11/7 GDT: Red Wings 1 at Maple Leafs 5

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Lebda was unremarkable in the 2008 playoffs. He was better in the 2009 playoffs, but still the worst defenseman on the team to see any significant time.

As I said then, Lebda was a defensively irresponsible player whose only notable skill was speed, he was not showing any signs that he would improve beyond the level he was at, a level he has pretty much played at his entire career with the Wings. Quincey was a young defenseman with decent skating skills and solid two-way play, and Meech brought good puck skills and quick skating. All three were basically equal in ability and price. Lebda was the only one who was pretty much locked into a 3rd-pair or 7th defenseman spot for his career and he is also the oldest. I thought it was a pretty obvious choice.

But he has those nice up-ice rushes! You know, the ones where he builds speed and skates through some guys, carries into the offensive zone wide, takes a bad angle shot from along the boards deep in the zone so it's an easy save and now he's taken himself completely out of position.

[skyphoenix 153]

Lebda was only -2 tonight? I could have sworn he was out there for more than 2 goals.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Absolutely not, this team needs somone who can bury the f'ing puck.

Filppula has frustratingly few finishing skills.

Agreed. We definitely miss Filppula-- how couldn't we? But Franzen was the #3 forward and at times he played like the #1 guy. Franzen had the ability to score timely goals and was as clutch as they come.

[Feldmarschall 9]

But he has those nice up-ice rushes! You know, the ones where he builds speed and skates through some guys, carries into the offensive zone wide, takes a bad angle shot from along the boards deep in the zone so it's an easy save and now he's taken himself completely out of position.

Most accurate description of Lebda's play ever. I salute you.

[Z and D for the C 712]

Absolutely not, this team needs somone who can bury the f'ing puck.

Filppula has frustratingly few finishing skills.

I agree somewhat, but I mean more just the position on the depth chart more than the player. If we get Franzen back right, now, we still have to split Z and Pav, with Flip back we can put Z and Pav back together.

[skyphoenix 153]

I wish the magic 8 ball would have shown us that Franzen would be injured for 4 months so we could have gone after Hossa first. At least Hossa will be back in December

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Lebda was only -2 tonight? I could have sworn he was out there for more than 2 goals.

It's mostly because he looked so bad it felt like he was out there for all 5 goals. He's just that good at being bad.

[Guest Four]

Lebda was only -2 tonight? I could have sworn he was out there for more than 2 goals.

They were powerplay goals and don't count.

[skyphoenix 153]

It's mostly because he looked so bad it felt like he was out there for all 5 goals. He's just that good at being bad.

True

They were powerplay goals and don't count.

Ah, didnt realize that for some reason. He had to be out there for 4/5 goals.

[Z and D for the C 712]

But he has those nice up-ice rushes! You know, the ones where he builds speed and skates through some guys, carries into the offensive zone wide, takes a bad angle shot from along the boards deep in the zone so it's an easy save and now he's taken himself completely out of position.

The only reason he even carries it up the ice all the time is because he doesn't have skill to make passes. 90% of the time the puck in coming back into our zone in 10 seconds.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

They were powerplay goals and don't count.

Lebda isn't on the penalty kill.

Thankfully.

[egroen 384]

Lebda was only -2 tonight? I could have sworn he was out there for more than 2 goals.

I thought it was 4, though I know one was on a PK...

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I wish the magic 8 ball would have shown us that Franzen would be injured for 4 months so we could have gone after Hossa first. At least Hossa will be back in December

Franzen @ 3.9 mil >> Hossa @ 6 mil

Both score about the same number of goals, one is a ppg player in the playoffs and is good for at least a 0.5 goals per game in the playoffs. The other has had two poor and one excellent playoff run in his last there post-season appearances. Add to that the fact that Franzen is a bit younger and a homegrown prospect and you just can't ignore the difference in price.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I miss Eaves. And Filppula, our 2nd PP unit is terrible without him.

Call up Ritola please.

Ritola's looked great in GR so far. I foresee you getting your wish.

[skyphoenix 153]

Franzen @ 3.9 mil >> Hossa @ 6 mil

Both score about the same number of goals, one is a ppg player in the playoffs and is good for at least a 0.5 goals per game in the playoffs. The other has had two poor and one excellent playoff run in his last there post-season appearances. Add to that the fact that Franzen is a bit younger and a homegrown prospect and you just can't ignore the difference in price.

Yeah, I would have made the same decision. I just really liked seeing Hossa on this team and it was more of a joke than anything Franzen being out until February/March is hurting our team a lot more than I thought it would.

[RedWings Gone Wild 6]

Mike Peca and Satan are still free agents right?

[gcom007 1,465]

I miss Eaves. And Filppula, our 2nd PP unit is terrible without him.

Call up Ritola please.

I honestly think we miss Filppula a lot more than Franzen.

What has Flip done on the power play EVER to substantiate such claims? You get on my case for bringing criticism to Flip, but what do you expect me to do when you make such ludicrous claims as these? Again, I'm not out to get Flip, but sometimes you people say such ridiculous things about the guy.

The Franzen comment in particular is ABSURD. Franzen's actually had his breakout season and he's shown consistency in being a big-game STAR PLAYER ever since. Get back to me once Flip actually has his ever-promised "breakout" season that justifies your ridiculous, blatant fanboy-minded claims.

[egroen 384]

Franzen @ 3.9 mil >> Hossa @ 6 mil

Both score about the same number of goals, one is a ppg player in the playoffs and is good for at least a 0.5 goals per game in the playoffs. The other has had two poor and one excellent playoff run in his last there post-season appearances. Add to that the fact that Franzen is a bit younger and a homegrown prospect and you just can't ignore the difference in price.

Holland did the right thing there, as many GMs might have continued dealing with Hossa right up to free agency and end up losing both.

[Guest mindfly]

Anyone heard what the post-game comments were from coach and players?

[Z and D for the C 712]

The Franzen comment in particular is ABSURD. Franzen's actually had his breakout season and he's shown consistency in being a big-game STAR PLAYER ever since. Get back to me once Flip actually has his ever-promised "breakout" season that justifies your ridiculous, blatant fanboy-minded claims.

Don't get me wrong, Franzen is a better player than Filppula, Franzen is a bonafide star and Flip isn't, I just think given our lineup a 2nd line center like Filppula would be more beneficial than a scoring winger. It's the position, not the player.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

What has Flip done on the power play EVER to substantiate such claims? You get on my case for bringing criticism to Flip, but what do you expect me to do when you make such ludicrous claims as these? Again, I'm not out to get Flip, but sometimes you people say such ridiculous things about the guy.

The Franzen comment in particular is ABSURD. Franzen's actually had his breakout season and he's shown consistency in being a big-game STAR PLAYER ever since. Get back to me once Flip actually has his ever-promised "breakout" season that justifies your ridiculous, blatant fanboy-minded claims.

Whatever dude. Watch the games, watch the flow of the PP and you might notice the difference. That's if you can't see past your Filppula hate.

[Viking_Erection 1]

Another injury... this team is unlucky this year. I might be the minority here, but I hope Holland DOES NOT trade for anyone! Lets not mortgage away the future for a fluky bad year. This is the salary cap era and picks are more important than ever.

If he can find a trade with Lebda or May type (non impact) type players, I'm all for it. But lets not give away any picks. Let Janik play instead of Lebda.

About the game. I think Babcock should have played Howard tonight to let Osgood have some rest. After the 2nd goal I was hoping for a goalie change, not because of Osgood, but to spark the team with a wake up call.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Viking_Erection

[gcom007 1,465]

Huh? Did you watch Q before he was waived? He was horrendously bad. FOR 18 MONTHS STRAIGHT. He got a wake up slap in the face when he was waived and he responded with the kind of play the Wings asked from him earlier.

This is also more of what I remember. Like I said, Detroit isn't the place for everybody. We could trade Lebda and he could finally get his act together and become a solid NHL defenseman. Would it make sense then to piss and moan about it? No. Again, you never know what it takes or where a guy is going to find his way, let alone if they ever will at all. But the bottom line at this point is that Lebda's had enough time as a Wing to prove whether or not he can make it work in Detroit and time and again he's coming up short. At the very least, he won't be back next year.

[Z and D for the C 712]

However it's not debatable, while Z and Pav are playing on the first PP unit together, our 2nd line is 100x better with Filppula than without. Filppula has looked great on the PP, deny this and THAT is absurd. He has more than half the power play points of Zetterberg with about half the PP time. I'm not saying he has been better than Zetterberg, but he's been great on the PP. Period.

[HOCKEY MATTERS 167]

Another injury... this team is unlucky this year. I might be the minority here, but I hope DOES NOT trade for anyone! Lets not mortgage away the future for a fluky bad year. This is the salary cap era and picks are more important than ever.

If he can find a trade with Lebda or May type (non impact) type players, I'm all for it. But lets not give away any picks. Let Janik play instead of Lebda.

About the game. I think Babcock should have played Howard tonight to let Osgood have some rest. After the 2nd goal I was hoping for a goalie change, not because of Osgood, but to spark the team with a wake up call.

I was commenting on this very thing tonite. I was glad Babs left OZ in. Everyones' performance was subpar and I thought they should have to suffer through the game, just like us fans. I bet they play a lot different next game.