Jeff Blashill

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Bowman's teams weren't goos defensively because they played it safe, it was because they always had the puck and when they didn't they pushed to get it back

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[krsmith17 7,191]

Helm skated in place of Miller on the 4th line today with Abdelkader and Glendening... Is Blashill seriously starting to get it?...

The only other change I would make with the forwards, is move Larkin to center and insert Jurco in place of Sheahan...

[kipwinger 8,521]

6 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

I agree. What would your ideal defense look like kip?

Hmmm, with the players we have now? Ideally:

DK-Green

Smith-Jensen

Ouellet-Sproul

Marchenko

Obviously Kronwall and Ericsson aren't going anywhere.  And in a perfect world I'd trade Dekeyser.  So I know my pairs are wishful thinking.  But if I had to pick them, based only on what how they've played, I'd do these.

[kipwinger 8,521]

6 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Jensen is looking very impressive.  His skating is NHL calibur.  I like your Smith-Jensen pairing.  Could see them being a solid 2nd pairing for 5+ years.

To be honest the defenseman I like least of all in my pairings is Dekeyser.  Not because he's bad but because I don't like him on the top pair.  However, none of our other left defenseman would do any better there. 

But generally speaking I care more about usage than pairings anyway. In general I'd use Ouellet-Sproul for offensive zone starts, DK-Green for neutral, and Smith-Jensen for defensive zone starts.   

Edited January 20, 2017 by kipwinger

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

DK is a good anchor. Put him next to prime caps Green and hed look a lot better. Hes the type of player that compliments an offensively gifted mobile partner

[kliq 3,755]

37 minutes ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

DK is a good anchor. Put him next to prime caps Green and hed look a lot better. Hes the type of player that compliments an offensively gifted mobile partner

Hopefully Sproul becomes that guy and they become an extremely solid #3/#4.

[krsmith17 7,191]

7 hours ago, kipwinger said:

Hmmm, with the players we have now? Ideally:

DK-Green

Smith-Jensen

Ouellet-Sproul

Marchenko

Obviously Kronwall and Ericsson aren't going anywhere.  And in a perfect world I'd trade Dekeyser.  So I know my pairs are wishful thinking.  But if I had to pick them, based only on what how they've played, I'd do these.

Exactly the pairs I'd like to see, posted the exact same thing a few days ago. Three pairs that can skate and move the puck... What a concept...

[AtlantaHotWings 983]

13 hours ago, krsmith17 said:

Helm skated in place of Miller on the 4th line today with Abdelkader and Glendening... Is Blashill seriously starting to get it?...

The only other change I would make with the forwards, is move Larkin to center and insert Jurco in place of Sheahan...

Someone look at the last 3 weeks of new members on the forum bet one is Blash.....baahaa

[krsmith17 7,191]

15 minutes ago, AtlantaHotWings said:

Someone look at the last 3 weeks of new members on the forum bet one is Blash.....baahaa

For sure. Within a week Jurco will be in the lineup and Ericsson will be healthy scratched...

[krsmith17 7,191]

16 minutes ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

Marshenko is a step behind skating wise.  Its too bad, because his size and skill set are really good.  He needs to spend 2 years hitting the weights hard and working with a skating coach.

What skill set? Sorry, but I just don't see it. Never have with Marchenko. He's decent in the defensive zone, that's it. Also, size is useless unless you use it to your advantage. Marchenko doesn't. I see Alexey Marchenko as the defense version of Drew Miller. Way over valued for his defensive play, that really isn't that good, and is terrible at generating offense...

[kipwinger 8,521]

I think Marchenko is decent enough.  He's good positionally, is a pretty solid passer, and is strong.  He's not aggressive or physical (which I don't really care about), and he's not a great skater (which I do).  I just don't really value the skillset he DOES have.  The primary skill I think all defenseman need in today's game is the ability to get back to loose pucks quickly, turn, and get the puck up ice quickly either via pass or skating.  He doesn't really get back that quickly, though he can pass the puck.  I'd be fine with him as a 7th defenseman on the cheap.  3rd pair if someone is really struggling and you need to bench them.  But not much more. 

[frankgrimes 1,836]

I'm still baffled by the fact that the Wings haven't brought in Gallant to help this young rookie coach out in his second season.

[kipwinger 8,521]

6 minutes ago, frankgrimes said:

I'm still baffled by the fact that the Wings haven't brought in Gallant to help this young rookie coach out in his second season.

Because it would be stupid?  If you're going to make a coaching change why wouldn't you wait until the offseason to see who else is available and then hire the best of those options?  As the season goes along you might see a Laviolette, Tippet, etc. become available and they would obviously be better choices. 

Then again, I assume much of modern hockey baffles you Frank.

[kjw25 104]

Does anyone else become nauseous when Blashill discusses "The Process." Playing Sheahan all these minutes yet he has not 1 goal to account for it?????????????? What is this process, please do tell us.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

6 minutes ago, kjw25 said:

Does anyone else become nauseous when Blashill discusses "The Process." Playing Sheahan all these minutes yet he has not 1 goal to account for it?????????????? What is this process, please do tell us.

Blash calls it "The Process" Therrien calls it "Respek da Systum"

Its all code for "Politics"

[kipwinger 8,521]

I actually think coaches are right to emphasize process driven results.  In any system with multiple moving parts you want the entire thing to work together to achieve a result.  If it's working then any one individual part may no reap the benefits, but as a whole you'll be better.  Think about every job you've ever had.  If everybody were trying to do everybody else's job it wouldn't work too well. 

Obviously the issue is that our system isn't getting results.  And that may be the result of a bad "process".  Or it may be because some of the individual parts aren't good enough.  And I understand why Blashill's vague references to "the process" grate on some.  But that's not a unique characteristic of Blashill.  Babcock talked about it CONSTANTLY.  But it's probably true.  As fans we have a tendency to think that we're not getting results because player X "doesn't care" or player Y "isn't trying/hungry/engaged".  But that's probably too simplistic.  It takes a team effort to scores most goals, and if Sheahan is doing what he's supposed to (I don't know if he is or isn't), he might not be the problem regardless of his goal totals.

[LeftWinger 4,951]

In other news, Jeff Blashill is unhappy with Anthony Mantha...f*** you Blashill, we're unhappy with you! Hand in your resignation!

 

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2017/01/25/detroit-red-wings-anthony-mantha/97057992/

[greenrebellion 415]

Blashill is not the problem. A talentless roster is the culprit. No top C, No top two D...And a roster of predominantly third and fourth liners.

But scapegoating the coach is easy so carry on I guess.

[LeftWinger 4,951]

36 minutes ago, greenrebellion said:

Blashill is not the problem. A talentless roster is the culprit. No top C, No top two D...And a roster of predominantly third and fourth liners.

But scapegoating the coach is easy so carry on I guess.

When "coach" takes the two best players and demotes them to the bottom 6 and continues to give 21 and 14 top 6 minutes, then we have a problem...I do agree with the talentless roster though as well... also, when "coach" splits up the best line you've had all year long (72-51-62) then we have a problem...

This should be your top 6 for the rest of the season (barring injury)

Larkin - Z - Mantha

AA - Nielsen - Vanek

You're correct, every other play are bottom 6 players and outside of 21, 14 and to an extent 26, are ALL pretty much carbon copies of each other.

 

On D, honestly, outside of Green's sometime offensive talent, the best guys are Sproul, XO and Jensen...

[DickieDunn 2,571]

Blashill makes the problem worse

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[Echolalia 2,961]

1 hour ago, greenrebellion said:

Blashill is not the problem. A talentless roster is the culprit. No top C, No top two D...And a roster of predominantly third and fourth liners.

But scapegoating the coach is easy so carry on I guess.

The roster became significantly less productive when Blashill took over.  I stated it before but I think this roster if coached right would have a better chance of going deeper in the playoffs than the team that took Tampa Bay to seven games in Babcock's last season here.  Since then we've added long sought after R handed QB in Mike Green, we added wunderkids Larkin, Mantha, and AA, Tatar and Nyquist and Sheahan should be in the prime of their careers right now, we have Vanek who's way more productive than most people were expecting, Zetterberg has lost a step, but not by all that much compared to two years ago (on pace to score within 11 points of his totals from that year).  We don't have Weiss taking up dead weight.  The biggest minus is that we don't have Datsyuk, but he's been increasingly injured in later years and Franz Nielson is just about sufficient alone to replace his point total for a season.  On paper this team has a lot of talent on it.  Certainly enough to get into the playoffs.

[LeftWinger 4,951]

Can't like your post enough!

Guarantee a better coach, gets more out of these players.  But I think Holland wants a coach he can control.  I am still not convinced that players aren't getting more ice time due to their "loyalty" and in some cases salary.  No way Ericsson should be getting more icetime than XO or Jensen. No way should Nyquist or Tatar be in the top 6 over Mantha or AA. 

 

Then that gets thrown out when Blashill plays Coreau over Mrazek, and then Sheahan leads all forwards in TOI. But then again, Sheahan, Helm, Abby, Glenny...they're all good soldiers who do the bidding of thy master.

AA must have gotten caught being Mrs. Blashill's little boytoy or something, because he just cannot get out of the doghouse...

[Echolalia 2,961]

Yeah I dunno if I buy that there's some ulterior motive for playing certain guys over others.  I just think Blashill is genuinely lost and may not recognize it.  As for Holland wanting him as a coach, I can't blame the guy cuz Blashill has had amazing success at every level hes competed at, has studied under Babcock directly, and has worked with most of our team in some capacity prior to his hiring.  It seemed like a good fit.  But it clearly isn't.  No fault for Holland on putting him in place initially, but a good GM knows when to change plans when the current one isn't working.  Holland needs to find a new solution sooner rather than later.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

What are the chances Blash is fired? 1%? Maybe 2?

[Dabura 12,207]

Help us, Ralph Krueger. You're our only hope.