Thoughts about the team moving forward

[Guest mindfly]

Don't wanna be a buzzkiller now that wings getting all the points and playing good, but i'm one of them who always look for things to improve...

Facts (good and bad):

- Wings top2 lines are probably as good as there is, we've seen since the olympics break that they can really dominate games

- Wings third line has 2 underachievers and one brilliant player that succeeded all expectations and extremely important to the pk, this line has been caught up in their own zone many times, williams is very bad defensively not to talk about his mobility on the 2ndpp (SOOOO SLOW compared to kronwall)

- Wings fourth line has two brilliant speedsters and pk player and one redundant player, the redundant player is draper of course.

- Wings defense is really good, the third pair as it plays now is as good as one can expect from a third pair in the nhl, the offense from kronwall&stuart leaves some to be desired because the forward line that plays with lidstrom-rafalski usually end up scoring most of the points.

- 2nd pp unit is baaaaaaaad, replace williams with ericsson or stuart? the right hand shot at point is overrated and the first pp-unit has a right hand so.

Summary:

It feels like teams like San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver has more depth at forward and will outplay the wings in a 7game series, especially the third lines.

Solutions:

- Come playoffs... Bring up abdelkader and replace him with Draper

- Somehow pray and hope Cleary plays like last years cleary with 9-10 playoffs goals if i remember correctly and very good overall

- Williams...a big questionmark.. .can he be replaced? Should miller play center even though he's bad at faceoffs and not a natural center?

(I wrote this in a few mins spelling errors and whatnot might occur)

[Guest mindfly]

I take it people think this team is perfect... would've been nice to know what ya'll really think and what could be better...even though they play good now i still can see an early exist with the current depth...if cleary and williams dont get their s*** figured out that third line could be a team killer for the wings in a 7-game series.

[AARedWingFan 13]

I like the idea of putting Ericsson on the 2nd PP for Williams. He has a cannon that never gets the opportunity to be fired.

Yea, I'm waiting for Cleary to step it up, however he seems to be a clutch player, so we'll see where he is in the playoffs.

[Buppy 1,720]

I don't really like the 3rd (4th?) line, or Williams at all really. Not that he's been terrible or anything, just not noticable.

I'd like to see Ericsson given a chance on the 2nd PP. I doubt he could be any less effective than Willy has been.

And as much as everyone hates the idea, I think it's time to split the Helm line. Try Helm between Cleary and Willy, and let Draper center Miller and Eaves.

Abdelkader certainly wasn't any better than Draper while he was here, no idea why you think he would better now. Unless someone gets hurt, he can wait until next year.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

It's all about how much hunger and gas in the tank they have left.

Hopefully the taste from last year's dissapointment hasn't left their mouths yet. On paper they're good, but they still have to want it more than anyone else.

Also, you forgot to mention Howard and how much he has left in the tank. He's played pretty much every game this year it seems. I don't know if 20+ playoff starts is something he has in him.

[titanium2 867]

The reason why it wasn't such a good idea for Ericsson to play on the PP earlier this season is because Babs wanted to use him on the PK. Very few players on the team have seen significant time in all situations. Now that Lilja is back, maybe Babs should explore the possibility of Ericsson at the right point on the PP.

[titanium2 867]

I don't really like the 3rd (4th?) line, or Williams at all really. Not that he's been terrible or anything, just not noticable.

Neither do I. They've been a stop gap as a whole line but you just know that line could be a lot better. When I look at the names on the roster one by one, I feel pretty content that they'll all be okay (even Cleary) except for Williams. A part of it is probably unfair stigma from his past but another part of it is definitely the nagging suspicion that he really hasn't changed all that much. Doesn't win many battles, doesn't provide much of a presence on the ice, etc., no matter how hard he tries.

[Guest mjtm77]

get Willams of the pp hes done nothing

[Bannedforlife 403]

Solutions:

- Come playoffs... Bring up abdelkader and replace him with Draper

- Somehow pray and hope Cleary plays like last years cleary with 9-10 playoffs goals if i remember correctly and very good overall

- Williams...a big questionmark.. .can he be replaced? Should miller play center even though he's bad at faceoffs and not a natural center?

What a great "solution". Someone should notify Babcock immediately!

[Guest mindfly]

They should have made a deal on the deadline

Williams+4th round pick for afinogenov

Edited March 29, 2010 by mindfly

[Drake_Marcus 890]

They should have made a deal on the deadline

Williams+4th round pick for afinogenov

Holland would've jumped at that chance. The Atlanta GM? Probably not

I agree with you that Williams has been worse than useless, though. At some point in the future I'd like to force Babcock to sign a contract promising to never use a 3rd line forward on the PP point again.

[titanium2 867]

Holland would've jumped at that chance. The Atlanta GM? Probably not

I agree with you that Williams has been worse than useless, though. At some point in the future I'd like to force Babcock to sign a contract promising to never use a 3rd line forward on the PP point again.

If only the Wings could somehow steal away Patrick Sharp from the Hawks. They'll have to get rid of people after this year and I've heard him as a "Lifelong Hawk" one week and then a "f*** You Salary Cap" another week.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

If only the Wings could somehow steal away Patrick Sharp from the Hawks. They'll have to get rid of people after this year and I've heard him as a "Lifelong Hawk" one week and then a "f*** You Salary Cap" another week.

I suspect we'll hear that type of duality from their fan base for the next few months.

[CopenhagenWing 38]

Solutions:

- Come playoffs... Bring up abdelkader and replace him with Draper

Not going to happen. There's a reason why Draper is out there without his regular linemates on defensive zone faceoffs late in games.

[Guest mindfly]

Not going to happen. There's a reason why Draper is out there without his regular linemates on defensive zone faceoffs late in games.

Do you have stats on them faceoffs you're talking about, feels like he isn't as dominant as he used to... and abdelkader would bring more grit and physicality and can actually play, draper only dumps the puck then go hold the puck against the board with his skates to "kill time" or tie a guy up down low...

Edited March 29, 2010 by mindfly

[titanium2 867]

Do you have stats on them faceoffs you're talking about, feels like he isn't as dominant as he used to... and abdelkader would bring more grit and physicality and can actually play, draper only dumps the puck then go hold the puck against the board with his skates to "kill time" or tie a guy up down low...

I don't think he is anymore. At the beginning of this season Babs sent him out to take the first faceoff of the PK and then come right to the bench at the first opportunity. I don't think he even does that anymore.

[13dangledangle 965]

I feel this team has the perfect "Playoff" make up. Our first 2 lines are great, and our lines 3 and 4 are awesome shutdown with some "clutch" goals when needed. As for Howard theres nothing that leads me to believe hes not ready, as a hockey player in general Jimmy knows, the last time the Wings didnt make the playoffs he was 8 years old. He has been in this organization long enough to have seen and felt some of the pressure put on goalies here this time of year. He was also watching as Dom got pulled two years ago, and knows who came in and won the cup is on the bench waiting to do it again.

Before I begin to ramble on lol this team has something very awesome going in its favour to me, because when you see them out there in the past little while, this team has a connection and they have shown they have heart and determination! all good signs

Edited March 29, 2010 by 13dangledangle

[CopenhagenWing 38]

Do you have stats on them faceoffs you're talking about, feels like he isn't as dominant as he used to... and abdelkader would bring more grit and physicality and can actually play, draper only dumps the puck then go hold the puck against the board with his skates to "kill time" or tie a guy up down low...

Well, since Draper has been playing wing for most of the year, he hasn't really taken the amount of faceoffs he's had in the past.

However, last year in the playoffs, he was winning them at a 60 per cent clip.

[mmamolo 287]

In all honesty I think it's safe to say that Williams is the weakest link up front. He's supposed to bring some secondary scoring but he hasn't. The only thing he does is play the point on the second PP unit but that unit isn't exactly clicking. In my opinion, if anyone sits in the playoffs for one of the blackaces it'll be him. THere is zero chance that Miller or Draper sits (like some posters on this site have suggested).

That being said, in my view, there is zero chance Williams is brought back next season. While Miller and Eaves have proven their worth not only by their inspired PK work but their constant work ethic and daily drive to learn and improve.

[cupforwings 138]

Bring up Abdelkadar for Maltby's position, and bring of Ritola for Williams position

[chuklz 15]

Howard is young, and plays best against the better teams and only gets beat when the goal is sloppy as hell by a usually underwhelming team. I feel good about Howard. Logic dictates he should be tired, and yes by the Conference Finals he probably will be but there's no reason he shouldnt have enough to take us through the Cup. Its what he does. He's a goalie.

As far as the 3rd pair defense... it's better than years past.

I like our 4th line, I think they need Draper's leadership and experience.

3rd line has room for improvement, but seriously I'd rather have we got than make any changes. Let the dice roll.

All in all I'm optimistic.

Edited March 30, 2010 by chuklz