Mike 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Update from Tuesday's morning skate: Jiri Hudler, who missed Monday's practice because of the flu, is in the lineup tonight against Phoenix. Chris Chelios, a healthy scratch the last six games, is back in the lineup, paired with Jonathan Ericsson. Brett Lebda is scratched. Tomas Holmstrom (sports hernia surgery) returns after missing 18 games. Here is what the lines looked like: Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Cleary Hudler-Filppula-Franzen Holmstrom-Kopecky-Samuelsson Meech-Draper-Maltby Hossa (skated, but injured) Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Chelios Lebda (scratch) Conklin (starting) Osgood MLive The lines look much better than what was reported from practice yesterday. Hope Holmstrom has a great game tonight and I hope that the D decides to show up in front of Conks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Secret 304 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 I like the pairing of Chelios and Ericsson. Maybe come playoffs they can alternate Cheli and Ericsson with Lilja. Lebda has played better since being benched but I prefer to see Chelios or Ericsson in there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reds4Life 51 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Osgood on bench = good idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Decoy Jones 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Each pairing looks good to me. I would be nice though to put Ericcson with Stuart and hear me out on this. Last year, Stuart was very good at covering the back end so Kronwall could lay the body. I think it'd be great to let Ericcson lower the shoulder for a big hit. Other than that, I'm a happy camper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wombat 26 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 I like the pairing of Chelios and Ericsson. Maybe come playoffs they can alternate Cheli and Ericsson with Lilja. Lebda has played better since being benched but I prefer to see Chelios or Ericsson in there. I disagree regarding Chelios and Lilja. They should never be paired together because they are both too slow. Each of those players needs to play with someone faster to make up for their slowness. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Secret 304 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Osgood on bench = good idea. This may be the one and only thing you have ever posted that I will agree with right now. Unless you are wanting to bench Osgood because he is Canadian and not because he is playing like crap... then I will disagree with as usual. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Secret 304 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 I disagree regarding Chelios and Lilja. They should never be paired together because they are both too slow. Each of those players needs to play with someone faster to make up for their slowness. You have a very good point here. I don't recall how Ericsson speed was I have gotten too see too much of him, is he faster? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
j.hoop 64 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 im anxious to see chelios and ericcson together, if both are on their game that could be a good pair. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wingfan1991 221 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 looking forward to seeing this pairing, really liking ericsson on this team. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevkrause 1,247 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 I love Ericsson paired with Cheli, their styles compliment each other greatly and other than Nick, Big Rig couldn't have a better teacher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swedishconnection 36 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 You have a very good point here. I don't recall how Ericsson speed was I have gotten too see too much of him, is he faster? Big Rig skates like the wind. He's not like Draper in his prime or Lebda now, but he is definetely comparable to B-Raf. Except that the 'Rig is 6 foot 5. Serisouly, I haven't seen a big man skate as smoothly as him since Pronger back in the day. There were a couple situations where the puck got turned overin the neutral zone on our side of the red line and the 'Rig was able to reverse course, and catch up by the top of the circle, reach around the attacking player to poke the puck away at the hash marks and force the player wide. At that point I was sold on his skating ability. I have yet to see a most critical skill for a D-man, which is to move the puck laterally on the blue line. Kronwall does this with grace and speed. I am curious how well Ericsson does. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wingsallwin 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 It is very nice idea to put Chelli and Ericsson together. Ages are big gap but Chelli can be the experience supporter for Ericsson. I somehow hope Ericsson will start the playoff. He has been enough solid to play the NHL, and he is our first defense pairing in the future. It is also good to see Hank and Pasha are put together back with Cleary but I hope Homer will be our first line. The problem is our 2nd line paring but they have been better than before so let's have a faith that they will bounce back to their own games Best lineup will be Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom Hossa-Franzen-Filppula Hudler-Samuelsson-Leino Draper-Maltby-Kopecky Lidstrom-Rafalski Kronwall-Stuart Ericsson-Chellios(or Lebda, should not be Meech) Conklin With the assumption that Leino is on and Hossa is back from the injury. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Echolalia 2,961 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Being paired with Chelios will be good experience for Ericcson. Cheli is pretty assertive, so I don't see Ericcson getting away with playing quietly and reserved with Cheli yelling at him at the end of every shift. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wombat 26 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 You have a very good point here. I don't recall how Ericsson speed was I have gotten too see too much of him, is he faster? Another poster answered very well, but yes, Ericsson is faster. I don't see him as a burner, but he has at least decent enough speed to cover for a slower player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Konnan511 1,736 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Each pairing looks good to me. I would be nice though to put Ericcson with Stuart and hear me out on this. Last year, Stuart was very good at covering the back end so Kronwall could lay the body. I think it'd be great to let Ericcson lower the shoulder for a big hit. Other than that, I'm a happy camper The only problem is, Ericsson doesn't hit. He's wayyyy too soft, and even more so when you discuss his size. He fought a couple times in the AHL, but he doesn't have a mean streak of a Kronwall or Stu. What this kid does posses is good vision, and a thunderous slap shot. Once he figures out positioning, he should be a main stay on the second pairing in the future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Decoy Jones 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 The only problem is, Ericsson doesn't hit. He's wayyyy too soft, and even more so when you discuss his size. He fought a couple times in the AHL, but he doesn't have a mean streak of a Kronwall or Stu. What this kid does posses is good vision, and a thunderous slap shot. Once he figures out positioning, he should be a main stay on the second pairing in the future. Fair enough. I just thought he wasn't hitting because he didn't want to screw up and get set back down. So we have a 6'5'' defenseman build like a brick house and he doesn't hit? Somebody needs to teach him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
55fan 5,133 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Fair enough. I just thought he wasn't hitting because he didn't want to screw up and get set back down. So we have a 6'5'' defenseman build like a brick house and he doesn't hit? Somebody needs to teach him. True for the future, but right now he's coming off a knee injury. I'd rather see him adjust to the NHL, be fully recovered, and then start throwing his body around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sureWhyNot 19 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 The Maltby-Draper-Meech line looks scary. I am waiting in anticipation to see what these guys put together tonight -- Watch out, here we come! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ComradeWasabi 109 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Must say, Big Rig is one of the best nicknames on the Wings in a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitneydatsyukrox 0 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 The Maltby-Draper-Meech line looks scary. I am waiting in anticipation to see what these guys put together tonight -- Watch out, here we come! "Watch out, here we come!" Priceless!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 You have a very good point here. I don't recall how Ericsson speed was I have gotten too see too much of him, is he faster? Ericsson isn't going to beat Lebda or Helm in a foot race, but he's definitely a high end skater for a 6'5" guy. His skating is more like Lidstrom or Datsyuk's (minus Datsyuk's amazing first step acceleration). He doesn't seem to have Zetterberg's ability to burst into high speed skating over short distances, but he's no Holmstrom in that respect either Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake_Marcus 890 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 The only problem is, Ericsson doesn't hit. He's wayyyy too soft, and even more so when you discuss his size. He fought a couple times in the AHL, but he doesn't have a mean streak of a Kronwall or Stu. What this kid does posses is good vision, and a thunderous slap shot. Once he figures out positioning, he should be a main stay on the second pairing in the future. Ericsson plays very, very, very much like a more physically assertive Nicklas Lidstrom. Like Lidstrom he's a strong positional, thinking player (more so than say Niklas Kronwall). He doesn't go out of his way to make a hit, so you won't see the Kronwall or Stuart-like open ice railroading. But, Ericsson is very comfortable using his size and reach to bear down on a man and leverage his size against the other player's. Ericsson is also good at using his size along the boards in his own end to push a stubborn man covering a puck on the boards. He's pretty adept at pushing people off pucks using his size. He's not against hitting, either, but his hits look more like Datsyuk hits than Pronger hits So, in summary, Ericsson is great at using his size as a defensive tool, but not that great at using his size as a weapon. All that being said- Ericsson isn't soft. But he's not hard by any measure. He's not going to get pushed off a puck or find himself in a situation where he's afraid to push a man off a puck. But he's not going to wear the other team's forwards down with his checks. Regardless, softness can be whipped out of a man that stands 6'5" and has the muscle of a pro hockey player. If he's willing to learn, I'm sure he can be an effective checker if only because Force=Mass X Acceleration... He's got both the mass and the acceleration, he just needs to apply both to an unsuspecting Penguin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GROwl 5 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 Fair enough. I just thought he wasn't hitting because he didn't want to screw up and get set back down. So we have a 6'5'' defenseman build like a brick house and he doesn't hit? Somebody needs to teach him. Why do you think Ericsson is built like a brick house? Have you seen him? Yes, he tall - 6'5 - but he's thin. He's a good playmaker, has a hard/fast shot, skates fast, and has lots of energy. But a hard hit (like one from Kronwall) would knock him over. Most of the injuries he's had over the past 3 seasons while in GR are usually a result of getting hit. Over the summer, he could use to eat up and hit the weights. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204 Report post Posted March 10, 2009 The bottom lines are strange looking, all I'm gonna say. 2 players look like they fit there, as far as the best line-ups come playoff time, Cleary wont be scratched for anyone, sorry. Glad to have Chelios back tonight, should've been much sooner! I hope he teaches Ericsson a few things, can never hurt to be paired with veteran. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
