We need totally some other players right now

[3983939 0]

We were horrible again against Bruins today. If you watched most of all our games, we had been totally awful on defense and goalie.

I think our offense had been good throughout this whole season so far even though they sometimes dont score that much, they've showed good performance

I know we are yet on only 22games this season and 60 more games are coming so we can fix this anytime between Dec and Jan.

But the thing is that this season may be the last season that Wings would be with Sammy, Kopecky, and other useless guys

Because we won the cup last season, Holland signed with Lilja and Stuart. I think Stuart can play better as he played last season. But especially the most problems are on goalie position, both Osgood and Conklin.

I saw some people say Conklin is good and he is good except for tonight's game.

But the thing is he will never be our first starting goaltender. I think now is the time for us to give Howard to start the game like Vancouver gives Sanford and Schenider opportunities to start games and gain experience.

For defense, I saw Lids got back on his play after he said he was out of a game. Rafalski is not really great on defense but he will get better and he produces some points. Kronwall, I think he is good but he should not make those turnovers that like today he gives Bruins the 3rd goal. But our last defense pair is a s***.

Lebda and Lilja are not stable at all and I felt never comfortable when they are on the ice with the line of Maltby Draper. In my view, Meech is playing way better than I expected.

After this season, whether we will do a good job in the playoff or not, we should kick Sammy, Kopecky, Maltby, Lebda, Lilja out if we can.

We need Leino to be on our line and Helm showed good performance when he was on ice.

Most important thing is that we should give Howard chances to start soon

[edicius 3,269]

Huh. I wasn't aware that Howard would improve our defense. Especially considering he's been getting outplayed by Larsson in GR.

[thedisappearer 291]

If we cut Datsyuk, we have cap space to sign Alexander Mogilny and Bob Probert. There should be enough left over (if Mogilny takes the not-home town discount... *crosses fingers*) to sign Ewe Kruppe, too.

Problem solved.

[henrik40 76]

Let's just trade our whole team for a different one. That would settle things.

[Guest Four]

Tbh, Meech annoyed me this game with his giveaways.

[South Dakota wings fan 7]

We were horrible again against Bruins today. If you watched most of all our games, we had been totally awful on defense and goalie.

I think our offense had been good throughout this whole season so far even though they sometimes dont score that much, they've showed good performance

I know we are yet on only 22games this season and 60 more games are coming so we can fix this anytime between Dec and Jan.

But the thing is that this season may be the last season that Wings would be with Sammy, Kopecky, and other useless guys

Because we won the cup last season, Holland signed with Lilja and Stuart. I think Stuart can play better as he played last season. But especially the most problems are on goalie position, both Osgood and Conklin.

I saw some people say Conklin is good and he is good except for tonight's game.

But the thing is he will never be our first starting goaltender. I think now is the time for us to give Howard to start the game like Vancouver gives Sanford and Schenider opportunities to start games and gain experience.

For defense, I saw Lids got back on his play after he said he was out of a game. Rafalski is not really great on defense but he will get better and he produces some points. Kronwall, I think he is good but he should not make those turnovers that like today he gives Bruins the 3rd goal. But our last defense pair is a s***.

Lebda and Lilja are not stable at all and I felt never comfortable when they are on the ice with the line of Maltby Draper. In my view, Meech is playing way better than I expected.

After this season, whether we will do a good job in the playoff or not, we should kick Sammy, Kopecky, Maltby, Lebda, Lilja out if we can.

We need Leino to be on our line and Helm showed good performance when he was on ice.

Most important thing is that we should give Howard chances to start soon

Was this posted by a third grader?

[Guest Crymson]

I'm also puzzled as to why kicking our current fourth-leading scorer to the curb is a good idea.

[Saran 1]

you need totally some grammar practice

[South Dakota wings fan 7]

I'm also puzzled as to why kicking our current fourth-leading scorer to the curb is a good idea.

I really think there is point to this topic, but I had to read it a few times so I could make sense of it.

It does seem as if there is a lot of complacency on this team right now. Think about it, there are only two players without a cup on the roster. Where is the hunger for a title. Hell, with this many people in a contract year, you would think they would be lighting the world on fire. I do think Holland may look to "shake-up" the roster a little bit if things don't turn around before it is too late.

[Guest Crymson]

I really think there is point to this topic, but I had to read it a few times so I could make sense of it.

It does seem as if there is a lot of complacency on this team right now. Think about it, there are only two players without a cup on the roster. Where is the hunger for a title. Hell, with this many people in a contract year, you would think they would be lighting the world on fire. I do think Holland may look to "shake-up" the roster a little bit if things don't turn around before it is too late.

The flip-side of the Cup experience is that it helps in the playoffs. High-pressure situations are easier to weather if one has been through them before.

[Bannedforlife 403]

Let's just trade our whole team for a different one. That would settle things.

I already bought my Boston jersey, so no worries

[YoungGuns1340 1]

The flip-side of the Cup experience is that it helps in the playoffs. High-pressure situations are easier to weather if one has been through them before.

But that also doesn't mean that 91% of your team needs to have won the cup previously in order for there to be enough experience on your roster.

I don't care what kind of talent you have - in the modern day competitive NHL, especially post-expansion, its damn near impossible to win the cup back-to-back without some incredible kind of motivation. And spare me the "oh well the Red Wings were the last ones to win the cup back-to-back" excuses. They were fighting for fallen teammates and fallen staff members who were never gonna play another game of hockey in their careers. Barring a similar situation, the only way you the Wings are getting that motivation is from fresh blood. Does that mean blowing up the roster? Absolutely not. But I've said it before and I'll say it again. Theres a reason Dallas Drake was the first person Lidstrom gave the cup to.

Edited November 30, 2008 by YoungGuns1340

[CrossoverThrash 0]

well expect ericsson sometime this season, probably leino or helm too because kopecky isn't cutting it

[diehardredwing19 11]

bench kops bring up helm again, bench rafalski for 2 bring up BIG E...we want ericsson!!!!

[Guest Crymson]

bench kops bring up helm again, bench rafalski for 2 bring up BIG E...we want ericsson!!!!

Yeah, except that in a week you'll be yelling about newbie mistakes he'll make to start out.

[#19=Legend 29]

Two Words: Dominik Hasek

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

you need totally some grammar practice

The pot calling the kettle......

[Guest Shoreline]

I don't think bringing guys up from GR will solve this problem. We're staring at pretty much the same team that won the cup. The fundamentals have changed drastically and it's not cause of the losses of people like Drake or Hasek. The only logical thing I can point to is what some others have asserted, which is staff changes.

[Guest mindfly]

It's funny that samuelsson has a team leading 16A... but i doubt he would have near that if he played on the third line and no PP-time

[lets go pavel 2]

It's funny that samuelsson has a team leading 16A... but i doubt he would have near that if he played on the third line and no PP-time

Datsyuk wouldn't have as many points either if he played on the 3rd line with no PP time. Sammy's playing just fine, as is Lilja - and I really never thought I'd say that about either of them, much less both in the same sentence.

As someone said earlier, every team is playing against us in Game 7 mode, the intensity that we're seeing game in and game out is impossible for us to match on a nightly basis - we'd be burnt out by January. I think this is why we look so complacent ... it's not that we aren't hungry, we just often can't match the intensity. As long as we start picking it up the last quarter of the season we'll be fine.

In the meantime i don't know that we need a lot of roster moves, but I would like to see some lineup changes. Last year it seemed like Babs shuffled lines quite a bit, especially mid-game when things weren't clicking. Haven't seen as much of that this year. I think Z and D together for a few shifts could create a spark, and putting them with Hossa sometime earlier than the last minute might be worth trying too ...

[hamip1998 3]

Three LGRW whipping boys who haven't played badly:

Sammy

Lilja

Maltby (he has been hustling out there...can't expect more from a 4th liner than what he is giving)

Guys who haven't played at the level they did last year:

Lids

Raffi

Draper

Ozzie

Kronwall

Flip

Stuart (though both he and Kronner are improving)

Pavel (sorry guys...to me he looks uninspired out there)

Maybe sitting some of these guys would light a fire under their butts. I don't think trading anyone away is the answer.

What I see, personally, is a lack of drive and maybe a lack of confidence. Maybe they are tired? It almost looks like these guys are worn out. After the first seven or eight minutes of the game yesterday, the Wings looked great: moving the puck well, making good decisions, limiting Boston to ZERO shots on goal. Basically, what we saw most of the year last year. Boston scored on their first shot, which sometimes happens, and everything went to hell.

The team is going to have up and down periods throughout the season, just as they did last year. It's clear that other teams have figured out what they need to do to beat the Wings - mainly don't give them any room and play the body. The team has a disgusting amount skill and good speed, but not much size. Last year, guys seemed to play bigger than they phyiscally were. While I don't see the team backing down from phyiscal confrontation and they are willing to hit (sometimes getting WAY out of position to do so, Mr. Stuart), they aren't winning individual battles for the puck like they were last year.

Also, I agree 100% with the last post by Lets Go Pavel. Every team is playing us like it's the Cup finals.

It's early, and all of this is fixable. How, I don't know. It's easy to point out the problems, but offering real solutions isn't so easy. We have to have confidence that we have one of the best coaches in the league and the best GM in the business. They still have time to fix things.

Edited November 30, 2008 by hamip1998

[chrisdetroit 189]

We were horrible again against Bruins today. If you watched most of all our games, we had been totally awful on defense and goalie.

I think our offense had been good throughout this whole season so far even though they sometimes dont score that much, they've showed good performance

I know we are yet on only 22games this season and 60 more games are coming so we can fix this anytime between Dec and Jan.

But the thing is that this season may be the last season that Wings would be with Sammy, Kopecky, and other useless guys

Because we won the cup last season, Holland signed with Lilja and Stuart. I think Stuart can play better as he played last season. But especially the most problems are on goalie position, both Osgood and Conklin.

I saw some people say Conklin is good and he is good except for tonight's game.

But the thing is he will never be our first starting goaltender. I think now is the time for us to give Howard to start the game like Vancouver gives Sanford and Schenider opportunities to start games and gain experience.

For defense, I saw Lids got back on his play after he said he was out of a game. Rafalski is not really great on defense but he will get better and he produces some points. Kronwall, I think he is good but he should not make those turnovers that like today he gives Bruins the 3rd goal. But our last defense pair is a s***.

Lebda and Lilja are not stable at all and I felt never comfortable when they are on the ice with the line of Maltby Draper. In my view, Meech is playing way better than I expected.

After this season, whether we will do a good job in the playoff or not, we should kick Sammy, Kopecky, Maltby, Lebda, Lilja out if we can.

We need Leino to be on our line and Helm showed good performance when he was on ice.

Most important thing is that we should give Howard chances to start soon

Wow. Just wow.

[chrisdetroit 189]

Was this posted by a third grader?

LOL. I had the same thought

[RusDRW 155]

There are four things I care about right now.

- Zetterberg looks completely lost. I guess this is because of players he is out with. While majority here would have to disagree with me I think Zetter needs better support on his line while Dats does not. I would suggest to put Hossa on his line. Just to have somebody to pass to.

- Filppula is lost too. Every time he enters the offensive zone he stops and waits for support. This is completely different compared to what he did last April - drive to the net, shot, etc. However, it is too early to give up on him for sure. I'm aware of mentality finnish players have. They are so hardworking so I predict this problem to be solved soon. The only thing he need is a proper guiding from our coaches. Perhaps put him on the first line with Dats. The only thing in this case is that we do not have a creative center for third line... We may try to use Hudler of course.

- Teams playing against as like it is play-offs already. They are not even shy to say that Detroit is like a kind of measure - are we really that good? We are having a season of play-offs... It was the same in 98 if I remember properly.

- Defense if fine. These are forward who do not play the way they used to.

My ideal lineup for now would be:

Filppula - Dats - Franzen

Holmstrom - Zetter - Hossa

Sammy - Hudler- Cleary

Maltby - Draper - Kopecky

Lids - Raf

Krowall - Stuard

Lilja - Ledda

Conklin

PS And, please, Cheli recover a little bit faster!

Edited November 30, 2008 by RusDRW

[The Secret 304]

IMHO the key to our success will be consistency. I watched the Wings out play the Bruins for most of the game last night. Each time the Bruins got pressure on us they made the most of it and scored. I found the Bruins shots harder, faster and getting to the net. We are still having too many guys playing the hero and losing the puck instead of simplifying the game a bit and grinding it out for some garbage goals.

Most improved player: Jiri Hudler (Didn't cut it with more icetime but they are using him they best they can and he is thriving... way to go Huds!)

Biggest bust: Valerie Filpula (How did this guy warrant a $3 Mill pay raise... I would use him as trade bait for a more useful player or high draft pick)

Most useless player: Tomas Kopecky (This guy could be playing hockey with a shovel or a broom and we would never know the difference.... terminate!)

MVP: thank God we picked up Marian Hossa (PLEASE STAY IN HOCKEYTOWN!)

Still hated: Lilja, Lebda and Samuelsson: Although not playing all that bad I still HATE THEM ALL!

Goal: Rotate the 2 giving preference to he who plays best at the time! (Rotate between these 2 backup goalies because neither is good enough as a #1 and hope Larsson continues to shine for us and develop like he is in GR)

Finally: Fire Ken Holland and Hire me... I will work for cheap and do my job to keep LGW'ers happy. (This is the best advice of all, the sooner this happens the sooner everything turns around... and did I mention that I would reserve all the seats in the first 3 row from the ice for LGW members only and have a bikini clad Karen Newman serving drinks!)

Edited November 30, 2008 by The Secret