gdt 10/18 GDT - Maple Leafs 0 at Red Wings 1 (OT)

[gcom007 1,465]

Would have to be 2013/14 western conference version of the wings. I would take just a late pick at this point.

This just makes no sense to me. I get that it's frustrating, but if he comes around, we're better off with him, and there's still a good chance he'll come around. If it's really gotten to the point where he's truly bad enough to warrant conversation of dumping him for a late pick, then we did something fundamentally wrong in signing him. And as much as I'd love to thrown Holland under the bus for it in some ways, it's tough for me to get all in on that idea at this point.

As I've said in the past, it may be worthy of questioning the decision to sign Weiss in light of how it's gone in addition to how so many of our free agent signings have gone the last few years, but I don't think it's of much value to do. But to be certain, something isn't quite adding up. Maybe the injuries have just taken their toll on him, or maybe it's just what happens when you play so few games over the last couple of seasons. I don't know what the real story is, and none of us do, but there's something clearly out of balance in the equation considering that a guy who is very well paid and who should be one of our top offensive players is riding the bench a lot, even when he finally cracks the lineup due to other players getting injured.

Maybe I just don't want to admit that it's a signing that's more f***ed up than Samuelsson's deal yet, but I also don't think it's fair to at this point. I get that it's frustrating and that he needs to show more, but I still think there's a chance that that could happen in the coming months. If he's truly as worthless as some seem to think, we are royally screwed, because no one is going to take on that contract for a guy who can't crack a lineup.

And just to be clear, no one should be hoping for that...

[Echolalia 2,961]

He played on the same line as Helm and Nestrasil. Not making excuses, but just saying that we shouldn't expect him to produce unless he plays with skilled players.

I'm not necessarily looking for him to score goals with Nestrasil or Helm. I just want him to be a difference maker and contribute. Nestrasil has had no problems, and neither has Helm. Neither has Miller, Glendening, or Andersson, for that matter. Weiss's line mates have only so much influence on how he plays. At some point he's going to have to step up and get involved.

[gcom007 1,465]

This is coming from a Weiss fan. (I followed him as a Plymouth Whalers fan). He's the type of player who should be elevating his wingers. Not the other way around. It was understood that he elevated Booth and Sammy when they were with Florida. He was their Zetterberg when he was in Florida, and was very much the leader in Juniors. I think he should have better wingers than Nest and Helm, but he should also be playing better when saddled with Nest and Helm.

Disappointed Weiss fan.

As someone not as familiar with his past, do you think he could be struggling from the pressure of playing in a market like Detroit? Historically, how tough has he been mentally? Florida's a very different market with very different expectations than Detroit. I'm wondering this mostly in light of the way he handled the injury last year. He clearly wasn't smart about dealing with it, and he spoke of the pressure of wanting to prove himself on the new team and all. If it's impacting his judgement that much, maybe it's a bigger issue for him in general. Or so I've wondered...

[DatsyukianDekes 2,428]

[Mckinley25 681]

1: "Datsyuk has 'X' amount of takeaways this season, and 'Y' amount led to goals"

2: "Datsyuk Howard has 'X' amount of takeaways giveaways this season, and 'Y' amount led to goals"

3. "Datsyuk Smith had 'X' amount of takeaways giveaways last season, and 'Y' amount led to goals"

If you are fine with two of those stats, but claim the second one is just 'made-up'.....you might have a bias!

How many does Howard have now?

[TheXym 2,606]

http://www.sportingcharts.com/nhl/stats/player-giveaways-statistic/2014/

According to this page, Howard has zero giveaways. Giveaways are also an officially tracked stat, ergo not made up. I'd have zero issue with the example given as giveaways are not a made up stat.

[Guest Praying Mantha]

Howard is doing good so far.

[roboturner 562]

How many does Howard have now?

I don't know. He might have 1 or he might have 100. Its all just sooooo subjective. I'll leave it to Jeremy Ronick, Mike Milbury and the rest of the experts to tell me.

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Another soliddddddddddd game by Glendenning.

Anyone else willing to admit babs was right about that little spark plug?

And please.

No jokes or puns because I used the word plug.

Because dude is legit one of the best fourth line centers around.

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Like I get it, you wish he'd score once for every five chances he creates for himself, but he's not a scorer.

How many other teams have a fourth line center that you can send out against other teams top lines and they'll Go and control the play, and create scoring chances.

Put pulks on his line a year down the road, or anyone else who can finish and well be rolling four scoring lines with a shutdown/energetic touch.

I wish he had a good scorers touch to go along with his grit, speed, toughness, heart, Compete level, and leadership, but if he did, we wouldn't be able to pay him what hell make for the rest of his career.

And.

He's loyal to Michigan...

Oh yeah.

He's still so very young.

I can see what Babcock loves about him.

Edited October 19, 2014 by jimmyemeryhunter

[Guest DeGraa55]

Like I get it, you wish he'd score once for every five chances he creates for himself, but he's not a scorer.

How many other teams have a fourth line center that you can send out against other teams top lines and they'll Go and control the play, and create scoring chances.

Put pulks on his line a year down the road, or anyone else who can finish and well be rolling four scoring lines with a shutdown/energetic touch.

I wish he had a good scorers touch to go along with his grit, speed, toughness, heart, Compete level, and leadership, but if he did, we wouldn't be able to pay him what hell make for the rest of his career.

And.

He's loyal to Michigan...

Oh yeah.

He's still so very young.

I can see what Babcock loves about him.

He also makes helm expendable if he continues to show he can't stay healthy.

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

He also makes helm expendable if he continues to show he can't stay healthy.

If helm stays healthy though, he is also a really, really good third line center.

But if he stays injury prone, then we have a five million dollar center who should be our third best center.

And at this point, we probably would get more for helm than Weiss.

Who was it that wanted helm last year for a d man?

And I do see the comparison between helm in his first years playoffs holding onto the puck for almost a minute on the pk and lg.

But glendeinng hasn't had that series defining moment, where he's literally changing the game.

That alone makes me pray helm can stay skating, if he does, and we make a trade and show some consistency, this team could be scary good.

Edited October 19, 2014 by jimmyemeryhunter

[Namingway 146]

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Was anyone else just flat out amazed with the speed of the young guns through ot?

Like that bubble battle at the end of last year, and our bs in the shootout just isn't acceptable to them.

Tats holding the puck fir his entire shift before it gets broken up, then makes the play backchecking.

Brendan smith with his jersey flapping in the breeze as he skates the puck end to end.

Then sheahan showing beautiful speed and throwing some moves showing gorgeous hands.

I'm really excited about our mission of guys.

There's room for improvement, but the kids are alright.

That's for damn sure.

[frankgrimes 1,836]

Couldn't watch the game but for sure happy watching these and hearing that the kids are doing fine. Watching Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan and their speed is really nice. If we could just surround them with a gritty, tough as nails fourth line the Wings would become a very hard team to play against.

also lol @ Lupul for throwing Leafs fans under the bus who the hell he thinks he is ? Leafs fans are paying by far the highest ticket prices in the NHL and their reward is millionaires not working hard and then throwing fans under the bus ? wow maybe he should worry about his game and not giving interviews like a wannabe GM.

[RyanBarnes! 293]

How did Weiss look?

Weiss played most of his minutes in the first period. He even got some early PP shifts playing point but as the game progressed he played less and less. I think he suffers from lost confidence, the puck will not really bounce his way.

[Smite 399]

Seems like Leafs fans are only loud when they're on the road. At home, they're quiet as mice.

They know their teams sucks, but want to tell people on the road how great they are. Pathetic.

It is because real fans cannot afford seats in Toronto. All the tickets are gobbled up business suits entertaining clients. This is why a 2nd NHL team would work.

[dat's sick 1,002]

Couldn't watch the game but for sure happy watching these and hearing that the kids are doing fine. Watching Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan and their speed is really nice. If we could just surround them with a gritty, tough as nails fourth line the Wings would become a very hard team to play against.

also lol @ Lupul for throwing Leafs fans under the bus who the hell he thinks he is ? Leafs fans are paying by far the highest ticket prices in the NHL and their reward is millionaires not working hard and then throwing fans under the bus ? wow maybe he should worry about his game and not giving interviews like a wannabe GM.

The 4th line may not be the most physical, but it's really, really tough to play against so far this season. Babcock is giving them plenty of icetime and tough assignments and they are shining. They are creating all kinds of offensive zone pressure and Glendening is doing an amazing job at getting under the skin of guys and drawing penalties. The only thing one can complain about is that they have had enough chances to score at least a handful of goals but none of these guys really have much of a scoring touch.

[wingfan1991 221]

Weiss has to be bought out, horrible signing. He makes Emmerton look like a superstar. 5M a year x 5 wow what was anyone thinking!?!?

[Euro_Twins 4,485]

Weiss has to be bought out, horrible signing. He makes Emmerton look like a superstar. 5M a year x 5 wow what was anyone thinking!?!?

He was a consistent 50-60 point player when we signed him. They were think, hey this Weiss guy is pretty good to replace filppula.

Unfortunately his injury last year obviously made babs lose his confidence or something.

[Jersey Wing 1,521]

Gotta say, Tony Granato's penalty killing units are looking good with the 100% PK stat thus far. Babcock said he was leaving that responsibility on Granato and so far, really good!

[LeftWinger 5,179]

Another soliddddddddddd game by Glendenning.

Anyone else willing to admit babs was right about that little spark plug?

And please.

No jokes or puns because I used the word plug.

Because dude is legit one of the best fourth line centers around.

the thing about glenny is, its not Babcock who was right about him. He was a walk on at Michigan and played his way to being Captain of that team, to playing his way on to the Wings. Its Glenny who is right about himself. Hard Work and Heart can make up for a lot of things. Babcock had no choice but to keep him.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Couldn't watch the game but for sure happy watching these and hearing that the kids are doing fine. Watching Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan and their speed is really nice. If we could just surround them with a gritty, tough as nails fourth line the Wings would become a very hard team to play against.

also lol @ Lupul for throwing Leafs fans under the bus who the hell he thinks he is ? Leafs fans are paying by far the highest ticket prices in the NHL and their reward is millionaires not working hard and then throwing fans under the bus ? wow maybe he should worry about his game and not giving interviews like a wannabe GM.

I know you're looking specifically for an Aaron Downey type, but truth be told our fourth line was probably already the toughest line for the Leafs to play against last night. I can recall one shift specifically against the Leafs top line where Glendening, Miller, and Andersson had the Leafs chasing in their own zone for a good 30-40 seconds, and generated a couple solid scoring chances as well.

[WingsallTheway 383]

If I'm Ken Holland right now, I send Weiss, Cleary, Lashoff, Kindl, and a first round pick to Buffalo for Tyler Myers. Dump the trash Babcock doesn't want and stop letting them bring down the team. There's no point to pine over its and what could have been. Just ship em off.

Weiss has some value, so take him out and add andy miele and we can get sam reinhart and theyre 1st for the next 3 seasons

[vladdy16 2,154]

Holy crap, there were a lot of Leafs fans there last night. I usually like it when Leafs fans show up - they get the Joe rockin', but there were some trolls in my section. I was a little overly joyful they had to make the trek home disappointed.

Leafs' defense played extremely well last night. I'm not surprised we struggled to score. I wasn't thrilled when they pulled the trap out of the old bag of tricks a few times, but their backchecking was nothing short of stifling. Wings played very unevenly - moments of brilliance along with moments of WTH, but a surprisingly good 0-0 game through 3.

I wouldn't mind seeing Phaneuf choke on a Timbit sometime soon though.