Playmaker

[quote name="Playmaker" post="2406686" timestamp="1368902201"]Smith is a rookie who is going to make mistakes.  Pucks will get past you at the point.  If Cleary does his job, it's a good scoring chance, and nothing more.  He's a seasoned playoff veteran and shouldn't be making plays like this.  Cleary isn't the scapegoat.  He's getting well deserved criticism for his extremely poor play.[/quote

What you call "well-deserved criticism" is what I'd call obsessive overkill. He is not playing well. But Cleary commentary has gone from well-chosen, logical and timely remarks to a kind of pubescent, smart-ass, sarcastic let's-all-dump-on-him-because-it's-the-current-thing-to-do thing. Kind of like mindless, absentee bullying. What I find interesting about my own reaction is that whether it's my business or not; and even though I don't have any control over it, I feel embarrassed and sad for those of you who are persisting, even when he plays ok. It's just a guess here. A stab in the dark? But I'm thinking the point has been made that Daniel Cleary is not playing well.

Sorry, but I think the both of you are being a bit overly sensitive.  Like I said, I don't have a history of bashing or doing the "TRADE HIM" bit if someone has a bad game and I can't control what anyone else does or says.  But the bottom line is, for two full seasons, Cleary has been a shell of his former self.  He struggles with many basic things like clearing the zone or taking the right guy defensively (which wouldn't be so bad if his "defensive prowess" wasn't constantly given as his reason for being in the line up every day) His skating is painfully slow. He rarely hits any more has litte playmaking ability left and doesn't seem capable of standing in front of the net to make a play.  That doesn't take away what he did in the past and it doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally make a decent play, nor does it mean other players aren't struggling as well.

This is almost like a Brandon Inge reinicarnation.  The guy was hitting a buck fifty and trotted out as the starting 3B every day and was actually given a shot at 2B when Cabrera moved to third and yet if you said anything, you were a "hater" and a "bully".  Then once in a blue moon he'd get like an infield squibber or field a basic ground ball, and it was like "See!!! Look at how good he is!  He made that play!"

Oh, AND he's good in the community!  Well, so was Mother Theresa, but I don't want her playing on my team.

He's been a completely ineffective player, yet every game this season, there he is with Datsyuk and Zetterberg, on the PP, on the ice in the final minute of a game while guys like Eaves, Miller and others are sitting in the press box on any given night and while guys like Tatar are wasting away in Grand Rapids. Most of his goals are the result of him being the last guy it hit on the way to the net and a great many of his assists are him just getting the puck to 13 or 40 and having them do their magic.  When Brunner was having a bad stretch he was pulled from the lineup, made to sit a few games and then was reinsterted on the 3rd line.  When Ian White and Carlo Colaiocovo struggled, they were benched in favor of young players.  Same with Tootoo, Berrtuzzi and Samuelsson.  Not Cleary.

I was willing to give Cleary the benefit of the doubt last season because it was supposedly his bad knees and once he had surgery over the summer, he'd be back to his old self.  That didn't happen.  His decline has continued.  But there he is, in the lineup, in the top 6 game after game.  I suppose that's on Babcock.  I have a great deal of respect for him, but I don't agree with him on how he's handled Cleary.  His blind devotion is baffling.

I'm not here as often as many others are, but I haven't seen nearly as much Cleary bashing as I have for Franzen, Filppula, Smith, and Quincey.  No one has called him "Danielle" and I haven't seen any personal attacks, mostly just pointing out his poor play during a game day thread. 

Flip wasn't invisible.  Don't you remember the backhand pass to no one behind his own net that led to a goal?

Based on your logic, it's the player who should have been there's fault, not Flip's.  It isn't like Flip hasn't gotten his fair share of well deserved criticism.  He's not a measuring stick for Cleary.  They are two different players.  Cleary has been dreadful for the past two seasons.  He's been given ample time with the top players, on the PP and in crucial situations and has been noticably unproductive.  I thank him for his prior service, and in his prime, he was a vital asset to the Wings.  But age and injuries have rendered him completely ineffective.  I sincerely hope he is not re-signed this offseason.

Ericsson's giveaway lead to that goal.  Should we trade him, too?

It's the fans listening that are biased, not the announcers. 

By and large, I think the NBC crew does a nice job.  Ken Kal sounds like a cartoon character and why Paul uh, Woods, uh, has uh, a job, uh in broadcasting, uh, is beyond me.

I gotta tell ya Salane is ruining his legacy... Where's targeting the head for that NHL????

Oh, give it a rest already.  Selanne makes one cross check and his legacy is ruined.  Can people not just cheer on the Wings without all the BS?

Retiring a number is only for legendary greatness.  While I love Pavel Datsyuk and his magical moves, he just does not put up the numbers, nor has he played long enough to be considered in that category. If he stays another five years...maybe.  I think it also has to do with off the ice things.  I don't think any of the aforementioned players really became entrenched in the Detroit community.  I think that contributes to it as well. I loved Fedorov in his day as well, but his career was also too short in Detroit to be considered.  I think it cheapens the whole retiring of a number when too many are up there.

I didn't go overboard when the Wings were playing poorly wanting anyone fired or a complete team overhaul, and I'm not going to now that they had one great week.  The entire team, the coaching staff and front office deserves all the credit in the world for stepping it up when it needed to.  I hope the team that played so well this past week is the one that shows up in Anaheim. 

Mark Howe doesn't seem to have the personality to be a GM.  I don't really care what his last name is.  I want a GM who can do the job.  Former star players don't often succeed as General Managers.  Plus, Mark Howe is almost 58 years old.  Not really of "grooming" age.   I don't really see Ken Holland going anywhere anytime soon. 

As soon as my editor posts my new blog entry, you should check it out.  It is a pretty heated slamming of Ken Holland for going against his word and stringing Nill along.  This is the WORST THING TO HAPPEN TO DETROIT in the past 20 years.  The only thing that would be worse is losing Hakin. Holland is spent and he said he was going to retire post Lidstrom.  Now he can't because the guy who deserved the job a year ago is leaving to Dallas and I am angry and embarrassed.  I have no faith in this organization if they string along Jim and then lose him in favor of Holland who seems too timid and tired.  I really hope this is wrong, and if it is right I hope Holland gets fired before Nill signs in Dallas.  I felt secured in the future of the team until tonight. 

If anyone took what Ken Holland said seriously about retiring when Lidstrom did, you have some serious issues.  Best of luck to Jim Nill. 

It pisses me off to see Dats, Zetts and Howie go all out for their team and yet we can't depend on a 5 million dollar "Mule" or a rest of a team that is clueless in the defensive zone. 

I don't think any of the three have been overly impressive of late.  At times like this, your stars have to step it up.  They've been average.  Jimmy has been good in the games, but we desperately needed him to steal us a win in the shootout.  He just seems so easy to beat one on one sometimes.

Cleary and Abby?  Really?

I'm hoping that this season has opened Holland's eyes a bit.  I don't think the Wings can afford to keep prospects in the minors forever and sign old former Red Wing free agents to fill the gap.  Because of the cap, you have to give jobs to younger, cheaper players.  We no longer have the luxury of paying future hall of famers several million to play on the third line or sit in the press box to fill in for an injury.  Not saying play a guy full time at 18, but by 21 or so, these guys need to be given a chance to play and not continue to rot in Grand Rapids.

This pretty much sums up my view. I'm not upset the team isn't dominating anymore and needs a rebuild. I'm just confused as to exactly what the rebuild plan is.

As has been mentioned before, it's not like going into the season Holland was planning let the kids play and develop, even if it made for a mediocre season. Holland signed guys like Cola and Sammy headed into this season to plug holes. Most of the kids got ice time because of injuries, not strategy.

Even at this trade deadline, he talks about the Wings being in a rebuild phase, while also mentioning going after Jagr. So the Wings are clearly trying to rebuild but he pursued an aging playoff rental?

I think they had a plan (Suter and Parise) and were foiled in that plan.  I think with the lockout and the uncertainty of the salary cap, they didn't feel comfortable signing any of the other B level free agents like Semin, and being handcuffed with making any moves in the future.  So they signed cheap guys they hoped would plug the gap for a year or two until there was a clearer picture of what they had to work with.  As much as we all hate it,  it HAS worked in the past. 

Clearly, that strategy hasn't worked due to the injuries and unproductive seasons by players they counted on like Franzen, Filppula, Kronwall, Quincey and even Datsyuk and Zetterberg.  I can't see the point of keeping guys like Tatar in Grand Rapids when you have guys like Cleary who just are not getting the job done. 

I would expect that this offseason there would be a clearer direction in place.

If they continue to do the same thing this offseason, then I'd definitely have a problem with it.

I don't recall saying a thing about any other era.  I'm just realistic enough to know that no team wins it or has a chance to win it every single year.  To expect that there aren't going to be some transition periods or some years that are less successful than others isn't logical.  For a team in transition like the Wings, I would consider a WCF to be a successful season, not a complete and utter failure. 

Very well said. BOTH teams and their fanbases deserve a game called fairly, consistently, and evenly. I don't want to lose due to weak officiating, but I don't want to win because of it either. If it's a penalty, call it both ways all the time. If it's not, don't.

Any of the four officials on the ice can call a too many men.  So do they all hate the Wings?  So the Wings have never had too many men on the ice and it wasn't caught by an official?