Even when Drake is 100% - Why not Downey full time?

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Great post, Lou.

There is absolutley nothing to justify Drake being in the lineup still. He has been terrible all season long, minus his fights. If he can't fight, then he might as well be out of the lineup, because that's the only thing he's done right all season long.

The numbers really don't lie. Downey is a +1, while Drake is a -6. That's a huge dropoff point. Downey has also played much better hockey than Drake all season, and with less ice time.

Exactly what I've been thinking also. Holland is extremely anti-enforcer for some reason.

It's surprising that he brought Downey in here in the first place, but I think it was more or less Babcock getting on him about the lack of protection for the star players. In my opinion, anyways.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, and Downey continues to play well and prove his critics wrong. I want him to stay, because he's played good this season. And, of course, he fights.

In Downey's 9 games, he's arguably effected the outcome of the game in our favor twice. One is in the sig, and came from Zetterberg himself, so no one can disagree. The other was the Columbus game. No he wasnt in the shootout, but he did offer a major contribution by getting that 5 on 3. How many games has Drake been a key factor for us in so far? 2 out of 9 is pretty damn good ratio for a 4th liner! This is what we're dealing with...2 4th liners. Why not play the one that gives us more of a benefit?

For the record, I do not hate Dallas Drake. Its just that his play standing alone (not being able to be physical and fight) has been nowhere near good enough to stay in the lineup. Its like Downey playing with a broken hand,...whats the point?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Has Drake performed to 100% REALISTIC expectations? I don't think so.

Has Downey performed to 100% REALISTIC expectations? I'd say yes. And to satisfy all the overhype that Downey has gotten in here, yes I have liked what I have seen in him in the chances he has received this season.

That being said though, I think in the OVERALL sense, Drake looks to have a little more to offer. He's shown he's capable of killing penalties and, if he gets it going a little better soon, possibly go up to a 3rd line role.

We all know what Downey's role is, unless a light just completely goes on in his head and he starts finding a consistent scoring touch somehow. 4th line role, about 5-7 minutes a game, energy, agitate. We'll never see him on special teams.

Now I know special teams shouldn't be the only determining factor that I laid out in this post, but we are all aware of the roles these 2 guys have. Drake has a slightly larger role than Downey.

I think Babcock has handled both of them well. Unless Drake just completely struggles (hasn't neither been utterly good or utterly bad in my opinion), he'll still get decent playing time, but they are smart enough to rest him every now and then to keep him as fresh as possible.

Downey is still going to get his opportunities every few games.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Has Drake performed to 100% REALISTIC expectations? I don't think so.

Has Downey performed to 100% REALISTIC expectations? I'd say yes. And to satisfy all the overhype that Downey has gotten in here, yes I have liked what I have seen in him in the chances he has received this season.

That being said though, I think in the OVERALL sense, Drake looks to have a little more to offer. He's shown he's capable of killing penalties and, if he gets it going a little better soon, possibly go up to a 3rd line role.

We all know what Downey's role is, unless a light just completely goes on in his head and he starts finding a consistent scoring touch somehow. 4th line role, about 5-7 minutes a game, energy, agitate. We'll never see him on special teams.

Now I know special teams shouldn't be the only determining factor that I laid out in this post, but we are all aware of the roles these 2 guys have. Drake has a slightly larger role than Downey.

I think Babcock has handled both of them well. Unless Drake just completely struggles (hasn't neither been utterly good or utterly bad in my opinion), he'll still get decent playing time, but they are smart enough to rest him every now and then to keep him as fresh as possible.

Downey is still going to get his opportunities every few games.

As several people have posted earlier, we don't need Drake to kill penalties, because we have plenty of guys to do that already. Downey has outperformed both Drake and Kopecky, and as far as I'm concerned, both him and Ellis should take those guys' roster spots.

[Turkey 0]

Anyone know the ETA on Drake getting that shield off? I consider this a hypothetical conversation until that happens.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Anyone know the ETA on Drake getting that shield off? I consider this a hypothetical conversation until that happens.

7-10 days. That should be sometime next week (probably after the Tampa game).

I don't see why that should make any difference, though. He was still playing like crap even before he got the cage on, minus the fights of course. He's a team worst -6 right now, and hasn't looked good all season. It doesn't matter if he can kill penalties, because the Wings have Draper, Maltby, Cleary, Franzen, and even Datsyuk and Zetterberg to do that. That should be no incentive to keep him in.

I should clarify something: I do not hate Dallas Drake, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He was doing a good thing earlier by fighting, and if he started doing that again with the cage off, then that's fine. But if he doesn't, I don't see why Downey shouldn't stay in his place (or Kopecky's, which is more preferred anyways, but I'm not even going to bother with that argument).

This team is full of guys who only do one thing: kill penalties. We have so many guys who can do that, and nothing else. The reason why Downey should stay in is not only because he fights (that's obviously a big part of it), but because he hits guys and does a good job playing physical in what little ice time he get's. Notice last night he drew another penalty, and the Wings scored on it? That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about. Downey hasn't done anything wrong, and should stay in over some of these other guys who contribute absolutley nothing at all (Kopecky is who I'm thinking of, but again, I'm going to avoid that minefield).

I hope the management decides, for once, to make the right decision about keeping an enforcer in the lineup. Every other team in the NHL has one, besides maybe Montreal, so I don't see why the Wings shouldn't have one. Downey has played good hockey this season, and deserves to stay in the lineup full time. He hasn't done anything wrong to say otherwise.

Edited November 23, 2007 by Kp-Wings