what's wrong with the wings?

[Miss Wing Queen 154]

I think the biggest factor, like others have said, is that we are getting our injured players back, and while it will be good in the long run, right now it is messing up the chemistry the team had developed in their absence. For example, our defense had become more solid and tighter, and when Ericksson came back (this is not to bash Big E, although he continues to be the Mr. Hyde to last year's Dr. Jekyll) our defense started to become sloppier and make more defensive blunders and bad passes. This has been seen even more with Kronwall coming back too. It's a combination of these injured guys getting back into game mode and the team re-balancing themselves with the newly added players.

I agree with 55fan that Franzen with be a big addition as well. I don't think he will magically improve this team, but his presence with bring a marked improvement. There are many times throughout the season where I have seen missed opportunities and said, "Franzen would have gotten that one." I also think that having Homer out right now has had an effect on this team too. Cleary has stepped up some in the role of net presence, but nowhere near the capacity of Homer. And when we have been the best at scoring goals this season it has come from either driving the net or creating traffic around it. Both of these guys will be a big difference (but probably not the end all be all answer to the team's possible success) when they return.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

If Franzen plays anywhere near his ability, it could be a huge factor in getting things finally turned around.

[Guest zackmorris]

Lmao did anyone else get a PM from malelion55?

f*** YOU ******* MORON. You are a ******* ass f***** with no balls. You mom is ******* *****, I ass f***ed her last night. Now go kill yourself you waste of ******* LIFE.

Well....at least he figured out how to turn the caps lock off.

[55fan 5,133]

Lmao did anyone else get a PM from malelion55?

Well....at least he figured out how to turn the caps lock off.

No PM, but that is from a thread somewhere. I remember debating whether or not ass f***ed should be one word, two words, or hyphenated.

It wasn't original, hence the lack of caplocks. This would explain the increase in intelligence compared to most of his posts.

[Guest zackmorris]

Aw and I felt special...damnit

[Guest Lidstromboli]

yeah it's a classic Miller Brew post

[Guest zackmorris]

Lmao he ctrl v'd an insulting PM to me?

Sigh...

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

yeah it's a classic Miller Brew post

So MillerBrew and malelion are the same poster?

[ben_usmc 253]

We absolutely refuse to drive the net that is the biggest problem. We won't crash the net or buzz around the goalie. We keep just sticking to the outside and shoot from the point especially on the power play

[Guest zackmorris]

^Which is a direct result of our forwards backchecking so hard. Whether we need to, have been told to or whatever, that's just what it is. I think we need to sometimes let our D be our D and if they screw up, whatever, they screw up. We need goals. We've got the right idea, I think just we're not hitting that balance and are a little too cautious of going to

the net, lest we get stuck with an odd man rush the other way.

[Vladifan 680]

We absolutely refuse to drive the net that is the biggest problem. We won't crash the net or buzz around the goalie. We keep just sticking to the outside and shoot from the point especially on the power play

This, and the iffy passing. Hopefully when Franzen and Homer come back the Net-Crashing-Thing will improve. We can only hope.

[Joe S 11]

Here is my two cents:

1) we have two of the three things needed to win: a good coach and good players. The third is good luck. we have had lots of bad luck, so maybe it will even out towards the end of the season. I hope so. Bad luck accounts for the injuries and quite a few games where the Wings played well and still lost.

2) The Wings dont always show up and dont always play for 60 minutes. Cant expect to win if you dont play hard for 60 min, at least not with the talen they have this year.

3) Not physical enough. The Wings will always get hit while or right after handling the puck, the opponents seldom do. A physical team will beat a non-physical team four out of seven games, all other things being equal.

4) Not enough drive to the net. They tend to drive to the corner and often have no one driving to the net to pass to. Not enough offensive presence around the net.

5) Too much presence around their own net on defense. Too willing to let the other team pass and shoot at will while they surround their own net. This is especially true late in the game with the score close. No play at center ice or in the opponents end.

6) No snipers. A bad thing in a shootout and it shows in their shootout record.

7) I think they won a lot of games in the last few years with the talent that they had and some bad habits, which they cant get away with at the talent level they have this year. the loss of Hossa, et al to free agency has had an adverse impact this year.

Hopefully they will make the playoffs and go far, I believe they can still do it, but they just dont seem to play with the level of intensity that we expect.

Keep the Faith! Joe S.

[Guest zackmorris]

^First point is very true.

I think luck is something some people just ignore or don't think about, partly because they're afraid of looking like they're making excuses. But it's just a realistic aspect of the game. Along with losing scorers and having half the team injured all season, we haven't got much luck whatsoever.

The sheer number of posts we've hit must be a record, the number of times we've been dicked over by the officials also must be an all time high (even for us, and we get it every year). Little things that just haven't bounced our way...I haven't seen it happen this much, well, ever and I've watched a lifetime of Wings games.

With how tight our conference is, with a little bit of luck going our way instead of against us we could conceivably be 4th place right now.

[titanium2 867]

^First point is very true.

I think luck is something some people just ignore or don't think about, partly because they're afraid of looking like they're making excuses.

That and it's best to concentrate on things that you can directly control yourself.

[Guest zackmorris]

From a coaching perspective, yeah, that's exactly why Babcock probably hasn't brought it up enough to take notice. It's not something you put in the heads of your players, obviously.

But just from a fan standpoint, pointing out what's gone wrong, luck is a huge factor. Especially in our conf where half a game is deciding a playoff spot.