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VM1138

First Impressions

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Wow, what a game last night, eh? I felt refreshed watching them. It's hard to explain but they all just LOOKED better than they have in the past. Quicker, crisper, healthier. Anyway, let's talk first impressions not just about our new guys, but about the "old guard" on the team. Who impressed? Who disappointed?

First up, Salei. He will go down as a solid pickup for the Wings. "Solid" is really the best word for it. He was a good anchor back there. The one mistake I remember was him pinching up too far, almost resulting in a 2 on 1 but he seemed to realize his mistake and it may not have been entirely his fault.

Modano: Wow he can skate! He's going to be a force. The line of Hudler-Modano-Cleary is going to be insane this year. He's really putting in a serious effort. On a plus note, he's got to be the most articulate Intermission interview I've ever heard. He doesn't say "um" a million times and when he talks he actually says something. Hopefully they interview him for his thoughts more throughout the season.

Eaves-Helm-Miller: Kind of disappointing. We come to expect speed and crazy hard work from them, and while they worked hard it just didn't translate to much. Not indicative of the whole season, of course but I was hoping to see more from them.

Cleary: Best player on the ice not named Datsyuk. He looks like he used to back in his peak years. Those injuries must have really hampered him the last season or so.

Datsyuk + Zetterberg: Yes, they have to be included together. They continue to amaze and with Datsyuk's fight and overall energy I think this will be a very good year for those two.

Thoughts?

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I agree with most of your points except for the 4th line. They did their job and kept the puck in the offensive zone for the majority of the time they were out. No one expects them to score in every game, so they'll get their chances eventually. But yeah, I'm feeling really good about this team. Cleary just looked so much faster and you can tell he's out to prove himself.

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I agree with most of your points except for the 4th line. They did their job and kept the puck in the offensive zone for the majority of the time they were out. No one expects them to score in every game, so they'll get their chances eventually. But yeah, I'm feeling really good about this team. Cleary just looked so much faster and you can tell he's out to prove himself.

I honestly don't expect Miller or Eaves to get into the double digits of goals. If we remain healthy they are not going to play as many minutes as they got last year.

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Guest Crymson

i thought they were just as good last year. this year i think the key is to win games earlier in the year so we dont have to make a late season push.

I think that if they manage to score more goals than the opponent in each game, they'll probably do OK.

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Guest mindfly

- Wings got really good depth

- Salei will be a HUGE improvement over lilja, sorry lily-pads fan boys.

- Health is key, wings got abdelkader and ericsson injured..bertuzzi probably isn't 100%... i guess 3 injuries on depth players is alright but NO MORE, gotta stay healthy dammit, if they can this season will be loads of fun.

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My first impression is likely too good to be true over 82 games. Chicago lost, Pittsburgh lost, Washington lost, and the Wings won against a rival convincingly, with scoring from three lines, a Gordie-Howe hat-trick from an unlikely player, a shut-out from someone concerned with a Sophomore slump, a goal from a "washed up player who should've retired with Dallas", I couldn't have wrote a more ideal script.

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Salei had his pinching mistake. But otherwise I thought he looked pretty solid. He looked "motivated", which is something I've noticed has lacked in our defense the last few years. Our defense is generally very mechanical.....and rightfully so with guys like Lidstrom, Rafalski, Schneider, Murphy, Chelios....in charge over the years. So it's good to see guys like Salei who take some chances.

Modano was above expectations. I hope his "born again" attitude lasts through the season. He's skating like he's five years younger out there. It's pretty cool :)

Eaves-Helm-Miller: I agree on this line. I expected more from them. We have to be generous though and say that tonight we were comparing them to some amazing performances by the top three lines. All in all this line did not do poorly. They didn't get scored on. They didn't score, but they really pressured the ducks pool of talent. They did exactly what a 4th line is suppose to do. 1) Don't get scored on. 2) Buy rest time for your top guys 3) Apply pressure to the oppositions depth. It's not fair to judge them yet, IMO.

Cleary did look amazing. Don't think he should have gotten that one goal, but eh...whatever, I'll take it. He really worked hard, and I think there's something about the fact that he's playing on a line with an ancient superstar, and a potential russian phenom.....well he better put a little pep in his step. Cleary is right now playing on possibly the best line he will ever play on full time. He better take advantage of that.

I don't even need to say anything about Datsyuk and Zetterberg. All off-season, and in fact for the last several years, we have all known how powerful the eurotwins are together. They did not dissapoint. Every time they were out, something magical either happened, or almost happened. Anyone notice at one point the entire first line was in the box? Well I think Zetterberg had just got out, Dats was in it, and then Holmstrom joined him :)

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Guest Stolberg

salei is a decent option for the powerplay too if someone gets injured or if babcock decides to change thing sup ab it

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Wow, what a game last night, eh? I felt refreshed watching them. It's hard to explain but they all just LOOKED better than they have in the past. Quicker, crisper, healthier. Anyway, let's talk first impressions not just about our new guys, but about the "old guard" on the team. Who impressed? Who disappointed?

First up, Salei. He will go down as a solid pickup for the Wings. "Solid" is really the best word for it. He was a good anchor back there. The one mistake I remember was him pinching up too far, almost resulting in a 2 on 1 but he seemed to realize his mistake and it may not have been entirely his fault.

Modano: Wow he can skate! He's going to be a force. The line of Hudler-Modano-Cleary is going to be insane this year. He's really putting in a serious effort. On a plus note, he's got to be the most articulate Intermission interview I've ever heard. He doesn't say "um" a million times and when he talks he actually says something. Hopefully they interview him for his thoughts more throughout the season.

Eaves-Helm-Miller: Kind of disappointing. We come to expect speed and crazy hard work from them, and while they worked hard it just didn't translate to much. Not indicative of the whole season, of course but I was hoping to see more from them.

Cleary: Best player on the ice not named Datsyuk. He looks like he used to back in his peak years. Those injuries must have really hampered him the last season or so.

Datsyuk + Zetterberg: Yes, they have to be included together. They continue to amaze and with Datsyuk's fight and overall energy I think this will be a very good year for those two.

Thoughts?

I very much agree with all that you said too, but I think you gotta give the fourth line more credit. Eaves didn't really have that much of a preseason and this was his first game back, so he was just getting his legs back. I was a little disappointed that Helmer didn't add to the night by getting a shortie. :P They did their job as 4th-liners, but that line will be shuffling a lot, so it will take some time for it to fully gel again.

My first impression is likely too good to be true over 82 games. Chicago lost, Pittsburgh lost, Washington lost, and the Wings won against a rival convincingly, with scoring from three lines, a Gordie-Howe hat-trick from an unlikely player, a shut-out from someone concerned with a Sophomore slump, a goal from a "washed up player who should've retired with Dallas", I couldn't have wrote a more ideal script.

This is what I was thinking too. My biggest impression so far is just that of "Excitement." It's a little more than just the new season starting, or the players we've added or who are healthier, it's excitement over the many possibilities of this season. It just feels like all the pieces are in place and there's no telling where or how far this team can go. My mind was starting to go towards a shutout late in the second period, but I refused to say anything aloud so as not to jinx Howie.

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I didn't mean to come down on the 4th line so hard. They didn't play badly, I guess my point is that we've seen how Helm and Eaves and Miller can amaze (even if it's not scoring goals). I just meant they didn't have any ridiculously pretty plays like they usually do, though they didn't make any mistakes, either. I hope they win tonight, that'll just put the beginning of the season on a great start. Ozzie is the last question mark. Hopefully he'll experience a resurrection like the rest of the team has.

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My first impression is likely too good to be true over 82 games. Chicago lost, Pittsburgh lost, Washington lost, and the Wings won against a rival convincingly, with scoring from three lines, a Gordie-Howe hat-trick from an unlikely player, a shut-out from someone concerned with a Sophomore slump, a goal from a "washed up player who should've retired with Dallas", I couldn't have wrote a more ideal script.

I am quoting this. Just letting you know. :thumbup:

This sums it up nicely.

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My first impression is likely too good to be true over 82 games. Chicago lost, Pittsburgh lost, Washington lost, and the Wings won against a rival convincingly, with scoring from three lines, a Gordie-Howe hat-trick from an unlikely player, a shut-out from someone concerned with a Sophomore slump, a goal from a "washed up player who should've retired with Dallas", I couldn't have wrote a more ideal script.

I agree with this 100% A truly great start and a hopeful glimpse of things to come. Everyone with something to prove, did just that!!

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I liked the defense pairs. Salei looks like he'll fit in nicely, and Ericsson looked fine in his short time. Pinches were almost always well timed, though overall I think they weren't as involved in the offense as we've come to expect. Maybe Ericsson's injury made them play more conservative.

The whole team was quick getting to loose pucks and applying pressure, and they recovered quickly when they got beaten or caught out of position.

Jimmy was excellent when he had to be, can't hope for better than that.

All four lines looked very good I thought. A bit too fancy at times on offense, even Hudler passed up a shot he should have taken. Eaves and Bert were invisible, though not surprising given their injuries. Cleary was a beast and Pav and Hank just belong together.

They showed a lot of grit when the Dicks started gooning it up, nice, but I'd rather they just try to ignore that kind of stuff like they usually do. Fortunately, there aren't many teams as thuggish as the Ducks, so it shouldn't be a problem. Especially now that the rest of the league knows that nonsense isn't going to bother us.

All in all, it was a great game, but it was also against an Anaheim team that really isn't very good. Tonight's game should be fun, and probably more accurate, though I really won't make too many judgements until after about 20 games or so.

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