Bravo, Smitty

[brett 1,029]

i had to laugh the day ozzie said smith had great outlet passes

dont know who hes watching

[Bill Berzeench 310]

Literally, ANY DEFENSEMEN.

There are folks around here that expect each and every guy on this team to be perfect each and every game.

EVEN LIDSTROM MADE MISTAKES. I'm not kidding. It happened. I'm sure there's video of it too.

Lids got burned twice. Once by Modano. Watch Modano's top 10. Smith gets burned a lot tho. But i love the guy!

[Barrie 900]

I've always been a fan of Smith, I just like the way he plays. He takes risks, and is a "crap" (to keep things PG ) disturber, just like Tatar. Opposing players need to be watching him when he's on the ice due to his speed. However, I'll be the first to admit that can lead to turnovers. But no risk, no reward.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

Turning into our best defenseman

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Turning into our best defenseman

He's not consistent enough to be considered our best defenseman yet...

Finally looking like a top four guy though, thank the lord.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

He's not consistent enough to be considered our best defenseman yet...

Finally looking like a top four guy though, thank the lord.

I feel ya.

[Euro_Twins 4,476]

I don't blame Smith for that. The whole Smith bandwagon the game before yesterday jinxed him badly xD

I don't hate Smith, but seriously if you can't see that he bit hard on that pinch then you need to see Dr. Ramanhi. If he held his ground he could have taken away the shooting lane and forced the pass, instead he tried to play hero and got burned hard ending up leaving his man wide open in front of the net

[kickazz 5,459]

I don't hate Smith, but seriously if you can't see that he bit hard on that pinch then you need to see Dr. Ramanhi. If he held his ground he could have taken away the shooting lane and forced the pass, instead he tried to play hero and got burned hard ending up leaving his man wide open in front of the net

No no I agree with you. Of course I see Smith flubbed it. He basically looked like a forward playing defense. Bit real hard on that.

I was being sarcastic on that comment. The GDT before that game, had a huge bandwagoning and the next game Smith screwed up bad - was just making a joke.

I'm along the same lines as Jimmyemery in his previous post there (except I think Smith is still a number 5 guy rather than top 4). Smith's doing better. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to see him do well consistently.

As for Rahmani, I actually had a recent appointment there for my astigmatism

Edited January 1, 2016 by kickazz

[Bill Berzeench 310]

No no I agree with you. Of course I see Smith flubbed it. He basically looked like a forward playing defense. Bit real hard on that.

I was being sarcastic on that comment. The GDT before that game, had a huge bandwagoning and the next game Smith screwed up bad - was just making a joke.

I'm along the same lines as Jimmyemery in his previous post there (except I think Smith is still a number 5 guy rather than top 4). Smith's doing better. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We need to see him do well consistently.

As for Rahmani, I actually had a recent appointment there for my astigmatism

Im stoked you came around!

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Smith has been terrific lately -- probably the best stretch of hockey he has put together in his career. I think he's always going to be prone to an inopportune stupid play or careless turnover occasionally, but he has cleaned that up even while being very active offensively. His offensive instincts are the best on the team from the d-men. The little move he made last night to get the puck to Marchenko before scoring the goal was really slick.

It would be a complete travesty if Smith was scratched when Quincey comes back. Sometimes d-men just take longer to develop and it looks Smith is finally starting to achieve some of his massive potential. Ericsson will never sit because of his contract, but he has consistently been the worst d-man. Besides, why do the Wings need three d-men dressed who all essentially play the same style of game (E, Quincey and Marchenko) when they don't have anyone else who can do what Smith can? Kronwall is really slowing down offensively and Green still hasn't contributed much in that regard either.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

Brendan now has 7 pts in his last 8 games. He's a +4 on the year, and is on pace for 20-25 pts. Still not the guy we all want him to be, but I think he's only 1 step away now, whereas he has been 3 to 4 steps away for most of his first 3 years. I really want to see him round into a true legit 2A. If he can fill the 3 spot for us for the next 10 years, that would be very beneficial. DeKeyser should progress to a nice 1B, and Marchenko looks like he can progress to a true 2B. Ouellet and Russo can round out our 3A and 3B pairing. Kronwall, Ericsson, Quincey, Kindl, and Green should be let go or traded as quickly as possible.

__________ - DeKeyser

Smith - Marchenko

Ouellet - Russo

Sproul

That 1A spot is difficult to fill, but we arent Going anywhere without a Duncan Keith or a Drew Doughty. Holland needs to be fired. Not landing Suter absolutely crushed this team. And yah, it's Holland's fault. I wont be convinced that Suter and Parise wouldn't have changed Their mind if our offer was 11 mil per season. How can we afford 22 mil per year for those guys? Howard, Ericsson, Green, Weiss, Tootoo, Kindl. There's 25 million per on a backup goalie, 3 defenseman we dont need, and 2 players we had to buy out. Holland has the money. He just has no clue how to use it.

Green, Kronwall, Quincey, Ericssson, Kindl. Losing those 5 clears up 22 million. Trading Howard clears up another 3 mil if we eat 2 mil Per year. That's 25 million. Come on. We need a fricking good GM more than anything else. Holland is junk.

[matt198913 932]

Smitty has been outstanding as of late. Needs to continue to play that 200 foot game.

[Buppy 1,720]

Brendan now has 7 pts in his last 8 games. He's a +4 on the year, and is on pace for 20-25 pts. Still not the guy we all want him to be, but I think he's only 1 step away now, whereas he has been 3 to 4 steps away for most of his first 3 years. I really want to see him round into a true legit 2A. If he can fill the 3 spot for us for the next 10 years, that would be very beneficial. DeKeyser should progress to a nice 1B, and Marchenko looks like he can progress to a true 2B. Ouellet and Russo can round out our 3A and 3B pairing. Kronwall, Ericsson, Quincey, Kindl, and Green should be let go or traded as quickly as possible.

__________ - DeKeyser

Smith - Marchenko

Ouellet - Russo

Sproul

That 1A spot is difficult to fill, but we arent Going anywhere without a Duncan Keith or a Drew Doughty. Holland needs to be fired. Not landing Suter absolutely crushed this team. And yah, it's Holland's fault. I wont be convinced that Suter and Parise wouldn't have changed Their mind if our offer was 11 mil per season. How can we afford 22 mil per year for those guys? Howard, Ericsson, Green, Weiss, Tootoo, Kindl. There's 25 million per on a backup goalie, 3 defenseman we dont need, and 2 players we had to buy out. Holland has the money. He just has no clue how to use it.

Green, Kronwall, Quincey, Ericssson, Kindl. Losing those 5 clears up 22 million. Trading Howard clears up another 3 mil if we eat 2 mil Per year. That's 25 million. Come on. We need a fricking good GM more than anything else. Holland is junk.

22 million on two guys until they're 40+. Stupid even if we can juggle the roster (based mostly on hindsight) to fit it in. Hasn't exactly been raining playoff wins in Minnesota since they signed those two. No real reason to think they'd have much more impact here. Put Suter in that blank spot and that defense is still worse than what we have now, and you'd be making it difficult to afford raises for the young guys when they come due.

[lomekian 201]

Smith has always had the talent to make an impact at this level...remember his first call up, where conducive pairings gave him less responsibility and he went 0.5 ppg....For entirely understandable long term reasons, Babs tried to force him into being a more defensively responsible D-man, but all this did was neuter his strengths, while he showed no real aptitude for resolving his weaknesses.

Now its a case of usage, freedom and confidence and we are seeing the guy we thought we had in 2012. He's always going to be risky, but as has been said elsewhere, you may as well let him play and get the reward rather than shut him down and just have slightly less risk...

[matt198913 932]

The thing about Smith was he always had some trouble in his own end. He has the speed to make up for it. 7 points in 8 games I want to see more. The first unit in the PP is abysmal right now. Throw him out there.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

The thing about Smith was he always had some trouble in his own end. He has the speed to make up for it. 7 points in 8 games I want to see more. The first unit in the PP is abysmal right now. Throw him out there.

Agreed. I'm gonna wait to see how Kronwall performs in the playoffs this year, but I am completely unimpressed with #55 to the point of taking the A off his sweater and sending him down to the third pairing. He's not doing our team a lot of good. Throw Smith some pp minutes. He's fast so he can cut down the seconds chasing the puck down and getting it up ice. And he's got a pretty good point shot. His speed should be utilized when we have the man advantage.

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Smith doesn't think quickly enough to be good. I'd settle for useful and not a complete train wreck in his own end.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

Smith doesn't think quickly enough to be good. I'd settle for useful and not a complete train wreck in his own end.

I disagree. I think he has bull in a china shop problems. Not mental issues. He's just not patient yet. The game hasnt slowed down for him yet, but he's close to that point. He's 26, and has 3 seasons worth of games now. Its time for Smitty to be what he can be. If he doesnt close that final step and lock into an every game type of guy, then the Wings can relegate him to #6 for life or move him.

[joesuffP 1,746]

I like how the defense is playing right and for the majority of the season. We no longer have to rely heavily on Kronwall because we have three well balanced pairs that the coach trusts. It's been a while since we haven't had a third pair we had to hold on breath for everytime they hit the ice

[Bill Berzeench 310]

I like how the defense is playing right and for the majority of the season. We no longer have to rely heavily on Kronwall because we have three well balanced pairs that the coach trusts. It's been a while since we haven't had a third pair we had to hold on breath for everytime they hit the ice

Kindl is the variable in your equation.

[Bill Berzeench 310]

Feeling like #2 is really living up to his potential right now.

[kickazz 5,459]

[Hockeymom1960 5,107]

I don't know. I have to go back and analyze what happened before I flip out on him. It's just so easy to bag on him when something happens....

[Bill Berzeench 310]

That was just idiotic. But blaming any part of our defense and goaltending when our offense is averaging less than 2 goals per game is silly. The forwards need to score SOME goals.

[Jacksoni 418]

Smith just made himself un-tradeable for Life with that move in the last seconds. We're stuck with him now, good or bad.