Aussie_Wing 354 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) Link DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock remarked earlier in the week that "no one talks about Fil,'' referring to forward Valtteri Filppula. When asked about the second-year forward after Friday's 3-2 loss to Chicago, Babcock didn't talk about Filppula, instead making a general statement about the team not playing with the same snap. It said a lot about Filppula's slow start. He has no points in five games, despite averaging 17:10 in ice time, nearly six minutes a game more than last season. Good article. Babcock clearly has a lot of faith in Flip and he's still satisfied with his play, he just wants him to shoot more which is good advice. Great playmaker and he's always creating chances, he just needs to back himself and shoot more. Dare I say it, a bit like Samuelsson. Edited October 14, 2007 by Aussie_Wing Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Izzy24 44 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Don't worry, Chelios will pick up the slack. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 He needs to shoot more, thats the story of our team. Filpula has played pretty good, but he gotta start putting the puck in the net. Same with Hudler and Sammy, puck in net, shoot! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,804 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 He needs to shoot more, thats the story of our team. Filpula has played pretty good, but he gotta start putting the puck in the net. Same with Hudler and Sammy, puck in net, shoot! Hey, take it easy. Sammy shoots enough. What do you want him to do, start shooting on net from the other side of the ice? As for Fillpulla and Hudler, they're doing exactly what I was afraid they'd do. We took a gamble on them being 2nd liners, and so far it hasn't paid off. They need to bring it every game like Pavel and Hank do. They don't have the talent those guys have, but that doesn't mean they can't play as hard on every shift. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skacore 2 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Filppula is kinda playing AMAZING, if thats possible... he looks like he has learned a ton from Datsyuk and Zetterberg and he's probably the 3rd highest skilled forward we got but he just can't finish and he refuses to shoot. I think once he gains a little confidence in his scoring abilities and gets comfortable with some line mates he will start to light it up... He has looked really really really good, especially defensively, great to see... Hudler on the other hand... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aussie_Wing 354 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Hey, take it easy. Sammy shoots enough. What do you want him to do, start shooting on net from the other side of the ice? As for Fillpulla and Hudler, they're doing exactly what I was afraid they'd do. We took a gamble on them being 2nd liners, and so far it hasn't paid off. They need to bring it every game like Pavel and Hank do. They don't have the talent those guys have, but that doesn't mean they can't play as hard on every shift. I don't think that's been their problem, especially Flip. As this says... Filppula's played wonderfully--except in terms of actually producing offence on a stacked line with two snipers in Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson I think that sums it up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vangvace 12 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Filppula's played wonderfully--except in terms of actually producing offence on a stacked line with two snipers in Jiri Hudler and Mikael Samuelsson Samuelsson's a sniper?!? I've always thought of him as artillery. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
al48 1 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) Samuelsson's a sniper?!? I've always thought of him as artillery. Artillery is still too accurate of a term. He's more like a V-1 buzzbomb; put some gas in it, launch it, and hope it hits anything remotely close. Sometimes it takes out your own guys, sometimes it lands in the straits, sometimes the thing blows up on the launch pad. Edited October 14, 2007 by al48 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lidstromfan5 3 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 If Babcock wants to see Fil go, they need to get him a legitimate second line scorer. Then you will see how good he can be. I still say the should put him with Datsyuk and Homer, Zetterberg can carry Sammy and Franzen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spinner 6 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) I agree Fil needs to shoot more. I remember when Pavel first came to the wings and dazzled us but passed a heck of a lot more than he shot. It took him awhile as well to get comfortable shooting. Hopefully it won't take VF as long. Edited October 14, 2007 by Spinner Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingnut40 176 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 I think Fil's been playing really well. He seems to be moving fast. passing great, and when he does shoot, he has really sick goals. It's hard to figure out where to put him line wise though. If you put him with Homer and Datsyuk. Then you lose the magic of him and Hank. But if you keep him where he is then you don't really have a scorer to carry Sammy and Hudler. And I think you guys need to lay off Sammy. He has a really good shot when he uses it. Dispite the fact that his eyes are on either side of his head. Same thing with Datsyuk...weird. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) If Babcock wants to see Fil go, they need to get him a legitimate second line scorer. Then you will see how good he can be. I still say the should put him with Datsyuk and Homer, Zetterberg can carry Sammy and Franzen. That's really not what Babcock seems to want and honestly it shouldn't be. Filppula isn't a sniper- he's a playmaker. There's no point in grooming him to be a secondline sniper/scorer type since that's not where his talent lies. He's a great defensive player with good eyes, hockey sense and playmaking ability. Many consider him a player in Zetterberg's mold but I disagree. Zetterberg's always had fantastic finishing ability- he's usually going to score more goals then assists because of this. While Zetterberg is a great faceoff man and fantastic 2-way player, he's definitely got the hands of a finisher! Datsyuk is a pass first player with great vision and playmaking ability. While he does have fantastic hands and is arguably the best one-on-one stickhandler in the league, he's also a damn good defensive player (something Dats is given far too little credit for). I see Filp as being more in Datsyuk's mold. Datsyuk is inherently less of a finisher than Zetterberg if only because his first instinct is to pass. In Datsyuk's case I think the lack of finishing ability is far less about "ability" and far more about psychology. Dats can be trained to be a pure goalscorer, sure, he's damn talented with a puck, but that's really not a smart use of him. If a hockey player is supremely talented at playmaking it's a waste of time to try and break him of that and remold him as a player. That's why while Dats talks about needing to shoot more, I'm sure he's not planning on changing the fact that he's usually got a s***-ton of assists in addition to having a very respectable goal total. You need a talented playmaker to keep the snipers going. In the end I think Filppula is a Datsyukian player with less stickhandling ability and more natural defensive poise. This defensive awareness is probably what draws all the comparisons to Zetterberg, but his lack of finishing skills really makes it hard for me to think of Filppula as a Zetterberg type. The real goal here, and reason why Hudler started out on the second line with Z and not Filppula, is to make Filppula as a sucessful first or second line playmaking pivot, and Hudler a top-six snipping winger. Edit: I think the emphesis on getting Filppula to shoot more stems from the fact that all playmaking centres still need to know when to shoot and not pass. That's a key difference between the first line centre and second line centre- the ability to know when to shoot first and not hesitate looking for the pass. Edited October 14, 2007 by Drake_Marcus Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Heaton 1 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 That's really not what Babcock seems to want and honestly it shouldn't be. Filppula isn't a sniper- he's a playmaker. What are you basing this on? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Feldmarschall 9 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 What are you basing this on? Before he got to the NHL, his assist totals more than doubled his goal totals in his previous three years at the professional level with Jokerit and Grand Rapids. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
auxlepli 17 Report post Posted October 14, 2007 Yep they're expecting more from Flippula, Hudler, Kopecky, and Kronwall. See the Ice Chips section toward the end. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...0328/1128/rss16 Jiri Hudler (1 point, an assist), Valterri Filppula (0 points, 5 shots on goal), Niklas Kronwall (0 points, minus-2) and Tomas Kopecky (1 assist) have done little offensively through five games. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
