104 replies to this topic

[SouthernWingsFan]

The team, the referees to a degree, and the terrorists definitely 100%.

Terrorists suck.

[pucktividi]

I blame mindfly

[Four]

I just expected ALOT more from him. I mean he didn't win us any games in the Phoenix series, he just was OK. He's supposed to be great, he has been great. He has had Halak style performances. But he's just a little mentally weak for some reason. It's not a good sign in my opinion. He's been bad, he's not been himself.

He's been as good as he was in the regular season. It's his first playoffs, which many people seem to forget. Not to mention he'd getting no help for the most part from the team.

[UKWING]

there is plenty of blame to go round; it would not be 3-0 if:

- the wings centers hadn't been so awful on faceoffs.
- the defence did not continually turn the puck over like they have done.
- the wings had not spent so much time in the box. equal blame here goes to the whistle happy refs and to to the ill-disciplined wings.
- they had not sat back in the 3rd period last night.

also, if howard had played like ozzie did the past 2 years then the wings would probably be 2-1 or even 3-0 up instead. but i don't want to be too critical of howard because he is the main reason that the wings even made it to the playoffs and it is unfair (and wholly unrealistic) to expect a rookie to perform as well as ozzie did the past 2 years. and whilst i expected him to be better than he has been, if the wings had not hung him out to dry as often as they have, his play would probably have been good enough - it is not like nabby is standing on his head and badly outplaying howard.

overall though, the sharks have just been the better team and deserve to be ahead. there is not much in it but in the end the sharks have just been that little bit better.

[pockets]

I dont understand why everyone blames Crosby..... oh wait im not Carman what was i thinking, i do blame crosby, hes behind global warming, hes behind the lead in the stuff made in china and hes behind and most importantly the deficit in the states

[Ozzie30]

I blame: Jonathan Ericsson.
Everytime the Sharks have a scoring chance, check the ice for 52 - he's usually standing still somewhere in the corner or laying flat on his face in the slot.

[Nightfall]

I blame the following things for being down 3-0.

1. Can't win a key faceoff. When was the last time the Wings got spanked in the faceoff circle in a playoff series. At least they improved last night, but they still lost key faceoffs. San Jose got 2 goals off lost faceoffs by the Wings.

2. No sense of urgency. I have said it before and I will say it again. The Wings needed to come out and play every game like game 7 of the Phoenix series. Where was the fire? Where was the playoff drive? Sure, you saw it for 10, 20, or 40 minutes at a time in this series, with last night being a 40 minute hard fought effort by the Wings. In the end though, the Wings have to play a full 60 minutes of that style of hockey and they didn't. Coasting in the 3rd period two games in a row? Are you serious? We gave up 2 3rd period leads this series.

3. Sub par goaltending in key games. I am a fan of Howards. That being said, his goaltending was shaky at times. He let in a couple stoppable shots in the Phoenix series. The tying goal last night was horrible. I know, its just a couple goals, but he has to stop those. Playoff goalies stop those shots.

4. The Sharks hunger. Unlike last season, the Sharks look like a team ready to erase all their playoff demons and "choker" demons in one run. Like it or not, this team DESERVES to be up 3-0. Coming back from deficits in the 3rd period two games in a row? That takes hard work and they should get high marks for their work ethic. We also chased the sharks around too much in this series. Usually, teams are chasing the Wings. Not this series.

5. The Refs. Yea, they were a factor. The bad calls in game 2 were horrible. You can't discount them entirely. The good teams fight through poor refereeing so I won't put them as the lone scapegoat.

[Grateful Gadsby]

I blame: Jonathan Ericsson.
Everytime the Sharks have a scoring chance, check the ice for 52 - he's usually standing still somewhere in the corner or laying flat on his face in the slot.

You can also count on Jason Williams being on the ice, as well. McClellan is a smart guy, and he probably reminded the Sharks at every opportunity to be on the lookout for one of Williams's patented boneheaded plays that no doubt will translate into a great scoring chance. If so, it certainly paid off in OT.

[servo]

Since there's a lot of complaining around here with us being down 3-0, I thought it would be interesting to see the way that people are distributing the responsibility for this round.

Without a doubt; Pavelski. Hands down. The guy has done everything.

[bulletoobinary]

The reason were down 3-0 is because we as a TEAM lost three games. Screw the refs, screw so-called softies let in by howard, we need to find a way to win and we didnt. Thats it.

[b.shanafan14]

As bad as the refs have been, I voted Howard for much the same reason as everyone else who did so. For me, its bad enough to give up 4 goals per game in the playoffs (you're not going to win many games that way) but the way he let in those goals was the real killer for this team. Goals after Red Wings goals, soft goals through the five-hole or being out of position, multiple quick goals against, goals off of poor rebound control, goals at the end of the period. I knew this team was in trouble when after the Cleary goal everyone seemed to KNOW they were going to give up a goal in the less than 90 seconds left in the period and sure enough 2 seconds left and Howard lets in a softy five-hole. It was all down hill from there.

Howard limped through the first series spare a game or two and he has done nothing to help the Wings this series. He is a rookie and its understandable he is getting his first playoff disappointment under his belt hopefully leading to future success with a healthier, more rested team. That doesn't change the fact that with slightly better than mediocre goaltending (and competent officiating) the Wings could be one game down or even up in this series. They haven't gotten that, so they are on the verge of a sweep.

Edited by b.shanafan14, 05 May 2010 - 07:51 AM.

[NvrFrgtRussian5]

how about the whole team? You can't place the blame on anyone other than the team. They are getting outplayed by a hungrier opponent.

[Sgt. Angry]

Every time I see Pavelski and Setaguchi, I think of Draper, Maltby, or LaPointe 13 years ago. The grind line no longer exists - time to get rid of them. Ever notice that every time Flip gets the puck, he tries to go end to end by himself - but never makes it. Of course, if he tries to pass, it gets intercepted anyway. And whenever I see Williams or Ericcson on the ice, I switch to the Tigers game. Then I go back in a few minutes to note that the opponents have scored.
Why do the Wings look slow & tired? Hell, half the team had half the season off due to injuries. They should be the freshest team in the playoffs.
And our captain. Good lord, Nick, don't come on the postgame show and say "we may have let up a bit in third, and you just can't do that!" YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DOING THAT ALL SEASON!!!! If you know that is your tendency, then you sure as hell should be looking out for it. As Nick said, "this games behind us - we're looking toward the next game." I guess this must mean that you don't learn from a whole season of screw-ups.
As for goaltending, get rid of both Ozzy and Howard. Then sign Miller and Brodeur, since they must suck even worse from first round exits, and could be had a bargain prices.

[Finnish Wing]

Choker-Nabokov has outplayed Howard by far.

[Broken 16]

How is Sidney Crosby not winning this poll? Everyone knows that he is responsible for everything bad that has ever happened.

[GMRwings1983]

I also voted for Howard.

Seems like most people think it's between him and the refs.

[Williams29fan]

I blame Babcock 100%. Who in their right mind rides a rookie goal tender for 3 months straight? Only giving your experienced back-up 1 game since the Olympic break. Any goalie is going to wear down, especially a rookie who has never played a single play-off game in his career before this year. There were games at the end of the season where Ozzie could have played and even lost, but it still would have given Jimmy a break.

I just hope Jimmy doesn't get the sophomore curse and suck it up all next season like Mason down in Columbus.

[Finnish Wing]

I just hope Jimmy doesn't get the sophomore curse and suck it up all next season like Mason down in Columbus.

I predict he'll just fall down to his REAL level. He was playing better than he really is this season. Mason is a guy who's going to be one of the best in the game in few years.

[cupcrazy]

there is plenty of blame to go round; it would not be 3-0 if:

- the wings centers hadn't been so awful on faceoffs.
- the defence did not continually turn the puck over like they have done.
- the wings had not spent so much time in the box. equal blame here goes to the whistle happy refs and to to the ill-disciplined wings.
- they had not sat back in the 3rd period last night.

also, if howard had played like ozzie did the past 2 years then the wings would probably be 2-1 or even 3-0 up instead. but i don't want to be too critical of howard because he is the main reason that the wings even made it to the playoffs and it is unfair (and wholly unrealistic) to expect a rookie to perform as well as ozzie did the past 2 years. and whilst i expected him to be better than he has been, if the wings had not hung him out to dry as often as they have, his play would probably have been good enough - it is not like nabby is standing on his head and badly outplaying howard.

overall though, the sharks have just been the better team and deserve to be ahead. there is not much in it but in the end the sharks have just been that little bit better.

You know,I can't remember the Wings EVER being this bad on the draw.I remember the days of when we had to have a defensive faceoff win the Captain,or Draper would win it for us.There's no doubt we wouldn't be down 3-0 if we could just win more faceoff's. I know they scored one goal in game two off the draw.

[puckhog419]

i blame the officials for not letting us kick in the puck. they could of just turned their heads