Riley Sheahan ( aka Mr Teletubby)

[puckbags 863]

How long does Sheahan get a free pass for ? The guy doesn't have a goal in 29 games and only 5 points.  To go along with that he's -11. Coming off a 14 goal year last year and some solid play at both ends of the ice he has to be one of the biggest disappointments. I personally thought with his skill set a 20 goal season wouldn't have been too much to ask for.  Oh and for those who don't get the Teletubby reference I have posted the link below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9oVbV41JKg

[Jacksoni 418]

Lol made me laugh! Great clip, thanks alot.

Sheahan has been said to have the hardest wrister on the team for almost two years now but hardly has anything to show for it.

He is a dissapointment to me, he has the tools but nothing is happening. Almost seems stale out there. He plays the game tough and commits, but in the end feels like a 9-5 dude showing up just to punch his card.

A good 4th liner right now imo, but nothing else.

[kickazz 5,459]

I called it years ago and people gave me s***. He's never been good and he was over hyped. So much that I myself actually got convinced by otheres that he would become a 2nd line center one day. Now I feel stupid. 

He's a 4th liner at best imo. He'd be a good 4th liner with Glendog and Bertuzzi. He makes only like $2 million so it's fine. Could just be a bad year for him but 5 points in 28 games is really REALLY bad. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by kickazz

[Echolalia 2,961]

Blashill.

[puckbags 863]

13 minutes ago, kickazz said:

I called it years ago and people gave me s***. He's never been good and he was over hyped. So much that I myself actually got convinced by otheres that he would become a 2nd line center one day. Now I feel stupid. 

He's a 4th liner at best imo. He'd be a good 4th liner with Glendog and Bertuzzi. He makes only like $2 million so it's fine. Could just be a bad year for him but 5 points in 28 games is really REALLY bad. 

I don't agree with this really. He's improved every year and I expected like most people ( maybe not you lol ) that he would get 20 goals this year and be a solid 2nd/3rd line center.  The cap hit is minimal and I do agree with his play right now he is 4th line player.  

[joesuffP 1,746]

He's played a lot better recently. I think even though he's struggled offensively he's still is a better center than Larkin. Good on face offs, great defensively, smart and a good passer. Everything has looked good for the wings up until they reach the opposing blue line. The whole team is brain dead when it comes to in zone offense

[puckbags 863]

12 minutes ago, Echolalia said:

Blashill.

Standard default answer for everything right now. Not very creative. I agree Blashill seems disconnected a lot of the time but blaming him for everything is a cheap cop out. 

[kickazz 5,459]

13 minutes ago, joesuffP said:

He's played a lot better recently. I think even though he's struggled offensively he's still is a better center than Larkin. Good on face offs, great defensively, smart and a good passer. Everything has looked good for the wings up until they reach the opposing blue line. The whole team is brain dead when it comes to in zone offense

Great defensively?? He's not great. He's average. Great would be someone like Marchand, Hossa, Courturier, Kesler. 

The best are obviously the tier above that in Bergeron, Kopitar, Toews. 

Edited December 12, 2016 by kickazz

[Echolalia 2,961]

2 hours ago, puckbags said:

Standard default answer for everything right now. Not very creative. I agree Blashill seems disconnected a lot of the time but blaming him for everything is a cheap cop out. 

An uncreative answer isn't necessarily an incorrect one, but I can certainly flair it up for you if that's what you want (and excuse my wall of text because its coming!)

Here's Sheahan's career stats (taken from hockeydb)

2013-14	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	42	9	15	24	6	8	5	0	0	0	0
2014-15	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	79	13	23	36	16	-3	7	2	1	3	2
2015-16	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	81	14	11	25	12	-8	5	0	1	1	4
2016-17	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	29	0	5	5	12	-11

points per game ordered by season:
0.57
0.46
0.31 (Blashill yr 1)
0.17  (Blashill yr 2)

That first year was the best, and he had a bit of a sophomore slump (not uncommon, mind you) the following year, but still respectable for his role and experience.  Then Blash takes over and instead of the numbers recovering or even plateauing, they drop even more, and at a steeper rate.  And then they drop some more, and again at an alarming rate the following year.

A little unusual, especially for someone who initially showed so much potential, but maybe that's just Sheahan.  Except it isn't.  Here's Tatar's stats:

2012-13	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	18	4	3	7	4	2	--	--	--	--	--
2013-14	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	73	19	20	39	30	12	5	0	0	0	8
2014-15	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	82	29	27	56	28	6	7	3	1	4	2
2015-16	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	81	21	24	45	24	4	5	0	3	3	2
2016-17	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	29	4	7	11	12	-9

Again looking at points per game but omg at that goal drop off.
.39
.53
.68
.56  (Blashill yr 1)
.38  (Blashill yr 2)

Again we see a noticeable dropoff when Blashill takes over, and again instead of it recovering or plateauing we see the numbers drop even more (and even steeper) in Blashill's second year as coach.

Here's Nyquist:

2012-13	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	22	3	3	6	6	0	14	2	3	5	2
2013-14	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	57	28	20	48	10	16	5	0	0	0	0
2013-14	Grand Rapids Griffins	AHL	15	7	14	21	6	6	--	--	--	--	--
2014-15	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	82	27	27	54	26	-11	7	1	1	2	2
2015-16	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	82	17	26	43	34	-2	5	1	0	1	6
2016-17	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	29	4	11	15	4	-1

again p/g.  aaaannnddd again omg goal drop off.
.27
.84*
.66
.52 (Blashill yr 1)
.51 (Blashill yr 2)
* note: to be fair that second year was a bit of an anomaly.  That was the year Nyquist scored like 25 goals in 30 games or something ridiculous, and had a shooting percentage of a million.  I don't blame Blashill one bit for failing to get Nyquist back to that point.  Its an unrealistic expectation.  The numbers from the following year, however, are more reasonable.

Recurring theme: All three players are currently playing statistically the worst hockey of their careers as established NHL players, and all three players are approaching what should be their prime ages for production (meaning not only should they not be getting worse OR plateauing, we expect they should be improving).  And these three players are not isolated cases.  I could have put up Abdelkader's numbers, or Dekeyser's.  Across the board just about every Red Wing has played worse than compared to when before Blashill took over.  (Quick and dirty evaluation of goal scoring as a loose supportive data set: Red Wings ranking in goals/game the last few years: 16th, 10th, 23rd, 26th.  Guess when Blashill took over.)  And as I mentioned in another thread, the roster has arguably been improved bit by bit from year to year, so at least on paper there's more support for our guys to continue to produce, or at the very least earn points for the team (which have also incidentally plummeted since Blashill took over).

Considering how just about everything across the board has suffered since he took over, and considering that just about everything has gotten worse and not better in his following year, I  have a hard time looking at anything else beside Blashill at this point.  He is the most glaring and obvious problem, and the one with the most repercussions throughout the makeup of this team.  I struggle to properly evaluate other aspects of this team because I have such strong conviction that The Blashill Effect is already negatively muddling the results, and I wouldn't trust making adjustments or tweaks elsewhere because elsewhere might not even be broken and we could be potentially doing more harm by trying to find fixes where none may even be necessary.  To take that a step farther and to underline a more ominous problem that's impending: do we trade away Sheahan at the deadline for a 5th round pick because he's dead weight and we're clearly missing the playoffs, only to see him immediately rebound under another coach?  To be fair that's just speculation, but its also a real possibility that I want to convey, and one that leaves us trading down in value.  As we approach this upcoming deadline likely to be sellers, right now the organization and potential trade partners are at high risk of under-appraising our goods and selling them off for less than they're actually worth (unless of course Sheahan and Tatar and etc and etc and etc actually are playing at their true levels and all the data before Blashill took over was just anomalies across the board).  Holland is on his way to a terrible position because when the phones are ringing in February and Chicago wants Tatar (or just about anybody on the roster), Holland is either selling low based on the last two years of performance and continuously diminishing trends, or not selling at all (and then the fan base calls for his head for "kicking tires at the deadline").  I don't mean to derail this thread and I have no problem with people analyzing the actual on ice product that has been Sheahan to see if he's working the corners enough or skating with confidence or whatever, but I think its worth at least partially derailing to discuss exactly the magnitude that a poor coach has on this organization, both now and for the future, and that if Holland wants to maximize his chances at turning this team around, right now is probably the time to fire Blashill, if not to make a playoff comeback, but to reclaim some value on potential trade pieces by February. 

Anyway, sorry to totally go off on a tangent and do so in an endless wall of text.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Echolalia
clean up some typos and empty spaces

[kickazz 5,459]

Im not reading all that.

Someone give me the Tl;dr

Is it Blashill?

Edited December 13, 2016 by kickazz

[Echolalia 2,961]

5 minutes ago, kickazz said:

Im not reading all that.

Someone give me the Tl;dr

Is it Blashill?

Chapters 1-5: Its Blashill

Chapter 6: Surprise twist! Its Stan Bowman

Chapter 7: Bowman was a red herring its actually blashill.

Chapter 8: To be continued?

Chapter 9: No. its def blash.

[joesuffP 1,746]

Some great points. 

Theirs really no benefit spending years grooming Blashill and letting him learn along the way. The team performs poorly, maturing players aren't growing and the teams assets are worth less. No GM would allow this for two straight years, especially after they had to fire and replace all his assistants. That's another bad sign for Blashill. Holland did good by giving him another shot with a new staff but I think any GM would have to move on. If only for the playoff streak. The question is who replaces him

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

He shouldn't be in the lineup.  A total waste of size.  He's basically the forward version of Brian Lashoff.  I would give him the Lady Byng trophy this season.    

Edited December 13, 2016 by GMRwings1983

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

Being stuck in Notre Dames system stunted his offensive growth unfortunately. 

[DickieDunn 2,571]

I predict a three year deal for Sheahan is on the way.

[Dabura 12,207]

It almost seems like he's constantly half a step behind real time. (Sort of like NHL.tv feeds!) His anticipation, his decision making, his first few skating strides...he just doesn't seem to be entirely "present," mentally and physically. Maybe it's just a confidence problem, one that's become really self-compounding and draining.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Dabura

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

42 minutes ago, DickieDunn said:

I predict a three year deal for Sheahan is on the way.

Don't forget the no-trade clause.  

[kickazz 5,459]

1 hour ago, Dabura said:

It almost seems like he's constantly half a step behind real time. (Sort of like NHL.tv feeds!) His anticipation, his decision making, his first few skating strides...he just doesn't seem to be entirely "present," mentally and physically. Maybe it's just a confidence problem, one that's become really self-compounding and draining.

If he's still having confidence issues after 4 NHL seasons then he's got to wear his Telly-Tubby costume and sit at home and eat a bowl of ice cream. 

Edited December 13, 2016 by kickazz

[Dabura 12,207]

4 minutes ago, kickazz said:

If he's still having confidence issues after 4 NHL seasons then he's got to wear his Telly-Tubby costume and sit at home and eat a bowl of ice cream. 

HE'S A SENSITIVE MAN, OK?? HE LIKES PUPPIES.

[ChristopherReevesLegs 7,022]

Jeff Blashill, meet Dave Lewis.

Sheahan will be in Vegas this time next year. 

[kylee 727]

Hopefully we'll get rid of him. Brings absolutely nothing to the team. 

[puckbags 863]

17 hours ago, kickazz said:

Im not reading all that.

Someone give me the Tl;dr

Is it Blashill?

 

15 hours ago, Jonas Mahonas said:

FTW.  Double space this, give it a title, and cite your sources.  I will present your PhD diploma at the ceremony.

No kidding, well done, I didn't read it but I'm sure there are some valid points. Who has time to write that much stuff.  I get on here 5 minutes a day at this point of my life and try to plug in a sentence here or there lol.  

[DickieDunn 2,571]

1 hour ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Jeff Blashill, meet Dave Lewis.

Sheahan will be in Vegas this time next year. 

Like they're going to want that bum

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

7 hours ago, ChristopherReevesLegs said:

Sheahan will be in Vegas this time next year. 

No possible way Vegas takes him

[kickazz 5,459]

Two pages and this thread is already a diss fest. This guy is our first round pick. 

Edited December 14, 2016 by kickazz