Guest mindfly Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) Update from Tuesday's practice: The Wings skated with the same line combinations and defense pairings they used in Monday's practice. But coach Mike Babcock said he will revert back to his usual defense pairings for Wednesday's game against Calgary (Lidstrom-Rafalski, Kronwall-Stuart, Lebda-Lilja). "I'm not going to play them like that tomorrow, I just wanted to freshen up for practice,'' Babcock said. "The big thing here is I haven't been displeased with my pairs at all. I just thought we needed to freshen up, needed to do something different for a few days.'' Up front, however, Babcock said he hadn't decided if he'll use the combinations from the last two days or go back to way it was before. "I haven't decided on that part yet,'' he said. This is how they have practiced: Filppula-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Cleary-Zetterberg-Hossa Hudler-Franzen-Samuelsson Kopecky-Draper-Maltby The power-play units remain the same: Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa Lidstrom-Rafalski and ... Hudler-Zetterberg-Franzen Kronwall-Samuelsson Chances are, they'll start the game with the new combinations and then revert back if things aren't going smoothly. Ty Conklin will start in net Wednesday. Chris Osgood said he doesn't know yet if he'll start Friday in Dallas. Babccok seems to take into account a goalie's history against a team when deciding who will start, so I would expect to see Osgood in net against the Stars, whom he is 35-14-3 against lifetime, including the playoffs. Then again, if Conklin is sharp against Calgary, he might opt to stick with the hot hand. Update from Tuesday’s practice: The Wings are going with the same changes as yesterday’s practice, but Mike Babcock said afterwards things will change for tomorrow’s game against Calgary - and that he's considered putting Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg back together. Asked if he had thought about putting Datsyuk and Zetterberg together, Babcock said, “yeah. We thought about that, too. We had them all over the place. But the reason we do is sometimes change brings about excitement and energy, enthusiasm. All we’re trying to do is get that. That’s the only reason.” In other words, babcock is a busy man upcoming 24hours or so... best thing would be to put datsyuk and zetterberg together in my opinion Edited December 9, 2008 by mindfly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMRwings1983 8,804 Report post Posted December 9, 2008 What we really need to work on is to use bigger goalie equipment, so that we don't have to score 5 and 6 goals every game in order to win. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the lines jumbled, to get some more spark defensively. The scoring shouldn't be affected, since these players have all played with each other at one point or another in the last few years. Hossa is an exception, but I'm sure he'll fit in fine whoever he plays with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted December 9, 2008 What we really need to work on is to use bigger goalie equipment, so that we don't have to score 5 and 6 goals every game in order to win. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the lines jumbled, to get some more spark defensively. The scoring shouldn't be affected, since these players have all played with each other at one point or another in the last few years. Hossa is an exception, but I'm sure he'll fit in fine whoever he plays with. Agreed. Get Jiggy with the pads. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hockeytown0001 7,652 Report post Posted December 9, 2008 Agreed. Get Jiggy with the pads. Don't forget the matress under the jersey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest nutz2u Report post Posted December 9, 2008 (edited) Maybe we could play with 2 goalers 2 forwards and 2 dmen, maybe we could stop a puck now and then. Edited December 9, 2008 by nutz2u Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shoreline Report post Posted December 9, 2008 Don't forget the matress under the jersey I think I've seen him slouched over a few times against his mattress pads sleeping in the butterfly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mors 201 Report post Posted December 9, 2008 Agreed. Get Jiggy with the pads. I'm sure Michelin probably has an extra mascot costume lying around their office somewhere Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungGuns1340 1 Report post Posted December 9, 2008 So hes switching up the offensive lines - which haven't been a problem. But hes keeping the defensive pairings - which have been the problem. Right. Don't get me wrong - I'm an advocate for switching up the forward lines. I don't think Hossa and Datsyuk have the chemistry to be as dominant as they should be. We're talking about an elite natural goal scorer and a top 5 playmaking center not being able to outplay guys like Jiri Hudler. But what about the defense pairings? Were they really that bad in practice that we can't put them out there in real life situations? If anything, I think a little insecurity with your defense partner would be a good thing at this point. Maybe they'd be extra cautious if they were playing with a new partner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Konnan511 1,736 Report post Posted December 9, 2008 I'd love to see ZDH 1st line then Hossa-Flip-Franzen second line.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrossoverThrash 0 Report post Posted December 10, 2008 So hes switching up the offensive lines - which haven't been a problem. But hes keeping the defensive pairings - which have been the problem. Right. Don't get me wrong - I'm an advocate for switching up the forward lines. I don't think Hossa and Datsyuk have the chemistry to be as dominant as they should be. We're talking about an elite natural goal scorer and a top 5 playmaking center not being able to outplay guys like Jiri Hudler. But what about the defense pairings? Were they really that bad in practice that we can't put them out there in real life situations? If anything, I think a little insecurity with your defense partner would be a good thing at this point. Maybe they'd be extra cautious if they were playing with a new partner. Well putting together two selke nominees would be defensively minded Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoungGuns1340 1 Report post Posted December 10, 2008 Well putting together two selke nominees would be defensively minded Datsyuk and Hossa pairing up are nearly comparable. Our forward units are chock full of defensive forwards teaming up - Drapes and Maltby, Filppula and Cleary, Datsyuk and Hossa - not helping. We need to shake up our defense. Absolutely no reason not to - they couldn't possibly play any worse than they are now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
puckloo39 5,686 Report post Posted December 10, 2008 Datsyuk and Hossa pairing up are nearly comparable. Our forward units are chock full of defensive forwards teaming up - Drapes and Maltby, Filppula and Cleary, Datsyuk and Hossa - not helping. We need to shake up our defense. Absolutely no reason not to - they couldn't possibly play any worse than they are now. I think a lot of teams would be happy to have our D, but by their own standards, I don't think they're playing well at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
