293 replies to this topic

[Aussie_Wing]

I'll make them short, because I realise I post too much and people won't bother!

- Cleary was awesome, and should be on the top line this season.
- Datsyuk is a marvel.
- Mursak was great, love his speed and energy, and he is strong on the backcheck.
- Brunnstrom's skating surprised me, very smooth, and he's bigger than I thought too. Very impressed.
- Hudler looked good, and ready to go.
- Smith's awfully close to the NHL. Going to be a big point producer in the NHL.
- Emmerton seemed to get more comfortabe as the night wore on, after a slow start.

[Red Wings Addict]

And the Wings didn't have Zetterberg. What is your point? This game means and shows nothing but players on an individual level for coaching staff to examine.

Newbieeee.

[Austrianwing]

looks like the second goal was Hudler with a deflection. I'm happy to see it, but let the arguments commence...

edit: terrible typing

Edited by Austrianwing, 21 September 2011 - 09:33 PM.

[cjm502]

Smith might have been the best defenseman on the ice tonight imo, he is damn good. I think he could hang in the NHL no problem right now but why rush it.

[stevkrause]

Yeah Commie looked exactly like he should out there tonight. A solid physical presence but man does he ever look huge out there, its gonna be nice having that to patrol the blue line all season long and clear the crease.

Brunnstrom showed flashes of skill but he seems like one of those no toolbox kind of guys, youre almost out of the league in a preseason game and you pull that one handed s*** with a guy right on your back? come on now

Exxelby looks like he could be a good second call up after Smitty for sure, Janik probably has the edge right now but who knows. Exelby is probably better than Janik.

I dont totally agree with your assessment of Pyett. He looks like he could be a better version of Meech, which is a decent utility guy to have, didnt look great didnt look terrible.

Also thought Tatar looked great and was really fast and shifty. Mursak is going to be a player as well.

Johnson looks to have the edge so far in the 4th line center race, cant wait to see what unfolds.


Thats all the player assessments ill be diong for now, see you folks in the GDT tomorrow

I agree... Brunnstrom looked less impressive in the 3rd... I made my assessment in the 2nd int, haha, Brunnstrom still shows flashes though and I reallllly want to see us sign him to a 2 way deal and see if he earns a shot next year after a full season in GR... I still stand by my Pyett assessment too, his passes were poorly targeted, his decision making very poor and his positioning no better... he's got a good shot and some good wheels and I think he's used to those attributes bailing him out, but that doesn't fly in the NHL... I've seen him in GR several times live as well, as well as streams and I just don't ever see him as anything more than a career AHL'er...

I also agree with your assesment on the 14th forward - Johnson and Conner have the edge over Emmerton at this point from what I saw tonight...

Edited by stevkrause, 22 September 2011 - 07:48 AM.

[Detroit # 1 Fan]

From one of the biggest Hudler haters out there, he looked alot faster tonight. Thank god for UFC training, now lets see him with the gloves off

[Austrianwing]

From one of the biggest Hudler haters out there, he looked alot faster tonight. Thank god for UFC training, now lets see him with the gloves off

I like to root for the little guy, but last season after spending a year in the KHL, he just did not have the wheels to get into position fast enough to make any use of his vision on the ice. He won't ever be big, and he certainly won't ever skate like Pavel Bure. But, the added quickness I saw this game might be enough for him to start getting some points again. I for one never thought it was lack of effort; what I saw was the inability to scoot his ass from A to B quick enough to do a damn thing. That, along with a lack of confidence left him pretty useless. I really hope he rounds back into form, because then he adds an offensive depth to the team that is hard to cover all the time.
I know, eternal damn optimist

[Doc Holliday]

This is the most positive I've seen the boards after a loss.

Am I in the wrong forum?

[hillbillywingsfan]

This is the most positive I've seen the boards after a loss.

Am I in the wrong forum?

Well it was until you came on and posted this=)

[Heaten]

Smith might have been the best defenseman on the ice tonight imo, he is damn good. I think he could hang in the NHL no problem right now but why rush it.

Smith was a turnover machine tonight. He's not NHL ready, he's got a ways to go yet. He wasn't even the best dman last year on the Griffins. Hope he improves significantly so we don't have another Kindl situation on our hands.

[Aussie_Wing]

Smith was a turnover machine tonight. He's not NHL ready, he's got a ways to go yet. He wasn't even the best dman last year on the Griffins. Hope he improves significantly so we don't have another Kindl situation on our hands.

Really? I'm surprised to read this, I thought he showed a ton of promise.

Maybe I'm too high on Smith? I thought he looked good in last years pre-season too.

[WorkingOvertime]

Smith was a turnover machine tonight. He's not NHL ready, he's got a ways to go yet. He wasn't even the best dman last year on the Griffins. Hope he improves significantly so we don't have another Kindl situation on our hands.

IMO Smith looked almost as good as Stuart and Kronner, and better than the rest of the defensemen. With that said, I think the defense looked relatively weak all around, but the Wings iced a relatively poor lineup (which I liked because we got to see the tryouts, AHLers, etc.).

[Austrianwing]

IMO Smith looked almost as good as Stuart and Kronner, and better than the rest of the defensemen. With that said, I think the defense looked relatively weak all around, but the Wings iced a relatively poor lineup (which I liked because we got to see the tryouts, AHLers, etc.).

I won't say the defense looked great, but it seemed to me that Smith has a few things to learn. Commodore had to play the split on the two on one, twice, paired with the young man. Smith was doing some nice stuff, and when he was there he shut down well. He just seemed to be somewhere else on the ice at moments that defense might have been helpful

[sputman]

I'll make them short, because I realise I post too much and people won't bother!

- Cleary was awesome, and should be on the top line this season.
- Datsyuk is a marvel.
- Mursak was great, love his speed and energy, and he is strong on the backcheck.
- Brunnstrom's skating surprised me, very smooth, and he's bigger than I thought too. Very impressed.
- Hudler looked good, and ready to go.
- Smith's awfully close to the NHL. Going to be a big point producer in the NHL.
- Emmerton seemed to get more comfortabe as the night wore on, after a slow start.

that post is way to positive for these parts, mister.

[Danielsm]

Smith was a turnover machine tonight. He's not NHL ready, he's got a ways to go yet. He wasn't even the best dman last year on the Griffins. Hope he improves significantly so we don't have another Kindl situation on our hands.

He wasn't necessarily as bad with turnovers are you make him out to be. He made a few, but not a lot. That's to be expected when you're not playing with a concrete team - hell Pasha turned over the puck at least once, maybe twice and Kronner the same (which actually resulted in a goal for PIT). Besides the turnovers, he was looking really well and actually finished the game as +1. Also, nice to see Pasha as one of the three stars too! He looked so composed out there last night, very good to see.

Edited by Danielsm, 22 September 2011 - 08:01 AM.

[LeftWinger]

why is does johnson have an R next to his name.

is there another johnson on the team?


i apologize for using the word johnson.

He has worn it that way for a long, long time. I don't know where he started, maybe when he was traded to Tampa from Florida back in 99-00 he did it because he played with Mike Johnson on Tampa and then it St. Louis he played with Brent Johnson, then again with Mike Johnson and also Erik Johnson, maybe now he just may think of it as a superstition or something or just because he has worn it so much, he likes to have the R. on there. This is Greg Johnson's younger brother, wonder how ol' Greg is doing with his health issues these days... Anyhow, Good Luck to Ryan!

Seriously. Does being in Pitt just infect people with *******-itis? I notice they downplayed it when Datsyuk absolutely embarrassed "Geno" behind the Pens net.

And that's another thing, they need to quitf****** calling him "Geno" like they're BFFs and have tea parties together.

Kinda like when Bill Clement always called Lidstrom "Nicky." Gosh I f'ing hated that, like he was best friends with him his whole life, I am willing to bet even Lidstrom's mom doesn't call him Nicky!

[LeftWinger]

WHAT? So now you can turn your back to a guy skating next to you and get an automatic 5-minute major? Jesus.

Edit: Glad I'm not the only one that thinks that is absolutely f***ed...

That is how players are going to draw a ton of 5 minute majors this year. Consider it a "diving" type penalty call, turn your back on the guy at the last minute and now instead of being check off the puck, you have drawn a 5 minute major and helped your team out. Guys do it all the time, they have for a long time, they turn their back to you and face the boards knowing you cannot check them, now this new rule gives them even more incentive to do so and it is going to make the NHL look even more ridiculous. Consider these two new rules, the Crosby Rules. You cannot play someone hard on the boards anymore and you cannot line someone up in the middle of the ice if they are admiring a pass or just accepted a pass. Konstantinov and Scott Stevens would've been run out of the league with these dumb ass rules. Phuck Crosby, so now we have to change rules to protect him when he returns to the lineup? Screw that, I hope he gets his bell rung first game back!

How was that not a penalty on the Brunnstrom play? The Pens player slashed the stick right out of his hands.

You didn't hear the announcers say that the player "smartly" knocked the stick out of his hands before he got the shot off? I guess if the announcers say it was a smart play then it's not a penalty! (oh, but they were call for a coup d'état when it happened to "Geno" on a powerplay earlier...go figure)

[LeftWinger]

After watching this game, it's painfully obvious to me that Detroit doesn't have what it takes to compete with the upper echelon teams in the sport.

And the Pens didn't even have Crosby.

The Wings didn't have Zetterberg, Filppula, Lidstrom, Franzen, Bertuzzi, Helm or Abdelkader... not to mention Ian White.

I am not sure who else the Pens were missing, but they did have a lot of their starters in, more than we did for sure. They were sans Staal and Kennedy (did Kennedy play last night?) but other than that, they were icing an NHL team. As someone mentioned earlier during the Malkin suck-fest by the announcers, its a given that Malkin wouldn't have Brunnstrom defending him in a regular season game, let alone playoffs, so he won't be as "noticeable" during the season.

[syntax]

I didn't think we were too bad last night, besides a couple of defensive breakdowns. I thought everyone (especially Pavel) looked pretty good. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the preseason goes. Was nice to just sit down and watch hockey...that's for sure.

[GoalieManPat]

My thoughts after the game:
1. The young kids looked good. Tator and Mursak where flying around and Emmerton did nothing to lose the last forward spot.
2. Smith is NHL ready now. I would love to see him up this year a lot but we cant be greedy and another year of 20+ minutes in GR will be great for him and the team next season
3. Hudler must really be worried about losing his spot and getting moved. He showed more jump and speed last night than any game last year.
4. I liked Brunnstrom but the hot dog move on the breakaway is just not acceptable when your trying to win a spot. Take the puck hard backhand and he scores probably. The one hand on the stick made it to easy for the D to break up.
5. Cleary looked real good minus the one lack of concentration and boarding call.
6. Jimmy looked very rusty. Should have been better with all 3 goals.
7. Dats is just Dats. Nothing more needs to be said.
8. Kronner looked real good getting into the offence always at the right time.