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Hockeytown0001

1/22 GDT : Blackhawks 4 at Red Wings 5 (SO)

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Its obvious from Pavs comments to the media that hes 100% focused on Sochi. Its his time, near the end of his career, playing on his home country, first time being captain. Its no surprise that our dwindling team is the last thing on his mind.

Cant say I blame him. I can definitely see him pulling a Kovalchuck ans going home if we dont make the playoffs this year.

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Whatever Pasha decides to do I will always be a fan of him. Guy provided us with so many great years and jaw dropping dekes.

Even if he pulls a Kovalchuck wouldn't change my mind about him, the team is not going to win a cup soon, so why enjoy time with your family, friends at home.

Anyway NBC should be very happy about this matchup, two original 6 teams and a real rivalry something their plastic rivalry hasn't seen in quit some time. I don't think Babs doesn't believe I just think he is fed up and hasgiven up on the season which is being realistic.

Edited by frankgrimes

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In my mind;

Babs is a surgeon preparing for an operation with no one to hand him tools. And even if there were, the tools arent all there to begin with (thank you Ken Holland). Thus the patients chance to live (make the playoffs) are that much lower.

Edited by RedWang

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Anyway NBC should be very happy about this matchup, two original 6 teams and a real rivalry something their plastic rivalry hasn't seen in quit some time. I don't think Babs doesn't believe I just think he is fed up and hasgiven up on the season which is being realistic.

Wait, are you saying Buffalo isn't a rival?

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why doesn't Babs put tats helmer and Gus together as the 2nd line, I mean their speed would at least give the hawks something to think about and they could at least compete in that aspect as well as having a scoring threat.

I believe he has Gus Z Abby Jurco Riley Bert as the projected 1 & 2 combos.

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In my mind;

Babs is a surgeon preparing for an operation with no one to hand him tools. And even if there were, the tools arent all there to begin with (thank you Ken Holland). Thus the patients chance to live (make the playoffs) are that much lower.

Why the negativity? Wouldn't you rather have Datsyuk healthy for the rest of the season than him rushing his way back now only to get injured yet again? Yea he's obviously focused on the Olympics but Pav is a Red Wing and I believe in him. Why else would he sign a decent extension? If he wanted to go home already, he would have done so last summer.

And KH has provided us with ample tools (to use your analogy). Just they haven't all stayed in one piece.

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Why the negativity? Wouldn't you rather have Datsyuk healthy for the rest of the season than him rushing his way back now only to get injured yet again? Yea he's obviously focused on the Olympics but Pav is a Red Wing and I believe in him. Why else would he sign a decent extension? If he wanted to go home already, he would have done so last summer.

And KH has provided us with ample tools (to use your analogy). Just they haven't all stayed in one piece.

My negativity, if you wish to call it that, was in regards to those saying Babs had given up on the season. And even he himself has been rather pessimistic with his media comments lately. And you cant really say KH has given us ample tools. He hasnt been terrible but i dont think i need to reiderate what terrible deals hes made the last 2 years, were all aware by now and are past that.

But his insistence to sit on his hands and act like wed be winning a cup if we were healthy is just asinine. Hes sticking his head in the sand and acting like were all set, when were the furthest thing from it.

I know what im talking about, and if you havent noticed every other beat writer/sports columnist whos touched on the wings lately has been singing the same "dwindling playoff hopes" tune as well. At a certain point in the season thats showing no signs of life, you cant confuse being realistic with being negative.

As far as Pav goes, im not the only one who sees him going to Russia as a possibilty. Not saying its gonna happen but ilya kovalchuck showed us just how little a contract and money means to an aging player just trying to go where his heart takes him. To finish out a great career where he feels at home. With family and friends.

Nick lidstroms body/skills were sharp as ever when he left, but he retired because he, like many players at that stage in their career, realize when things are headed south and arent interested in trying to lead a nearly lost cause to a cup.

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My negativity, if you wish to call it that, was in regards to those saying Babs had given up on the season. And even he himself has been rather pessimistic with his media comments lately. And you cant really say KH has given us ample tools. He hasnt been terrible but i dont think i need to reiderate what terrible deals hes made the last 2 years, were all aware by now and are past that.

But his insistence to sit on his hands and act like wed be winning a cup if we were healthy is just asinine. Hes sticking his head in the sand and acting like were all set, when were the furthest thing from it.

I know what im talking about, and if you havent noticed every other beat writer/sports columnist whos touched on the wings lately has been singing the same "dwindling playoff hopes" tune as well. At a certain point in the season thats showing no signs of life, you cant confuse being realistic with being negative.

As far as Pav goes, im not the only one who sees him going to Russia as a possibilty. Not saying its gonna happen but ilya kovalchuck showed us just how little a contract and money means to an aging player just trying to go where his heart takes him. To finish out a great career where he feels at home. With family and friends.

Nick lidstroms body/skills were sharp as ever when he left, but he retired because he, like many players at that stage in their career, realize when things are headed south and arent interested in trying to lead a nearly lost cause to a cup.

I agree that its good to be realistic, but honestly, we're not even 2/3 of the way through the schedule yet. Now, if our key guys were out for the rest of the year, then yes I think by now I would be looking at the glass half empty. But we've played well recently, and are just about to get our key guys back. I don't see why we shouldn't be on the up tbh.

I don't blame Babcock for his reactions to the media. It must be incredibly frustrating to constantly be under the microscope (even more so this year with HBO and the Olympics), and be repeatedly asked why you're guys are getting hurt. I can totally understand why he might be short with the media and be frustrated in his responses. But I don't think he has given up on the season. Far from it.

The truth is KH made some awful deals yea, but he's also made some good ones too. We'd all like to see him do something, but at this stage, I don't think many will be pulling the trigger until after the Olympics. I would like to see him do something, but really, we're pretty tight to the cap, and the guys that we would benefit most by moving (Quincey, Samuelsson etc) are going anywhere because no one would take them on, not even for a sack of potatoes.

As for the media, they just love to stir things up. Ive read enough of those articles recently to know that they're all just jumping on the bandwagon so they can all finally look down at the Wings and say 'We were right, we knew you'd crack one day'. Personally, it means nada until the season is done and we know if the Wings made the playoffs or not.

I don't know, but I would have thought that Lidstrom retired because 1) he'd accomplished pretty much everything he could with his career and 2) he didn't want to miss out on his kids growing up anymore. That said, I wonder what would have happened if we had him on the back end last year vs the Hawks

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Couple of things: if Kindl is scratched, does that mean our defense is 100% healthy finally? Also, I wish Babs would try line combinations based on talent alone during this injury stretch. I understand and normally would support his desire to have balanced lines, but four lines at 40% effectivness is not as good as 1 line at 90% effectiveness, 1 at 70% and the rest at 40%. Even if they have no prior chemistry, I'd rather he just load up to keep us afloat.

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Couple of things: if Kindl is scratched, does that mean our defense is 100% healthy finally? Also, I wish Babs would try line combinations based on talent alone during this injury stretch. I understand and normally would support his desire to have balanced lines, but four lines at 40% effectivness is not as good as 1 line at 90% effectiveness, 1 at 70% and the rest at 40%. Even if they have no prior chemistry, I'd rather he just load up to keep us afloat.

It's finally healthy, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks now that Smith has shown improvement and even Quincey has reduced the number of boneheaded plays he makes per game.

And I agree on the lines. We've got very little offense from the 'first line', and yet Babcock insists on having Abby there. Helm and Abby have great chemistry, as do Hank and Nyquist. That should be the foundation for 2 lines. Zetterberg needs help from someone else, I think I'd even try Bertuzzi on that line just to get a different look and see if we can start scoring some goals.

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It's finally healthy, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks now that Smith has shown improvement and even Quincey has reduced the number of boneheaded plays he makes per game.

And I agree on the lines. We've got very little offense from the 'first line', and yet Babcock insists on having Abby there. Helm and Abby have great chemistry, as do Hank and Nyquist. That should be the foundation for 2 lines. Zetterberg needs help from someone else, I think I'd even try Bertuzzi on that line just to get a different look and see if we can start scoring some goals.

I concur. While Alfie is out, I think they should have Tats on the top line with Gus and Z, and stick Abby and Helm together. Would be interesting to see.

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I just hope we are still in the game going into the 3rd. We need the likes of Bert, Cleary and Big E to step up and to help Z and Nik

coax this young Wings team through this difficult game and the upcoming few weeks till the injury list starts to subside. Once we do

have a fully fit roster we will be able to compete against the top sides, I hope this doesn't come too late.

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