10/15 GDT: Anaheim Ducks 6, Red Wings 3

[redwingslady87 130]

I'm off to bed. At least the buffalo/ toronto game was good tonight.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Sharks are going to be a HUGE test.

More like a final exam on the 1st day of school.

I firmly predict the Wings will get the s*** beat out of them against San Jose. Especially if Hasek plays. That was the worst display of goaltending I've seen on this team since Manny Legace in the 2006 playoffs against Edmonton. Absolutley brutal. This was disgusting to watch tonight. It truely was.

The defense really stands out as being bad, next to Hasek of course. Lidstrom looked like a #10 defenseman out there, not a guy who's won 5 Norris Trophy's. Lilja cost us at least 2, if not 3 goals. Kronwall couldn't stay in position even if he was glued to a specific spot. Chelios and Rafalski actually played somewhat decent, but still not good enough for what they should be playing as.

Ugh. This was a game to truely forget.

[Dabura 12,232]

This Wings team will not win the Cup.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

I've been thinking, why not call up Howard to play San Jose? we always play like s*** agaisnt them in there building, it'd suck to to have Hasek and Osgood lose there confidence by giving up 9+ goals on thursday. Jimmy deserves his shot.

Howard and Meech should play. Kopecky and Lilja shouldnt be playing, maybe call up Gelech or Mcgrath for some scoring? I dunno, but we need a 2nd line

[Kp-Wings 3]

Kopecky and Lilja shouldnt be playing,

You know well enough that will never happen. Those two are buttf***ing Babcock to no end.

How else can you explain for the fact that Lilja, who basically gave Anaheim a goal and was s***ty the rest of the way, was still getting time on the PK? That's ******* insane if you ask me.

maybe call up Gelech or Mcgrath for some scoring? I dunno, but we need a 2nd line

I like that suggestion, especially for Gelech. He's a big, gritty, scoring winger that would sure help us right now on our small, pillow soft team.

[Krystal 41]

I was thoroughly disappointed with tonight's game. There was just no excuse for what happened out there. People were playing s***ty, there were some bad passes, and I won't even begin to start on the penalties that were called tonight. ~_~ But I will say Im disappointed that we didn't just finally drop the gloves on 'em, if anyone would have had the balls to stand up for it.

Hasek looked terrible, and I'm normally a big fan of the Dominator but lets be reasonable.. some of those were just plain AWFUL. Parts of that game were literally hard to watch.

I give big props to Ellis for what he did out there in the offensive zone. He dropped, lost his stick, and yet still put enough pressure on Anaheim to get a turnover and eventually turn that turnover into a goal. I was impressed with his determination.

I'm also getting SO sick of Lilja.. the past several games, I've just groaned when I see him on the ice. Even my husband (who doesn't know s*** about hockey ) was asking me "Who's this Lilja guy? You seem pretty pissed at him." Half-assed forechecking, and half the time he puts effort into it he's getting a penalty called.

I love the D-Z-H line, but I'd be beating a dead horse to say they can't do all this alone.

[VM1138 1,921]

Everyone seems to have the same opinion. Not much freaking out and "get rid of this person", but we recognize a few things now:

Filpulla and Hudler are not living up to expectations. At all. We need to hedge our bets a little and either pick someone up or re-arrange the lines. I'm not going to exaggerate and say these two aren't trying, or aren't getting close, but something just isn't clicking. Hate him or not, Sammy puts points up on the board. So he's fine on a second line. Draper is fine where he is. Drake and Maltby are fine where they are. Cleary is fine anywhere they put him. He can grind and score on any line, I think. Flip and Huddles need to step up or step down. Right now, I hate to say, they're really setting themselves up as trade bait more than they are as the future of this team. We have depth, as I've mentioned, Cleary and Draper are scoring, the rest are contributing in other ways. But these two just seem to bring nothing to the table AT THIS MOMENT.

As well all know, hockey is a sport that can change on a dime. All it takes is one goal and Flip or Hudler could start tearing it up.

I personally feel the Wings are weakest on defense (Lilja could be potential trade-bait), which is bizarre, because all of their defensemen are great. It just seems that they keep getting into bad positions where they have to race back to catch up to a two-on-one. And goal. It's only been two games, but Osgood is really seeming to be a better top goalie than Hasek right now.

I know, I know, Hasek starts slow. And he had all those short-handed minutes. But the fact is, he hardly ever stops break-aways, the goals he's allowing aren't exactly amazing, non-stoppable goals. I wonder what allowing Osgood to play more games than Hasek early on would do? Would this keep Hasek in his funk, or allow him to get his game to late-season form without hurting the team too badly? I just can't help but think that Ozzie wouldn't have let him a few of those goals.

[Duck Guy 86]

that was a nice game... especially when wings came back from 3 to 1 deficit glad me ducks pulled it off anyone else notice the penalties would never end... and the reserved seating for Holmstrom... anyways good game i hope wings win VS sharks though 24 penalties between both teams... ouch

Edited October 16, 2007 by Duck Guy

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Everyone seems to have the same opinion. Not much freaking out and "get rid of this person", but we recognize a few things now:

Filpulla and Hudler are not living up to expectations. At all. We need to hedge our bets a little and either pick someone up or re-arrange the lines. I'm not going to exaggerate and say these two aren't trying, or aren't getting close, but something just isn't clicking. Hate him or not, Sammy puts points up on the board. So he's fine on a second line. Draper is fine where he is. Drake and Maltby are fine where they are. Cleary is fine anywhere they put him. He can grind and score on any line, I think. Flip and Huddles need to step up or step down. Right now, I hate to say, they're really setting themselves up as trade bait more than they are as the future of this team. We have depth, as I've mentioned, Cleary and Draper are scoring, the rest are contributing in other ways. But these two just seem to bring nothing to the table AT THIS MOMENT.

As well all know, hockey is a sport that can change on a dime. All it takes is one goal and Flip or Hudler could start tearing it up.

Good to see your later comment, but for crying out loud, they are both 23! Give them time, they're both out of sorts right now but just keep in mind Zetterberg went about 7/8 games last season without scoring a single point.

[Flip-check 6]

I'm also getting SO sick of Lilja.. the past several games, I've just groaned when I see him on the ice. Even my husband (who doesn't know s*** about hockey ) was asking me "Who's this Lilja guy? You seem pretty pissed at him." Half-assed forechecking, and half the time he puts effort into it he's getting a penalty called.

I think he needs to be a healthy scratch for a game or two. It was after that broken stick play that I was like... seriously surprised Babs put him in again, which should've been an instant benching mistake.

Lilja's a decent contributer to us as a 6th Dman otherwise, but he's not having a great start at all, yeah. And I'm seriously not worried about Dom, he's 42 but you don't turn into "teh suck" overnight, as much as rabid Detroit fans may shout.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Hudler already is trade bait, as are Sammy and Lilja, its the only assets we have to move. And I have no problem with them leaving as long as we get some scoring and some defence.

[Kp-Wings 3]

I think he needs to be a healthy scratch for a game or two. It was after that broken stick play that I was like... seriously surprised Babs put him in again, which should've been an instant benching mistake.

Yeah, and if you can believe it, he put him in right after that on the PK of all things! It's like he was rewarding Lilja for playing bad.

I swear, Babcock is as much of an enigma as a coach as Nikolai Zherdev is a player. He is always screwing around with things when we're winning games, yet when we're losing, he keeps everything the same. It's so messed up sometimes.

Just look at it. He's putting Zetterberg on the ice with only 5 minutes left to go. That's a damn well perfect time for him to get run at by Pronger and company. He's rewarding Lilja for bad play by putting him on the PK. It's like a reversal in the poles or someting. Usually, when someone plays as badly as Lilja has, they get benched. Not get even more ice time.

...and, for the grandmaster of them all... *drumroll* he has Tomas Kopecky on the 2nd line. Since when did Kopecky ever prove he is 2nd line material? Hell, for that matter when has Kopecky ever proven he even belongs in the NHL? He's almost as bad as Josh Langfeld.

Babcock is really ridiculous sometimes. He's a good coach in most aspects. He has this team playing a gritty, physical style of hockey, which is great. But I swear, he is so horrible at putting lines together, it's not even funny. Kopecky on the 2nd line? Are you kidding me?

Edited October 16, 2007 by Kp-Wings

[OsGOD 3]

ozzy>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>hasek

bad form peter

Edited October 16, 2007 by OsGOD

[SwedeLundin77 460]

Well thank the Refs for calling that game lopsided and HANDING the W to the Quackers.... Oh and the Ducks are a bunch of cheap shotting, whining *******. It's no wonder that the team was formed from a corny kids movie.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Good to see your later comment, but for crying out loud, they are both 23! Give them time, they're both out of sorts right now but just keep in mind Zetterberg went about 7/8 games last season without scoring a single point.

Begone sophomore slump! You shan't be tolerated in D-town.

Ok, now for the rest of you:

*Retard Rodeo's Back ON!*

[skacore 2]

That was a pretty hard loss to take but overall atleast the game was somewhat entertaining. The penalties were ridiculous, they are trying to improve the NHL but no one wants to watch that s*** all game.

On offense the Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom line was once again amazing, they just create scoring opportunies literally non stop, I can't believe it sometimes

Hudler-Filppula-Kopecky were pretty crappy, I didn't notice Hudler at all (again), Kopecky had some strong play along the boards but his hands looked horrible tonight, definitely not 2nd line material. Filppula was a little below average but he did make some nice plays, the thing I hate about Filppula though is that he is constantly slowing the game down in the offensive zone when he has the puck, he always has a shooting lane or even a passing lane and he just cycles or dips into the corner, he needs to drive to the net a little more like Datsyuk does

Cleary-Draper-Maltby were pretty good, Cleary played great and had a nice goal from a great pass from Draper, Draper was wheeling all over the ice like usual, didn't really notice Maltby much except for a couple excellent takeaways on the PK and forecheck

Drake-Ellis-Downey had a ton of jump and provided energy whenever they were on the ice, I really wish they saw more ice time. Drake had a couple nice takeaways on the PK and had his forecheck going tonight, Ellis played great, he had a lot of hustle and was positionally sound, and he had a great effort to set up the 2nd goal when he put the pressure on the D behind the net and caused a turn over then almost scored himself when he was battling in the crease. Downey looked like he had a lot to prove when he was on the ice, he was skating great and finished his hits as always, his first shift he even rattle Pronger a bit and stripped him of the puck on the forecheck. This is a very capable 4th line I wish they were rotated into the mix a bit more, and I think Babcock felt the same way tonight unfortunately for penalty trouble he couldn't get the 4 line flow going. When your 4th line is in the opponents end 80% of the time causing havoc and creating minor scoring opportunities while giving your star players a rest, why not use them more often?

For D, Lidstrom was great on the offensive end with crisp passes and one timers but there were a couple times in front of Hasek where he was exposed and couldn't really handle the forward banging away. Rafalski looked pretty good, he hung on to the puck a little too much in our end a couple times and was forechecked hard but overall he had a pretty solid game. Lilja was awful and he makes such bad decisions, I saw him go into the corner on a couple of occassions when Kronwall was already there, leaving the front of the net empty. Kronwall was running around a bit much and just needs to relax and play a simple game. Lebda looked bad as usual, overpowered when fighting for the puck and he didn't even make his daily end to end rush attempt, which is probably a good thing. Chelios had an average game, it's nice to see one of our D men actually trying to clear the front of the net with some authority for a change

Hasek didn't have a very good game, not much more to say

Just look at it. He's putting Zetterberg on the ice with only 5 minutes left to go. That's a damn well perfect time for him to get run at by Pronger and company.

I agree with what you've said but I don't agree with this statement, you felt the game was out of reach with 5 minutes to go? We had a powerplay for the final 4 minutes of the game plus an extra attacker for a good 2 minutes, Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmstrom-Lidstrom-Rafalski created a ton of opportunities in the last few minutes, enough to score 2 goals easily, I'm glad he had them out there because we were still in the game.

[datsyukismyfriend 4]

anybody watch the post game? what did babs have to say?

[dr_lobster 0]

I'm really with you guys on the Fillipula/Hudler talk.

I have no problem giving guys chances, but man. It just doesn't seem like they do anything productive while they're on the ice -- check, get scoring chances, put pressure on, forecheck. They're undersized and underconfident, it seems like, and this needs to be amended pronto. It just seems like they get wedged against the boards every time they try to bring it in, or the puck gets dumped behind the blueline, and they promptly turn it back over. Gah.

[skacore 2]

I'm really with you guys on the Fillipula/Hudler talk.

I have no problem giving guys chances, but man. It just doesn't seem like they do anything productive while they're on the ice -- check, get scoring chances, put pressure on, forecheck. They're undersized and underconfident, it seems like, and this needs to be amended pronto. It just seems like they get wedged against the boards every time they try to bring it in, or the puck gets dumped behind the blueline, and they promptly turn it back over. Gah.

I don't like to refer to them as Hudler/Filppula cause they are two completely different players, but I agree.

Hudler is a highly skilled, under sized sniper who is just lost out there, he has an amazing release and amazing accuracy but he never finds himself in a position to get his shot off.

Filppula is an all around good player, I don't expect him to ever rack up 50+ points but he is a solid two way centerman. Right now he has the skating down, the forecheck, the skills, he just doesn't have the confidence and decision making it seems. He's never willing to goto the net hard or attempt a risky pass like Datsyuk/Zetterberg are, but aside from that I think he looks great, hopefully he gets comfortable with some line mates in the future and they begin to click.

[Duck Guy 86]

anybody watch the post game? what did babs have to say?

he got penalized for unsportsman like comments after the game...refs felt they did not call enough penalties

Edited October 16, 2007 by Duck Guy

[SweWings 45]

How's Howard been doing in GR? Could he be ready? I mean, if Babs throws a game at him NOW, could he pull it off. I know he played well during the camp - one of the best players during the preseason as I remember. Why not give him a shot?

Might be best to wait though. One game isn't representative enough. It sucks to lose...

[Aussie_Wing 354]

How's Howard been doing in GR? Could he be ready? I mean, if Babs throws a game at him NOW, could he pull it off. I know he played well during the camp - one of the best players during the preseason as I remember. Why not give him a shot?

Might be best to wait though. One game isn't representative enough. It sucks to lose...

Red Wings Central:

Goaltender Jimmy Howard (57 stops on 61 shots in two starts) is also playing well early.

But I highly doubt he'll be premoted unless there's an injury to either Hasek/Osgood.

[spydrwebb 0]

one game and the board turns into an R rated panic...

what is wrong with some of you people?

do you seriously not have more constructive ways to express yourselves?

[russianswede919293 95]

I didn't make it past the 1st intermission since I had a long day yesterday. Slept poorly the night before was up at 7 and on campus from 10-9 so I was exhausted and I passed out during 1st intermission. From what I saw the Wings played a sloppy game and the refs called everything they could. With tired legs from the night before, and a fresh and pissed off Ducks team desperate for a win, I'll chalk this one up to a typical road loss and focus on the sharks game for thursday. As long as we get 3 points out of the next 2 road games I's day that 5 out of 8 on the road is not a bad deal.

[puckloo39 5,686]

I doubt the Wings are quite as ready to throw Dom under the bus as some people in this forum are. The Wings play badly in California, or so it seems. So what else is new?

I am sure (hindsight being a wonderful thing) that Dom would have been very happy to trade that "freak show" of a game last night -- Homer's assessment - for the potentially winnable game in LA which Ozzie was dealt. But that's not what happened, Babs put the #1 in with the Yucks because he knew what I did... I knew before they stepped on the ice in Anaheim what was going to happen. I watched the playoffs last season...

Let's hope whomever is in goal in San Jose gets a better effort in front of him, and considerably fewer whistles. Hopefully, if it's Dom, he gets a better effort all around (refs and D), and perhaps less than a period and a half of solid PK?

Don't bother to be fair if you are among those who have, in fact, decided that Hasek is done for the year. <sarcasm alert> Be careful what you wish for...