13 replies to this topic

[Andy Pred 48]

Will Babs have the ba##s to sit one of his top 6 guys for tonights game?
Maybe Cleary needs to sit and re-group, I really do think the loss of
Mursak has hit us on the chk line. Helm Eaves and Mursak is one line
we could do with right now. I cant see Babs changing too much he's
gunna give his vets more time yet, i dont know how long but we could
start another 5 game win streak tonight so i hope so. I would suggest
giving Cleary a broadcast seat and handing Brunnstrom some top 6 mins.
We dont want to make the same mistake with him as we did with Leino.
The kid aint a chk line player, so dont use him on it, use his skill
for a few games with Hank and mule maybe?

Franzen Zetterberg Brunnstrom
Eaves Datsyuk Hudler
Bertuzzi Filpulla Helm
Miller Abdelkader Emmerton
Sit Cleary and Babs has stated that Homer wont play back to back.
Lidstom Kronwall
White Stuart
Ericsson Kindl.
Howard

[wingsfan4795]

Lidstrom and white have been tearing it up together

[blueadams]

there's a lines thread already in existence bud

[Aussie_Wing]

I think Brunnstrom needs another opportunity. He was terrible against Washington, and I saw everything which he was infamous for, but we need to determine whether he’s got a future. I think he’s waived when Mursak returns, but we still might as well try and get some value for him while we can. For mine he plays tomorrow.

Bertuzzi is playing dreadful hockey and I’d sit him. Of course it won’t happen, he’s too much of a staple of the team to sit, and he was staggeringly out there when we had the empty net, so Babs won’t sit him. He seriously needs to look like he cares though, I’m over the carefree attitude.

Cleary needs to get off the top line, and now. I know he’s not 100% fit, but that’s exactly why he shouldn’t be taking a scoring line role. He’s playing 18+ minutes a night and giving us nothing in return.

Emmerton needs to get back in, he’s learnt his lessons from a terrible game against the Caps, and we need him back to centre the 4th line and make it look useful again.

Here’s what I’d roll with:

Hudler – Datsyuk – Holmstrom
Filppula – Zetterberg – Franzen
Cleary – Helm – Eaves
Brunnstrom – Emmerton – Abdelkader

Defensive pairings stay the same.

[VM1138]

I missed last night's game, so I could be incorrect in my analysis, but bear with me.

The defensive pairings work great and should be left alone. The forward lines worked great at the start of the season but now have gone cold. If Zetterberg and Datsyuk are still playing together, they need to be split up. That combination unfortunately has not been effective since '08, I think. I could be forgetting a period later on, but the years are starting to run together, haha. I kind of wish Babs would just stick with some combinations, though, so they can build up chemistry together. I get that everyone can play with everyone else well enough, which is good, but it sort of prevents anyone from having truly dynamic chemistry that can take over a game.

If D and Z stay together, I'd like to see Homer put on there. A recent interview had Datsyuk mentioning he liked having Homer on there. Homer is slow, but fast in spurts and is a better net presence than Cleary. I know he's aging, but give him a few games to see if that will fix the top line.

Then I'd run with Franzen-Flip-Hudler for the second line. Abdelkader-Helm-Bertuzzi for the third. And any random combination for the fourth. Maybe try an Eaves-Miller-Cleary? I know the fourth line would be a demotion for Cleary in a way, but it would also give us a line similar to the effective third line. And it'd be better than sitting Cleary but might send a message to everyone else. The only downside is that Cleary works hard and singling him out could have a bad effect.

[GMRwings1983]

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Bertuzzi
Hudler - Filppula - Franzen
Holmstrom - Helm - Cleary
Miller - Abdelkader - Eaves/Downey

[wings_fanatic]

As the poster above mentioned, Pavs said he actually would rather Homer on his line than Cleary, and Homer has been doing all the little things right to earn his spot on that line over Cleary. Therefore, I think the lines should be:

Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Homer
Hudler- Filpulla- Franzen
Cleary- Helm- Bertuzzi
Eaves- Abdelkator- Miller

I do not like the idea of changing lines all the time if we lose, because then everyone will want lines to be changed all the time, all season, which does not allow for chemistry. IMO, Pavs and Hank worked great together last night, and if they continue to play at a high level like that, then there is no reason to not play them together. Homer needs to be on their line to track pucks and keep play simple. The 2nd line, though it sucked last game, proved many times this season that they have chemistry and also the ability to put pucks in the net.

The 3rd and 4th lines, however, have not been very good lately, so a small change is needed. A 3rd line of Helm, Cleary and Bert is good because it has skill and grit... they can defend opposing lines and provide some offense. The 4th line would be a typical checking line, which would be good.

Quite Frankly, Babcock needs to keep his lines together if possible, even if in a little funk, because the last couple of season, we have had a billion different line combos, and look how that has turned out for us in the post season. In 2008, Babs stuck with his line combinations for most of the season (Pavs and Hank played together most the time) even if we were losing games, because you need the chemistry there more than it has been. I think this is one of the most crucial adjustments Babs has to make. So, I would stick to the lines for now. If they lose 1 or 2 more games in a row, then you would start looking at some minor adjustments.

[WorkingOvertime]

Will Babs have the ba##s to sit one of his top 6 guys for tonights game?
Maybe Cleary needs to sit and re-group, I really do think the loss of
Mursak has hit us on the chk line. Helm Eaves and Mursak is one line
we could do with right now. I cant see Babs changing too much he's
gunna give his vets more time yet, i dont know how long but we could
start another 5 game win streak tonight so i hope so. I would suggest
giving Cleary a broadcast seat and handing Brunnstrom some top 6 mins.
We dont want to make the same mistake with him as we did with Leino.
The kid aint a chk line player, so dont use him on it, use his skill
for a few games with Hank and mule maybe?

Franzen Zetterberg Brunnstrom
Eaves Datsyuk Hudler
Bertuzzi Filpulla Helm
Miller Abdelkader Emmerton
Sit Cleary and Babs has stated that Homer wont play back to back.
Lidstom Kronwall
White Stuart
Ericsson Kindl.
Howard

I didn't think Brunnstrom would be given a first line spot, but I am surprised he was waived today.

Maybe we will see the Cleary- Abby- Bert back together. They were great in the Phoenix series last year, and the fourth line of Eaves- Helm- Miller was also very good.

[wings_fanatic]

I don't think Fabian was waived today because I just read an Mlive article stating that he was simply a healthy scratch tonight along with Eaves.

[WorkingOvertime]

I don't think Fabian was waived today because I just read an Mlive article stating that he was simply a healthy scratch tonight along with Eaves.

Khan confirmed it via MLive.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros]

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Bertuzzi
Hudler - Filppula - Franzen
Holmstrom - Helm - Cleary
Miller - Abdelkader - Eaves/Downey

Eaves is a healthy scratch tonight

[Toefuzz]

I wouldn't mind seeing Hudler or Flip on Datsyuk's wing

[SouthernWingsFan]

Will Babs have the ba##s to sit one of his top 6 guys for tonights game?
Maybe Cleary needs to sit and re-group, I really do think the loss of
Mursak has hit us on the chk line. Helm Eaves and Mursak is one line
we could do with right now. I cant see Babs changing too much he's
gunna give his vets more time yet, i dont know how long but we could
start another 5 game win streak tonight so i hope so. I would suggest
giving Cleary a broadcast seat and handing Brunnstrom some top 6 mins.
We dont want to make the same mistake with him as we did with Leino.
The kid aint a chk line player, so dont use him on it, use his skill
for a few games with Hank and mule maybe?

Franzen Zetterberg Brunnstrom
Eaves Datsyuk Hudler
Bertuzzi Filpulla Helm
Miller Abdelkader Emmerton
Sit Cleary and Babs has stated that Homer wont play back to back.
Lidstom Kronwall
White Stuart
Ericsson Kindl.
Howard

Babcock always juggles lines.

Not a snowball's chance in hell though that he sits Cleary.

Just keep trying stuff with your same personnel, too early to go batty and thinking major roster shakeups are needed. Every team will go through a 3-game losing skid every now and again.

[wings_fanatic]

Honestly though, Cleary has been our worst player. Even in the games where the Wings were winning, I was still claiming that Cleary was playing like crap and that he does not deserve to be on the top line, and with this losing streak, he is just proving my point even more. Cleary is a great player when on the 2nd or 3rd line, but he simply is not a first line player because he tries to do too much. That is the ultimate difference between him and Homer- - Homer does his job and lets Pavs and Hank do the rest, which gets the job done. Thats the only major line change that I want to see.