Operation Blame Game: Lose #1

[Sherwood5030 0]

1. Blame noone but the entire team for not playing a full 60 minutes of hockey in the regulation.

2. Not enough was done by the top two lines in the first two periods. in the end they out shot and out hit Anaheim. Z's line looked great in the third and beyond there is no doubt in that. they totally outplayed them and got beat by a shot that beat the tender its hockey things like that will happen, and I don't doubt for a minute that we will lose this series.

3. This game was brutal on Anaheim's key guys in my opinion they already log a ton of minutes, add two extra periods and that should benefit the wings i don't care how old it is said that they are.

4. This did not cause the wings to lose the game and I am not blaming them on the loss but the officiating was absolutely brutal in regulation and it went both ways. However, Anaheim seemed to be getting away with a lot.

5. Lastly, I love Ericson, he has shown some inexperience at times but for the most part he has done what is asked of him and done more in some instances. He has handled himself and Anaheim's top line well. With that being said this is not a knock on him at all but clearly i think the top two lines miss the puck movement of Rafalski, and hopefully he will be back in for game 3. and lastly Stuart and helm were absolute beasts all game long they played their a** off every time they saw the ice.

But it all comes down to One simple thing and that is not playing with intensity, and desperation for a full 60 minutes.

[Statts 4]

I blame the Anaheim Ducks for scoring one more goal than we did.

The selfish bastards!!!

[Jake Ryan 1]

Loft? Did you see that shot?! no goalie would have stopped that.

It's hard not to let your emotions out after a loss with so much tension throughout the game. I don't want to get too negative here, but this is the problem I have with the way the Wings looked tonight:

"Throw pucks at the net" VS. "Go to the net"

When the Wings "throw", they lose. This is because EVERY other team in the NHL has a goalie that can stop "thrown" pucks almost 100% of the time. So the result is that we just make the Ducks' goalies look like they're playing lights out. When in reality, they just have oversized equipment that gobbles up these weak shots.

When the Wings "Go", they win. See Franzen in game one. See Lidstrom in game one. See all of 2008 playoffs. It's real simple. Hossa is playing on the perimeter "throwing" pucks at the net. No big secret why he isn't scoring. He needs to put his head down and use that body between the circles. Right now, he's only using it outside of them. I hope Babs can figure this out and adjust for game 3. It doesn't look like the officials are giving the Wings all the calls they did last year. Lots of stickwork from Anaheim. The Wings can still get through all of that, but the coach has got to step it up and get in the players faces and call them out when they're not doing the right things.

[interminded 1]

I blame the Anaheim Ducks for scoring one more goal than we did.

Me too.

Bettman should do something about it. It's unheard of !!

[Guest mindfly]

- Detroits best players ain't the best players.

- It's been years since pavel been this bad.

- Babcock inability to change things up.

- Anaheims defense is superior to Detroit's when there are two injuries.

- Kronwall should NEVER join a rush because he puts the team in a brutal position when he cant get home fast enough and gets stuck behind enemy goal.

- Pronger > Lidström this game, no doubt.

- Too many injuries.

- Chelios should not play hockey any more, he's absolutely useless.

- Osgood is a small goalie and overplays too much. Mediocre.

[datsyukismyfriend 4]

wings out-played the ducks for the majority of the game. the datsyuk line is getting embarrassed and the getzlaf line is unstoppable. that's pretty much the difference. their top players are carrying the team. while z and franzen have been good (especially franzen), dats and hossa have be huge ******* losers. other than that, the wings have been the better team.

[Jocke 53]

Homer & Franzen were good, rest sucked..

[GoWings1905 2,694]

I didn't think the Red Wings were all that bad today. They can play better and they are going to have to on the road now.

My blame goes to the "top" line. Datsyuk, Hossa and Holmstrom were awful. Z was just fantastic the entire game.

[IceMunkee 15]

I don't balme anyone. I do feel some improvements need to be made but I am far from hitting the Panic button.

Datsyuk, Hossa, and Zetterburg needs to step it up.

Babs needs to be more willing to make some changes.

Osgood and the defense keep doing what they are doing now.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

I think it's fair to blame Bettman a little.

The NHL needs the Wings in the finals, since we'd be good for the NHL. The Ducks have proven that nobody watches the finals when they're playing.

Bottom line is that we should have gotten more calls in OT to win the game on the powerplay. Hey, they did it for the Pens last year in game 5 with all those goalie inteference calls.

[Wingsallwin 0]

- Detroits best players ain't the best players.

- It's been years since pavel been this bad.

- Babcock inability to change things up.

- Anaheims defense is superior to Detroit's when there are two injuries.

- Kronwall should NEVER join a rush because he puts the team in a brutal position when he cant get home fast enough and gets stuck behind enemy goal.

- Pronger > Lidström this game, no doubt.

- Too many injuries.

- Chelios should not play hockey any more, he's absolutely useless.

- Osgood is a small goalie and overplays too much. Mediocre.

It surprises me how you are still in this forum with this pessimism...

[Jake Ryan 1]

I think it's fair to blame Bettman a little.

The NHL needs the Wings in the finals, since we'd be good for the NHL. The Ducks have proven that nobody watches the finals when they're playing.

Bottom line is that we should have gotten more calls in OT to win the game on the powerplay. Hey, they did it for the Pens last year in game 5 with all those goalie inteference calls.

You know, you're not that far off. I mean, how many times are the Wings going to be put in a 5 on 3 situation? For being the least penalized team in the league, we get SCREWED in the playoffs. When are we going to get some of those?

[Guest mindfly]

It surprises me how you are still in this forum with this pessimism...

Truth hurts doesn't it......

[VM1138 1,921]

Only Wings fans would declare going 5-1 in the playoffs a disaster.

Babcock will do the right thing. We all (well, the smart ones) all expected thsi series to go the distance. It will and they will be close, white knuckle games. I wouldn't throw in the towel after a 4-3 3OT loss.

Although I do think Hossa and Dats need to get going. But Dats is a beast on the road and he'll have something to prove now.

[Taosuntzu 0]

Finally it happened, some play-off adversity. Let's face it, you dont fix what isn't broken. But both games we have seen the *ucks first line not only cancel out our first line, but continue to be the most scoring line of the series.

Time for some changes! You have to outplay that line in order to win; period.

My changes I would like to see.

It isn't that our top line is worse then theirs; it is that their top line is outskating ours. I say go to the extreme: Dats, Zetts, and Mule. When you look at it from a distance you'll see that Holmstrom is essentially an offensive goalie, and skates about as well. Don't get me wrong, he is worth every penny. My 2nd line playing the back half of their top line would be Hossa, Helm, And Cleary. A line I like to call the Tasmanian devil line. Let's see them get sustained pressure through that. And for my coup d' grace.

Hudler, Flippula, Holmstrom. What are they going to do, leave that line out there the entire game? Huds, and Flips biggest problem through out the

I feel Babs has prepared for this all season long. He has mixed and matched lines all year, although I'm not positive if this exact lines were ever a manifistation of his genious. Even so, I believe that they will work well together right out of the box. He should also lead every face-off with 1 of the first 2 lines to prevent Carlyle sneaking his top line in against either of our 3rd and 4th lines.

Why I feel any change is necessary.

The afore mentioned problem with match-up is the first. I also feel you shouldn't make changes out of desperation. Game #3 is no longer a must win, but you must split over the next 2 or else it's golf season. You can't come back to Detroit down 3-1 in the series, and expect to go 3 for 3 against this team. So make your best changes now, before you're in serious trouble. If they don't work you can always change back for game 4 and hope the simple addition of Raffi will sway the the momentum.

The Refs

Yeah, they suck. But, is that going to change? So, what good is crying about it going to do? Either you find a way to win now or you stay home with your sniffles and watch the rest of the PO season.

Just my thoughts. I would like to know why my lines won't work, paying particular attention to face-offs, and PK.

[dat's sick 1,002]

Truth hurts doesn't it......

I can not think of a user with a more fitting avatar than you. Atleast you seem to be aware of the fact that you're a clown. A scary, depressing clown that sees the world in black-and-white's only.

[Nancy 0]

I think the Wings played really well except for the 2nd period. Had they played better in the 2nd the game probably wouldn't have gone to overtime. The guys must be exhausted and now they have to do the west coast time change.

[Jake Ryan 1]

Finally it happened, some play-off adversity. Let's face it, you dont fix what isn't broken. But both games we have seen the *ucks first line not only cancel out our first line, but continue to be the most scoring line of the series.

Time for some changes! You have to outplay that line in order to win; period.

My changes I would like to see.

It isn't that our top line is worse then theirs; it is that their top line is outskating ours. I say go to the extreme: Dats, Zetts, and Mule. When you look at it from a distance you'll see that Holmstrom is essentially an offensive goalie, and skates about as well. Don't get me wrong, he is worth every penny. My 2nd line playing the back half of their top line would be Hossa, Helm, And Cleary. A line I like to call the Tasmanian devil line. Let's see them get sustained pressure through that. And for my coup d' grace.

Hudler, Flippula, Holmstrom. What are they going to do, leave that line out there the entire game? Huds, and Flips biggest problem through out the

I feel Babs has prepared for this all season long. He has mixed and matched lines all year, although I'm not positive if this exact lines were ever a manifistation of his genious. Even so, I believe that they will work well together right out of the box. He should also lead every face-off with 1 of the first 2 lines to prevent Carlyle sneaking his top line in against either of our 3rd and 4th lines.

Why I feel any change is necessary.

The afore mentioned problem with match-up is the first. I also feel you shouldn't make changes out of desperation. Game #3 is no longer a must win, but you must split over the next 2 or else it's golf season. You can't come back to Detroit down 3-1 in the series, and expect to go 3 for 3 against this team. So make your best changes now, before you're in serious trouble. If they don't work you can always change back for game 4 and hope the simple addition of Raffi will sway the the momentum.

The Refs

Yeah, they suck. But, is that going to change? So, what good is crying about it going to do? Either you find a way to win now or you stay home with your sniffles and watch the rest of the PO season.

Just my thoughts. I would like to know why my lines won't work, paying particular attention to face-offs, and PK.

One simple change I think everyone would like to see is Meech for Chelios. Then Rafalski for Meech when Rafalski is ready. Having Chelios on the bench for 4 periods didn't do us much good this last game.

[Wingsallwin 0]

I can not think of a user with a more fitting avatar than you. Atleast you seem to be aware of the fact that you're a clown. A scary, depressing clown that sees the world in black-and-white's only.

That was fun

[zackisonfire 16]

Officiating was terrible.

Hiller takes a fat s*** on Osgood.

Top players were invisible.

Lookin like the exact series we saw 2 years ago, but hopefully its not.

Go Wings!

Edited May 3, 2009 by zackisonfire

[Dano33 41]

One simple change I think everyone would like to see is Meech for Chelios. Then Rafalski for Meech when Rafalski is ready. Having Chelios on the bench for 4 periods didn't do us much good this last game.

Never do I want to see Meech play in the playoffs in favor of Chelios. Meech is terrible. Chelios is not great anymore but hes still better than Meech. Plus he's getting very few minutes. Chelios is not the problem. The Wings were unfortunate tonight, they didn't play bad. They will bounce back, no doubt.

Edited May 3, 2009 by Dano33

[VM1138 1,921]

Amazing. Our team sucks yet we went to 3 OT with the superhuman, amazing Ducks?

Excuse me, I think I need to vomit.

The Wings now have something extra to play for. I seem to recall games in each round except the 2nd last year that were the "end of the line" for the Wings. They weren't going to recover from being down to Nashville. They werent' going to be able to stop Nashville's late-game surges, they weren't going to be able to stop Dallas, Dallas was going to come back from being down 3-1 and win the series, the team wasn't going to beat the Pens. Lord almighty that OT game in the Nashville series had everyone s***ting bricks and bailing out until we scored.

We love to overreact.

One loss to a quality team in the freaking playoffs? A tie series? And people are bitching?

[mjlegend 155]

I can haz Rafalski and Draper?

[Taosuntzu 0]

Amazing. Our team sucks yet we went to 3 OT with the superhuman, amazing Ducks?

Excuse me, I think I need to vomit.

The Wings now have something extra to play for. I seem to recall games in each round except the 2nd last year that were the "end of the line" for the Wings. They weren't going to recover from being down to Nashville. They werent' going to be able to stop Nashville's late-game surges, they weren't going to be able to stop Dallas, Dallas was going to come back from being down 3-1 and win the series, the team wasn't going to beat the Pens. Lord almighty that OT game in the Nashville series had everyone s***ting bricks and bailing out until we scored.

We love to overreact.

One loss to a quality team in the freaking playoffs? A tie series? And people are bitching?

The wingslost at home. Are you sure you can win in their house with-out any changes. Especially considering that they get last change, and can put a slightly tired Getzlaf line out against Maltby, Kopecky, and helm anytime that we're stupid enough for putting them out there for any face-off?

[datsyukismyfriend 4]

The wingslost at home. Are you sure you can win in their house with-out any changes. Especially considering that they get last change, and can put a slightly tired Getzlaf line out against Maltby, Kopecky, and helm anytime that we're stupid enough for putting them out there for any face-off?

that's especially scary to me. the getslaf line had its way with z and company. imagine when carlyle has last change. the'll pretty much run the show.