. Or get a team like the Thrashers in the first round. Fricken Western Conference.....

By the way, anyone who wants to see the Wings win the Cup this year needs to be rooting for Dallas to win that series vs. Vancouver, because there's no way in hell that we're beating San Jose, but I think Anaheim can take care of them for us......This PK against San Jose would be really, really ugly.

-Tim

Edited April 20, 2007 by Packer487

[regwinguofmfan 0]

Its not so much we run into a hot goalie, as we dont score playoff type goals.

Everything we score comes off a pass or set up play. Playoff scoring is about tussles in front of the net and picking up garbage.

When you shoot 100 wristers a game from the point in the playoffs you dont score much.

[Hack&Lube 0]

Flames fans generally agree that there is no way in hell Babcock is ever outcoached by Jim Playfair. Babcock is the superior coach. A few things just didn't go the Wing's way in the past two games despite arguably dominating. Game 5 will be the real test.

[Packer487 3]

Its not so much we run into a hot goalie, as we dont score playoff type goals.

Everything we score comes off a pass or set up play. Playoff scoring is about tussles in front of the net and picking up garbage.

When you shoot 100 wristers a game from the point in the playoffs you dont score much.

That is part of it too. But at the same time, look at the goalies that we've had to face over the last few years:

Kipper--One of the very best in the game...he's not a guy you want to see in the first round

Roloson--Got hot and took the Oilers to the Finals

Kipper--Took the Flames to the Finals

Vokoun--We all know that he's pretty great

Giguere--Took the Ducks to the Finals

We've had some pretty bad luck with the draws. Though, part of it is that the goalies in the West are very, very strong as a group. Much better than the guys out East IMO.

-Tim

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Lebda should be on the other point. When you look at him as a player: World class speed, good shot, jumps into the play, good passer, average on defense you know what TSN or Hockeysfuture would write about him? "Power Play Specialist".

I've always been against forwards playing the point. I understand the reasoning, but I've honestly never seen it be all that effective. Michigan tried it a bunch this season too with Cogliano and it never worked.

Forwards just aren't used to the positioning, they're not used to being responsible for holding the puck in, they don't know when to step and when to drop out, etc. There was one play tonight where we won a faceoff, and it softly rolled to about 3 strides in from the blueline and Samuelsson was caught in no man's land because he didn't know if he should come get it or not. Any defenseman on our team would've known that he could go get it safely, but Samuelsson didn't. Then he panicked and threw it across the zone and it came out anyway.

Lebda would be great on the PP. There'd be one less person on the ice too....so there'd be less resistance for him cruising in 5th gear up into the zone. I don't get it.

I thought Babs did a nice job tonight. The changes he made to the lines worked even strength. The problem is that our power play is lifeless and our PK absolutely blows. I can't figure that one out....Too much talent on this team for the special teams to be that bad.

Oh and our top line is invisible. Datsyuk scored his 2 goals, so he met his quota for the next 5 playoffs. I'm not ready to make my "I'm sure glad we signed him for $50 million" crack just yet, but the jokes are running through my head. Quick suggestion for a fix: Move Bertuzzi up to the top line. If we're dumping and chasing, we need a big body to go in the corner and get the puck. Holmstrom can muck and grind, he just can't skate. Bert is looking more and more comfortable, he can play in front of the net like Homer, but he's more talented overall.

I'm sick of the same old s*** happening every season. We run into a team that squeaked into the playoffs, but they've got a hot goalie of course, and they force us to dump and chase and we can't do it. And yet we still outshoot the hell out of them, but their goalie has like a 95 save percentage and it ends up being much harder than it should be. Why the hell don't we practice this stuff during the year? I know they love being a puck possession team, but teams don't let us play that way in the playoffs. So lose 5 or 6 more games in the regular season but try stuff out so that when it gets to playoff time we have a clue what the hell we're doing.

And yet, honestly, the series is probably where I thought it'd be right now. I picked the Wings in 6, so obviously I had them winning game 6 in Calgary--but losing 2 games elsewhere. So what are the two most likely games for us to lose? Both of the road games. And yet, I'm beyond aggravated.

And it pisses me off yet again that we're not in the East, because all those teams with the exception of Buffalo suck. All of them. It'd sure be nice to be the #1 seed and get to face a team like the Islanders once in awhile. Or get a team like the Thrashers in the first round. Fricken Western Conference.....

By the way, anyone who wants to see the Wings win the Cup this year needs to be rooting for Dallas to win that series vs. Vancouver, because there's no way in hell that we're beating San Jose, but I think Anaheim can take care of them for us......This PK against San Jose would be really, really ugly.

-Tim

Woah, excellent post. Dead on with everything. Except, the Sharks don't really scare me. EXCEPT their beyond amazing PP. lol

Also, I was going to mention something about it being time to BREAK the first line up. I remember before the playoffs started there were many that stated it should not be messed with and that it would be a horrible idea to break them up..but they haven't done anything aside from the first two games, and well now is the time to try something new. I agree with Bert on the top line with Dats and Hank, but then again I really liked the Lang line tonight with Bert and Franzen. We'll see what happens, but the first line really needs some changes.

I'm for Lebda at the point as well.

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

Babcock is the reason why the Wings aren't pushed around anymore. He's the reason they aren't taken lightly. He's the reason why players such as Cleary, Huds, and Flip have made a name for themselves.. He's the reason why the Wings are playing great, gritty, tough, physical hockey in the playoffs for the first time in nearly 5 years. He's the reason why FINALLY the second line started producing. GIVE THE GUY A DAMN BREAK, AND LAY OFF.

Nobody is ever good enough for the majority of spoiled Wings fans. Ridiculous.

[Dabura 12,207]

We did not get beat by Calgary we got beat by ourselves.

Bingo.

[Guest LivingtheDream]

Babcock is the reason why the Wings aren't pushed around anymore. He's the reason they aren't taken lightly. He's the reason why players such as Cleary, Huds, and Flip have made a name for themselves.. He's the reason why the Wings are playing great, gritty, tough, physical hockey in the playoffs for the first time in nearly 5 years. He's the reason why FINALLY the second line started producing. GIVE THE GUY A DAMN BREAK, AND LAY OFF.

Nobody is ever good enough for the majority of spoiled Wings fans. Ridiculous.

No you lay off. I'm not a spoiled fan, I am a fan who is sick of having coaches who fail to adjust in the playoffs. Lewis and now Babcock. Year after year we see teams adjust to beat the Wings, but the Wings never adjust in return - never enough or never in time and this smells like the same old story. The post season is a chess game and Babs brought a checker board.

P.S. Your "logic" has be a little confused - you say Babs is the reason Hudler has made a name for himself? Yes, the whole league is amazed at Hudler's performance with so little ice time, and where is Hudler the last two games? Hudler made his name on his own. Babs always said everyone had to earn their spot, well Huds sure did and Sammy sure did not. So what is up with that? What crap, to play a no skill mindless shooter over a skilled goal scorer. SO not only is he not very brilliant, he is a hypocrite and plays favorites too. Great, just great.

Flip and Cleary are playing with a ton of energy, but since half the team isn't, how can that be solely due to Babcock. If the whole team

[TheDude 0]

Yeah that Babcock...he looked horrible on the Flames winning goal he should have easily stopped that one, or who could forget that stupid penalty he took that gave the Flames the 5 on 3 leading to it. He really needs to get better chances on the net in powerplay situations...Seriously, there is only so much the coach can do. What it all boils down to is the players have to execute the gameplan the coach dictates, and the Wings did not execute said gameplan in games 3 and 4 well enough to win.

[Guest LivingtheDream]

Babcock did the same thing Bowman would have done. He changed the lines a lot and made Calgary adjust. We outplayed them and out chanced them. We did not get beat by Calgary we got beat by ourselves. We played horrible on the penalty kill, in the playoffs PK is all that matters.

Babcock is doing a great job with our team and he should keep doing so.

Oh and for the record I believe that Yzerman asked not to be on that famous draw, he was hurt remember.

Lewis changed lines left and right. Might as well of been using a pair of dice for all the good it did. I'm talking about adjustments that actually work. You seem to be saying are playing horribly has nothing to do with coaching. That makes zero sense.

Regarding Yzerman, he played that whole game. Your statement has no proof, just what you believe. Unless you give me proof, Babs snuffed Yzerman plain and simple.

[OsGOD 3]

Hudler made his name on his own. Babs always said everyone had to earn their spot, well Huds sure did and Sammy sure did not. So what is up with that? What crap, to play a no skill mindless shooter over a skilled goal scorer. SO not only is he not very brilliant, he is a hypocrite and plays favorites too. Great, just great.

And will Huddles not be on Fire and full of piss and vinager when he comes back into the lineup because of it? Seems to me he will be extremely motivated for the next game probably moreso than he would have been after facing the devestation from the road losses..... Then again he needs to get in there but that is besides the point.

Edited April 20, 2007 by OsGOD

[ultrapail 0]

put Sammy on the bench, play hudler on 2nd line and move lang to 3rd or fourth line. Move bertuzzi from first and second, back and forth. Problem solved, oh yeah, make everybody play harder.

[redwinger4747 6]

Babs is not the problem its players like Lang and Sammy. Babs is the in your face, no bs style that we need, but he's in a tough position with guys like Lang and Sammy making enough money to make it hard to sit them. I say, get rid of Lang and Sammy, pick up two more hustling, north american skaters (like 2 more Dan Cleary's) and try again..

[Wings_Toledo 233]

I think Babcock has done an "OK" job at coaching, but not the great coaching that we need to win big in the playoffs. I've gotten used to the fact that he's never going to sit Sammy and put in Hudler, which just really irritates me, but my biggest gripe is the way he manages shifts. In both games 3 and 4 he played Dats and Hank way too much from about 12:00 to 18:00 minutes in the 3rd period, leaving them tired and basically useless for the final two minutes when we really need all of our best players out there. And just because Lilja makes a few decent plays per game doesn't mean he should be getting as many minutes as he does. He directly lead to 2 goals yesterday by being out of position and following the puck and by unneccesarily going 2 on 1 against Conroy and then deflecting the shot off his leg. Also, he seems really nervous and unsure of himself in the intermission interviews. We need a coach who gets pissed off and isn't afraid to bench crappy players.

[Henkka 0]

This topis is just faking ridiculous.

Hockey is a players game.

Period.

[Kp-Wings 3]

I don't know what you guys expect. In reality, Babcock is at a loss. While I admit he should be playing Hudler, he is really in a tight situation. If he benches Lang, then he'll be held responsible for Lang not being able to find a team next year, because teams will look at him and not want him because he was benched for a rookie. Samulesson is even worse. We're stuck with him for 2 more years. If Babcock benches Samulesson, this will create a stewing pot of extra drama that the Wings really don't need. Samulesson will complain, and because of the contract, we'll be stuck with him. If he get's really pissed, he'll walk out and the Wings and make them look bad. So really, what is Babcock supposed to do in this situation?

I'd also like to point out that both Lang and Samulesson, who even though they both suck, really cannot be benched. We only have one other capable forward to fill in their spots, and that's Hudler. If Hudlers in, you still have one other slug left, but the Wings don't have anyone else that can play for them. Josh Langfeld sucks, Kopecky'sout of shape, and any other player who has had NHL expierence, all be it guys like Hussey, Ellis, or Bootland, are all inexpierenced players at the NHL level. This is when having a decent 13th or 14th player would really help the Wings. It's too bad Krys Kolanos walked out on the Wings early this season, otherwise I'd suggest putting him in the lineup. But otherwise we really don't have anybody we can put in.

[regwinguofmfan 0]

I love the "its the players on the ice the coach has nothing to do with it" type response.

The coach in hockey is probably as important as any of the players.

Look at the 80 USA team.

The coach needs to do damage control on the PP and PK, keeping Sammy at the point makes him look stupid.

Sammy has no idea how to play the point and really has a s***ty shot from the point.

Babcock has a real problem with making good adjustments, not a sign of a good coach

Babcock may be a good guy etc but the fact remains, he really has no idea how to make adjustments.

If he continues to put the wrong players on the ice we will be watching our team bow out early again.

Thats a fact.

[Kp-Wings 3]

I love the "its the players on the ice the coach has nothing to do with it" type response.

The coach in hockey is probably as important as any of the players.

Look at the 80 USA team.

The coach needs to do damage control on the PP and PK, keeping Sammy at the point makes him look stupid.

Sammy has no idea how to play the point and really has a s***ty shot from the point.

Babcock has a real problem with making good adjustments, not a sign of a good coach

Babcock may be a good guy etc but the fact remains, he really has no idea how to make adjustments.

If he continues to put the wrong players on the ice we will be watching our team bow out early again.

Thats a fact.

It's really hard to come on and say Babcock can't make adjustments when he's basically changing the lines every other shift. Usually the same line never stays together for a full game. It's not that he can't make adjustments, it's at the current point he's not making very good ones.

[wingslogo19 281]

Why are we blaming the coaching here, do you want Babs to dress and play as well

[OsGOD 3]

Why are we blaming the coaching here, do you want Babs to dress and play as well

He needs to earn his paycheck too. Sitting behind the bench all game with the best seats in the house.... and getting paid for it to boot!

[arin 0]

I was suggesting Lebda on the point since they put Sammy on it. Lebda can play defense, has the speed to get the puck back to the zone fast, can actually get INTO the zone and not just turnover/dump it in like Sammy, probably has a better shot.

[maltbymaniac 13]

i just wanna know this if and when sammy starts scoring a couple goals whos gonna be jumping on the sammy bandwagon? now everyone sit back and think about it. everyone gets to worked up come playoff time

so just sit back do whatever it is you do to relax and enjoy the series

for me its gettin to the point where idont even wanna read the forums cause its all negative

Edited April 20, 2007 by maltbymaniac

[Wings_Toledo 233]

i just wanna know this if and when sammy starts scoring a couple goals whos gonna be jumping on the sammy bandwagon? now everyone sit back and think about it. everyone gets to worked up come playoff time

so just sit back do whatever it is you do to relax and enjoy the series

for me its gettin to the point where idont even wanna read the forums cause its all negative

If Samuelsson scores a single goal in this series, drinks are on me the whole night.

[motorcitykid 42]

I lost confidence in Babcock when he decided to not have Yzerman out on the ice in game 6 vs the Oilers with the goalie pulled.

His whole sitting out Hudler for Samuelsson is just inexplicable.

You're not alone. Again for emphasis: His whole sitting out Hudler for Samuelsson is just inexplicable.