kickazz

Brendan Smith captain? Lmao. No.

Look at our past captains people. Yzerman, Lidstrom, Zetterberg. Especially look at Zetterberg since most of us know him more closely since he's younger. All three by the way were world class players their ROOKIE SEASON! 

Zetterberg rookie season: In 79 games he had 22 goals and 22 assists and ONLY 8 PENALTY MINUTES

Lidstrom rookie season : In 80 games, he had 60 points with 22 penalty minutes a +36 rating

Yzerman rookie season: 80 games, 87 points, 33 penalty minutes.

Brendan Smith 2013 rookie season: 34 games, 8 points, 36 PENALTY MINUTES +1 rating

Now I understand that Smith is more of a scrapper and had 2 fights in the season so you can take 10 minutes out of those 36 minutes. But those 26 minutes in 34 games compared to the previous captains is a joke. No way in hell would Red wings franchise current principle give it to Smith.

If we were truly to predict someone to get it next as of now; it would probably be Dekeyser. Kid does better on ice than most of the defensemen on our roster and he leads by example as a 22 year old or whatever he is. Plus babs and Holland love the kid as it is.. Smith on the other hand, the only kind of leading by example from him that I see is "How to draw a penalty in first 5  minutes of the game"

Don't get wrong, I understand Smith is still learning, but to predict him to be captain for a world class organization like Detroit is a joke. We aren't Anaheim Ducks or Florida Panthers people. We are the Detroit Red Wings.

Z needs to stop flopping. Last night, the Ducks announcers were commenting on the antics of Howard and Z. I didnt like it cuz it was true. The Wings might need some theatrics to keep up with todays NHL standards, but I hate to think of us diving like the Sharks and Canucks. Bad Z. You be a good Z!

Honestly, to accuse a world class player like Zetterberg of diving is probably one of the more naïve and unbelievable post I've seen here. If you knew any physics you would know that wasn't a dive. Please go watch the replay again and do not accuse one of the most classy players of something that ridiculous.

I agree Howard did over exaggerate, but he did his job. At the end of game 6 perry got away with some nasty slashes. What Howard did in game 7 was payback. Good for him. Reminds me of what Ozzy did in his time as a red wing. Goalies always attract the refs attentions and it worked out in our favor. Be happy with it and move on.

Babcock >>> Quenville and the whole league knows it. It's a fact not an opinion. However, Hawks talent >>> Red wings talent.

In the end, it will come down to who chokes and who doesn't. We need another Perry type fluff from Hawks star players.

If Zetterberg and Datsyuk can match up to Kane and Toews respectively, and if Howard stays as strong as he has, the series is Detroits.

You know you've learned from Steve Yzerman when you go straight to your goalie after the OT winner while everyone rushes to Brunner. Atta boy Z way to be a leader.

How do you know the Yotes player didn't in initiate the chirping? How do you know Doan didn't swear at Abby thoughout the game? Have you ever seen Abby chirp from the penalty box in other circumstances?

Doan was upset his team was being outplayed, and his team was being physically pushed around by Abby. Doan selfishly took himself off the ice for four minutes (could have been more if the fight got going), and put his team short handed, in a game that the Yotes needed to win to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

If Abby is getting under the skin of the other team's best player, he is doing his job well.

Lol, I was sitting behind the penalty box... Abby didn't say anything when he was in it, he was calm and quiet. Doan had his helmet off and kept yelling at Abby from the box. We couldn't make out exactly what he was saying exactly. In an case, If you watch the recap from NBC's broadcast, Pierre McGuire said that Doan "didn't swear at AbdelKader at all, and told him 'You play on a line with Datsyuk and Zetterberg and only have 11 points, you should be ashamed' " Go look up the broadcast on youtube it's all over the place.

Even if the other teammate was chirping at Abby first, that doesn't mean you should think Doan is pathetic. He's sticking up for his teammate and has every right to do so. He's a physical captain and he's a big guy. That's his game. He's one of those respected individuals in the league.

 

If you can find a big player who plays a physical, energetic game, will fight, AND can score, please let the front office know.

You're taking my quote out of context and posting only half of what I said.. The previous lad was giving Abdelkader credit for being on par with Bertz in scoring. I pointed out that Abby isn't a goal scorer, he could have scored 25 goals playing with Datsyuk if he had better execution abilities. I also mentioned that if Abby practice that part of his game this offseason, that would be better. I believe he's doing a good job of being physical. And I further pointed out that Bertuzzi can be physical as well if he's 100% healthy, as well as score goals and have more finesse. In conclusion I would have a 100% healthy bertuzzi on line 1 over an Abderlkader.

My whole point in making this post, ladies? and gentleman, is that Mr. Babcock has not realized that his swapping has done absolutely nothing for him. Had he kept the lines the way they were, we could have ATLEAST had lines with better chemistry after 45 games are done. If Z and Brunner had kept playing, they could have had an amazing chemistry by now. If Dats and Franzen were kept together, they could have had a good chemistry by now. But none of that happened cuz he changes the lines up every damn game. I don't know why he doesn't just realize that swapping is not better than just sticking to it.

Tell me what the hell was the point of Zetterberg going to swiss and playing with brunner on EV Zug if babcock was just going to split them up? Nothing. If anything, we have now a Zetterberg whose running on fumes due to an extended season. While most players got a rest during the fall, Z was playing overseas, and now he's pretty much out of gas.

Seriously, the past three years and especially this year the line swapping have been at a maximum. I feel like there's no opportunity for any chemistry being built. Don't get me wrong , I like Babcock, but how are you supposed to let team chemistry build if you just keep swapping guys back and forth ? He started the year with Z, Dats and Brunner, it wasn't doing good for a few games and he completely gave up on it? I mean, at some point you've got to realize that there simply isn't enough offense available right?

In any case, does it logically make sense as a coach to swap lines so much? It takes time to built chemistry in a line.. You're at the end of the season and you haven't built any good chemistry at all.. Maybe he shouldn't have swapped around cuz it sure didn't make a difference at this point in the season.

What are you thoughts?

I've been to some of these game and I've had the opportunity to sit up close (thanks to company tickets my father gets every year), let me tell you guys something. These guys get beat up day in an day out. I've watched Hank get his butt checked by guys almost twice as big as him from a few seats away. I'll tell you one thing though, he protects the puck with one hand very well, something even Datsyuk doesn't do as well. However Datsyuk has been fun to watch with his crazy deking ability that makes some of the D fall on their butts. Anyways the point im trying to make is, these guys are simply beat up. Half the time on ice that I've watch Zetterberg, he seems exhausted 30 seconds into his shift but just keeps on going. My buddy sitting next to me at the Chicago game at home said something like "Zetterberg plays like he's ran 30 miles before the game" Seriously, though up close the man looks exhausted this season.

These two men (zet and dats) have an incredible amount of pressure on them. Datsyuk is clearly in better shape and so he has a bit more stamina than Z but even he doesn't seem anywhere close to the speed he used to have a few years ago. Say what you guys must, but I've been analyzing these two all season long and have had the opportunity to do so from a few seats away.