wings_fanatic

That was a dumbass coaching decision by Babcock to start the 2nd powerplay unit on the powerplay over the Pavs unit. The 2nd unit has been below average all night, and Kronners had just delivered a huge hit, so Babs should have been smart enough to start the powerplay with the 1st unit which has actualy been good tonight. If he had done that, we wouldn't be down by 2 again.

Haha absolutely. I truly feel comfortable enough, for the first time since 2009, to say that this team has all the tools in the shed for a strong run at the Cup, Babcock just needs to look at what we say to fix the little problems from last night. Nashville always seems to get lucky bounces in their barn against us but "we make our own luck" and nashville did exactly what they had to do to win the game, so cudos to them. This may be breaking news to some posters in this forum, but no team wins every single game and losing the way we did last night is nothing to be ashamed of. The Wings will learn from it next game and if they win that I am sure all of these jabs at Howard and such will be long forgotten by some of you.

Some of you guys are overreacting here big time. The Wings played a perfect road game for the most part. Yah, there were some mistakes made by Howard, but he has played lights out all season so he is entitled to a bad game every now and then. The thing that stuck out to me is that there were times tonight where Kronners and Stu looked lost in our end. They just kind of scramble around the zone when they play together for some reason, so look for Babs to split them up.

- Lidstrom and White were fantastic tonight. Weber had a good night, but I think Nick's all around play showed why he is still the best defenseman in the game
- Pavel had another great game. Sure he missed the open net, but that happens and he has been our best player for the last long while and is slowly getting close to 1st place in points in the league. That entire first line has been outstanding. Highlight of my night was Pavs knocking Weber down... I laughed so hard
- Zetterberg is really coming to form with shooting the puck and controlling play... it is really nice to see
- Ericsson has got to go. I am so tired of his lame play. He simply has no potential imo. If we can somehow create a package deal for Semin that invovles Ericsson going the other way, please pull the trigger Kenny.

Bottom line is that we saw many good things from the Wings tonight, and I am not worried one bit about this team

What it comes down to is this. Howard has played great all season, along with Nicklas Lidstrom, Filpulla and Kronners. Those are the only 4 that have been good ALL SEASON LONG. Now, Pavel has been MUCH more like himself ever since after that game against the Sharks, so he is on the list of players fulfilling their jobs. Franzen and Bert have both found a home with Pavel on the top line and are doing their part. Cleary has been picking things up since being on the 3rd line where he belongs. Now, I could go on and name certain players for doing their jobs, but Henrik Zetterberg is not one of the players that I can name. Is he playing BAD? No- - by no means is he playing bad. The problem is that he is not playing like what we expect of him, or what the team expects of him. We really need Hank to get going and start scoring goals for us and help carry some offense for our team when we need it. If Babs does not get Hank going, then I do not see a far look into the playoffs for the boys in Red this season.

We all know Henrik Zetterberg is an outstanding hockey player, but he has yet to show that this season. Pavel called himself out and has since been playing much more like himself and has been putting up the necessary numbers that we, and he, expects of him. If we want to be as successful as we can, it is time for Zetterberg to do the same.

Our PK has never been the same as it was in 2008 ever since Babs stopped using Pavs and Z consistently on one of the PK units. He needs to have SET PK UNITS because right now it seems that he just throws random players out there and that there are no disignated units.

PK1:
Datsyuk- Zetterberg
Lidstrom- White

PK2:
Helm- Filpulla
Kronwall- Stuart

I think these 2 penality killing units would CONSISTENTLY get the job done.

LMAO at the comment about if the game is gonna be on Versus or CBC haha! If only he carried a box of tissues around and had 87 on the back of his jersey...

A trade for Parise or Semin is the only thing that would be big enough for the Wings imo. Those of you saying to trade for a goalie, that will make NO DIFFERENCE at all for the team's success because Howard has been playing pretty much lights out all season... the problem has been our big boys. Semin has not been great this season, just like Franzen, so I think some sort of trade between those 2 would be great for both teams, but a major move is necessary for the Wings imo.

Babcock is absoultely right... and as I said before, there is only so much he can do as the coach. When you got guys like Zetterberg not doing their job, there is going to be a problem with the wins. Babs has tried a million different line combinations and we still have the same result with not enough effort by certain players. I think Babs has to go back to the basics and put Pavs and Hank together because Hank looks LOST out there. He needs to shoot the puck like he used to and the only way to get him to do that is to put him with Pavs. If I was Babs I would make this change and in doing so, I would tell Zetterberg that if he does not pick his game up, then he will find himself sitting for a game or 2. Here are the lines I want to see:

Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Homer
Franzen- Filpulla- Cleary
Brunnstrom- Helm- Hudler (I LOVED this line last night, I think it has potential)
Eaves- Abs- Miller

Lidstrom- Smith (IMO Smith had a GREAT game last night and is WAY better than Ericson... so when White comes back Ericson should be the one sitting imo)
Kronners- Kindl
Ericson- Stuart

Unbelievable. This team needs change. Enough said. Zetterberg quiet again, Cleary is TERRRRRRRRIBLE I hate him this season he cant pass, he cant receive passes, he gives pucks away. Ericson sucks BIG TIME. IMO Smith has looked very solid tonight and should replace Ericson in the line up.

Babcock needs to change these lines. But this is not just on Babs. This is on Kenny to realize that this team needs change. Babs can only try so many line combos... if the players dont wanna play there is nothing he can rly do about that.

I am a little disappointed with these line changes. Franzen never works out good with Pavs I do not understand why Babs refuses to put Fil or Huds with Pavs for a game. ANyways, hopefully Pavs lights it up tonight... the game is against the Sharks and lately the only 3 players who show up against the Sharks are Dats, Hank and Nick... so I predict a big night by those 3. Go Wings!

Here is my problem with the Wings, and this will ultimately spell their success or failure this season. They a re 8-0 when Franzen and Filpulla get poiints in a game. That should not be the case... the case should be us saying the Wings are successful when Datsyuk and Zetterberg are getting points, leading us to wins. That is not the case, and ultimately, that is the problem. Mike Babcock is just as much to blame for this as Datsyuk and Zetterberg.

Zetterberg has at least at linemates to play with this season that have potential (whether its been Pavs, or Franzen and Fil). Meanwhile, Pavs has been stuck with Cleary for way too long, and has not been able to get going. Babcock should have realized, like 5 games ago, that Cleary deserves nothing but a seat in the press box with his play this season, but yet he continues to play with our best forward. If the Red Wings are to be successful this season, it is the job of Mike Babcock to do all he can to do what it takes to get Pavs and Hank going, so changes need to be made. In my opinion, during the slump, even though the Wings were not scoring, Pavs and Hank were still playing well with each other and have since then looked un-interested at times. To get them playing at the level they should be, Babs should put them back together and, in the process, call them out and tell them that they need to be as good as expected. The lines should be:

Zetterberg- Datsyuk- Homer (For reasons said above, and Homer has played hard and given it his all every game- deserves top line minutes)
Franzen- Filpulla- Hudler (Hudler has played way harder than Cleary all season and has not made even close to the amount of mistakes)
Abdelkator- Helm- Brunnstrom(I love Helmer with Abs, and I think Brunnstrom should be given a good chance to play and I think he could add a nice threat to this line.)
Eaves- Emmerton- Cleary (Cleary probably should be scratched a few games, but I think he would do fine and this would be a  good 4th line)

He has stuck Pavs with Cleary for like 5 games now and it has NOT WORKED. Cleary has done NOTHING this season and should actually be sitting in the pressbox. It does not take a smart guy  to realize to take Cleary off of that line with Pavs or else we are going to lose this season more often then not.

TERRIBLE period by the Wings. What the hell is it going to take for Babcock to GIVE PAVS A LINEMATE?>!?!? IT is really making me furious! Our best forward is unable to do anything, game in and game out, on a freakin line with Cleary, but yet Babcock STILL uses that line. By the end of this game, Pavs better have a good linemate because I am sick of it. This team will go NOWHERE unless Pavs is able to get going and that is only going to happen with a good linemate.

Once again I will state, this largely comes down to poor coaching by Mike Babcock. Why would a coach put DAN CLEARY wit Pavel Datsyk?? Cleary is not a sniper... all the goals he scores are crappy goals from bad angles or rebounds (Homer's role). Last night, Pavs had all the nice moves, but Cleary had no idea what to do while Pavs was doing his thing. Cleary is a very very good 3rd line player, but nothing more. IF we want to continue to see success, Mike Babcock has got to put a guy that can score goals on a line with Pavs.

Once again Babcock has Pavs stuck with Cleary at practice today. I think this is a BIG MISTAKE by Babs because it provides Pavs with NOTHING to work with. Hudler deserves to be up with Pavs more than Cleary does right now and more importantly Hudler actually has a good ability to shoot the puck. Having Cleary with Pavs is simply a waste of time. Cleary belongs on the 3rd line and 2nd line if injuries occur.