1/22 GDT: Blackhawks 4 at Red Wings 1

[titanium2 867]

Guess we need to lose to the Ducks soon so 'Losing to my most hated teams' trifecta will be complete.

They're bound to lose to the Ducks anyways because they haven't lost to them yet this year.

[b.shanafan14 733]

Just got off work, good to see the Wings even managed to score first on a fluke shot and still played like %#&* enough to let Kopecky walk all over them. Oh, and Isles claim Nabokov just for giggles (I'm sure he'll be happy about that).

God I hate Chicago, wish the Wings could stop playing like soft crap.

[Vladifan 680]

Terrible D and turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

Oh, and disallowed Z goal on "intent to blow" the whistle.

And none of the goals were Jimmy's fault. That's how bad it was. The vets pretty much sucked pucks.

[puckloo39 5,686]

I guess I didn't miss much. Better take it easy on Jimmy, folks. He's pretty much all we've got. Wings need to play (much) better, sounds like.

Curse of the stupid day time game - I wouldn't want to play either.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Wings won't play any better than .500 with all these injuries. That's been our record the last 2 years with everyone hurt. I guess we can't expect anything more right now.

However, when we're healthy, we have one of the better records in hockey during over the last 2 years.

Only way we can be better than .500 is if Howard stands on his head, but he's looked like absolute dogs*** this season, so that's apparently too much to ask for.

Oh and Salei and Ericsson played like crap today. Those two idiots let several Hawks players get behind them on at least 2 of the goals. The first Hawks goal was especially embarrassing. No reason both Hawks should have been uncovered and making a fancy play like that.

Edited January 23, 2011 by GMRwings1983

[Guest stinky fish taco]

what are the excuses going to be when this team gets a bunch of players back in Feb. and they're still giving up 3+ goals every single game?

they simply don't look capable of playing tight defense. i think we can finally say that howard is having a sophomore slump, too.

wings are going nowhere in the playoffs. not going to be successful trying to win every game 5-4 or 4-3. a team like vancouver will absolutely destroy them.

[atodaso 279]

what are the excuses going to be when this team gets a bunch of players back in Feb. and they're still giving up 3+ goals every single game?

they simply don't look capable of playing tight defense. i think we can finally say that howard is having a sophomore slump, too.

wings are going nowhere in the playoffs. not going to be successful trying to win every game 5-4 or 4-3. a team like vancouver will absolutely destroy them.

i agree. remember two weeks ago when vancouver won 36-1. that was embarrassing, wasn't it?

[syntax 359]

They're bound to lose to the Ducks anyways because they haven't lost to them yet this year.

You're just trying to cheer me up.

[puckloo39 5,686]

what are the excuses going to be when this team gets a bunch of players back in Feb. and they're still giving up 3+ goals every single game?

they simply don't look capable of playing tight defense. i think we can finally say that howard is having a sophomore slump, too.

wings are going nowhere in the playoffs. not going to be successful trying to win every game 5-4 or 4-3. a team like vancouver will absolutely destroy them.

meh. So we don't win the Jennings trophy this season. As long as they win, it's OK, considering how beat up they are (again) this season. I do agree with you, however, that playoff games are not going to go to shoot outs every single game, and the OTs will go on forever.

D is an issue this season, Nick can only do so much... Kronner and Rig have got to be more consistent. Raffi has to be more consistently as good as he is capable of being, every game. Stuart was doing great until the "incident" where his jaw ran into Flame-boy's elbow.

I am hoping that they find their chemistry when key players return. Until then, they have just got to show up and play harder.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

It's not like we lost this game 2-1. We're not horribly defensively because Datsyuk and Cleary are out. Getting them back will not fix our problems.

Exactly. I was at the game today and the thing that stood out most to me was the Red Wings complete inability to defend the front of their net. All four Chicago goals were point blank. Put a body on someone, at least make it tough to gain position. I don't buy the refs will call interference either - opponents do it all the time to Holmstrom.

Rafalski is a disaster. He turns the puck over at an alarming rate. I don't think Jimmy has been very reliable, but I'm having trouble finding much fault with him for any of the goals against today. I just hate knowing the Wings need five to win right now seemingly every time they take the ice. Gotta clean up the defensive zone coverage, turnovers, penalty kill woes or having the full complement of forwards back means very little. I'm very worried about this team's defense. A two-month stretch of garbage defense is more than just injuries. If anything, the defense should tighten up with so much offensive production lost.

I thought Mursak was the best skater today. Franzen has 20 goals, but you watch him and wonder how. He floats or is invisible nearly the entire game.

Can't wait for the ASG. The Red Wings desperately need a break.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Don't blame the poor performance on the players - just blame McCrimmon

When will that become a reasonable reason for Babcock to do something to fix?

That sentence is a jumbled mess but I don't care.

[soonboomer 31]

It's not like they've had injuries. Lighten up.

[Konnan511 1,736]

It's not like they've had injuries. Lighten up.

Injuries may account for the 1 goal we were able to muster, injuries aren't the reason for crappy linechanges, turnovers and an inability to clear players out infront of the net.

The Wings fought tooth and nail and beat Canucks, it's amazing they can't do it to a rather average Hawks team.

[ben_usmc 253]

The postive Tatar, Murzak, Emmerton all played great, kindl played good all our young players show they can compete every night on the roster.

Then negative, the players we rely on to actually do something seem to be playing like s***. . Plus why have we been playing like such ******* all season, you'd think we'd have gotten gritter by the subtraction of Williams alone. But for some reason we play like such *******. They turned it up before in the playoffs so I think they can do it again. But hell we can't clear the zone or even make a ******* check, it's getting real old. Plus 4 ******* goals a game is a joke, it is defense at this point considering no matter who is in net they get scored on like a half dollar hooker.

Datsyuk should be in net, hell he's already our enforcer

Edited January 23, 2011 by ben_usmc

[Firehawk 305]

I'm so tired of the wings playing this way. And no I'm not letting the injuries be an excuse. They were playing average defense even with a full roster. It's really getting on my nerves. And I'm also sick of seeing Howard allow 3-4 goals every game.

This team does not cause enough forechecking pressure on a regular basis, and I don't know what the deal is but they take FOREVER getting the puck out of their own zone. It drives me nuts. I'd rather watch our 3rd and 4th lines play most of the night anymore. I'm really getting tired of it. I think we will win more when we get our starters back, but again, defense has not been top notch ALL SEASON, and I'm sick of it. This is how they played quite a bit last year as well (yes I know we were injured all year). But, scoring 4 goals a game required to win is not going to get it done in the playoffs. I'm just irritated.

[Konnan511 1,736]

If anything, these past half dozen games have shown that Kindl should stay in the lineup over Big E once Stuart comes back.

Kindl is starting to show that he is going to be a good 3-4 DMan.

[Firehawk 305]

I think Kindl needs a bunch more games before you can make any accurate prediction. Any player can come in and play very well for short spans of time.

[brett 1,029]

Well, since there are 12 teams with a higher GAA than the Wings, you aren't thinking very hard.

The Wings will be fine. Chicago was well rested and healthy. We played less than 48 hours ago and also had to travel. Plus, you might have heard, we have a few guys out. One more game then we get back Dats, Cleary and probably Homer plus we actually get some rest...

48 hours is a long rest, travel is a regular thing, cant blame them on a loss. injuries yeah they hurt, getting people back wont help out defensive problems hardly any. it will help offense mostly. You dont win cups by trying to out score an opponent, defense comes first.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

If anything, these past half dozen games have shown that Kindl should stay in the lineup over Big E once Stuart comes back.

Kindl is starting to show that he is going to be a good 3-4 DMan.

I'd take Ericsson over Salei.

Salei allowed two Hawks players to score two goals on the powerplay today. Bad bad Salei.

[gcom007 1,465]

48 hours is a long rest, travel is a regular thing, cant blame them on a loss. injuries yeah they hurt, getting people back wont help out defensive problems hardly any. it will help offense mostly. You dont win cups by trying to out score an opponent, defense comes first.

I'm just glad we're less "terrible" than almost every other team in the league despite injuries. At least that's what the standings show. Defense and goaltending will have to tighten up to do anything in the playoffs, but we've got a few months until then and we should be a lot healthier by then. So long as Osgood stays on target to return and we don't have any other major injuries, I think this team is in good shape heading into the playoffs.

[brett 1,029]

Yeah im fine where they are with the standings its just the defense is atrocious

[titanium2 867]

[Aussie_Wing 354]

Mursak is looking mighty impressive, some of those shifts were so good.

So much speed, energy, and he's got hands which will make themselves more vident as he gets more confidence.

That backcheck on Hossa was fantastic, he actually outraced Hossa to the puck, not easy.

[soonboomer 31]

Injuries may account for the 1 goal we were able to muster, injuries aren't the reason for crappy linechanges, turnovers and an inability to clear players out infront of the net.

The Wings fought tooth and nail and beat Canucks, it's amazing they can't do it to a rather average Hawks team.

I disagree..........the rash of injuries has destroyed the chemistry of this team.........not to mention that some of the injured players happen to be the better two way players on the team. The team will hold it together well enough to secure a good playoff position. As long as they're playing well in March and April, little of what happens in January really matters anyway. We've all watched enough hockey to realize that.

[chrisdetroit 189]

what are the excuses going to be when this team gets a bunch of players back in Feb. and they're still giving up 3+ goals every single game?

they simply don't look capable of playing tight defense. i think we can finally say that howard is having a sophomore slump, too.

wings are going nowhere in the playoffs. not going to be successful trying to win every game 5-4 or 4-3. a team like vancouver will absolutely destroy them.

The negativity is astounding. "they don't look capable" ? Are you fricking kidding. You don't remember what happened last March.

Cut the negative BS. It's only January. Every team goes through tough spots. In February 2008, we lost 9 out of 10 in one stretch.