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Lidsyukerberg

So...what's the story?

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Alright, I realize that the answer to this is probably buried in a sea of posts somewhere on here, but I don't have the time right now to sift through it all.

Anyway, does anybody know why Babs decided to sit Mac and dress Downey (not that he couldn't dress himself, but it's always nice to get a hand)? Because with only a few games left before the playoffs, Mac is going to need all the ice time he can get if he is going to get up to speed and prove himself worthy to crack the roster. I'm not saying that he can or can't at this point, just that if he is going to have any shot at it, he needs to get out there.

Was Babs not happy with his effort Friday night?

Did he just want to see Downey put a lump on Tootoo? (not that he had to bench Mac for that, he could have sat Drake)

Were Mac's ribs bothering him after the game?

I could go on forever, and I have been in my own mind since yesterday which is why I am asking. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

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Very unlikely he'll touch the ice in the playoffs, when everyone is healthy he won't be in the equation. As for the "benching" I think people are reading too much into it, Downey has earned his minutes this year I don't think this is a situation where things need to be handed to Mac. He'll keep working hard and hopefully get to where he wants to be.

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Perhaps if they lock down the President's Trophy before the last game Babcock will play Mac in the remaining game(s) to get him some more ice time in case he's needed in the playoffs.

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Wow! You guys aren't gonna believe it, I found this really cool tool on the internet that answers your questions like some kind of magic genie. It's called Google, and I think I found the answer. Don't know why I didn't check there before.

According to Mlive:

The Free Press's Carlos Monarrez notes that McCarty might not be too happy with coach Mike Babcock's decision to play Aaron Downey in his place against the scrappy Predators, but McCarty received another "welcome back" on Saturday:

March 30, Detroit Free Press: Babcock said Darren McCarty, who got a 30-second standing ovation Friday in his return to the NHL after nearly a year, will be replaced in the lineup today by Aaron Downey. McCarty got another ovation Saturday from the few thousand fans who attended open practice at Joe Louis Arena.

McCarty was given the honor of leading stretches at center ice and one teammate yelled out: "Welcome Mac back!" The fans complied and hollered their support.

McCarty made sure to toss pucks into the crowd at the conclusion of practice, and Dallas Drake, Niklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler, Johan Franzen, the aforementioned Downey, Brett Lebda, and Derek Meech followed suit.

I think I'm going to like this Google thing. :crazy:

Edited by Lidsyukerberg

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By my maths the Wings are going to have 14 forwards if everyone is fit - not including stiffs like Hartigan. That means 2 spare forwards, Hudler is almost certain to be one of them, I think Babs wants Mac and Downey to fight for the last spot .

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By my maths the Wings are going to have 14 forwards if everyone is fit - not including stiffs like Hartigan. That means 2 spare forwards, Hudler is almost certain to be one of them, I think Babs wants Mac and Downey to fight for the last spot .

One can only hope :boxing:

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I really hope McCarty doesn't feel entitled to play just because of his history with the team. He's a 4th liner who hasn't played at a high level in years, this isn't the time to bend over backwards for the guy. He'll play again, but he had to know the odds of him cracking the playoff lineup was slim to none.

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I was glad to see Mac play but the reality is that he is not ready to go at the pace of the Wings yet if Mac works hard threw the off season and tries out in the fall he will probably stand a better chance as of now he can only work hard and hope the team wins the cup

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I really hope McCarty doesn't feel entitled to play just because of his history with the team. He's a 4th liner who hasn't played at a high level in years, this isn't the time to bend over backwards for the guy. He'll play again, but he had to know the odds of him cracking the playoff lineup was slim to none.

Agreed.

The article says he might not be happy about it, but it's just speculation on how he might feel. Not anything substantiated.

People complain every time Downey is benched, but now they want Mac to play over him? Ignore the name on the back of the sweater for a minute. It would be scratching Downey for a guy who's been playing hockey at any level for 3 or 4 months now and is coming back from a rib injury.

I would be shocked if they put McCarty in the lineup and started giving him 5 or more minutes a game.

Edited by haroldsnepsts

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Guest Crymson

I'd love to see Downey and McCarty together on a line with Drake. However, they're not defensively-skilled enough to make up a checking line, though it is true that they're all hitters, fighters and scrappers. They may do well against Anaheim, San Jose, Calgary or the like.

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Agreed.

The article says he might not be happy about it, but it's just speculation on how he might feel. Not anything substantiated.

People complain every time Downey is benched, but now they want Mac to play over him? Ignore the name on the back of the sweater for a minute. It would be scratching Downey for a guy who's been playing hockey at any level for 3 or 4 months now and is coming back from a rib injury.

I would be shocked if they put McCarty in the lineup and started giving him 5 or more minutes a game.

The sad truth of the matter is that if these two switched sweaters for a game, I guarantee people would be saying how great Mac looked out there and that Downey looked "off".

Mac needs to continue to work and if he shows capable (or barring injuries--knock on wood) he'll play. If not, than he just simply isn't better than Downey at this point in time and in that case shouldn't get the nod over Aaron.

That being said, having a guy like Mac on the roster does give Babs the opportunity to have a different roster style should the need present itself.

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Guest Hank=FutureCaptain

I think the TRUE question is, why the hell is Hartigan in their over Mac OR Downey???? Mac and Downey bring an aspect that Hartigan just doesn't have. IMO it's an absolute no brainer to put in Downey or Mac over Hartigan.

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I think the TRUE question is, why the hell is Hartigan in their over Mac OR Downey???? Mac and Downey bring an aspect that Hartigan just doesn't have. IMO it's an absolute no brainer to put in Downey or Mac over Hartigan.

Mac and Downey do bring an element that Hartigan doesn't, but I'm guessing Babock must think that Hartigan is less of a liability out there than those two.

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The sad truth of the matter is that if these two switched sweaters for a game, I guarantee people would be saying how great Mac looked out there and that Downey looked "off".

Mac needs to continue to work and if he shows capable (or barring injuries--knock on wood) he'll play. If not, than he just simply isn't better than Downey at this point in time and in that case shouldn't get the nod over Aaron.

That being said, having a guy like Mac on the roster does give Babs the opportunity to have a different roster style should the need present itself.

Exactly.

I'd love to have Mac in the lineup, if he's healthy and can contribute. With Babcock he's gotta earn his icetime just like everyone else.

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Guest GordieSid&Ted
I think the TRUE question is, why the hell is Hartigan in their over Mac OR Downey???? Mac and Downey bring an aspect that Hartigan just doesn't have. IMO it's an absolute no brainer to put in Downey or Mac over Hartigan.

Although a Mac and Downey lineup would bring tears of joy to my eyes, its not a very wise move once everyone is healthy.

On one side I would've loved both Mac and Downey to be in the Nashville game due to the sometimes feisty nature of those matches.

On the other hand Mac is recovering from a rib injury and maybe him mixing it up too much or fighting probably isn't a good bet.

Also keep in mind that Darcy Hordichuk was scratched so Downey was plenty of ammunition for that game.

In a perfect world I would love to have them both out there in a series against the Ducks where we could answer and fight back. But that isn't likely to happen.

Holmstrom and Samuellson in

Hartigan and Downey/Mac out

There's your playoff roster.

Of course Babs may scratch Huddles for Downey if things don't go well is my guess.

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Agreed.

The article says he might not be happy about it, but it's just speculation on how he might feel. Not anything substantiated.

People complain every time Downey is benched, but now they want Mac to play over him? Ignore the name on the back of the sweater for a minute. It would be scratching Downey for a guy who's been playing hockey at any level for 3 or 4 months now and is coming back from a rib injury.

I would be shocked if they put McCarty in the lineup and started giving him 5 or more minutes a game.

Actually, I am one of the people who doesn't like it when Downey is benched. I wasn't saying that I wanted Mac in over Downey. I have just resigned myself to the fact that Babs has chosen Downey as the one he is going to rotate Mac with. I was actually just wondering if there was a reason that he benched Mac that last game. As for wanting Mac to play more than Downey, personally I would rather see Hartigan or Drake, or Kopecky, or Hudler benched over either, take your pick. So it doesn't have anything to do with wanting Mac over Downey, it was just curiosity about why Mac wasn't playing Sunday when there are so few games left that he will either get to earn a spot, or at least get to play some games before his season is over (whichever happens). That's all.

Personally I really hope to see Downey in the playoffs, but I would also like to see Mac in. Pitch some non producing forwards, and replace them with brawn. So what if Mac and Downey don't rack up the goals, at least they'll lay the body on some guys. Unlike Hudler and Kopecky or Hartigan who don't play a physical game or rack up any goals (at least not lately).

Edited by Lidsyukerberg

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I think the TRUE question is, why the hell is Hartigan in their over Mac OR Downey???? Mac and Downey bring an aspect that Hartigan just doesn't have. IMO it's an absolute no brainer to put in Downey or Mac over Hartigan.

Definitly agree. While McCarty is out of shape, no doubt, he still brings more to the table than Hartigan does. Hartigan is basically the Canadian version of Mark Mowers. He has decent speed, but really doesn't bring anything else to the table. In these last few games, where things could get rough from the doormats looking to take the Wings star players out (mainly because they have nothing to lose), it would be nice to have both Downey and McCarty in the lineup. No, it isn't going to stop everything, but it certainly helps.

Plus, as a fight fan, you know I'll be more partial to having Downey and McCarty in anyways. :P

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Mac and Downey do bring an element that Hartigan doesn't, but I'm guessing Babock must think that Hartigan is less of a liability out there than those two.

Mac may be out of shape, but he's VERY responsible in his own zone and plays smart as shown when he played. And THAT's the reason I think he should be in over Downey (at least until playoffs) as Babcock could play Mac in situations like yesterday whereas Downey was sleeping throughout the third period. However it probably was a good idea to play Downey over Mac given how Nashville can act.

Maybe next season.

Edited by Z and D for the C

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Definitly agree. While McCarty is out of shape, no doubt, he still brings more to the table than Hartigan does. Hartigan is basically the Canadian version of Mark Mowers. He has decent speed, but really doesn't bring anything else to the table. In these last few games, where things could get rough from the doormats looking to take the Wings star players out (mainly because they have nothing to lose), it would be nice to have both Downey and McCarty in the lineup. No, it isn't going to stop everything, but it certainly helps.

Plus, as a fight fan, you know I'll be more partial to having Downey and McCarty in anyways. :P

I don't think Holland is aware that league policy allows you to have more than one enforcer in the lineup. He's kind of slow on this, so he'll come around eventually.

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McCarty being benched shouldn't be much of a story at all.

Don't get me wrong, I am really happy for him that he's been able to straighten his life out personally and make a comeback to the NHL, really respect him for that, but he's not the McCarty of old (or young).

It's slim/none that he will get more than 4th line minutes, and he'll be buried even deeper on the depth chart once all the forwards get healthy.

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The nice thing about the playoffs is that you play the same team for at least 4 games. If you need a few enforcers for a particular team, you usually know that after the first game, and you can add them in. If not, then you put in others. Once everyone is healthy, we can put in the best players for each situation.

Now, of course, begins the battle over which players are the best for the situation. Carry on.

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