Patrick Eaves Watch Thread.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

if kenny doesnt resign this guy i will be very disappointed

This. Eaves, for the most part, has been great in his role.

[RedFlag85 33]

I've been on the fence about Eaves for a while. Today that changed. His intensity is a real asset to the team, and he's excelling in the third line winger role.

Edited January 18, 2010 by RedFlag85

[Kwame_Kilpatrick 0]

eavesy in the house

[bdavis 28]

[titanium2 867]

Hey Versteeg. What did the five fangars say to the face?....

SMACK!

[FinWing 26]

I love Eaves.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

[Kwame_Kilpatrick 0]

hes kinda a noob but he is a beloved noob

[titanium2 867]

He's a gamer.

http://redwings.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=514099

Eaves’ confidence builds with super effort

By Michelle Crechiolo

DETROIT – In a game filled with highlight-worthy plays, Patrick Eaves showed his scrappiness against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday – scoring the game-tying goal and even dropping the gloves in the first period.

Despite playing two games in less than 24 hours, the Red Wings still managed to battle the Central Division-leading Blackhawks to another shootout on Sunday. Although Chicago triumphed in a 4-3 shootout – with the winning goal by Patrick Sharp – Eaves played a vital role in getting his team a much-needed point to bolster their playoff hopes.

He had a memorable fight with the Blackhawks’ Kris Versteeg, then scored the game-tying goal at 10:10 of the third period to force overtime.

“Eaves is a gamer. He wasn’t afraid to drop his gloves and get the team going,†Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “It was great to see him get that tying goal in the third as well. I thought he played real well for us today.â€

Prior to Sunday’s game, Eaves had eight penalty minutes. But on Sunday, he added seven-minutes in penalties, including a high-sticking minor, also in the first.

“I didn’t know Patrick could fight, I knew Versteeg could, so I was a little nervous,†joked Wings coach Mike Babcock. “It was a good scrap.â€

The fight was evenly matched, but Versteeg managed to leave a welt on Eaves’ face.

“He got me early on, it just kind of stunned me for a second,†Eaves said. “But you know, I don’t really feel it. I think it’s a little mouse, just another nick in the Picasso.â€

Eaves said he wasn’t thinking about recording a Gordie Howe hat trick, which is when a player collects a goal, an assist and gets into a fight all in one game.

“We wanted to win the game,†he said, “that’s the main priority.â€

SHOOTOUT EXCITEMENT: The Wings came off a disappointing shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday, where a sixth-round shot by Steve Ott was ruled a goal although the video replay appeared to be inconclusive. While that shootout went scoreless for five rounds, every goal in Sunday’s shootout was ESPN Top 10 play-worthy.

Pavel Datsyuk started with an unorthodox deke to softly flip the puck past Chicago goalie Antti Niemi, and Todd Bertuzzi scored on a spin-o-rama move. Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary didn’t connect on their shootout attempts.

Lidstrom couldn’t decide whose move was the best.

“That’s hard to pick,†he said. “Two great goals, but just too bad we didn’t get away with the win.â€

Sunday’s game was goalie Jimmy Howard’s second shootout in about a 24-hour span. He gave credit to the Blackhawks’ shooters who found the back of the net, saying, “every single one that beat me, you know, was just good stuff.â€

BIG NAMES, BIG PLAYS: While Eaves had a memorable game, the Wings’ top players gave a solid effort. The Wings’ Big Three: Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk, all had two-point efforts.

Lidstrom scored at 19:11 of the first period, giving the Wings some momentum and erasing the Blackhawks’ two-goal cushion. Zetterberg connected on a power play goal at 8:45 of the second to tie the game at 2-2.

Datsyuk assisted on both of those goals, and Lidstrom assisted on Eaves’ game-tying tally.

“We battle for everything we get right now,†Eaves said. “With Nick leading the way, he scored that huge goal for us. We went down two goals quite quickly, but we battled back and Nick got our big goal and got us going.â€

Lidstrom’s goal ended the Wings’ scoreless streak against Chicago this season, which had reached 142 minutes and 11 seconds. Detroit’s previous goal prior to the streak came on Oct. 8 when Johan Franzen scored the game-winner. The Blackhawks blanked Detroit twice with shutout victories on Dec. 20 and Dec. 23.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

I'm liking Eaves more and more with each game.

[FinWing 26]

I hope he stays in Detroit for the rest of his career.

[Guest mindfly]

I hope he stays in Detroit for the rest of his career.

Sure you can always hope I guess but he's 25 and if he somehow re-establish his career he like any pro player in any sports want that big long term high security contract so he can buy a house and settle down, im not so sure wings would do that they like to have a few high paid players but the role players would be just that near league minimum, rookie contracts etc.

[FinWing 26]

Sure you can always hope I guess but he's 25 and if he somehow re-establish his career he like any pro player in any sports want that big long term high security contract so he can buy a house and settle down, im not so sure wings would do that they like to have a few high paid players but the role players would be just that near league minimum, rookie contracts etc.

He could easily become a permanent 3rd or 2nd line player for this team and even if his contract is doubled or tripled it's still very much affordable. This kind of players are worth holding onto, they're not a dime a dozen.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

14:10 TOI with a goal and five shots in last night's game.

[titanium2 867]

Why can't he play the right point on the PP? Never done it before? Wouldn't be good at it?

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

He has a pretty hard shot, and I'd be willing to take him at the point on the 2nd PP unit ahead of Meech. He can't be much worse.

[titanium2 867]

He has a pretty hard shot, and I'd be willing to take him at the point on the 2nd PP unit ahead of Meech. He can't be much worse.

Has no one ever thought of that? And by no one, I mean, no one in the coaching staff. The only reason I can think of is that maybe they don't want to put too much responsibility on him or whatever.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

16:30 TOI against LA, and also was a minus 2.

[gcom007 1,465]

I haven't been following this thread, but I've gotta say, I love Eaves. I had a good feeling about him heading into the season. It seemed like he had a real good head on his shoulders and some good skill, and he's just 25. He seemed intent on coming in here and working hard and it seems like he has good hockey roots. I figured his issues probably had a lot to do with Ottawa's issues in general. It seems like a good environment to lose your way in whereas in Detroit he'd get a second chance almost at a rookie year, as our rookies tend to be a bit older.

I love what I've seen and I think he's only going to keep getting better. I really hope Holland rewards him with a deal before too long. He's a guy who I'd love to have locked up before things get crazy in the off-season, and I think it could be done for a reasonable enough amount of money. I think they could find a number they could agree upon for a 2-3 year deal.

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

First 5-10 games, I saw no reason that he should even be playing. But then he started really working and throwing the body, and from then on I've been an Eaves fan. He's already got more goals this year then last, and injuries havent been a huge problem for him this year like they were in years past. Get him, Bert and Miller all re-signed Kenny, they are beauties!

[Guest mindfly]

First 5-10 games, I saw no reason that he should even be playing. But then he started really working and throwing the body, and from then on I've been an Eaves fan. He's already got more goals this year then last, and injuries havent been a huge problem for him this year like they were in years past. Get him, Bert and Miller all re-signed Kenny, they are beauties!

Miller will be even better in the playoffs, and i'm sure bert is dying for a cup too...

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Miller will be even better in the playoffs, and i'm sure bert is dying for a cup too...

Agreed. Miller was fantastic for Anaheim last year, and if Bertuzzi stays healthy I expect alot of this..

Plus, even back to Eaves, I thought he was Carolina's best player against the Pens. (Not saying it means much because they got swept, but he played well.)

[titanium2 867]

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2010/0...00007429262.txt

Finding His Niche

By Bruce MacLeod, Macomb Daily Sports Writer

DETROIT -- Practices were all the Patrick Eaves had.

Special-teams drills. Regroups. Conditioning.

But at first, Eaves had no role with his new team, the Detroit Red Wings. Signed in the summer as a free agent, Eaves was brought to Detroit as a former 20-goal scorer in the NHL, who the Wings hoped could reach that level once more. Detroit had lost several goal-scorers, Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler, and needed some offense back.

But when the Red Wings opened their season in Sweden, Patrick Eaves sat out. And when the team returned for its North American opener at Joe Louis Arena, Eaves was once again in street clothes, watching the game from the locker room.

"You got to have faith in what you can do and do that every day," said Eaves, 25. "I wasn't playing much, but I felt that every day I was getting a lot better in practice just because of the skill level of this team. I knew I was improving every day. It wasn't that I was going backwards."

Then, Johan Franzen went down with an injury. Eaves played the next three games, but got less than 10 minutes of ice

time in two of those.

Eaves was a healthy scratch in three of the next four games.

But then Valtteri Filppula was injured. Then Jason Williams. Then Dan Cleary. Then Tomas Holmstrom.

Eaves got a spot in the Detroit lineup by default. He has played in 40 of the Red Wings' 51 games this season, including 23 of the past 24.

"It's unfortunate that we had some injuries, but that got me into the lineup, got me going with (linemates) Helmer (Darren Helm) and Drapes (Kris Draper)," said Eaves. "It's such a long season, something is going to happen."

Although injuries got Eaves into the lineup, performance has kept him in. Eaves is now averaging 14:17 of ice time per game, more than Draper or Justin Abdelkader or Drew Miller.

A right-handed shot playing on the right side of Helm and opposite Draper, Eaves is fourth among Detroit forwards with 90 shots on goal, trailing only Henrik Zetterberg, Todd Bertuzzi and Pavel Datsyuk.

He came to Detroit with the reputation of a scorer, but Eaves is playing on a checking third line and is one of the team's top penalty killers. In fact, the PK gave Eaves his first opportunity to prove himself in Detroit.

"It's an opportunity for me to help the team out," said Eaves. "I take that very seriously. I have a lot of pride in the penalty-kill, blocking shots and doing the right things to make it hard for the other team's top players to be successful. I like that role a lot. It's a big part of the game, so to be a part of that is awesome."

Coach Mike Babcock is switching his two scoring lines heading into tonight's game against Phoenix (7 p.m., Versus), moving Cleary up to play alongside Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Bertuzzi down to play with Filppula and Drew Miller.

"In my opinion, for us to be successful, your best players have to be your best players," said Babcock of the switch. "That means they have to generate offense. We're doing everything we can to put Pav (Datsyuk) and Z (Zetterberg) in a position to be successful. That's nothing against what Bert (Bertuzzi) was doing, it's just we're not scoring enough. But we'll just move things around and see what happens."

The third line of Eaves, Helm and Draper, however, remains intact as it has for most of the season.

"(Eaves) is a really aggressive player," said Helm of his wing. "He's got a lot of skill, but he's not afraid to get dirty, first guy in finishing his checks. He's a great guy you can talk to on the bench too. He's got an unbelievable shot. Trying to get him the puck is a big thing. He's a shooter. He loves to shoot."

In fact, when Babcock was asked about integrating his players as they returned from injury, he pointed to the Helm line as being a difficult one to split up.

"Not only do they got to get back healthy, they have to take someone's jobs," said Babcock. "Right now a lot of guys, especially the Helm line is playing great. You've got to get your job back."

Eaves finds himself on a unit with two of the fastest skaters on the team and in Helm, one of the fastest in the entire league. That speed has opened up opportunities for the sniper.

"They're so fast, it pushes other teams back and that gives you more time," said Eaves. "I just try to keep up with those guys. I think we have good chemistry and you can't teach that. We're all good friends off the ice and that helps."

Finding a place on the ice with the Red Wings isn't easy. Finding a place in the locker room was, according to Eaves.

"This was definitely the easiest locker room that I've walked into," said Eaves, who is with his third NHL franchise. "Any player would jump at the opportunity to play here. It's a winning tradition and to be part of that is pretty special. It's a first-class organization. You hear about it even when you're on other teams. They have something special in this locker room."

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Agreed. Miller was fantastic for Anaheim last year, and if Bertuzzi stays healthy I expect alot of this..

Plus, even back to Eaves, I thought he was Carolina's best player against the Pens. (Not saying it means much because they got swept, but he played well.)

He was one of the players that I knew Detroit would be looking at, and I'm sure glad we got him.

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Seriously, re-sign him now. He's been amazing tonight.