51 replies to this topic

[Red Wings Addict]

Good play last night to set up the Homer goal. That was all Mursak's speed and awareness, imo. Hopefully one of many to come!

[Red Wings Addict]

He has progressed to the point where he now has a tail.

[Aussie_Wing]

Hilarious!

[Din758]

ya what a stud. very dastyukian play to take the puck through the neutral zone then make a nice pass outside which leads to the original shot on goal. everytime i try to tell my friends how sweet hes going to be, nobody quite understands me yet. theyll see!

[Red Wings Addict]

This one is for Mr. Aussie_Wing. And myself. And anyone else who is a fan of Mursak.

Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock sees offensive potential in speedy grinder Jan Mursak
http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2012/02/red_wings_coach_mike_babcock_s_1.html

DETROIT – Jan Mursak is a tremendous skater with some puck-dangling ability, qualities he used to score 24 goals with the Grand Rapids Griffins two seasons ago.

For now, he is just trying to establish himself as a fourth-line grinder and energy player for the Detroit Red Wings, someone whose main objective is to avoid being scored against.

But coach Mike Babcock sees some offensive upside in Mursak.

“He can really shoot the puck. He scores every day in practice,'' Babcock said. “You don't score in practice and not translate it to games eventually. We think he's going to be an important player one day.''

Mursak scored his first goal of the season in Tuesday's 5-2 win at Columbus, his second goal in 31 NHL games.

“It feels good, hopefully I can score a few more,'' Mursak said. “I think our line (with Tomas Holmstrom and Cory Emmerton) played pretty good. We were pretty strong on the puck down low.''

Part of becoming a better scorer is putting yourself in better scoring position. That's what Mursak did when he went to the net, took a pass from Emmerton, spun and fired in a shot.

“I've been feeling good. I think I was playing pretty well, too,'' Mursak said. “I didn't give up much, played good defensively, but I still have to get better in the offensive zone to put myself in better scoring position.

“I was playing too much in the corners. (Tuesday), I just went in front of the net. Hopefully, in the next few games, I can get even better at that.''

Mursak is getting the opportunity because Pavel Datsyuk has missed four games following arthroscopic knee surgery. Datsyuk is expected to start skating in the next couple of days and return within two weeks.

“If you don't play for a while and then they put you in it's kind of hard to get back. So right now I played quite a few games in a row and I'm getting more comfortable from game to game.''

Mursak has played only 12 games, after breaking his ankle in the preseason and missing four months.

“I have no problems with my ankle anymore, so I can be the same as before the injury,'' Mursak said. “There's just little things I have to do better. Be a little better in defensive zone. I think this will come (with) the games I play.''

Said Babcock: “It's too bad for the kid that he broke his ankle; we thought he was going to be a big part of things. We think he's going to be a real good player for us.''

Unable to acquire a veteran depth forward by Monday's trading deadline -- due to a lack of sellers and inflated asking prices – the Red Wings will lean more on young players like Mursak and Emmerton.

“It's nice because that means we'll get more ice time,'' Mursak said.

[Aussie_Wing]

Great read!!

Jan is definitely starting to build momentum! He's definitely been playing better lately, got his speed back, is cycling the puck well, playing strong defensively. I like these quotes from Babs, because Jan definitely has a very good shot, it's a heavy shot that will draw a rebound. I hope as he gains more confidence he'll start to unleash it more!

[WorkingOvertime]

"Jan Mursak is our hero."

Edited by WorkingOvertime, 04 March 2012 - 11:52 AM.

[Red Wings Addict]

"Jan Mursak is our hero."

Geez... What is it like for Kopitar?

[fish]

According to the transparent, these fans are from Maribor-region ;-)
and he IS Slovenian hero - hockey wise...
Anze is at the moment by far #1 anyway and I wouldn't mind if they play together again someday soon in the future.
The only bad thing is that once in the nhl, they are practically lost for the national team.
But even without them I am confident that Slovenia will again qualify for the elite division in April.
check this out :
http://eliteprospect..._sum_totals=yes

[Red Wings Addict]

[Red Wings Addict]

Guess who placed 2nd in Bloopers of the Year?!

[Johnz96]

Mursak's progress was stalled by injury, it would be more fair to evaluate him next year