What needs to be improved after 2 games?

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

Not freaking out, just curious as to what other people think our biggest struggle was against STL.

[seeinred 1,488]

It's still special teams, without a doubt.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Team defense

Hustle

Energy/Motivation

Penalty Kill

Chemistry

Adaptability! (remember when the Wings could play whatever type of game was needed that night?)

EDIT: the spellcheck in firefox changed adaptability to acceptability

Edited October 5, 2009 by Drake_Marcus

[jke 0]

What killed us last game was penalties. Staying on ice would be a good start.

[RusDRW 155]

coaching. One again Backbock wasn't flexible. That roster we put last game is perfect to play against "skill first" teams like Chicago, San Jose, etc. and we''ll be fine against them. Blues' philosophy is to hit first and then see whether it brings a bonus in terms of lost puck. Their nasty hits completely ruined our game in the second and we never recovered from it. In order to play against this team you need to somehow match physicality they bring. Practically, we needed Janik on defense (instead of Lebda) and May and Newbury on the fourth line.

[Finnish Wing 110]

At this point of the season: everything. There's is not a single thing in our game that is ready for the Cup yet. And that's just normal. No need to make these kinda threads all the time.

edit: But if you wan't to choose one thing that isn't clicking well I would add "playing 60 minutes" to that list. Even Leino and Filppula said after the game that it was the biggest problem in their game.

Edited October 4, 2009 by Finnish Wing

[cboth686 0]

goaltending. howard needed to make those two saves in that 13 second span, or maybe even one and the entire team wouldn't have had the wind taken outta their sails.

the team didnt play great as a unit by any means, but howard and osgood need to prove they can carry the load with abig save here and there

[RedArmy 4]

goaltending. howard needed to make those two saves in that 13 second span, or maybe even one and the entire team wouldn't have had the wind taken outta their sails.

the team didnt play great as a unit by any means, but howard and osgood need to prove they can carry the load with abig save here and there

agreed simply goal tending... if that improves, so will everything else....

[RedWingAbner 13]

The Pylon needs to be cut.

[Guest mindfly]

GOALTENDING, say no more.

[Yellowknife Redwing 57]

It's a combination of ingredients, but the 3 main concerns in my mind are

a) Goaltending - the first 2 goals against are just good old ugly hockey goals; can't really fault Howard for the crease crashers. The 2 goals in 13 seconds lost the game for Detroit. The first goal is forgivable, every goalie gives up a bad one now and again, but the second goal is a stop that absolutely MUST be made. Yes, there was a defensive lapse that caused the break, but the actual shot taken eliminates the context from the picture. It's an easy save and Howard has to have it. The fifth goal is just a beautiful deflection and can't be helped.

b) Special teams - 2/5 on the PK loses the game every time. The Wings are too scrambly, aren't boxing out well, and the defencemen aren't taking the body enough below the goal line and at the half wall. Break-in and setup looks tremendous on the powerplay, now they just need to start putting the puck on net. The mentality of cycling until the big boomer from the point comes up is poisoning the Wings right now. Zetterberg especially needs to start putting low, hard wrist shots on goal when he spins out from the half wall. There is far too much cuteness going on right now and the team really needs to get back to Babcock's Basicsâ„¢ - SHOOT THE PUCK!

c) Complacency with the lead - this is kind of an extension of point b but I think it bears repeating. This was a huge issue last year for all the same reasons. Once the Wings establish a 2 goal lead they try to go Globetrotters and very rarely put the hammer down and just decimate the other team. They need to start shooting the puck and looking for ugly goals to pad the lead until the game is out of reach. I can hardly think of any instances where the most talent-laden, offensively brilliant team in the league won by 4 or more goals last year. Something needs to be done to change the tic-tac-toe thought process that consumes the top lines when they have a lead. As far as I'm concerned, the mercy rule should only go into effect when you achieve double digits in the goal column. Pretty goals may work against pretty teams like San Jose, but you're going to need a lot of ugly ones to beat teams like St. Louis, Nashville, Calgary, etc. Bertuzzi, Cleary and Leino have been the most impressive Wings by far because of their willingness to mix it up in the corners, fight for pucks and just jam the puck on net and hope for a rebound.

[KrazyGangsta 79]

Goal tending is a major issue.

We need to tune up the defense also.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Goaltending has been vastly subpar, and I believe the special teams have looked clumsy too. They are definitely making the extra pass which makes for pretty plays that are also pretty useless.

But at the end of the day, I'm terrible disappointed with the fact that outside of a few players here and there, it appears that the team as a whole hasn't shown up to play. Between injuries in the preseason probably caused by lack of preparation for the season and overall complacency, the Red Wings of the openning two games look nothing like the Wings we are accustom to. They need a severe kick in the ass, as now they sit 4 points back from both Chicago and St. Louis in what is going to be a tightly contested division. May seem irrelevant at this point in the season, but those 4 points are going to be pretty crucial come April and our guys have definitely not put their best foot forward.

The reality that the regular season matters and has already begun has to sink in once they get back home.

[Dano33 41]

Team defense

Hustle

Energy/Motivation

Penalty Kill

Chemistry

Acceptability! (remember when the Wings could play whatever type of game was needed that night?)

Agree with everything you said, and chemistry, I think, is the most important. The anticipation is not there and I think it's because these guys just haven't gelled yet. Nobody seems to be in the right place at the right time.

[Reds4Life 51]

Goaltending. Both Howard and Osgood sucked big time.

[Esquire 324]

Goaltending.

You can't be expected to always be focused on your job and perform as a forward or defenseman when you're terrified that every single mistake that you make will end up in the back of your net. Goaltending got a "get out of jail free" card last season, but when the new season starts the EXACT way it ended, things need to be addressed.

"It's only two games, relax". Ya, I get that. I also recall the progression of last season as something along the lines of:

1) "It's only the first month, relax"

2) "It's only the first half of the season, relax"

3) "Ozzie is taking a break and will come back better, relax"

4) "Relax, we've made the playoffs and Ozzie will be better"

I'm always prepared to eat crow for this team, but my patience is being tested here. What irks me more is the fact that our division has clearly taken a sharp swing upwards in the talent range not only with their skaters but also with their own goaltending (Mason CBJ, Mason STL, Rinne NSH) while we've remained stagnant.

I love Ozzie to death, but the fact that the organization is relying heavily upon him to carry the load is a bit ridiculous. Yes he's been successful in the past, but every year that passes now is another year against him and trying to fight time is a fight that very few people in the NHL win, much less goalies. Unless your last name is Brodeur that is.

Living in the Toronto area, I see frightening parallels between what Detroit is doing and what Toronto used to do; and that is place too much expectation on older players in hopes of breakout years/high output to carry the team.

Now, before you jump down my throat on that last one, just realize that I know the Cup count for our vets crushes the Cup count Toronto's vets had. However, that's in the past, and resting on your laurels has never been a trait of the Red Wings but seeing the growing number of positions filled by "experienced" players starts becoming a concern more and more as the years pass and perhaps this season is finally the season we start accepting that time is no longer on our side.

Anyway, this has been the only time I've really tossed my $0.02 in the goalie discussion so I'm a bit long winded this time. Just know that I'm rooting for our goalies this year and hope I'm wrong on every account.

/rant

[clayjoh 3]

Agree with everything you said, and chemistry, I think, is the most important. The anticipation is not there and I think it's because these guys just haven't gelled yet. Nobody seems to be in the right place at the right time.

I thnk sadly enough that they are even at this point they're looking a bit weary of the whole process

I hope I'm wrong but the prospect of over 100 games and practises added in, multiple road trips on Red Wing One has these guys already dreading the effort and perserverance reqd just to start the playoffs.

throw in the olympics and it's a hell of a lot of hockey and the brief summer off just wasn't enough to rest their brains let alone their bodies

also we assume everyone is healthy at season start but they speak of Z's groin already what of lidstrom's elbow,?

Dat's wasn't exactly dominant out there either

and get that knob Bertuzzi off this team He's a bum of the first degree

this is going to be tough to watch till at least up to the olympics

i wonder if we can keep up to the effort of all these up and comer teams

[thedisappearer 291]

I went with special teams, but goaltending isn't far behind.

[beepbeep 3]

The Pylon needs to be cut.

Which one?

[Dano33 41]

Goaltending.

You can't be expected to always be focused on your job and perform as a forward or defenseman when you're terrified that every single mistake that you make will end up in the back of your net. Goaltending got a "get out of jail free" card last season, but when the new season starts the EXACT way it ended, things need to be addressed.

"It's only two games, relax". Ya, I get that. I also recall the progression of last season as something along the lines of:

1) "It's only the first month, relax"

2) "It's only the first half of the season, relax"

3) "Ozzie is taking a break and will come back better, relax"

4) "Relax, we've made the playoffs and Ozzie will be better"

I'm always prepared to eat crow for this team, but my patience is being tested here. What irks me more is the fact that our division has clearly taken a sharp swing upwards in the talent range not only with their skaters but also with their own goaltending (Mason CBJ, Mason STL, Rinne NSH) while we've remained stagnant.

I love Ozzie to death, but the fact that the organization is relying heavily upon him to carry the load is a bit ridiculous. Yes he's been successful in the past, but every year that passes now is another year against him and trying to fight time is a fight that very few people in the NHL win, much less goalies. Unless your last name is Brodeur that is.

Living in the Toronto area, I see frightening parallels between what Detroit is doing and what Toronto used to do; and that is place too much expectation on older players in hopes of breakout years/high output to carry the team.

Now, before you jump down my throat on that last one, just realize that I know the Cup count for our vets crushes the Cup count Toronto's vets had. However, that's in the past, and resting on your laurels has never been a trait of the Red Wings but seeing the growing number of positions filled by "experienced" players starts becoming a concern more and more as the years pass and perhaps this season is finally the season we start accepting that time is no longer on our side.

Anyway, this has been the only time I've really tossed my $0.02 in the goalie discussion so I'm a bit long winded this time. Just know that I'm rooting for our goalies this year and hope I'm wrong on every account.

/rant

And he was. This is a playoff team with playoff experience. I'm not saying our goaltending is great, but we have what it takes to win.

[Pskov Wings Fan 71]

Wings look slow. Especially after watching Capitals play.

And giving up soft goals sure does not help.

[Esquire 324]

And he was. This is a playoff team with playoff experience. I'm not saying our goaltending is great, but we have what it takes to win.

Sorry, but he got to the post season on the back of Ty Conklin and our NHL leading goals per game. Neither of which we will be in possession of this season.

[kook_10 1,705]

Team defense

Hustle

Energy/Motivation

Penalty Kill

Chemistry

Acceptability! (remember when the Wings could play whatever type of game was needed that night?)

I think the Hustle and Energy/Motivation points here are the biggest. You can't successfully execute a puck control game plan when you don't compete for those pucks, much less win the battles for them. There were too many times when the Wings were content to let the Blues have the pucks on the boards without a battle. The lack of Chemistry just added to it - that just means there were too many passes to nobody. Lack of puck control is not an excuse for poor team defense, but if they had connected on more passes and won more puck battles they wouldn't have to play as much defense, as poor as it is. I wonder if it also time to reevaluate the PK tactics. Putting strong pressure on the puck carrier in the defensive zone just doesn't seem to be cutting it. It looks like they're just running around out there sometimes. Do we really have that few players who are willing to clog the shooting lanes and block a few shots?

Edited October 4, 2009 by kook_10

[redwingfan19 293]

we need an enforcer, that will solve everthing

[thedatsyukian 7]

How much of that will improve with a little confidence from solid goaltending? Huge boost to the penalty kill, huge boost to defense, and a boost in the amount of focus they can spend on offense. Obviously there are other problems but with some solid goaltending you'll see improvement in other areas.