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unsaddleddonald

Why does this team sleepwalk against bottom feeders?

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They can kick Boston's ass out of the building and win 2 out of 3 against them, but they lose 2 straight to a team who doesn't beat anyone, they get manhandled by a bad Ottawa team at home, all the issues with Columbus and Calgary last year, etc.

We were riding high after winning 5 of 6 (and should have beat Philly) until we ran into Tomas Kopecky and the big bad Florida Panthers.

Valuable points being flushed down the toilet.

***The Red Wing teams that competed for Cups in 2000s would take the bad Central Division teams behind the woodshed.

Edited by unsaddleddonald

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Agreed. I will never understand it. If there's one thing i've learned so far this season. It's that if any game goes to OT it's best to just turn off the TV, and pretend that everything is fine and dandy. This team has been very unpredictable so far this year.

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Too tired to write a well thought out response, but this is the perverbial "fly in the ointment" for our team. Has been for a while. Chaps everyones ass but for some reason thats the way it is. The players themselves im sure wonder the same thing.

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Comes down to poor handling of the third period. Inability to extend leads and truly put those teams out of the game. We never led Florida by more than 2 goals. The Panthers were in each game for every one of these last 120 minutes. A massive heap of turnovers and more crap from Howard contributed to this, too. But it's that complete and total inability to extend those leads and put those games away that create this.

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Guest DeGraa55

Maybe its because z is out?

Maybe its because we have the likes of Sammy Quincey cleary franzen Weiss...instead of useful guys?

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Zero killer instinct to go for the jugular when you have the opposing team on life support. They feel that they can just show up and win on talent alone as opposed to coming out and immediately forcing the other team to play catch up.

I understand that every so often a team is going to have one of those nights where things don't go right, but after losing to the same team in your own rink 3 nights ago, you should be motivated enough to run them right out of the rink.

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The players are too relaxed and comfort,but I don't blame them.It's Ken fault for giving them questionable contracts based on everything but the qualities as players.

Why should they put an effort every night and risk to be injured when they'll get an extension just for being a good teammate?

I can guarantee that after one big trade,we'll watch completely hungrier and determined Red wings team :lol:

The thing that pissed me the most is the fact that we can't protect the effing lead despite having tons of veterans in the team who simple have to know the way to do that :evil:

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In this league, you defend leads by extending leads. Far too often, the offense gets a goal or two and then goes to sleep. They are simply incapable of extending leads. You will be come back on when you sit back with a lead most of the time. That's just the way hockey works.

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There's a lot I could say about this subject, as it's been an issue for a very long time. But one thing that's really struck me this year is our structure - and our lack thereof.

When you play a team like the Bruins, you know what you're getting, even if you've only played them once or twice over the past three years. You're getting elite hockey. Strong fundamentals, execution, possession, decision-making - they do things the right way. If you're a lesser team (and the Bruins are better than us), you hopefully realize that the only way you're going to hang with this elite opposition is by playing smart, good hockey. Period. Take the names and faces and star power out of it, because you want a systems battle, not an all-star game. Now it's just a matter of executing. The team that executes its system better is gonna be the one that comes out on top. (I think this is a big reason why we did ok for ourselves in the brutal, systems-heavy Western Conference.)

It's been a long time since we've been comfortable in the role of Elite Team. We'd rather have a team bring out the best in us than be the team bringing out the best in the other side. We don't want to be the measuring stick. We want to be the ones doing the measuring. We don't want to be the heavy favorites. We want to be the team that's expected to lose and therefore doesn't feel a whole lot of pressure. We want to be the underdog and the spoiler.

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When facing a bad team you have to supply all the intensity since the other team can't, and I'm not sure the Wings have that ability. When being the better team you have to be able to motivate yourself to compete against weaker teams, and not just wait for the pushback to start playing. I think this falls into the letdown game category that a lot of sports teams have a tough time with not just the Wings.

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Agree completely that there is a TON that could be said about this subject.

If I might add my opinion on the matter - Its related our defensive prowess rather the lack there of.

I give total props to Smith for flipping his coin and coming back from the +/- deficit he was in (he is now a -4)

However, I cannot say the same for Quincy. The guy just needs to sit the bench and feel the effects of a Sproul,Oulette or Almquist taking his spot for a night or two or forever...

Now I can't blame all the Red Wings issues directly on Quincy but I can say that he is a VERY irresponsible defense man and does not make good decisions with the puck that lead to turnovers or goals.

This team needs to break out of the slump they are in and start finding ways to keep the lead. The Third period GAA is terrible. The game last night was totally given to the panthers and should not have gone the way it did.

I will judge this team very harshly after the trade deadline. That will be the team that goes to the Playoffs and they will see much more criticism from me at that point.

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There are many many reasons for this. The main thing being that almost every game, there are guys moving in and out of the lineup because of injuries. This is ridiculous how much it happens to us, and I am not just talking this year. Ever since the start of the year where we didn't have Helmer, then we lost Ericsson, Smith, Franzen, Weiss, Alfie, got Franzen and Weiss back, got Ericsson back, lost Danny Dekeyser, lost Pavel Datsyuk but Alfie came back, lost Hank Zetterberg. IT is extremely hard to maintain consistency when you have so many moving parts in and out of the lineup and almost every game, guys are having to adjust to new lines.

The fact is that this is a team of professionals and they do rise to the occasion when they play the league's best. But over the long haul of an NHL season, when you are constantly having to juggle everything, you will not be able to maintain that consistency. The fact of the matter is that had last night not been Pavel's first game back, he doesn't lose the battle that led to the tying goal and we likely go on to win the game.

Given the amount of injuries that the Wings have sustained, and the time that it took the brass to start playing Nyquist and Tatar, I am pleased with where the Wings are in the standings. Howard has not been playing great, and we have had a ton of injuries, but yet we are just a few points back from 1st place in this division. I find it hard to be upset over that. Eventually, Howard is going to find his game, and when this team is finally fully healthy, I truly believe that other teams will have a hard time keeping up, especially with what we have seen from what Nyquist and Tatar add to this team.

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They can kick Boston's ass out of the building and win 2 out of 3 against them, but they lose 2 straight to a team who doesn't beat anyone, they get manhandled by a bad Ottawa team at home, all the issues with Columbus and Calgary last year, etc.

We were riding high after winning 5 of 6 (and should have beat Philly) until we ran into Tomas Kopecky and the big bad Florida Panthers.

Valuable points being flushed down the toilet.

***The Red Wing teams that competed for Cups in 2000s would take the bad Central Division teams behind the woodshed.

I've been asking myself this same question for years, I don't know if it's laziness or lack of heart whereas the other team is playing with nothing but heart.

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when a team wins against good teams and loses to bad teams, i think thats a sign of a team that plays to the level of its competition. in other words, a team that doesn't go 100% every night because they feel they can slack against lesser competition and get away with it.

what worries me is that it could be the result of organizational philosophy. we all love to boast about how loyal the wings are to players. but is that a bad thing??? does it allow for players to float more and not be as accountable? i think we all have worked in jobs with lazy co-workers and that can be poisonous as others see that and then start questioning why they need to have the appropriate work ethic if others get away with slacking.

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^Agreed. Our defense is not good enough. Kronwall had a really off night as well and that is never good for the Wings.The Wings need to trade Quincey, Kindl, and a prospect on a seasoned D that plays tough in front of our net and won't be pushed around.

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