2/2 GDT: Franzen 5 + Red Wings 2 (7) at Senators (5)

[gcom007 1,465]

Man, our defense is effing AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

[syntax 359]

Our D is so effing bad. Why the F can't the rest of the coaching staff see that McCrimmon needs to go ASAP?

[SuperNovaXll 124]

Our D is just horrible..

[brett 1,029]

who is backing up howard?

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

If it's not apparant yet, McCrimmon is a problem. And getting Datsyuk and Stuart will not solve the problem, it's scheme. And our defensive scheme is... awful.

[puckbags 863]

Am i the only one who can't see your sig?

We can see yours from miles away or kilometers if you're from Canada lol

[Zata fan 40 6]

The FSN Standard feed is atrocious.

No kidding...is it a HD feed? It's hard to watch.

[donfishmaster 62]

AND, everytime we shoot there's 2-3 Sens in front of their net...nobody in a Winged Wheel going to the net. WTF? :!:

[SuperNovaXll 124]

No kidding...is it a HD feed? It's hard to watch.

I guess others are having the same problem. The quality sucks tonight.

[gcom007 1,465]

The collective defense of this team has been awful for most of this season. Nobody on the roster gets a free pass on that point. The defense corps is especially bad, but they've been masking their defensive deficiencies with offensive production. Not a single defenseman on this team, including Lidstrom, is getting it done. And Howard is just not the same goaltender he was last year so the team is not able to keep the puck out of its net.

Yep. It's been bad the last few years. It was just less noticeable last year because Howard was playing like a man possessed. Team defense has been a joke since the coaching change. Maybe he's got nothing to do with this problem at all, but you simply can't ignore the correlation at this point.

What's really scary though is that if this defense played half as well as they're capable of, who would be a sure bet to beat us on any given day? Anyone? Bear in mind, we're still one of the top teams in the league, defensive issues and all.

[syntax 359]

2nd lowest scoring team in the league has 3 goals on us in one period.

Thank you Brad McCrimmon!

[edicius 3,269]

If it's not apparant yet, McCrimmon is a problem. And getting Datsyuk and Stuart will not solve the problem, it's scheme. And our defensive scheme is... awful.

And I've been saying it for the past two years. Normally, I'm glad that the Wings organization doesn't pay attention to my irrational rantings...but this is one case where I wish they'd get their heads out of their collective asses. I mean, does McCrimmon have dirt on Holland or something?

[commadore183 103]

AND, everytime we shoot there's 2-3 Sens in front of their net...nobody in a Winged Wheel going to the net. WTF? :!:

If a Wings player shoots the puck in front of a crowd, it gets deflected. If an opposition player shoots the puck in front of a crowd, it bounces off of half the state of Michigan, Babcock's hair, and Murphy's hot dog before ending up in the net .

[ben_usmc 253]

Yep. It's been bad the last few years. It was just less noticeable last year because Howard was playing like a man possessed. Team defense has been a joke since the coaching change. Maybe he's got nothing to do with this problem at all, but you simply can't ignore the correlation at this point.

What's really scary though is that if this defense played half as well as they're capable of, who would be a sure bet to beat us on any given day? Anyone? Bear in mind, we're still one of the top teams in the league, defensive issues and all.

yeah, I'm just hoping they are pulling the pistons of a few years ago. Where they don't play until they need to and will turn it up in the playoffs. Right now they seem like they don't want to do any sort of phsyical work, defense, checking, driving to the net, etc.

[puckbags 863]

It's alarming how flat we look considering we only sent one guy to the all star game and he's the perfect human so it doesn't really count.

[Nightfall 871]

Agreed. Or work on his positioning.

Yup, he should be out covering the open man his defense should have had and not cover the guy that could get an easy wraparound goal.

[Hockey Convert 55]

AND, everytime we shoot there's 2-3 Sens in front of their net...nobody in a Winged Wheel going to the net. WTF?

Problem the entire year, as far as I'm concerned. No one's willing to do it except Holmstrom, and he's getting too slow. All the backhand attempts from bad angles are starting to make me nauseous.

[SuperNovaXll 124]

Yep. It's been bad the last few years. It was just less noticeable last year because Howard was playing like a man possessed. Team defense has been a joke since the coaching change. Maybe he's got nothing to do with this problem at all, but you simply can't ignore the correlation at this point.

What's really scary though is that if this defense played half as well as they're capable of, who would be a sure bet to beat us on any given day? Anyone? Bear in mind, we're still one of the top teams in the league, defensive issues and all.

Honestly, our D has been bad since we won the cup couple years back. No matter who is back there it just seems like everyone is standing around, not skating and not picking up coverage either. I really feel bad for the Wings goalies. They seem to be trying, but get hung out to dry by the D every single night.

Thank god we are talented enough to put the puck in the other teams net pretty often.

[zztop40 80]

Talking about Shea Weber, he would make a good RW, put him with Lid's....dreaming

[titanium2 867]

yeah, I'm just hoping they are pulling the pistons of a few years ago. Where they don't play until they need to and will turn it up in the playoffs.

Yeah that was during the Flip Saunders era where they didn't win more than two games in the conference finals for like three years. I wouldn't call that a good strategy.

[Toefuzz 58]

Shouldn't a forward pick up the guy towards the point on a wrap around? Seems like Kronwall was taking the guy behind the net.

[donfishmaster 62]

I miss the days of Vlady Konstantinov absolutely annihilating anyone who tried to get open in fron of the net. Our current defense just kind of asks if they would like a drink out of the water bottle and offers to sharpen their skates.

[commadore183 103]

Fire McCrimmon.

It's gotten to the point this season where I give the goalie, whether it's Howie, Mr 400 or MacDonald, 4 freebies. If they give up any more goals after the 4, then I would start getting critical of the goalie unless the goalie was just playing really bad (and Howie's not playing bad, he's just not getting the support that he needs).

Fire McCrimmon.

[BlueMonk 102]

yeah, I'm just hoping they are pulling the pistons of a few years ago. Where they don't play until they need to and will turn it up in the playoffs. Right now they seem like they don't want to do any sort of phsyical work, defense, checking, driving to the net, etc.

This is true. The one catch is that this is an older team and when the guys play physical, they tend to get hurt and heal slowly. Blocked shots end up turning into broken bones and such. The age of the roster is a contributing factor to some of that; bones get more brittle as the years go by. If the team's strategy is to save the physical play for do-o-die time in the playoffs, I guess it's an approach that can't be completely discounted.

[russianswede919293 95]

If the net were 2 hookers I bet Hudler would shoot to score more instead of always looking for the pass.