Take your shots at the Pad

[redwing711 0]

I am so torn on Lilja -- I actually caught myself once last night saying, "Lilja looks pretty good out there", but by the end of the game I wanted to kill him.

In my opinion, he is an ok third pairing defencemen and not worth more than a cent above $1 million a year. Not a cent. If he demands more, I would be more than happy to see him walk (then try and demand more from other teams and eventually go to Sweden, ala Markov who forgot what the Detroit system and Lidstrom do for defencemen stats).

I was incredibly impressed with Meech! Where the heck did that come from? He was all over the place and I think he will be better than Lebda. Maybe it was just one game, but man!

Quincey, I am happy with as a third pair next year.

Ericksson --> I see lots of potential. But he needs more time in the AHL, at least another year. He had lots of idiotic plays out there last night -- Even more than Lilja; they just didn't cost us the game like Lilja's did.

I'm with you on pretty much everything you said.

Meech - WOW - I hope they don't send him back down. I think he'll only get better the more time they give him to play.

Ericksson - yes, he made some bad plays and one of them allowed Edmonton to score. However, he did come back and score to make up for his mistake. I think he has huge potential. I'm not sure he needs more time in the AHL. I think a part of it may be that he needs time with the team to build some chemistry. Of course I am willing to admit that I may be wrong and he may need another year in the AHL.

Lilja - he made a good defensive play along with Datsyuk that covered one side on a breakaway, allowing Osgood to make the save on the other side, preventing an Edmonton goal. The problem is that he gave them a goal at the end of the game allowing them to eventually win and negating the good save he made. To take such a stupid penalty at the end of the game, a game we should have won, took away any momentum/confidence the team could have taken into the next game.

[CdnWingsFanEh 2]

I've seen Lidstrom lose games for us too, maybe he should be traded as well.

Lidstrom saves far more games for us than he costs us though, and costs far fewer games than Lilja. Those 2 are in 2 different skill leagues...

edit: clarity

Edited February 27, 2008 by CdnWingsFanEh

[CdnWingsFanEh 2]

Exactly. Right now he's playing as a 2-3 dman. Just like Lebda. These guys shouldn't be playing this many minutes, against other team's 1st/2nd lines. They're great in their roles, but when you expect them to do Lidstrom's job, it ain't gonna happen.

I'm fine with them fighting over the table scrap minutes of 6th d-man. Drastic reduction of minutes for them will make me happy. This might help light a fire under their @sses.

[Seedless 0]

Lilja doesn't have the brains to be a GOOD defenseman. He tries to play like someone he is not. I think he watches Lidstrom too much.

He needs to realize what assets he DOES have. The only one that comes to mind is his size. If he can find who he really is as a hockey player, use his size and scrap and hit TEN times more, than he can be useful as a third line d-man for the playoffs. If he does NOT man up and play like he's built to play, then I agree with the majority. Give him the boot.

[h2obury 6]

I think Lilja needs to go as soon as everyone is healthy Meech has really impressed recently and I think he has earned the right to be on the team over Lilja

[Izzy24 44]

You guys are mean.

[#19=Legend 29]

Ive hated this guy ever since he came here. Hes gotta go, no doubt. He just dosent deserve to be a wing.

[esteef 2,679]

Oh yay, another overly dramatic thread immediately after an LGW whipping boy makes a mistake.

Couldn't every goal against us be traced back to SOMEONE on the team? I mean how ridiculous is this s***? (Technically, he wasn't even on the ice when they scored.)

Lilja is one of our best penalty killing dmen

He skates just fine for a big man.

He DOES hit, and has been doing so more at the blue line.

He makes great outlet passes to start plays up ice (as do most Wings dmen)

He is cheap in salary for what we get out of him.

As someone mentioned, the bad calls killed us last night at the end, and our D is depleted so guys are playing more minutes, more situations and with different D partners than they are used to.

Simma down nah!

esteef

[#19=Legend 29]

I've seen Lidstrom lose games for us too, maybe he should be traded as well.

Your an idiot for even comparing the two. Lilja costs us games. And it seems as of late, we cant win without Nick. I just cant belive you could make a comparison.

[Guest Jeremy88]

You people on this board seem to demand perfection from every single one of our players. Ok...you find 12 forwards who get each 60+ points a year, 6 defensemen who are just as good as Nick Lidstrom, and 2 goalies who could stop a bullet.....and try to keep them all under the salary cap.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Jeremy88

[Inultus 12]

You people on this board seem to demand perfection from every single one of our players. Ok...you find 12 forwards who get each 60+ points a year, 6 defensemen who are just as good as Nick Lidstrom, and 2 goalies who could stop a bullet.....and try to keep them all under the salary cap.

No, what I demand is that the dmen avoid passing the puck directly through the slot to the other team, essentially giving them a breakaway.

I've seen Lilja do this twice, and none of our other dmen have done that to my knowledge. That's just one example of why I don't like him as a player.

[Guest Canadian Wings]

Edited February 27, 2008 by Canadian Wings

[Grittzkey 1]

Weird, because ive actually been liking lilja a little bit this year.

[Mickeyisms Rule! 0]

I have a tendency to believe a hall of fame defenseman more than I would believe the people in this thread asking, no, demanding Lilja's head on a platter.

Fact 1: Lilja blocks more shots than anyone else on the team.

Fact 2: Lilja, when he plays his role, is as good a denfenseman that you will find for the pay

Fact 3: The puck that got shot over the boards last night was rolling, plus he was in the process of going down from a check when he shot it over the boards

The people here that are crying about this play should be more angry that there is no wiggle room in that rule. When a defenseman is falling because they are being checked there should be an allowance made on the delay of game rule. At this time, the refs had no choice but to call the penalty. If this had been a time before that rule was put into effect, then you all would be praising Lilja right now for staying with the puck and getting it out of trouble.

Try this: (those of you that don't own a hockey stick may need to borrow one) draw a line on the ground, place a puck on the line on its edge and try to get the puck to go straight down that line.

Try it on your forehand first, then move to your backhand (Lilja was on his backhand). Now, ask your large-sized friend to run into you at full speed while you try to keep that puck on the line that you drew from your backhand side.

Post your results so we can laugh at you and tell you how much you suck.

[Rivalred 630]

Lilja blocked a pass early in the 1st period that saved a goal....

Look, it is a catch 22.....

Do not be a part of the problem, be a part of the solution.

[shannyfan1414 0]

I don't know what it is but i have never been a fan of Lilja. He is pretty much the only guy on the wings whom i can't stand. Last night pushed me over the edge with him. I can admit that maybe it was just him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Regardless, i still don't like him. After seeing our young guys like Meech and Erikson play last night i think that either one of them could fill Lilja spot and the team would be fine if not better then they are with him in the lineup.

No matter what anyone has to say I'm just totally against him and don't know if that will ever change.

[Sergeiwasmyfav 0]

I don't know what it is but i have never been a fan of Lilja. He is pretty much the only guy on the wings whom i can't stand. Last night pushed me over the edge with him. I can admit that maybe it was just him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Regardless, i still don't like him. After seeing our young guys like Meech and Erikson play last night i think that either one of them could fill Lilja spot and the team would be fine if not better then they are with him in the lineup.

No matter what anyone has to say I'm just totally against him and don't know if that will ever change.

Hey, at least you are honest. I have the exact opposite feelings about Lilja: I like him a lot and I can't really put my finger on why. So I know what you mean about sometimes you feel a certain way about a player and can't quite explain it. I just think sometimes the Lilja bashing gets out of control, to say the least. He is not as bad as people make him out to be. It is one thing to not really like a player that much and to notice their mistakes more (that's how I feel about Rafalski, I just haven't warmed up to him and I see him make a lot of mistakes no one else seems to notice or that they choose to ignore), but I can still at least acknowlege that Rafalski does a lot of stuff pretty well and is a good replacement for Schneider. I guess that's what I mean about being objective; it's fine to dislike someone, but overreacting the way many do to Lilja is just ridiculous.

[Mudvayneowns91 0]

Lilja blocked a pass early in the 1st period that saved a goal....

Look, it is a catch 22.....

Do not be a part of the problem, be a part of the solution.

Lebda hit Flips that tied the game, but people still talk smack about him. They both do stupid stuff IMO, but they have their upsides for sure.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Lilja is a big and dumb. Not a great defenceman, but he'll be needed against Anaheim.

[redwing711 0]

Oh yay, another overly dramatic thread immediately after an LGW whipping boy makes a mistake.

Couldn't every goal against us be traced back to SOMEONE on the team? I mean how ridiculous is this s***? (Technically, he wasn't even on the ice when they scored.)

Of course he wasn't on the ice. He was in the box for a stupid penalty, putting his teammates in a position of defending 4 against 6. So, how does him not being on the ice at the time of the goal make him blameless?

[redwing711 0]

Try this: (those of you that don't own a hockey stick may need to borrow one) draw a line on the ground, place a puck on the line on its edge and try to get the puck to go straight down that line.

Try it on your forehand first, then move to your backhand (Lilja was on his backhand). Now, ask your large-sized friend to run into you at full speed while you try to keep that puck on the line that you drew from your backhand side.

Post your results so we can laugh at you and tell you how much you suck.

The difference, I'm not getting paid to be a professional hockey player, Lilja is.

[betterREDthandead 58]

I have a tendency to believe a hall of fame defenseman more than I would believe the people in this thread asking, no, demanding Lilja's head on a platter.

Fact 1: Lilja blocks more shots than anyone else on the team.

Fact 2: Lilja, when he plays his role, is as good a denfenseman that you will find for the pay

Fact 3: The puck that got shot over the boards last night was rolling, plus he was in the process of going down from a check when he shot it over the boards

The people here that are crying about this play should be more angry that there is no wiggle room in that rule. When a defenseman is falling because they are being checked there should be an allowance made on the delay of game rule. At this time, the refs had no choice but to call the penalty. If this had been a time before that rule was put into effect, then you all would be praising Lilja right now for staying with the puck and getting it out of trouble.

Try this: (those of you that don't own a hockey stick may need to borrow one) draw a line on the ground, place a puck on the line on its edge and try to get the puck to go straight down that line.

Try it on your forehand first, then move to your backhand (Lilja was on his backhand). Now, ask your large-sized friend to run into you at full speed while you try to keep that puck on the line that you drew from your backhand side.

Post your results so we can laugh at you and tell you how much you suck.

[betterREDthandead 58]

Try this: (those of you that don't own a hockey stick may need to borrow one) draw a line on the ground, place a puck on the line on its edge and try to get the puck to go straight down that line.

Try it on your forehand first, then move to your backhand (Lilja was on his backhand). Now, ask your large-sized friend to run into you at full speed while you try to keep that puck on the line that you drew from your backhand side.

Post your results so we can laugh at you and tell you how much you suck.

The difference, I'm not getting paid to be a professional hockey player, Lilja is.

I imagine you're getting paid to do something, however. Ever make a mistake at work? Forget your TPS cover sheet? No? I'm not saying we should never criticize, but (I'm using someone else's post here) nobody is suggesting you or anyone else get sucked into a jet engine when they screw up at work. Just because they're getting paid doesn't give us the nails to crucify the guy with. It's ridiculous.

[wingslogo19 281]

I don't really have that much of a problem with Lilly.. We will need him come playoff time

[esteef 2,679]

Of course he wasn't on the ice. He was in the box for a stupid penalty, putting his teammates in a position of defending 4 against 6. So, how does him not being on the ice at the time of the goal make him blameless?

Figured that one out on your own did ya? I didn't say he was blameless, but to say it was all Lilly's fault is incorrect. It's the PKers job to stop the puck not the guy in the box. Lilly didn't make a mistake, he was trying to do the right thing and flip it out of the zone, the puck was rolling and came out funny that's all. If he would've tried to pass to someone, he would've been lambasted for that too. People just ***** about Lilly regardless, ESPECIALLY when stuff like this happens.