Call the team out

[VM1138 1,921]

Also, over the last 21 games we are dead last in the league in pp. It's not about bashing the wings. It's about appreciating what is real (there is still plenty to appreciate) and wait for the next few adjustments to be made. In Jimmy D I trust!

The PP is an embarrassment. I never thought I'd see the Wings so inept on the PP, not only in lack of scoring but in allowing shorthanded goals. I imagine we would have won a ton more games had the powerplay been even average. THAT is what frustrates me the most, because we've spent a decent amount of time on the PP this season.

Clearly the team still has offensive problems. I don't know if it's the offensive coach, or if it's the players, but next season, regardless of whether the Wings win the Cup this year, is going to see a pretty dramatic change on the forward lines.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

I don't understand the comparisons because there are none. The 08 team had 1st in the west locked down by the time the injury streak hit, and we had alot more offensive depth back then. That team was consistent and was top 5 in both GF and GA, right now our current team is a mess. And to make matters worse, I realize we're missing our 2 best players, but that's all were missing (I like Eaves but he's been gone so long, Ericsson is the 6th defenceman, and Kindl the 7th). In 08 we had everyone go out at the same time it seemed like, and we still held onto 1st. This year, no chance at it, we're gonna be lucky to get home ice at all unfortunately.

Yeah, I'm still waiting for an answer for all the posters who make that comparison.

All 764 of them.

[Fonzarelli 73]

The PP is an embarrassment. I never thought I'd see the Wings so inept on the PP, not only in lack of scoring but in allowing shorthanded goals. I imagine we would have won a ton more games had the powerplay been even average. THAT is what frustrates me the most, because we've spent a decent amount of time on the PP this season.

Clearly the team still has offensive problems. I don't know if it's the offensive coach, or if it's the players, but next season, regardless of whether the Wings win the Cup this year, is going to see a pretty dramatic change on the forward lines.

People may disagree but this falls on all 3 coaches. The stats don't lie. No change has been made over the year. Babcock refuses to change his system although it is pathetic. Wher is Lidstrom's input. He's been sitting and watching. No ideas? I thought they watched tapes of their inadequacies. Ian White has begun playing defence like he did when he was a Maple Leaf. Franzen is a dud, not a stud. An ass not a mule. Sorry for the rant.

[LeftWinger 4,937]

Helm, Abdelkader, and Smith are untouchable but not Filppula huh? I really hope that was an oversight.

Oops...ya, my mind was clouded.....

[pondrocket 35]

The PP is an embarrassment. I never thought I'd see the Wings so inept on the PP, not only in lack of scoring but in allowing shorthanded goals. I imagine we would have won a ton more games had the powerplay been even average. THAT is what frustrates me the most, because we've spent a decent amount of time on the PP this season.

Clearly the team still has offensive problems. I don't know if it's the offensive coach, or if it's the players, but next season, regardless of whether the Wings win the Cup this year, is going to see a pretty dramatic change on the forward lines.

It's still a great season, with some really skilled players & an amazing year with number 5! There won't be any meaningful changes until the off season. They get it right far more then they get it wrong. How great is it to have such a decline is important areas and still have a very competitive team. Enjoy what's left.

[Copenhagen848 58]

In my opinion, the single largest piece of the puzzle that has been missing, for the past few years even, is passion. Plain and simple.

[Frozen-Man 144]

Clearly the team still has offensive problems. I don't know if it's the offensive coach, or if it's the players, but next season, regardless of whether the Wings win the Cup this year, is going to see a pretty dramatic change on the forward lines.

I don't disagree about the PP, it has been abysmal and all the short handed goals against lately have just added insult to injury. I don't think it is quite accurate however, to say that the Wings have offensive problems in general. The Wings have had trouble putting pucks in the net lately (although I think injury has a fair bit to do with it) but they are still 4th in the league in goals for (as well as 4th in goals against and just one point behind 1st place for goal differential). Over the course of the season that have scored, they just aren't doing in lately (and again I think the loss of Pavs and Lids greatly impacts that).

[Motown4013 350]

That was a more skilled team & the rest of the western teams had not caught up to the new financial requirements & the teams in the west were chasing a finesse style of play.

The western teams are bigger now, we are less skilled & there is far more parody in the west. Today, the sharks are 9 points above 500 & are not in the play offs. It's not 08.

Yes, that must be why we broke a record with the most consecutive home wins EVER. Yes, we are doomed. The west is very talented and how many of those teams are big physical teams? Vancouver? St. Louis? No.

I understand that it's not 2008....but tell me how the 08 team was more skilled? As for the sharks, they aren't a 500 team because they are smaller- they are a 500 team because they are weaker in goal and don't have secondary scoring. I find it frustrating when people chalk up all of this teams woes to us not having a " big " team.

We are too old, too slow, too small...too many euros. That's what people have been saying about us since 97 while we were busy winning four cups

[pondrocket 35]

Yes, that must be why we broke a record with the most consecutive home wins EVER. Yes, we are doomed. The west is very talented and how many of those teams are big physical teams? Vancouver? St. Louis? No.

I understand that it's not 2008....but tell me how the 08 team was more skilled? As for the sharks, they aren't a 500 team because they are smaller- they are a 500 team because they are weaker in goal and don't have secondary scoring. I find it frustrating when people chalk up all of this teams woes to us not having a " big " team.

We are too old, too slow, too small...too many euros. That's what people have been saying about us since 97 while we were busy winning four cups

I chalk it up (this year) to an unhealthy team. Yes they broke the home record. The road record is poor. The last 21 games the wings are DEAD LAST on the pp.

In 08 we were deeper in goal, deeper on def (a little) and deeper up front & had a little more sand paper.

I absolutely hope for the best, I absolutely love watching the games & I absolutely feel Kenny missed an opportunity to improve.

The Wings are as tough as anybody, but this year the body has not survived as well.

Yes, that must be why we broke a record with the most consecutive home wins EVER. Yes, we are doomed. The west is very talented and how many of those teams are big physical teams? Vancouver? St. Louis? No.

I understand that it's not 2008....but tell me how the 08 team was more skilled? As for the sharks, they aren't a 500 team because they are smaller- they are a 500 team because they are weaker in goal and don't have secondary scoring. I find it frustrating when people chalk up all of this teams woes to us not having a " big " team.

We are too old, too slow, too small...too many euros. That's what people have been saying about us since 97 while we were busy winning four cups

BTW Vancouver is a good sized team. Watch out for the Preds. Alexander Radulov is on the way back.

[55fan 5,133]

Yeah, I'm still waiting for an answer for all the posters who make that comparison.

All 764 of them.

Oh, blast. I hit the +1 instead of the reply. Ok, next time you say something cool, I won't plus you. Knowing you, I shouldn't have to wait long.

Anyway...

I can only speak for myself on this, but where I'm seeing the comparison is in the attitude of people around here.

In 2008 we had a top pairing of Lilja and Lebda. We were missing Hasek, Cleary, Lids, Raffy, Kronner, and Cheli. We didn't yet have Stuart. We had Garret Stafford. 'Nuf said.

We lost 10 of 11 games. We were at the top of the heap before that. People panicked. Hair was torn out. People gave up and whined and wailed.

Fast forward to today. We were at the top. We had a herd of injuries. We've missed Howard, Pavel, Bert, Lids, Eaves, Jonny, and now possibly Joey and Mule. We are losing games. Cue the panic, hair tearing, whining, and wailing.

There are a lot of differences between the two seasons. I'd say more differences than similarities, but the similarities are there. We're not tearing it up, especially not on the PP this year, but we did have a nice little win streak going.

So there are some comparisons, and since 2008 ended up groovy enough, we hope that the similarities continue.

There's your answer. I'm sure you'll rip it to shreds. You have a good enough memory and you're knowledgeable enough that you've already made these connections and you're just challenging people to come out and say that the similarity is that we've had injuries and falsely come to the conclusion that since we had injuries then and won a Cup that injuries mean that we will win a Cup.

But I think that the people making the comparisons are doing it less because they think that we are assured of a win, and more to challenge the whiners and nay-sayers who think that because we're in 4th place, we are doomed to miss the playoffs, and it will be the '80s all over again.

In other words, people are making the comparison to a Cup-winning team to prove that winning a Cup despite injuries has happened, not to predict that it will happen again. Why? Because it's so much more polite than saying, "Shut the f*** up." every time someone wrings their hands and waves their hanky.

My $.02. If I was paid by the word, I'd charge you more.

[GMRwings1983 8,793]

Oh, blast. I hit the +1 instead of the reply. Ok, next time you say something cool, I won't plus you. Knowing you, I shouldn't have to wait long.

Anyway...

I can only speak for myself on this, but where I'm seeing the comparison is in the attitude of people around here.

In 2008 we had a top pairing of Lilja and Lebda. We were missing Hasek, Cleary, Lids, Raffy, Kronner, and Cheli. We didn't yet have Stuart. We had Garret Stafford. 'Nuf said.

We lost 10 of 11 games. We were at the top of the heap before that. People panicked. Hair was torn out. People gave up and whined and wailed.

Fast forward to today. We were at the top. We had a herd of injuries. We've missed Howard, Pavel, Bert, Lids, Eaves, Jonny, and now possibly Joey and Mule. We are losing games. Cue the panic, hair tearing, whining, and wailing.

There are a lot of differences between the two seasons. I'd say more differences than similarities, but the similarities are there. We're not tearing it up, especially not on the PP this year, but we did have a nice little win streak going.

So there are some comparisons, and since 2008 ended up groovy enough, we hope that the similarities continue.

There's your answer. I'm sure you'll rip it to shreds. You have a good enough memory and you're knowledgeable enough that you've already made these connections and you're just challenging people to come out and say that the similarity is that we've had injuries and falsely come to the conclusion that since we had injuries then and won a Cup that injuries mean that we will win a Cup.

But I think that the people making the comparisons are doing it less because they think that we are assured of a win, and more to challenge the whiners and nay-sayers who think that because we're in 4th place, we are doomed to miss the playoffs, and it will be the '80s all over again.

In other words, people are making the comparison to a Cup-winning team to prove that winning a Cup despite injuries has happened, not to predict that it will happen again. Why? Because it's so much more polite than saying, "Shut the f*** up." every time someone wrings their hands and waves their hanky.

My $.02. If I was paid by the word, I'd charge you more.

I have no intention of ripping your post because you didn't say anything that wasn't true. We did win the Cup in 2008 despite a slump in February and injuries.

However, in retrospect that team had a much better likelihood of winning the Cup. They were a hungry team that lost in the Conference Finals the year before and had a boat load of players that had never won a Cup. There was just more hunger overall. Not to mention, Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Holmstrom were better players than now and Franzen was a monster in the playoffs. Furthermore, our bottom two lines made us harder to play against in the playoffs. Also, that team did actually win the President's trophy, hence they had a great season with just one bad slump coming in February. I don't remember them stinking it up on the road either. And finally, it didn't hurt having Osgood and Hasek as your goalies.

This team hasn't shown us much in the last two playoff runs and they just don't seem hungry that often. Maybe there's too many guys on this roster who already have a Cup. Also, they're not going to win the President's trophy or even come close most likely. The road record has been awful. And unlike 2008, our 4th line is unlikely to cause anyone fits in the playoffs. The special teams hasn't looked that good and Babcock doesn't seem to be getting through to the players as much as he did earlier in his tenure.

We've had plenty of slumps the last few years, and someone always brings up that 2008 February. I remember it being brought up last year and the year before. I just don't feel the comparison is a good one. All it shows is that we once won a Cup when many people on LGW were unhappy and thought we wouldn't. In retrospect, we should have known better at the time.

If this team wins the Cup, I don't think one can say we should have known better in retrospect. This team has no signs of being a Cup favorite, unlike 2008.

[Motown4013 350]

I chalk it up (this year) to an unhealthy team. Yes they broke the home record. The road record is poor. The last 21 games the wings are DEAD LAST on the pp.

In 08 we were deeper in goal, deeper on def (a little) and deeper up front & had a little more sand paper.

I absolutely hope for the best, I absolutely love watching the games & I absolutely feel Kenny missed an opportunity to improve.

The Wings are as tough as anybody, but this year the body has not survived as well.

BTW Vancouver is a good sized team. Watch out for the Preds. Alexander Radulov is on the way back.

We are unhealthy every year at some point...every team is. As for depth, I disagree....we are just as deep as 08 and we are BETTER in net than we have been in 10 years. Howard, when healthy has been awesome. The pp is concerning but it has been all year and we need to work it out.

Vancouver isn't a good sized team....they are average and Radulov doesn't scare me....he has played in the KHL for 4 years....look how that worked out for Hudler. Plus, if they bring AR back this year, there goes his intro contract and he won't have any time to gel with his teammates.

All I am trying to say is that you can dog this team for it's size or grit or whatever but this team has heart. We may not have the best team but I think this team is tired of going out of the playoffs disappointed and I believe they will rise to the occasion

[Motown4013 350]

Oh, blast. I hit the +1 instead of the reply. Ok, next time you say something cool, I won't plus you. Knowing you, I shouldn't have to wait long.

Anyway...

I can only speak for myself on this, but where I'm seeing the comparison is in the attitude of people around here.

In 2008 we had a top pairing of Lilja and Lebda. We were missing Hasek, Cleary, Lids, Raffy, Kronner, and Cheli. We didn't yet have Stuart. We had Garret Stafford. 'Nuf said.

We lost 10 of 11 games. We were at the top of the heap before that. People panicked. Hair was torn out. People gave up and whined and wailed.

Fast forward to today. We were at the top. We had a herd of injuries. We've missed Howard, Pavel, Bert, Lids, Eaves, Jonny, and now possibly Joey and Mule. We are losing games. Cue the panic, hair tearing, whining, and wailing.

There are a lot of differences between the two seasons. I'd say more differences than similarities, but the similarities are there. We're not tearing it up, especially not on the PP this year, but we did have a nice little win streak going.

So there are some comparisons, and since 2008 ended up groovy enough, we hope that the similarities continue.

There's your answer. I'm sure you'll rip it to shreds. You have a good enough memory and you're knowledgeable enough that you've already made these connections and you're just challenging people to come out and say that the similarity is that we've had injuries and falsely come to the conclusion that since we had injuries then and won a Cup that injuries mean that we will win a Cup.

But I think that the people making the comparisons are doing it less because they think that we are assured of a win, and more to challenge the whiners and nay-sayers who think that because we're in 4th place, we are doomed to miss the playoffs, and it will be the '80s all over again.

In other words, people are making the comparison to a Cup-winning team to prove that winning a Cup despite injuries has happened, not to predict that it will happen again. Why? Because it's so much more polite than saying, "Shut the f*** up." every time someone wrings their hands and waves their hanky.

My $.02. If I was paid by the word, I'd charge you more.

Lol....I do often feel that people on these boards are manic depressive. We win 5 in a row and we are the best team ever to play the game. Lose a few and the sky is falling, we will exit the playoffs in the 1 st round and Bertuzzi will be looking for a nursing home in the off season.

[Nightfall 871]

I have no intention of ripping your post because you didn't say anything that wasn't true. We did win the Cup in 2008 despite a slump in February and injuries.

However, in retrospect that team had a much better likelihood of winning the Cup. They were a hungry team that lost in the Conference Finals the year before and had a boat load of players that had never won a Cup. There was just more hunger overall. Not to mention, Lidstrom, Zetterberg and Holmstrom were better players than now and Franzen was a monster in the playoffs. Furthermore, our bottom two lines made us harder to play against in the playoffs. Also, that team did actually win the President's trophy, hence they had a great season with just one bad slump coming in February. I don't remember them stinking it up on the road either. And finally, it didn't hurt having Osgood and Hasek as your goalies.

This team hasn't shown us much in the last two playoff runs and they just don't seem hungry that often. Maybe there's too many guys on this roster who already have a Cup. Also, they're not going to win the President's trophy or even come close most likely. The road record has been awful. And unlike 2008, our 4th line is unlikely to cause anyone fits in the playoffs. The special teams hasn't looked that good and Babcock doesn't seem to be getting through to the players as much as he did earlier in his tenure.

We've had plenty of slumps the last few years, and someone always brings up that 2008 February. I remember it being brought up last year and the year before. I just don't feel the comparison is a good one. All it shows is that we once won a Cup when many people on LGW were unhappy and thought we wouldn't. In retrospect, we should have known better at the time.

If this team wins the Cup, I don't think one can say we should have known better in retrospect. This team has no signs of being a Cup favorite, unlike 2008.

You may have thought they had a better likelihood of winning the cup, but the simple fact of the matter is that you are only saying that in hindsight. There are 16 teams that have a likelihood of winning the cup when the playoffs come around. Maybe the top team in the division has a little more of a likelihood. Only 7 teams that won the presidents trophy have won the stanley cup that season. Vancouver thought that they were the team to beat last year, and their fans thought they had more of a likelihood to win the cup. Yet, they didn't win the cup. Oh, and that hunger you talk about isn't evident during the regular season in game 60 and 70. It is evident in the 2nd and 3rd round of the playoffs.

I will give you this, I haven't been impressed with the play of this team the last two seasons. Seems that they have made some poor decisions defensively. I like this team this year, when healthy.