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evilzyme

Babcock loving this young group, Abby thinks any team can win it, and

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I was doing my normal morning hockey reads, catching up on the latest news that happened from when I went to sleep until when I woke up, and I came across this article written by Malik.

Babcock has said that he loves the new challlenge this young group provides him, and that while decisions and mistakes may make people scratch their head, this is the most consistent group he's had in terms of work ethic and preparation.

"It’s been exciting and invigorating to coach a team with a lot of kids,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock insisted Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I’ve heard people say that we’re not consistent, but I will say this is the most consistent group we’ve had in terms of preparation and work ethic since we’ve been here. Do we make mistakes and do things that make you scratch your head? Yeah, we’ve got kids playing a lot. But we compete for one and another and that’s what we’re still hanging in the playoff picture.”

Along with that, the article provides information on Holland and the trade deadline, DeKeyser and Abby speaking on behalf that any team could win the cup this year.

http://kuklaskorner.com/tmr/comments/this-years-red-wings-is-enduring-a-transitional-year-but-its-coach-is-enjoy

“Especially in the Western Conference, anybody can beat anybody,” Abdelkader said. “You just have to get in the playoffs, when anything can happen. Look at what happened with LA last season” when the Kings became the first eighth-seeded team to hoist the Stanley Cup.

“We still have a lot of good pieces here and tremendous leadership and we have a backstop in Howie that bails us out when we need him to,” Abdelkader said. “We definitely don’t have some of the pieces that have led this team for so many years, but we’ve got leaders who have stepped up on ice with their play.”

DeKeyser:

“He’s coming to a program where things are going to be a bit different, yet we just have to get him in the lineup,'' Babcock said. “The reason we didn’t play him this weekend is because he has been off from practice since (Sunday). And we want him to be skating and comfortable for when he does go in for his first game.''

Holland:

While Holland believes there will be plenty of trades before the deadline, he doesn’t imagine there will be many impact deals done. “I just think it’s the league,” he said. “I think the conversation we’re having today is the same conversation we’re having next year and I think it’s the conversation from last year. If we pulled up last year’s trade-deadline moves, and every year there’s between 20-30, 90 percent of them are little depth moves. It’s a fourth-round pick for this one, a third-round pick for that one. Every year there’s that odd big deal, but teams really make their moves at the June draft. And then there are some rentals.

“Obviously, Pittsburgh has been really aggressive, but beyond that I don’t think much has gone on around the National Hockey League. I think we wake up Wednesday and because of history we’ll have 20-30 trades, but lots of deals will be made for depth. I’ve had some conversations with some teams about the odd depth player. And I really don’t have an interest. Again, because of the development of (Jakub) Kindl, the development of Lashoff, Brendan Smith, because of the signing of Dan DeKeyser on defence, we’ve got nine guys here and had to trade away Kent Huskins to make room.

“Because of the development of Joakim Andersson, who we really like, because Patty Eaves is healthy, because we signed Damien Brunner, who can play in the NHL, you look up front and we don’t need any depth. Then you look and Todd Bertuzzi (back injury) is practicing every day and barring any setback we’re hoping sometime in the next couple of weeks that he’s going to play. It’s been tough year for (Darren) Helm for injuries, tough year for Bert with injuries, for Sammy (Mikael Samuelsson) with injuries, but we’ve been able to stay afloat and I think our depth has kept up afloat. So I can’t go out and acquire any better depth than the depth we’ve got that’s kept us afloat.”

“There are depth players out there that in the past we may have been interested in, but because of what has transpired here over the last 6-8 weeks with all the injuries it’s been an opportunity for some young guys to get in and they’ve done a good job,” he said. “Lashoff, Kindl and Andersson have really done a great job. Tatar played well when he was in. I don’t think (Gustav) Nyquist has really gotten the opportunity that he really needs. He’s sort of in and out. (Tomas) Tatar seemed to have a better opportunity, but there’s more people back though. I think we’re a deeper team today than we were six weeks ago. And I’m hoping we can get lucky over the next six weeks with some of these injured people.

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Make the playoffs and anything can happen? Right. When was the last time that a team with terrible special teams, and middle of the road offense and defense won a cup?

I'm so sick of this "LA did it last year" bulls***. LA was a stellar team in every area but one, they couldn't score. They made some improvements at the deadline, finally got some offensive stars to wake up, and bingo bango you've got a cup team.

If Justin Abdelkader thinks any team can beat any other team in the playoffs I'd like to remind him of last Sunday's game. Psss...Justin...they didn't even have Hossa and Sharp. Anything can happen right?

Except Justin Abdelkader outplaying a top six forward.

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Make the playoffs and anything can happen? Right. When was the last time that a team with terrible special teams, and middle of the road offense and defense won a cup?

I'm so sick of this "LA did it last year" bulls***. LA was a stellar team in every area but one, they couldn't score. They made some improvements at the deadline, finally got some offensive stars to wake up, and bingo bango you've got a cup team.

If Justin Abdelkader thinks any team can beat any other team in the playoffs I'd like to remind him of last Sunday's game. Psss...Justin...they didn't even have Hossa and Sharp. Anything can happen right?

Except Justin Abdelkader outplaying a top six forward.

LA was a team that hung around all season based on the play of Quick, winning a bunch of games 1-0, 2-1, etc. It was the move to bring Jeff Carter to town, their version of Brendan Shanahan in more ways than one, that allowed everything to click into place with their forward lines. Is the return of a healthy Bert or Sammy going to do that for the Wings? I seriously doubt that. To a lesser extent, maybe it's Helm if he can get back in the line-up but even then, I think the lack of a reliable shoot-first forward in the top 6 means this team is going nowhere once the playoffs start.

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Sunday was not a clear representation of hawks v wings. fluke game, took them to OT and SO in the 2 matchups already played.

And although its unlikely, why cant our offense just turn it on and get hot for a month. Once we get Z back thats hopefully a boost for filp and Brunner. Franzen is capable, just streaky.

Anything can happen.

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Sunday was not a clear representation of hawks v wings. fluke game, took them to OT and SO in the 2 matchups already played.

And although its unlikely, why cant our offense just turn it on and get hot for a month. Once we get Z back thats hopefully a boost for filp and Brunner. Franzen is capable, just streaky.

Anything can happen.

Didnt help that we didn't have Z

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Babs having this team where it is at the moment that we can even remotely be discussing the playoffs is an accomplishment in itself. If you check a few hockey sites' preseason predictions on this team (THN,TSN,etc.) you will see that the Wings are at or above where most predicted, and almost every one of them site 'depth' as the entire reason why they all gave this team a sniff when talking contenders/playoffs.

It's seasons like this mature prospects, ones where consistency is learned and mistakes are made. And if over half of our prospects are getting regular ice time and all learning together, I'm all for it. This was always going to be a rough year for this team and 38 games does not change this fact, despite some people's pants-busting urgency for NHL 13esqe roster moves.

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Guest Playmaker

I think if Franzen is at the top of his game, Flip plays like he did last year, Dastyuk and Zetterberg play like they did at the beginning of this season and Jimmy Howard isn't being average, this team can compete with most of the teams in the league. Special teams will be the key in making the playoffs and how far they go.

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I think if Franzen is at the top of his game, Flip plays like he did last year, Dastyuk and Zetterberg play like they did at the beginning of this season and Jimmy Howard isn't being average, this team can compete with most of the teams in the league. Special teams will be the key in making the playoffs and how far they go.

special teams have been very good as of late

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LA was a team that hung around all season based on the play of Quick, winning a bunch of games 1-0, 2-1, etc. It was the move to bring Jeff Carter to town, their version of Brendan Shanahan in more ways than one, that allowed everything to click into place with their forward lines. Is the return of a healthy Bert or Sammy going to do that for the Wings? I seriously doubt that. To a lesser extent, maybe it's Helm if he can get back in the line-up but even then, I think the lack of a reliable shoot-first forward in the top 6 means this team is going nowhere once the playoffs start.

I generally agree, although I think people overstate the importance of this "shoot-first" forward.

When we won the cup in '08, we didn't have a shoot first forward. Maybe Franzen, but he's still here, if he decides to actually wake up. We also have Brunner who may or may not be impactful. Either way, he wasn't around in '08. Point being, in my opinion we're not much worse off in that category than 2008.

I'm definitely not saying I think we'll win the cup, I just don't think that specific factor is what's holding us back.

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I think if Franzen is at the top of his game, Flip plays like he did last year, Dastyuk and Zetterberg play like they did at the beginning of this season and Jimmy Howard

isn't being average, this team can compete with most of the teams in the league. Special teams will be the key in making the playoffs and how far they go.

All of that happened last year and we were bounced in the first. Franzen was producing, Flip has having a career year, and Dats and Z were Dats and Z. Plus our special teams were miles ahead of where they are now. Still lost...badly. This team needs more talent, simple as that. We have two world class centers, one above average defenseman and winger, and that's it.

I generally agree, although I think people overstate the importance of this "shoot-first" forward.

When we won the cup in '08, we didn't have a shoot first forward. Maybe Franzen, but he's still here, if he decides to actually wake up. We also have Brunner who may or may not be impactful. Either way, he wasn't around in '08. Point being, in my opinion we're not much worse off in that category than 2008.

I'm definitely not saying I think we'll win the cup, I just don't think that specific factor is what's holding us back.

Zetterberg is tops in the league every year in shots on goal. In 2008 he had 43 goals and was second in the league in shots on goal with 358. So yeah, we did have that.

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There are hardly any worthwhile players available at even semi-reasonable prices at this deadline. Babcock knows this, so what do you expect him to say? Do you think he'll haul off and exclaim, "Oh, I think we're totally screwed. We just don't have the talent to make it. Everyone should just stop hoping right now. Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs!"

Seriously, enough. The team is good enough to make the playoffs, and there are a lot of great young players in the system.

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Zetterberg is tops in the league every year in shots on goal. In 2008 he had 43 goals and was second in the league in shots on goal with 358. So yeah, we did have that.

And he's still on our team. You're not really refuting anything of substance - my point was that we're just as set for "shoot-first forwards" as in '08.

But yes, my apologies, he is that type of player as well.

Side note: I don't think the reason that Zetterberg's scoring has dipped is primarily because of age, but because of the lack of supporting talent around him (both on his own line and on other lines to draw attention away from him). He's much easier to key in on. Thus the "other factors" to which I alluded are what I think is more of an issue.

Edited by Zetts

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And he's still on our team. You're not really refuting anything of substance - my point was that we're just as set for "shoot-first forwards" as in '08.

But yes, my apologies, he is that type of player as well.

Side note: I don't think the reason that Zetterberg's scoring has dipped is primarily because of age, but because of the lack of supporting talent around him (both on his own line and on other lines to draw attention away from him). He's much easier to key in on. Thus the "other factors" to which I alluded are what I think is more of an issue.

The only thing I was trying to refute was your claim that we didn't have a shoot first forward, we did. Secondly, the reason why Zetterberg's number have dipped is hard to pin down, but part of it is because back then he was playing the wing on Datsyuk's line. In our system wingers generally score more goals than centers because they don't have as much defensive responsibility. That's why Flip was moved to the wing last year...to get more offense out of him.

Other than those two things I agree with pretty much everything you said. Especially the part about not having the supporting cast, and guys keying on Zetterberg. I've been saying this for a while. Without a legit top line, Zetterberg draws the tough defensive matchups, and gets stymied every night. Add Pominville or Gaborik to Pavel's wing and Zetterberg's offense will return, bet on it.

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All of that happened last year and we were bounced in the first. Franzen was producing, Flip has having a career year, and Dats and Z were Dats and Z. Plus our special teams were miles ahead of where they are now. Still lost...badly. This team needs more talent, simple as that. We have two world class centers, one above average defenseman and winger, and that's it.

No, they really were not. The special teams were horrendous.

The only thing I was trying to refute was your claim that we didn't have a shoot first forward, we did. Secondly, the reason why Zetterberg's number have dipped is hard to pin down, but part of it is because back then he was playing the wing on Datsyuk's line. In our system wingers generally score more goals than centers because they don't have as much defensive responsibility. That's why Flip was moved to the wing last year...to get more offense out of him.

Other than those two things I agree with pretty much everything you said. Especially the part about not having the supporting cast, and guys keying on Zetterberg. I've been saying this for a while. Without a legit top line, Zetterberg draws the tough defensive matchups, and gets stymied every night. Add Pominville or Gaborik to Pavel's wing and Zetterberg's offense will return, bet on it.

Completely agree on the last point. Exhibit A: the start of this year when Z and Brunner were tearing it up. Then Brunner fell off the face of the earth.

Edited by Zetts

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No, they really were not. The special teams were horrendous.

Completely agree on the last point. Exhibit A: the start of this year when Z and Brunner were tearing it up. Then Brunner fell off the face of the earth.

Last year our powerplay ranked 22nd and this year it's 17th. Our PK was 25th last year and this year it's 18th. So you're right, special teams weren't better, they were about the same. I concede that point.

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Make the playoffs and anything can happen? Right. When was the last time that a team with terrible special teams, and middle of the road offense and defense won a cup?

I'm so sick of this "LA did it last year" bulls***. LA was a stellar team in every area but one, they couldn't score. They made some improvements at the deadline, finally got some offensive stars to wake up, and bingo bango you've got a cup team.

If Justin Abdelkader thinks any team can beat any other team in the playoffs I'd like to remind him of last Sunday's game. Psss...Justin...they didn't even have Hossa and Sharp. Anything can happen right?

Except Justin Abdelkader outplaying a top six forward.

Well, I am so sick of this whining about the lack of movement at the deadline, but it's going to keep on flooding in with abundance. I haven't seen a deal happen yet this year that I felt like if Detroit had made it, they would be in better enough shape to make a Cup run to outweigh the worse shape they would be in going forward. And LA did win it last year. Deal with it. But, but, but, boo freaking hoo, bingo bango all you want. It happened last year. Edmonton made it to the Cup finals and took it to 7 games in 2006 as an 8 seed. And, it remains a possibility this year.

Pittsburgh just lost 4-1 at home to Buffalo. I don't think the Pens have a chance now! They clearly suck terribly. Oh wait - that's just one game and is totally not indicative of the season and even less so of the yet to happen playoffs.

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Well, I am so sick of this whining about the lack of movement at the deadline, but it's going to keep on flooding in with abundance. I haven't seen a deal happen yet this year that I felt like if Detroit had made it, they would be in better enough shape to make a Cup run to outweigh the worse shape they would be in going forward. And LA did win it last year. Deal with it. But, but, but, boo freaking hoo, bingo bango all you want. It happened last year. Edmonton made it to the Cup finals and took it to 7 games in 2006 as an 8 seed. And, it remains a possibility this year.

Pittsburgh just lost 4-1 at home to Buffalo. I don't think the Pens have a chance now! They clearly suck terribly. Oh wait - that's just one game and is totally not indicative of the season and even less so of the yet to happen playoffs.

Wow, seems like you're trying to make a point here but it's just too subtle. What on earth could you possibly be getting at? Everything is obscured by your insulting tone and blatant, uncreative, provocations.

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Well, I am so sick of this whining about the lack of movement at the deadline, but it's going to keep on flooding in with abundance. I haven't seen a deal happen yet this year that I felt like if Detroit had made it, they would be in better enough shape to make a Cup run to outweigh the worse shape they would be in going forward. And LA did win it last year. Deal with it. But, but, but, boo freaking hoo, bingo bango all you want. It happened last year. Edmonton made it to the Cup finals and took it to 7 games in 2006 as an 8 seed. And, it remains a possibility this year.

Pittsburgh just lost 4-1 at home to Buffalo. I don't think the Pens have a chance now! They clearly suck terribly. Oh wait - that's just one game and is totally not indicative of the season and even less so of the yet to happen playoffs.

given last years playoffs performance, it actually may be indicitive of what may be in store for the pens

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There are hardly any worthwhile players available at even semi-reasonable prices at this deadline. Babcock knows this, so what do you expect him to say? Do you think he'll haul off and exclaim, "Oh, I think we're totally screwed. We just don't have the talent to make it. Everyone should just stop hoping right now. Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs!"

Seriously, enough. The team is good enough to make the playoffs, and there are a lot of great young players in the system.

Injuries or not, Tatar needs to be back up for playoffs and without sending Nyquist down.

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