LILJA - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

[96Homer 0]

Well, he made an error that cost Detroit game 5 against Dallas...

It wasn't Cheli's fault the other d, Lebda I think, didn't communicate back to cheli to make a line change sheesh. You could tell that he was pissed off when the dallas goal was scored. The other d (not sure who it was that he was telling that he was getting off) allowed the goal because of poor communication. I really wish people lay off and look at the tape if they got one of game 5 of the Dallas series. Even the announcers said, the kid needs to pick up his communication skills a little better. Or something along those lines. Cheli rarely makes a mistake like that. So give him a break. It wasn't just Cheli who cost Detroit game 5.

And I think it's funny that after a loss everyone is on Lilja's butt. He has a great game in game 2 but then falls off just a little and wow holy hell lol. It's only one game, let the wings win on their home ice so we all can boo Bettmen and Al can twirl the octopus right in front of him and maybe, just maybe some "matter" will fly off and hit him in the face!

Edited May 29, 2008 by 96Homer

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

I think some people here need to suck on Therrien's pacifier for a while until they've calmed down about this loss.

[Chaldean 0]

I could give you countless other scenarios that other individuals did/didn't do, as well as the team, which led to the loss.

But can't you see the difference? All those players you mentioned are great players, who you know will rebound in the next game. LILJA IS NOT A GREAT PLAYER, thus he should not be given a pass like the rest of our stars.

[Chaldean 0]

edit

Edited May 29, 2008 by Chaldean

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

But can't you see the difference? All those players you mentioned are great players, who you know will rebound in the next game. LILJA IS NOT A GREAT PLAYER, thus he should not be given a pass like the rest of our stars.

And how do you know Lilja won't rebound (assuming he plays) in game 4 when the game hasn't even been played yet? You got a magic crystal ball that predicts the future? I get that Lilja isn't as good as some of the other players but some of you all are really acting beyond obnoxious when Lilja wasn't the only deciding factor in the Wings loss.

Edited May 29, 2008 by SouthernWingsFan

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

How can you people say he didn't cost us the game?

Go to the 3:30 mark. We lost by one goal.

I am not ignoring that most of our players had a really bad game, but that is not going to change the fact that the person that cost us the game winning goal was LILJA himself. No excuses.

How can you say this isn't similar to Chelli's mistake of game 5?

Of course you can't bring in Quincy or any player that hasn't played in the playoffs so far, but for the love of God, please lower his minutes. Give me a tired Lidstrom for extra 5 minutes, then 5 minutes of Lilja.

What makes your point ridiculous is that you consider this *the* goal that cost us the game. Not the two scored before it, no it definitely had to be this one that cost us the game. Was the final score 1-0 last night, and I just dreamed up the other 4 goals?

Edit: Keep in mind that I'm expecting you to come back with a simplistic response about how it turned out to be the game winning goal.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Never Forget Mac #25

[Chaldean 0]

And how do you know Lilja won't rebound (assuming he plays) in game 4 when the game hasn't even been played yet? You got a magic crystal ball that predicts the future? I get that Lilja isn't as good as some of the other players but some of you all are really acting beyond obnoxious when Lilja wasn't the only deciding factor in the Wings loss.

What has he done in the past that make you have such confidence on him?

[Chaldean 0]

What makes your point ridiculous is that you consider this *the* goal that cost us the game. Not the one scored before or after it, no it definitely had to be this one that cost us the game. Was the final score 1-0 last night, and I just dreamed up the other 4 goals?

That was the third goal - the game winning goal that made it 3 -1.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Chaldean

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

What has he done in the past that make you have such confidence on him?

For the most part, he's a decent PKer and shot blocker, and we saw last playoffs how spledidly he played minus a game 5 muffed pass against Anaheim. We've seen it before and it's possible to see it again.

So how do you know he's NOT going to rebound next game when the game hasn't even been played yet, assuming he plays?

[edicius 3,269]

Slightly off topic, but the bolded comment shouldn't surprise you given that he's been paired with Kronwall. Generally, a defensive pairing that stays together for a while is going to have an extremely similar +/-.

Der, good point. For some reason, that didn't dawn on me.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

That was the third goal - the game winning goal that made it 3 -1.

I realized that mistake right after I posted and made the edit, but that doesn't change the point of what I was saying. You seem intent on blaming the loss squarely on Lilja when its *you* that fails to see the real reason why the Wings lost last night.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Never Forget Mac #25

[The Secret 304]

it's not a mistake , it's a lack of courage

you're just a snob who thinks you're better than everyone on here.

Misty, I see from your avatar that your shades are the wrong colour. I think if you borrowed SWF's glasses you'd see where he/she is coming from. To me Lilja has not become a liability now, in these playoffs.... he's always been that way! Mucking in the corners is not the easiest place to play but Lilja had no reason not to make the play and take the hit.... cowardly, and poor defensively!

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

What makes your point ridiculous is that you consider this *the* goal that cost us the game. Not the two scored before it, no it definitely had to be this one that cost us the game. Was the final score 1-0 last night, and I just dreamed up the other 4 goals?

Edit: Keep in mind that I'm expecting you to come back with a simplistic response about how it turned out to be the game winning goal.

Did I call that or what?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Misty, I see from your avatar that your shades are the wrong colour. I think if you borrowed SWF's glasses you'd see where he/she is coming from. To me Lilja has not become a liability now, in these playoffs.... he's always been that way! Mucking in the corners is not the easiest place to play but Lilja had no reason not to make the play and take the hit.... cowardly, and poor defensively!

He played very solid for the majority of last year's playoffs, hence him not always being a liability.

[Chaldean 0]

I realized that mistake right after I posted and made the edit, but that doesn't change the point of what I was saying. You seem intent on blaming the loss squarely on Lilja when its *you* that fails to see the real reason why the Wings lost last night.

I understand the team had a bad game. But that doesn't mean you give up on the game. Sometimes the best team doesn't win, and if you can't be mad about having the chance of being up 3 - 0 for the SCF, and only to lose it by one goal - a goal that should have never happened.

The only reason why people are not as angry as me is because we all know how great of a team this is and all of us still believe to win the Cup, despite the series being 2-1 instead of 3-0. But still, you can't ignore the mistakes. If you ignore them, then it might cost you another game, and another, and another.

If the series was tied at 1-1, and we lost game 3 of what Lilja did, and now be down 1-2, then I think all of you would be asking for his head right now. But that is not how it should be. Judge a player's game - game by game; no matter what the situation is.

Babs please please DONT give Lilja 10 minutes. PLEASE.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Chaldean

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Misty, I see from your avatar that your shades are the wrong colour. I think if you borrowed SWF's glasses you'd see where he/she is coming from. To me Lilja has not become a liability now, in these playoffs.... he's always been that way! Mucking in the corners is not the easiest place to play but Lilja had no reason not to make the play and take the hit.... cowardly, and poor defensively!

Just like all those hits that Lidstrom takes when he's racing to the corners? [/sarcasm]

[edicius 3,269]

Did I call that or what?

Pure win.

The fact of the matter is that the team played like garbage last night, while the Pens played their best...and the Wings STILL only lost by a goal. There's a silver lining there.

[KronwallCRUNCH 5]

This is one of the most idiotic, bandwagoning threads on the board right now. Lilja has made mistakes in the past, but he didn't cost the Wings this game. If you want to point a finger, point it at Stuart- but don't because he's been stellar so far in the playoffs..one bad pass and a bad bounce off of Z's skate gave pitt all the momentum in this game. Lilja is better than Chelios, so stop whining. I didn't see a thread like this while they were winning. Calm down.

[gowingsgo 3]

Lilja will probably sit for Chelios in the next game

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

I understand the team had a bad game. But that doesn't mean you give up on the game. Sometimes the best team doesn't win, and if you can't be mad about having the chance of being up 3 - 0 for the SCF, and only to lose it by one goal - a goal that should have never happened.

The only reason why people are not as angry as me is because we all know how great of a team this is and all of us still believe to win the Cup, despite the series being 2-1 instead of 3-0. But still, you can't ignore the mistakes. If you ignore them, then it might cost you another game, and another, and another.

If the series was tied at 1-1, and we lost game 3 of what Lilja did, and now be down 1-2, then I think all of you would be asking for his head right now. But that is not how it should be. Judge a player's game - game by game; no matter what the situation is.

Babs please please give Lilja 10 minutes. PLEASE.

Who said I was ignoring mistakes? My point is simply that those calling for Cheli to be in for Lilja are kidding themselves because Chelios has been absolutely brutal this playoff run. On top of that, most people seem to be ripping Lilja for not taking the hit and paying the price to potentially clear the zone, yet they fail answer my question about how many times they've seen Lidstrom "pay the price" to potentially clear the zone.

Most importantly (and what I've been saying all morning) is *the mistake people are ignoring* is not that Lilja may have caused a goal, but that the Wings played completely differently from the 15:00 minute mark of the first to the end of the second period than they did in Games 1 & 2. The *mistake people are ignoring* is that the Wings gave the Penguins too much respect and the Pens took advantage of it. The Wings did nothing of the sort in the first 2 games.

[kevotron 3]

Perhaps Lilja's play and perceived lack of skill is magnified by the fact that we go from watching possibly the second greatest defenceman ever to him. Was it Pierre McGuire who last night said "I have a firm grasp of the obvious!"

I guess my point is whether "Lilja is lazy and he sucks" or he is a reasonably capable journeyman defender, I still hold my breath anytime he is on the ice with any highly skilled players from the opposite team.

Booyakasha! Respect.

[motorcitykid 42]

Lilja AND Stewie sucked last night.

The Pens can talk all they want, Therrien can talk all about the bulls*** calls he ain't getting ... blah blah blah .. we beat ourselves last night. From the opening faceoff, i'm not sure what team that was, but it sure as hell wasn't our Red Wings. The Pens will most definitely face a whole other team on Saturday.

[Chaldean 0]

I'm not asking to replace him wiht Cheli, I just don't think its a wise idea of having him out there for 10 minutes. Add three extra minutes to Lids's line, and 2 to Kron's, and taking Lilja minutes down to 5 minutes.

[The Secret 304]

Just like all those hits that Lidstrom takes when he's racing to the corners? [/sarcasm]

Lidstrom is in another universe.

Still there is something wrong where our D man that's 6'3" 220 lbs (Lilja) cannot take or deliver a hit as good as our finesse player (Datsyuk) at 5'11" 194 lbs.

Datsyuk gets me out of my seat normally for his incredible plays but wasn't it Malone (6'4" 224 lbs) that Datsyuk baked yesterday?.... jumped out my chair for that hit!

[Misty Belle 0]

Misty, I see from your avatar that your shades are the wrong colour. I think if you borrowed SWF's glasses you'd see where he/she is coming from. To me Lilja has not become a liability now, in these playoffs.... he's always been that way! Mucking in the corners is not the easiest place to play but Lilja had no reason not to make the play and take the hit.... cowardly, and poor defensively!

I've played defense all my life, that' s always been part of the job, you go in and get the puck and take the hit if you have to. I don't like it but that's what you have to do. I don't think alot on here have played the game.