Red Wings PP (Without Rafalski)

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I thought our PP left something to be desired tonight. Yes, we got two goals with the man advantage, but I thought we could've dominated a bit more, despite being without Rafalski.

So I checked the PPTOI, and found the reason why: Nick Lidstrom had the 2nd most PPTOI tonight with 7:17. Who had the most? You guessed it. Mikael Samuelsson with 7:25 PPTOI in tonight's game.

Now, I understand the whole "right-handed point man" idea. But is that enough to justify that much time on the PP tonight for Samuelsson? Niklas Kronwall saw 3:22 less than Samuelsson did. And Ericsson with his 100mph shot saw just 0:14 seconds.

I guess the point being, at what point do you value the actual shot and skill of a player on the point (see: Kronwall) over a stupid right-handed shot when that same guy bobbles the puck, can't keep the puck in, and doesn't do a great job setting up the point shot anyways?

Oh, and by the way, all that PP time tonight, and 1 shot with 0 points for Sammy.

[SuperNovaXll 124]

I dont understand why they cant give Ericsson a good honest chance back there on the PP. He seems to do everything else right. So why not?

And yes...Sammy is terrible. I dont understand it...

[YoungGuns1340 1]

I dont understand why they cant give Ericsson a good honest chance back there on the PP. He seems to do everything else right. So why not?

And yes...Sammy is terrible. I dont understand it...

I don't understand it either. If anything, this should be the time to test out some new powerplay guys.

[under_par_00 45]

Has anyone else noticed Lidstrom not passing to Sammy on the PP? He knows that Sammy will likely mess it up. Once tonight Sammy was wide open and Lids was looking to make a play....held on a little longer and dished it off to someone else. It was quite an obvious avoidance.

I also noticed this in a regular season game when Lidstrom found himself out there with Sammy.

Babs needs to realize that Sammy doesnt work on the PP. He isnt that bad on the 2nd unit, but he has no place being on the 1st PP. With Rafalski out. Lidstrom needs to step up and tell Babs to get Sammy the hell off his PP.

[Z and D for the C 712]

I'd like to see stuart on the PP. He has a bomb for a shot.

[Heroes of Hockeytown 694]

I know he's a lefty, but I'm thinking he's still probably more capable back there than Sammy.

That's basically the collective point of the entire Red Wings fanbase by now.

Nick and Schneider did a pretty good job for a few years and they were both lefties(!!!).

Bottom line: Sammy doesn't do s*** on blueline during the PP. Babcock may as well have Maltby out there if he's so concerned with handedness. Stuart has experience playing on the power play before (and has been pretty effective in very limited action), and unlike in San Jose he's not "the man" in Detroit, he can just do his job and let Nick do the QBing. Ericsson seems like a viable option as well. Hell, put Cheli out there, he's not afraid to shoot the puck.

It's all moot, anyways. Mike loves him some Sammy.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Heroes of Hockeytown

[#19forPresident! 1]

I don't understand it either. If anything, this should be the time to test out some new powerplay guys.

I agree.

The only thing Sammy has going for him is his shot, but what the hell good is that if he never uses it? They need guys with a killer instinct on the PP, plain and simple.

[Zion 93]

Samuelsson was god-awful (interesting term) last night. Everything he dead spelled "f***-up". A drop pass between his legs to Hudler on the left wing... why? What did this accomplish?

He was absolutely useless out there, and really seemed to screw up any entry, flow and scoring opportunity.

On the power play, he just looked lost. No chemistry, no confidence, no cajones.

[Guest mindfly]

Stuart is very underrated on the pp, look the smart move he did to set up lidstroms first goal, he and ericsson should go ahead of samuelsson seven days a week, samuelsson is a joke on the pp.

[dat's sick 1,002]

I normally think Sammy gets to much hate around here, but when it comes to the PP, I have to agree. He doesn't do a hell of a lot right on it, and I'd love to see Ericsson or Stuart get some more PP-time.

In Babcock's defense, Sammy has had some PP-goals from the left side on one-timers before, so it's not like it's never worked with him out there. But lately he's accomplished nothing.

[maltbymaniac 13]

ive been thinking my mind was playing tricks on me everytime i see sammy on the pp.

i just dont get it

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

This thread has been one-sidedly against Sammy so far, and now I'm going to contribute to it further.

He was awful last night and got way too much PP time. I don't think he should even be playing on the 2nd PP unit let alone the 1st. While he does have stretches where he can score here and there, he's not nearly consistent enough to be playing out there.

It alsmost feels like Babcock is afraid to hurt Sammy's feelings by taking him off the PP.

[GSBrooks13 204]

To put it simply..having Sammy on the PP is practically playing 4 on 4.. The other 4 guys keep it to themselves and every time it happens to come to Sammy he seems to bobble it or make a bad decision.. The only purpose he is serving at the moment is a distraction while the other 4 players cycle the puck.. I would love to see Ericsson or Stuart on the point.. both of them have huge shots and Ericsson seems to have have flourished in every other aspect of the game.. why not the PP? 14 seconds is no where near enough PP time for a guy with a 100mph shot..