Grading the Red Wings: Midseason report card

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/20...s_midseaso.html

My uneducated, quick laundry list of grades as I am pressed for time and need to get ready for work shortly. Basically trying to do it per player ability/his point production, etc. Sorry if I forgot somebody.

Lilja - A-

Lidstrom - A-

Cleary - B+

Datsyuk - A+

Meech - B

Maltby - B-

Lebda - B

Stuart - B+

Chelios - B

McCarty - B-

Hudler - A+

Rafalski - B+

Conklin - B+

Osgood - C+

Draper - C

Samuelsson - B+

Zetterberg - B+

Helm - Inc.

Filppula - C

Kronwall - B-

Hossa - A

Kopecky - C

Franzen - A-

Holmstrom - B+

[Guest Shoreline]

I'll just go down the list like theirs, but basing it on my expectations versus their accomplishments in the games I've watched:

Dan Cleary: B

Pavel Datsyuk: A

Kris Draper: C

Valtteri Filppula: C+

Johan Franzen: A

Tomas Holmstrom: A

Marian Hossa: A

Jiri Hudler: A+

Tomas Kopecky: D

Kirk Maltby: D+

Darren McCarty: D

Mikael Samuelsson: B

Henrik Zetterberg: B

Chris Chelios: N/A

Nicklas Kronwall: D+

Brett Lebda: B+

Nick Lidstrom: B+

Andreas Lilja: B

Derek Meech: D

Brian Rafalski: B+

Brad Stuart: B+

Ty Conklin: A-

Chris Osgood: C-

I rated the defense much higher this time than I did last time we had one of these. Their terrible mistakes that were blatantly obvious earlier on have been cut down dramatically, and hopefully for the rest of the season.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Shoreline

[Casey 145]

I'd challenge your rating of Meech. He's played so little that he can't be graded.

[Datsyerberger 279]

My own take on it, where A is 100% and A+ is 110% .. this is based on expectations of the player, not a comparison.

Dan Cleary: B

Pavel Datsyuk: A+

Kris Draper: C

Valtteri Filppula: C+

Johan Franzen: A-

Tomas Holmstrom: A-

Marian Hossa: A-

Jiri Hudler: A+

Tomas Kopecky: C+

Kirk Maltby: B

Darren McCarty: N/A

Mikael Samuelsson: B

Henrik Zetterberg: B+

Chris Chelios: N/A

Nicklas Kronwall: C-

Brett Lebda: B-

Nick Lidstrom: A-

Andreas Lilja: A

Derek Meech: A+

Brian Rafalski: B+

Brad Stuart: B

Ty Conklin: A

Chris Osgood: C

Some ratings explained: This previous quarter has been a much better one for the Wings; while they've still blown a handful of games to some loser teams, they've also absolutely handed a couple of the hottest teams in the West their arses. Some players in particular I thought deserved notice:

Datsyuk: He not only looks great, he makes his opponents look bad.

Homer: Only gets a knock because his production is down lately, but his game is quite dependent on bounces. His defense has been solid and his play has been physical, however.

Conklin: Has not only been more than adequate for the 'backup' job the Wings got him for, but his SV% has been skyrocketing and he holds a good # of shutouts.

Hossa: Has been doing about what we all realistically expected, I think. A little room for improvement, but he's adapted further to the team.

Meech: Has put in consistently strong effort every time he's been given ice team, using his speed well and, when he's on D, joining the rush smartly.

Lilja: Has not only done everything we expect of him, but has even shown a decent dedication to offense. His play has been so solid that there's even Lilja 'apologists' popping up.

Hudler: Has kicked ass offensively, and even made some clever grabs on the forecheck.

Lidstrom: Slowly starting to look like Norris Nick again.

The D as a whole: Steadily improving.

Osgood: An eye should be kept on him, as he appears to be on the upswing again.

[stactum 4]

My own take on it, where A is 100% and A+ is 110% .. this is based on expectations of the player, not a comparison.

Dan Cleary: B

Pavel Datsyuk: A+

Kris Draper: C

Valtteri Filppula: C+

Johan Franzen: A-

Tomas Holmstrom: A-

Marian Hossa: A-

Jiri Hudler: A+

Tomas Kopecky: C+

Kirk Maltby: B

Darren McCarty: N/A

Mikael Samuelsson: B

Henrik Zetterberg: B+

Chris Chelios: N/A

Nicklas Kronwall: C-

Brett Lebda: B-

Nick Lidstrom: A-

Andreas Lilja: A

Derek Meech: A+

Brian Rafalski: B+

Brad Stuart: B

Ty Conklin: A

Chris Osgood: C

Some ratings explained: This previous quarter has been a much better one for the Wings; while they've still blown a handful of games to some loser teams, they've also absolutely handed a couple of the hottest teams in the West their arses. Some players in particular I thought deserved notice:

Datsyuk: He not only looks great, he makes his opponents look bad.

Homer: Only gets a knock because his production is down lately, but his game is quite dependent on bounces. His defense has been solid and his play has been physical, however.

Conklin: Has not only been more than adequate for the 'backup' job the Wings got him for, but his SV% has been skyrocketing and he holds a good # of shutouts.

Hossa: Has been doing about what we all realistically expected, I think. A little room for improvement, but he's adapted further to the team.

Meech: Has put in consistently strong effort every time he's been given ice team, using his speed well and, when he's on D, joining the rush smartly.

Lilja: Has not only done everything we expect of him, but has even shown a decent dedication to offense. His play has been so solid that there's even Lilja 'apologists' popping up.

Hudler: Has kicked ass offensively, and even made some clever grabs on the forecheck.

Lidstrom: Slowly starting to look like Norris Nick again.

The D as a whole: Steadily improving.

Osgood: An eye should be kept on him, as he appears to be on the upswing again.

I agree with most of it, but I maybe give Zetterberg a solid B instead of B+ and Draper C- because of his team leading -10 so far and Dan Cleary definitely deserves a better grade for his 21 point in 33 games.

[JPT 26]

Dan Cleary: Has played well. Solid defense, good physical play and chips in on offense. B-

Pavel Datsyuk: God what a great player. A+

Kris Draper: Seems to have lost a step. C-

Valtteri Filppula: C+

Johan Franzen: Can score and play defense. Nuff said. A

Tomas Holmstrom: B

Marian Hossa: A-

Jiri Hudler: He's scoring and playing well. B+

Tomas Kopecky: C

Kirk Maltby: On the downside of his career. C-

Mikael Samuelsson: B

Henrik Zetterberg: Perhaps not playing to expectations but makes a difference on the ice. A-

Nicklas Kronwall: C+

Brett Lebda: C+

Nick Lidstrom: What is there really to say about the guy? A

Andreas Lilja: Silencing all the haters B+

Brian Rafalski: Meh B

Brad Stuart: Started the year poorly but looks good as of late. B

Ty Conklin: B

Chris Osgood: B-

Both goalies are looking great lately - highlight saves by Conklin coupled with better defensive play in front of them.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Lebda gets a B, while Kronwall gets a C+??

I'll agree that Kronner has had some consistency problems, but it's not like he got sat because he was sucking so bad. He's not exactly using the same standard here. If you take into account the whole season, those grades should be switched. Yes Lebda has improved, but you can't ignore how awful he was.

[Datsyerberger 279]

Lebda gets a B, while Kronwall gets a C+??

I'll agree that Kronner has had some consistency problems, but it's not like he got sat because he was sucking so bad. He's not exactly using the same standard here. If you take into account the whole season, those grades should be switched. Yes Lebda has improved, but you can't ignore how awful he was.

Taking into account the whole season, I fully agree with you. I was mainly grading based on this quarter. I probably should have clarified that. I believe Kronwall is on the rise, by the way, but he was regularly making mistakes I would expect out of.. well, Lebda.. until recently.

[Datsyerberger 279]

I agree with most of it, but I maybe give Zetterberg a solid B instead of B+ and Draper C- because of his team leading -10 so far and Dan Cleary definitely deserves a better grade for his 21 point in 33 games.

I wouldn't disagree with that... the main reason I gave Drapes a full C is he's still our faceoff guy for big matchups. Zetterberg appears to be back on track, but he did have a pretty brutal goal-less period by his standards this quarter, so I can see why you'd give him a B.

[blikst 1]

Andreas Lilja: A

Lilja: Has not only done everything we expect of him, but has even shown a decent dedication to offense. His play has been so solid that there's even Lilja 'apologists' popping up.

That totally goes against your grade and following reasoning. If if had done what people expected of him, we would have about 2 or 3 anti-Lilja threads going by now.

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

I'll play along. Here's my grades:

Dan Cleary: B+

Pavel Datsyuk: A+

Kris Draper: C

Valtteri Filppula: C+

Johan Franzen: A-

Tomas Holmstrom: A-

Marian Hossa: A

Jiri Hudler: A+

Tomas Kopecky: D+

Kirk Maltby: D+

Darren McCarty: D

Mikael Samuelsson: B

Henrik Zetterberg: B+

Chris Chelios: N/A

Nicklas Kronwall: C

Brett Lebda: B-

Nick Lidstrom: A-

Andreas Lilja: B+

Derek Meech: N/A

Brian Rafalski: B+

Brad Stuart: B+

Ty Conklin: A-

Chris Osgood: C+

Edited January 12, 2009 by Wings_Rule_1010

[kylee 727]

Datsyuk: He not only looks great, he makes his opponents look bad.

that was quite profound!

i agree with just about everything you said with the exception of Mr. Meech. While i think he has done a solid job while he has been in there, i think he needs to play more before i can really judge how his play goes.

oh, and i think Ozzie deserves a higher grade than a C. You did say he may be on the upswing again and i think that's definitely the case, but Conklin has been a great surprise to me with his strong play.

[Datsyerberger 279]

That totally goes against your grade and following reasoning. If if had done what people expected of him, we would have about 2 or 3 anti-Lilja threads going by now.

Hahaha, completely destroy my argument why dontcha?

Alright, maybe I should say what the Red Wings organization expects of him and not LGW

[Datsyerberger 279]

that was quite profound!

i agree with just about everything you said with the exception of Mr. Meech. While i think he has done a solid job while he has been in there, i think he needs to play more before i can really judge how his play goes.

oh, and i think Ozzie deserves a higher grade than a C. You did say he may be on the upswing again and i think that's definitely the case, but Conklin has been a great surprise to me with his strong play.

Your point on Meech is well taken. I threw him in because we've been seeing more and more of him lately, and he was even playing Kronner's spot on the PP last night! But an N/A for him is more than reasonable as well.

Trust me, I want to give Ozzie a higher grade than a C. He's one of my favorite Wings all-time. But, I need to see a continuance in his current level of play before bumping his grade up.

[zetsyuk 2]

Solid season so far. When they get ready for a game, theyre pretty unbeatable. especially in a 7 game series

Dan Cleary: B+ (recovered well from the eye injury)

Pavel Datsyuk: A+ (always amazes...team mvp so far)

Kris Draper: C- (pretty invisible most games, +/- is pretty gross)

Valtteri Filppula: D (see draper, but also gets $3mil/season)

Johan Franzen: B+ (not standing out as much as the playoffs, but still playing well)

Tomas Holmstrom: B (his style doesn't really improve or get worse, cant complain about consistency)

Marian Hossa: A- (playing good so far..i think we knew getting him that he's kinda streaky, but when he's on he's the best player on the ice)

Jiri Hudler: A (cant really ask much more from him given his playtime and his linemates when hes not on the PP)

Tomas Kopecky: D+ (It seems like he falls on his ass at least once a shift, gives dirty hits, but doesn't fight....or score)

Kirk Maltby: C- (whatever....nice goal against dallas)

Darren McCarty: NA (stay on the griffins)

Mikael Samuelsson: B (doing well for a line 2/3 player)

Henrik Zetterberg: B+ (I know he's called himself out to play better, but he's just not dominating like he can. Still, the line 1B center of our team right now)

Chris Chelios: NA (please retire next season)

Nicklas Kronwall: C (hopefully hes a playoff defenseman)

Brett Lebda: C+ (cant really give him too much more after that start, but he's rebounded nicely)

Nick Lidstrom: A- (even when he's not playing great he's still one of the best D in the league)

Andreas Lilja: B (turning into a solid defensive defenseman)

Derek Meech: B- (from what i've seen from him he has looked solid....needs to work on turnovers)

Brian Rafalski: B (good offensive D, but he turns the puck over more than any of our D it seems)

Brad Stuart: B (solid top 4 D)

Ty Conklin: A (doing what ozzie was doing to hasek last season)

Chris Osgood: C- (says he's feels 100% for the first time this season so well see if he's right)

[Echolalia 2,961]

Chelios: B+

Cleary: B

Conklin: B+

Datsyuk: A

Draper: C-

Filppulla: C-

Franzen: A-

Holmstrom: B

Hossa: A

Hudler: A

Kopecky: B

Kronwall: B+

Lebda: B

Lidstrom: B+

Lilja: A

McCarty: A

Maltby: B-

Meech: B+?

Osgood: C-

Rafalski: B+

Sammuelson: A

Stuart: B+

Zetterberg: B-

[Datsyerberger 279]

Seems like everyone shares rather similar sentiments at the moment.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Forwards:

Datsyuk: A+

Hudler: A+

Hossa: A

Zetterberg: A

Cleary: A

Holmstrom: B+

Franzen: B+

Samuelsson: B

Filppula: C-

Maltby: D+

Draper: D

Kopecky: F

McCarty: N/A

Defense:

Lidstrom: A

Lilja: A

Stuart: B+

Rafalski: B

Meech: B

Kronwall: C+

Lebda: C-

Chelios: N/A

Goalies:

Conklin: A-

Osgood: C+

EDIT: After tonight, I realized I was far too generous to the members of the fourth line. They have been useless all season and this game further proved the point. The curve is in.

Edited January 13, 2009 by GoWings1905

[b.shanafan14 733]

The only thing redeeming about Draper is his faceoff percentage, other than that he has proven useless this season, complete detriment in my eyes. If we could afford to sit him for a couple games or more I would be all for it, reminded Maltby (albeit briefly) that he is here to play hockey and just cause he has the rings doesn't mean its a free ride.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

The only thing redeeming about Draper is his faceoff percentage, other than that he has proven useless this season, complete detriment in my eyes. If we could afford to sit him for a couple games or more I would be all for it, reminded Maltby (albeit briefly) that he is here to play hockey and just cause he has the rings doesn't mean its a free ride.

We can. Meech is right there. I hate to wish injury on anyone, but I hope our entire 4th line ends up with an innocuous virus that keeps them from getting into the lineup from about, oh, March 1st - June 10th.

[ComradeWasabi 109]

I wonder what these grades would have looked like if they came out tomorrow or the day after.

[b.shanafan14 733]

We can. Meech is right there. I hate to wish injury on anyone, but I hope our entire 4th line ends up with an innocuous virus that keeps them from getting into the lineup from about, oh, March 1st - June 10th.

Word.

[cnot19 191]

We can. Meech is right there. I hate to wish injury on anyone, but I hope our entire 4th line ends up with an innocuous virus that keeps them from getting into the lineup from about, oh, March 1st - June 10th.

I agree

My grades

Dan Cleary: B+ hopefully he continues improvement

Pavel Datsyuk: A+ cant ask for much more

Kris Draper: C Time to retire

Valtteri Filppula: C+ Good ON D has shown some flashes of playmaking abilities

Johan Franzen: A

Tomas Holmstrom: B+ Steady

Marian Hossa: A Has played well so far

Jiri Hudler: A Showing he can finish

Tomas Kopecky: D SHowing he cant do much

Kirk Maltby: D Nothing here

Darren McCarty: C+ still drops the gloves

Mikael Samuelsson: B Ok season so far

Henrik Zetterberg: B + Better than stats indicate

Chris Chelios: N/A

Nicklas Kronwall: C+ needs to play better and mare physical return to playoff form

Brett Lebda: B Not a bad season hes shown some offensive ability

Nick Lidstrom: A Pretty Good so far

Andreas Lilja: A very good defensive eason so far does everything hopefully keeps up physical play

Derek Meech: C+ not much to evaluate

Brian Rafalski: B+ Has improved his deensive game always good on the offensive side

Brad Stuart: B+ Keep up the physical play and has shown some nice offensive jumps

Ty Conklin: A Cant ask for much more

Chris Osgood: C-

[Never_Retire_Steve 35]

Based on my expectations

My grades

Dan Cleary: B+ Fills role nicely

Pavel Datsyuk: A+ Team MVP

Kris Draper: C+ Definitely on the downfall in his career

Valtteri Filppula: C+ Expected much more out of him this season

Johan Franzen: A- Great goal scorer, still think he is capable of more

Tomas Holmstrom: B Steady

Marian Hossa: A+ Was skeptical of how he would fit into our system, he has been good at both ends of the ice

Jiri Hudler: A+ Unbelievable

Tomas Kopecky: B- Didn't really expect much

Kirk Maltby: B- See Kopecky

Darren McCarty: D+ Definitely slower and a lot worse than in his prime

Mikael Samuelsson: B+ Thought he was completely useless last year, proved me wrong so far

Henrik Zetterberg: B - He should be our MVP, he is capable of so much more

Chris Chelios: A+ Thought he'd be retired (possibly dead) by now

Nicklas Kronwall: D- Absolutely atrocious on D some nights, hasn't shown the offensive prowess that he has

Brett Lebda: C- Thought he would be better

Nick Lidstrom: B Best defensemen in his era but not worthy of the Norris midway through the season

Andreas Lilja: A+ See Samuelsson then multiply by ten

Derek Meech: D Was hoping to see him in top 6 regularly

Brian Rafalski: A Didn't think he would be as good defensively, offense is still there

Brad Stuart: C+ Good hits, some lapses in D occasionally, both him and Kronner have disappointed me this season

Ty Conklin: A+ Career backup sitting among league leaders in very important categories including shutouts

Chris Osgood: C- Needs to be way better