Some Observations

[wingsownnhl43 14]

I just wanted to kind of vent now while we are winning, as opposed to posting after a few losses like everyone does.

just a few observations..

To me we have at least 2 solid players on each forward line. Obviously the first line is perfect. Filppula and Hudler make a good start to that 2nd line. I do think we NEED another second line forward for the playoffs. Samuelsson cant play up there, he is garbage.

3rd line- Cleary, Franzen, Kopecky is fine

4th line - Maltby, Draper, Drake is fine, although Drake appears to be sooooooo slow out there.

defense is fine. Rafalski is mcuh better than schneider. Lidstrom is as good as ever. I am satisfied with how Kronwall, Lebda, and Chelios are playing. Could use another defenseman but i wont be too picky.

Goaltending- I cant figure out why we are playing Hasek. It appears as if Hasek's tank is on E. He has nothing left and i dont think he can lead us into the playoffs. Osgood has never looked better. Ride him.

[Mudvayneowns91 0]

Can't be more pleased with Lids and Rafalski. +17 for Lids and +9 for Rafalski and they're both tied for 2nd is points as a defensemen. That's getting it done on both sides of the game.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

i agree that samuelson doesnt do too much for our team and we should find someone to replace him for playoffs

and I wholeheartedly agree on its stupid to play hasek, i dont care what he could do if we gave him more playing time...i say no way hasek playing his best is better than osgood right now, so its a no brainer on who to play

[Guest Jeremy88]

I say throw Cleary on the 2nd line with Filppula and Hudler, and throw Sammy on the 3rd line with Maltby and Draper. The Draper line is more of a defensive line anyways, and Sammy seems more like a defensive forward than a scoring forward.

Or just trade someone for Huselias and put him on the 2nd line =)

[WingNut199 0]

I say throw Cleary on the 2nd line with Filppula and Hudler, and throw Sammy on the 3rd line with Maltby and Draper. The Draper line is more of a defensive line anyways, and Sammy seems more like a defensive forward than a scoring forward.

Or just trade someone for Huselias and put him on the 2nd line =)

I totally agree

[stormboy 47]

sammy's shown in the past that he has some kind of ability but, like lang or williams, maybe he just needs to be some place else -- maybe he just doesn't work well with our system. i think it'd be ideal to trade him (along with other things, possibly) to get a forward of "equal" talent who will compliment hudler and flipper more. i feel like huds and flip have a style that is much more based on mobility, similar in someways to dats and z, whereas sammy is just kind of a stand-there-and-fire-heavy-shots-and-hope-something-goes-in kind of player. homer's style perfectly compliments dats and z: he gets in there and f***s s*** up to make their jobs way easier. i'm not saying flip and huds need a homer-like player, but someone who compliments them better than sammy does.

or someone who is just more talented. *shrug*

[Opie 308]

Why do you all berate Sammy, listen the guy is not my favorite wing, but seriously the man plays a role, and does it for damn cheap.

You cannot, in this day and age, win without guys like him. Just to make sure that you all know the player that you are bashing lets look at something:

3rd year in the D (team ranking)

year 1:73gp 23g(5) 22a(10) 45pts (9) +27(4) ATOI: 13:31 (15)

year 2: 53gp 14g(8) 20a(9) 34pts(8) +1(20) ATOI: 15:09 (16)

this year: 29gp 3g(12) 11a(7) 14pts(8) +5(9 T-chelios) ATOI: 15:52 (10)

But you know what you are right there are a ton of guys in the league putting up those kind of numbers for 1.2mil a year, and won't require the wings trading huds, flip, or a top shelf prospect!

If you think you are going to be able to trade for Huselius and not mortgage the future you are on crack. BTW Sammy UFA 09/10 Hus 08/09

Do any of you watch the games, statements like

whereas sammy is just kind of a stand-there-and-fire-heavy-shots-and-hope-something-goes-in kind of player.

make me think you have no clue what is going on. No one in that game last night just stood around, you know who made a living (a nice one until the divorce) just standing around, BRETT HULL!!!!

At 1.2 sammy does what this team needs him to do, these pipe dream teams that involve Kovalchuk or Heatley or Lecavalier or whatever flavor of the month player you guys want doesn't work anymore! The salary cap has killed that, that was the point in the salary cap, to prevent teams like the '02 wings from happening again!

You want some one who is more talented, you will need to pay that player, which also means that next year you can't afford Z and Lids, you then have to chose one of them.

sarcasm/ But hey, I see your point I too would rather have a team with a more talented second line scorer than a wings team with Z on the first line and Sammy. Good posts though guys keep up the good work!! /sarcasm

[Guest Jeremy88]

I like Sammy. I love Sammy. He's cool. But he just seems like he doesn't fit with filppula and hudler.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Sammy, Drake, and Kopecky have done nothing this year (aside from the fights), but the more I think about it, the more obvious it is that the whole league is filled with 3rd and 4th liners that don't score whatsoever. That goes along with the balance of the post-salary cap NHL, since teams aren't as loaded with stars as they used to be. Yes, we're leading the league in scoring, and Hank and Pavel are putting up huge numbers, but I wouldn't mind seeing some of Hank and Pavel's numbers go down at the expense of other guys on the team increasing their point totals for more balance.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I just wanted to kind of vent now while we are winning, as opposed to posting after a few losses like everyone does.

just a few observations..

To me we have at least 2 solid players on each forward line. Obviously the first line is perfect. Filppula and Hudler make a good start to that 2nd line. I do think we NEED another second line forward for the playoffs. Samuelsson cant play up there, he is garbage.

Samuelsson is doing his job. It's nothing exciting/flash, it's boring unfortuantely so you don't notice him much, but his job is to shoot and shoot some more for goals and/or rebounds. Does it suck that he's a streaky scorer more often than not and isn't scoring goals right now? Yes. But for just over $1M he's still serviceable. Would I entertain a trade for him if it makes sense for all parties (no it's not going to be a trade that can easily be accomplished on your PlayStation2 or XBox 360)? Of course, but we could have far worse options. While I'm not familar with minor league prospects, say somebody takes Samuelsson's spot. I don't know anybody from Grand Rapids who might be ready to take his spot, or a 3rd/4th line spot at his expense on a CONSISTENT BASIS. And I don't care how much people gripe about him playing a point on a power play, he's far better than Jason Williams ever was on there, he actually shoots, and he's much better defensively. Samuelsson isn't doing anything overly exciting, but he isn't commiting many brainfarts and isn't playing a major contribution in blowing/helping the Wings to potentially lose games.

3rd line- Cleary, Franzen, Kopecky is fine

4th line - Maltby, Draper, Drake is fine, although Drake appears to be sooooooo slow out there.

All is fine here. Same as Samuelsson, not doing anything great, not stinking up the joint.

defense is fine. Rafalski is mcuh better than schneider. Lidstrom is as good as ever. I am satisfied with how Kronwall, Lebda, and Chelios are playing. Could use another defenseman but i wont be too picky.

All is fine here.

Goaltending- I cant figure out why we are playing Hasek. It appears as if Hasek's tank is on E. He has nothing left and i dont think he can lead us into the playoffs. Osgood has never looked better. Ride him.

Hasek has been playing much better since he finally got a win at Montreal a few weeks ago. Nothing spectacular, but he's finding his form and right now we've barely had to rely on Osgood or Hasek to steal many games. Hasek gave up 3 last night, but he made some pretty clutch saves when he needed to.

One would be an idiot to suggest that Hasek has even come close to playing like Osgood overall this year, Osgood has definitely earned his time. I know people aren't going to like me saying this, but based on who he is/what he has accomplished in his past career (even in the recent past last year when he still proved he could be durable), Hasek should still be getting starts here and there. Hasek would be pretty much useless in a backup role. Luckily for the Wings, he's starting to get his act together again on the ice.

It's still a long ways to go before declaring a starting goalie for the playoffs. But right now, we've got it great. The Wings are winning more often than not, Osgood has just been playing phenomenal, and Hasek is rounding out to good form it seems. If they both are playing well at the same time, watch out.

I'd definitely love to see Osgood keep on playing given how incredible he's been doing. But right now, the Wings have the luxury of "experimenting" some since they are winning in spite of how good/bad the goaltending might be right now, and it's not like playing Hasek is going way out of the box of ideas. Not my first option with Osgood playing so well rigght now, but the "sexy tandem" is far from a stressful option given how well the team is doing. Both goaltenders should be fine.

Sammy, Drake, and Kopecky have done nothing this year (aside from the fights), but the more I think about it, the more obvious it is that the whole league is filled with 3rd and 4th liners that don't score whatsoever. That goes along with the balance of the post-salary cap NHL, since teams aren't as loaded with stars as they used to be. Yes, we're leading the league in scoring, and Hank and Pavel are putting up huge numbers, but I wouldn't mind seeing some of Hank and Pavel's numbers go down at the expense of other guys on the team increasing their point totals for more balance.

I certainly wouldn't mind this scenario either, but you hit a grand slam or hat trick with your first sentence. Sure I'd like to see Samuelsson and Kopecky fill up the stat sheet more, but what if you sub them in for different 3rd/4th liners? Do you think the results would be that significantly different/positive to where it makes a huge difference? Each scenario is different, but I highly doubt it. As I stated above, the three of them have been far from spectacular, but they aren't stinking up the joint and aren't costing the Wings games.

[Grittzkey 1]

Sammy and Flipper for Doan@@@@@ that would make a good 2nd line..

Hudler-Doan-Franzen@@@@@

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Doan is not a center. Also, the Yotes wouldnt trade him unless they were getting good top 6ers back. They could find better guys then Filpula and Samuelson.

Eh, Sammy has been his usual self lately, not doing ... alot. At the start of the season he was doing his job, not his fault though, he isnt very good, people expect to much out of the guy. If he manages 15-20 goals, that's good for him.

Could we stop with the Hasek hate, god. No matter what the man does he will be hated. Osgood is the better goalie at this point, but it's not like Hasek is doing bad, 9-5-1 is decent.

I disagree about the defence. It's evident that we need 1 more stable body back there. Just one.

[chrisdetroit 189]

Sammy and Flipper for Doan@@@@@ that would make a good 2nd line..

Hudler-Doan-Franzen@@@@@

yea, sure, phoenix is gonna trade away Doan....

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Doan is not a center. Also, the Yotes wouldnt trade him unless they were getting good top 6ers back. They could find better guys then Filpula and Samuelson.

QFT. He is a major face of the current Phoenix franchise and he isn't going to be traded without the other team giving up plenty of current roster/draft picks. Flipper has plenty of potential so I absolutely do not want the Wings to part with him for the time being, and this is not even remotely close to being a fairly even trade IMO. Again, no PlayStation or XBox suggestions.

Could we stop with the Hasek hate, god. No matter what the man does he will be hated. Osgood is the better goalie at this point, but it's not like Hasek is doing bad, 9-5-1 is decent.

[ultrapail 0]

does everyone seem to forget that the more shots Hasek gets, the better he is? He has been this way since Buffalo, he hasn't changed. He's only seeing 18-20 shots per night.