Was using Jason Williams in the shootout

[jason_0931 0]

I think Mickey Redmond said it the other night that the first night a player is back from an extended injury they are playing on adrenaline and usually plays great! Given Jason Williams was back and this was his 2nd/3rd game, should he have been participating in the shootout versus the Penguins?

I hate to question Babcock's decision, considering he has been a welcome surprise to me in Detriot, but I would not have used him. I would have gone with either Bertuzzi or Filpulla in stead and if it went multiple rounds then I might have used Williams.

Thoughts?

[hooon 1,089]

I would have put Williams in the 4th or 5th spot personally, but who knows. When they showed the 'on-ice' view of his shot... it looked pretty bad. He literally shot it directly into Fleury's glove, Fleury didn't even have to move his arm to catch it. There was definitely some room there up top, he just missed. Zetterberg has been missing those on the shootout as well, and Cleary/Fil haven't been spectacular either.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

looked like he gave up as soon as fleury closed up the five hole

[Rick Zombos Ghost 82]

it was an interesting choice for sure. i think bertuzzi is playing hurt so they pry wouldnt use him. filpulla has been as good as zetterberg (which is to say not very good) in shootouts.

idiotically enough i was kinda hoping drew miller would get a shot. he scored the winning goal in the last one and has played well.

[Guest lilja4mvp]

career shootout % (prior to today):

datsyuk: 52.27

williams: 40.74

zetterberg: 30.56

bertuzzi: 30.43

filppula: 25.0 (1 for 4)

williams is the 2nd best shootout option on the wings, period. shootouts are one of the very few things jason williams does not totally suck at.

most LGW fans would probably still rather see zetterberg with another totally inept attempt in that #2 slot, though.

[dragonballgtz 273]

I thought Williams had a good record in the SO? Anyway, I am pretty sure Flip was next but I hate it that they have to go in order and coaches cannot switch up their order on the fly.

As far as using Williams second yeah, I would of used someone else.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

any sites that have game to game shootout stats?

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

Judging by his Robert Lang esque wrist shot right into Fleury, no. Would have been better off using Bert's spin move.

[Rick Zombos Ghost 82]

Judging by his Robert Lang esque wrist shot right into Fleury, no. Would have been better off using Bert's spin move.

he usually deeks i dont know what he was thinking.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Hindsight is 20/20. Had Babs gone with someone else and they didn't score, we would all be posting in a thread entitled 'was it wrong to not use jason williams in the shootout'

Edited February 1, 2010 by Echolalia

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Williams has a career shootout percentage of about 40%. That is extremely effective. You put your best guys out there to score. Sometimes you don't, s**t happens. Not that hard to figure out and not really worth over-analyzing.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

Zetterberg has been missing those on the shootout as well, and Cleary/Fil haven't been spectacular either.

He's 1 for 2 in shootouts. That's not enough to judge on.

[Z Winged Dangler 2,082]

I think Mickey Redmond said it the other night that the first night a player is back from an extended injury they are playing on adrenaline and usually plays great! Given Jason Williams was back and this was his 2nd/3rd game, should he have been participating in the shootout versus the Penguins?

I hate to question Babcock's decision, considering he has been a welcome surprise to me in Detriot, but I would not have used him. I would have gone with either Bertuzzi or Filpulla in stead and if it went multiple rounds then I might have used Williams.

Thoughts?

why not use williams?? he's got a really good shot...but look at the deke dats did, it sucked hard. listen to the announcers all game...the ice was soft, the puck was bouncing like a bastard...there's not too much the guys could do out there. and babcock got the linesmen to go out and run a shovel in the penguins end prior to the shootout and it still wasn't good enough.

solution: burn down the igloo, possibly with the penguins and their fans in it.

[kozac 10]

Williams was one of the 3 main shooters for us back before we traded him. He usually did pretty well as far as I remember so this was a pretty easy choice to me.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Sadly yes.

Zetterberg is useless in shootouts, and Williams probably has a better career percentage in shootous.

This team just sucks in shootouts, period. I don't think it matters who we use, becaue we've had a lot of talent over the years, but have never been a good shootout team.

[wingsdiehard13 33]

any sites that have game to game shootout stats?

Here

[Guest Lidstromboli]

trade zetterberg for jussi jokinen

[cupforwings 138]

Williams is the obvious second shooter... He has good hands and a great shot, not to mention he has a great SO percentage... that was a part of the the reason they signed him too, because he was so great at shootouts... People on this site rip on Williams so much it is ridiculous... Anybody who thinks they should have put Miller or Eaves or Filpula or Cleary in front of Williams needs to start watching these players a little closer.

I would go:

Dats

Williams

Bertuzzi

Zetterberg

whoever

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

Williams seems to score more when he goes wide. Going straight at Fleury who is above average in size and good positionally wasn't the right move. A wide move with a deke at the end (spin-o-rama, Forsberg, etc) would have had a better shot.

[Hockeytown0001 7,652]

[Taylorov 37]

Williams is as good as anyone else they could have thrown out there. I remember him as being one of top shooters, statistic-wise, that the Wings have when it comes to shootouts.

[RedWings Gone Wild 6]

Williams is our second best shootout guy behind Dats. At least amongst those that have a history of taking them. Zetterberg is the one we need to be removing from the rotation.

[toby91_ca 620]

Why is there such a discussion on this? Datsyuk didn't score and neither did Williams. Why aren't people questionning whether Datsyuk was the right person to put in there? I know, he's got a good track record in shootouts....so does Williams. Fact is, they both missed and both Crosby and Malkin scored, that's why they lost. Had Williams scored, Zetterberg would still have to score just to keep it alive.