Come on babs put Z and Dats back together!

[13dangledangle 965]

Ive tryed to understand why he splits them up but?? every other team dream of a tandem like them, and its not like they dont have depth for the other three lines...Hoss, Fil and Franzen looked awesome, and through Helm and Leino into the mix?? Plus they freakin love playing together and that says more then anything...Keep em together man!

[egroen 384]

I think the "splitting them up" experiment should end.

You just should not tinker with the kind of chemistry they have, and we have plenty of forwards capable of playing a good two-way game, which was the number one reason to split them up.

[xtrememachine1 795]

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Cleary

Franzen - Sundin - Hossa

[egroen 384]

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Cleary

Franzen - Sundin - Hossa

AHLer - AHLer - AHLer

AHLer - AHLer - Kopecky

[xtrememachine1 795]

If those AHLers are Abdelkader, Helm and Leino... that's cool.

[13dangledangle 965]

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Cleary

Franzen - Sundin - Hossa

Nice

[Echolalia 2,961]

They were meant to play together.

[Seraph 240]

I agree. Though tinkering will always happen when teams get desperate to create opportunities. They are very versatile players so naturally, they will be utilized in other situations/combos.

Edited June 23, 2009 by The Nephilim

[egroen 384]

I agree. Though tinkering will always happen when teams get desperate to create opportunities. They are very versatile players so naturally, they will be utilized in other situations/combos.

The only reason to separate them is for away games. They should never be separated again on home-ice.

[AtomicPunk 296]

If they had a stronger second line center, they would stay together all the time. Obviously Babs splits them up to be more even across the top lines and more solid defensively.

[eva unit zero 271]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

Edited June 23, 2009 by eva unit zero

[xtrememachine1 795]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

I thought those were pretty decent lines, then I saw the Meech/Kindl pairing. Yikes

[eva unit zero 271]

I thought those were pretty decent lines, then I saw the Meech/Kindl pairing. Yikes

Had to move Lilja to make the cap...but you can swap Meech or Kindl with Ericsson if you like. Does shore up the defense a bit on the third pair.

[Stiffy 0]

I think the "splitting them up" experiment should end.

You just should not tinker with the kind of chemistry they have, and we have plenty of forwards capable of playing a good two-way game, which was the number one reason to split them up.

Absolutely agree. Every year they split them only to realize it is the most obvious pairing in the history of the game (ok, I exaggerate). One thing though, Homer has to go. These two can make anyone look good, but Homer's time in this role is over, He is no longer capable of fully supporting these two - they need a guy with more grit, speed and hands and that is obviously Cleary. Hank suffered, I think, this past year by not playing with Dats and both had to adjust to Hossa and that took a lot of time and energy away from their individual games. Flip is perfectly capable of centering the second line and with Hossa and Franzen what a second line that is.

[VM1138 1,921]

Had to move Lilja to make the cap...but you can swap Meech or Kindl with Ericsson if you like. Does shore up the defense a bit on the third pair.

If Lilja is coming back this year, we need to keep him. We sorely missed him, almost as much as we missed Datsyuk. If we had him on the PK or blocking shots we would've won the Cup.

Lebda is the movable one.

But I agree with the other poster, the Meech-Kindl pairing makes me want to vomit. This year we're not nearly as deep without CHelios and (possibly) losing Meech and Lebda. Which could be bad news come the mid-year collapse we have every year.

Kindl may be great someday, and I want him to be the AHLer called up a lot this year, but to give him a full time roster spot with no experience would really mean we have no options on D.

My D pairings would look something like this:

(Regular Season)

Lidstrom-Kronwall

Rafalski-Stuart

Ericcson-Lilja

The only reason I split Raffy and Lidstrom is not a knock on Raffy, but that juts like splitting Dats and Z, let's spread the threat around, at least for an experiment. Kronwall has been a bit shaky and putting him up with Lids would solidify him I think. Ericcson-Lilja would be lethal to other teams and Rafalski and Stuart are a solid working combo.

But, more realisticaly:

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Stuart-Kronwall

Ericcson-Lilja/Lebda

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

Yikes, they'd get scored on every shift probably. If Lebda and Ericsson looked overmatched together in the playoffs, imagine the havoc those 2 will go through.

[therock48880 14]

The only reason to separate them is for away games. They should never be separated again on home-ice.

I used to feel that way too, however I've changed my mind. I don't think something magical should ever be separated. If another team wants to load up and try to stop them at home, that's fine, let them. Then the other lines should have some matchup advantages.

[therock48880 14]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

I like the roster but I'm not sure Hudler can be a second line center. I know center is the position he played in his youth, but he hasn't played it much in the nhl. Babcock experimented with it earlier in the year and then went away from it. I don't think he was enamored with Hudler as a center, let alone a second line center.

[T.Low 1,011]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

I agree whole heartedly with the OP. Dats and Z are awesome together and if Hossa can stay we have Depth 'o Plenty.

I still think Holmer works well with D&Z, creating even more depth down the lines. Its the best combo to take advantage of Holmers skill set; creating havoc/traffic in front of the net, deflections, garbage goals, which in turn also creates a little more time and space for D&Z to operate out on the ice. He stays out of their way and takes a lot of Dman and goalie attention with him. With D&Z, Holmer is great. Without D&Z, Holmer is not so great.

But can Hudler center the second line?

I'm thinking:

ZDHolmer

Franzen Filp Hossa

Cleary Hudler Leino

Helm Drapes Malts

Kokopuffs

I like that top six as much as any I've ever seen. And Franzen Filp and Hossa can rock, we've seen that! Filp and Hossa are both awesome on D. Filp is a playmaker for the two finishers, and Hossa shoots every 9 outta 10 touches and Franzen is great at rebounds. Especially if the opponents are trying to shut down ZDH.

I just don't think Hudler can center the second line. If he was capable, it certainly would help out the 3rd line combo. Otherwise, I don't know about the chemistry on the 3rd line, though. I guess I haven't seen Leino play enough to know if his Defensive game is good enough to put on the same line as Huds. They seem to be the two weekest D forwards on the team and it wouldn't be wise to have them on the same line together.

The more I look at it, the more I'd be ok with Holland keeping Sammy and instead of Hudler. Sammy can score 20 goals and more, and has enough grit to rub opponents the wrong way, and is a pain in the ass to play against.

Edit: CLeary can literally fit in and role play on any line. His versatility could even allow a fourth checking line that can score.

ZDH

Franz Filp Hossa

Huds Drapes Leino

Cleary Helm Malts

Edited June 23, 2009 by T.Low

[b.shanafan14 733]

Datsyuk and Zetterberg are best when together, but Holmstrom can't do top two line minutes anymore. The sooner we move Franzen and Cleary onto the top two lines permanently to play their own brand of Homer, the better off we'll be, top to bottom. If Hossa sticks around for $4m cap hit, we'll have to peddle some defensemen to make cap room, then try to form some permanent chemistry between him Mule and Fil. This is going to be a very interesting next couple weeks, either way....

[Guest lilja4mvp]

If Hossa takes a $4m even cap hit...

Datsyuk/Zetterberg/Cleary

Franzen/Hudler/Hossa

Leino/Filppula/Holmstrom

Helm/Draper/Kopecky

Maltby

Lidstrom/Rafalski

Kronwall/Ericsson

Meech/Kindl

Lebda

Osgood

Howard

Close to the cap, but gets better if Huds and Leino take their qualifying offers.

you can type all the posts you want in your goofy font...hudler will never center the 2nd line on this team.

period.

[egroen 384]

you can type all the posts you want in your goofy font...hudler will never center the 2nd line on this team.

period.

Well I doubt he jumps straight to centering the 1st line.

[NomadFromKazoo 42]

you can type all the posts you want in your goofy font...hudler will never center the 2nd line on this team.

period.

I agree. Even if Z and Dats play on the first line, Hudler centers the second and Filp the third? I don't THINK so. I like Huds and hope we keep him, but playing him on the top two makes no sense. Eva needs to check the playoff stats on Filp, he's really getting better. He can also reach the top shelf of the fridge.

[MadMan Mark 0]

OK, I'll throw my two cents in. . .

Dats -Z- Cleary

Mule-Filp-Hossa

Holmer-Huds-Helm

Drapes-Leino-Kopecky

Maltby

Lids-Raf

Ericsson-Kronwall

Stuart-Lebda

Meech

Osgood

Larsson

I'm not sure if it will work due to the cap restrictions. I haven't been sold on Howard and would really like to see what Larsson can do. However, if the Wings can ink Cinklin to about the same money as last year, why not keep him?

Regardless, Dats and Z need to be together, and I did like the chemistry of Filp and Hossa.

I don't know, I'm still pissed we lost the Cup. . . we were the better team, but I'm a Wings fan and see it through my Wing-Wheeled glasses.

Either way, Lidstrom calls it a career by hoisting the Cup in June 2010.

[titanium2 867]

you can type all the posts you want in your goofy font...hudler will never center the 2nd line on this team.

period.

I was going to say this, but he's suggested it so many times. That delusion isn't going to break.