OldTimeWinger

Member
  • Content Count

    16
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About OldTimeWinger

  • Rank
    OldTimeWinger

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male

Recent Profile Visitors

1,863 profile views
  1. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    “No-trade clause gives Red Wings' Gustav Nyquist control” ... should be another nail in the Holland coffin!
  2. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    Do we NOT think Mrazek has had his opportunity to play himself in the No. 1 slot? Howard was to compete and motivate him. On again off again are not desirable characteristics of a No. 1... if someone is interested, deal him!
  3. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    Regardless of whom GM & coach are, Detroit is in a rebuild ... don’t see anything substantial happening - like playoffs - for => 3 years. Treading water at or below 500 gets you nowhere near top 3 in draft and an immediate impact player. Accept the obvious and settle in
  4. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    Some of the best news we’ve had all season. Thank you very much, but its time to move on.
  5. I have 3 Openings in My Free ESPN Fantasy Roto, Snake Draft League. Live draft is 10/1/ at 7pm EST. If you're interested, let me know. Rules: http://games.espn.com/fhl/content?page=fhlrulesindex2018 Thanks
  6. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    "Meaningful" is a far to subjective term. What YOU deem meaningful most likely is different than what I or your neighbor sees as meaningful. Bonuses should be linked to tangible and quantifiable variables. That way there are clear targets and thresholds to be attained and/or surpassed with corresponding rewards,
  7. OldTimeWinger

    Ken Holland contract extension watch

    Regrettably, it is too much to ask the DRW ownership to make a business-results (what have you done for us lately) decision on Holland and a potential contract extension. They're - to a fault - LOYAL. However, it's not too much to ask that any Holland contract be offered/negotiated like the players contracts he negotiates. Offer him a motivational-base salary with performance bonuses. For example: · A 5% bonus if the Wings are 5% bellow the league mandated salary cap · A 5% bonus for every blue chip college free agent he signs · A 5% bonus if the Wings W-L record and total point are better the the previous · A 10% bonus if the Wings make the playoffs Make sense?
  8. OldTimeWinger

    What Are the DRW Building?

    The concept and purpose of an AHL franchise is to, in part, to separate the contenders from the pretenders and prepare those contenders to play at a high level with their NHL clubs. Winning Calder Cups is icing on the cake and, hopefully, an indication your farm system is well stocked and coached. During the 2012-13 season, the Grand Rapids Griffins (the Red Wings’ AHL team), under current Detroit Red Wings Head Coach Jeff Blashill, won the Calder Cup. Last night, the Griffins again won the Calder Cup. That’s two Calder’s in the last 5 seasons. Hmmmmmm. This begs the question: How have the Calder-winning Griffins – some highly drafted and touted – transitioned to the NHL. From the 2012-13 Calder Cup Champions GR Griffins, who are now regulars on the DRW: GP W L T OT GAA Sv% SO Petr Mrzaek 142 63 50 0 17 2.3725 0.91675 10 GP G A P +/- PIM PPG PPP S Danny DeKeyser 305 18 68 86 1 149 1 10 330 Gustav Nyquist 297 84 109 193 3 88 29 54 674 Riley Sheahan 282 38 60 98 -32 48 11 23 419 Tomas Tatar 318 94 92 186 14 108 23 48 700 Luke Glendening 293 24 36 60 -9 128 1 2 322 * The 2013-2017 seasons Consider: • Not one of the 5 skaters is anywhere close to a point per game performer • Not one of the 5 skaters takes 3 shots a game • Two of the 5 skaters are MINUS players and another two are damn close • The goalie is just 13 games over .500 and holds a pedestrian .916 Sv% If you believe the future of your team is built through the draft and by developing your own players, one could rationalize the Wings – from Ken Holland on down – have done a bang-up job constructing competitive and winning AHL teams. Applaud sign! But those 2012-13 champions have had a rough if not ineffective NHL careers, which seemingly explains why the once vaunted Detroit Red Wings have sunk to the 25th worst team in the league in 2017. Fresh off another Calder Cup win, how will these champions transition to the NHL? Do you want to build and compete for a Calder Cup or a Stanley Cup?
  9. OldTimeWinger

    The Buck Stops WHERE? With WHOM?

    Although two games does not represent a season … wait, hold on … with the Wings it does. The two road games against Toronto and Boston provide fans – and DRW brass – with a clear picture of this team’s caliber, character and commitment. It’s damn ugly. My question: On April 10, who is held responsible/accountable for the unmitigated disaster? Surely, a proud, historic, 11-time Stanley Cup champion – about to unveil a new home (even if named after pizza) -- will NOT turn a deaf ear to the team’s painful and glaring shortcomings. On April 10, who gets called into the boss’s office, told to box up their personal possessions and escorted to the exit? (After all, hockey is a business!) Jeff Blashill. Remember he coached many of these players in Grand Rapids, had great respect for Mike Babcock and his philosophy and the transition would seemingly be seamless. Blashill would be able to coax and coach more from the young players like Tatar, Nyquist, Mrazek, etc., etc., to ensure the Red Wings’ success into the future. Wings’ GM Ken Holland told the Detroit News in May 2015: “He [Blashill] seems to have something, he wins wherever he goes. He wins. Why does he win? When I look at Mike Babcock, I see similarities in Jeff. Making players accountable. A tremendous work ethic. Passion. Having a plan. He has experience.” And what about Holland? There was something genuinely disturbing seeing news clips of him from this week’s GMs meeting in Boca Raton, FL., opining about various tweaks that might be made for the betterment of the game when he couldn’t (and some would say hasn’t) made changes to improve his own team. Since 1997, he has been at the helm, amassing an 825-408 record (just regulation wins and losses) and a .669 win percentage. Since the 2012-13 lockout, 148-112 and .569%. Since January 1, 2017, 9 – 13 (including the two miserable games against the Leafs and Bruins). On agreeing to a four-year extention to Holland’s contract in 2014, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch said, "Ken is regarded as one of the premier executives in the National Hockey League and has been instrumental in the success of the Red Wings over the last two decades … extremely pleased that he will continue to lead our hockey club over the next four years. " Now that many of us are no longer “extremely pleased,” I wonder how President and CEO Chris Ilitch and Sr. VP Jim Devellano feel. Perhaps, someone from the intrepid Detroit news media – Freep’s Helene St. James, News’s Ted Kulfan or MLive’s Ansar Khan – should ask. The follow-up question: Who will be held responsible/accountable?
  10. OldTimeWinger

    Time for a reset/restore

    The Detroit Red Wings crash is officially here. There’s no easy or quick fix. So, settle down and in for a rough time. For the 2017-18 season, the Wings have 17 players signed with a $67.7m cap hit against a projected $73m ceiling. And, for the 2018-19, the Wings have 10 players signed with a $51.7m cap hit against a projected $73m ceiling. Regardless if it counts against the cap number, Johan Franzen hasn’t played a truly meaningful number of games since the 2011-12 season, but still draws almost $4m a year. Meanwhile, GM Ken Holland’s albatross Stephen Weiss, who last played NHL hockey in the 2014-15 season and was bought out in 2015, will draw an average $1.6m for the next FOUR years. Yes, every team has hiccups and busts, but savvy hockey operations offset those mistakes with corrections in other areas of the ledger to prevent falling off the cliff. We hear repeatedly around the trade deadline, draft day and off season that hockey is a business. However, the DRW front office – Holland, Assist. to GM Kris Draper, Player Evaluation Jiri Fischer and Sr. V.P. Jim Devellano – is seemingly incapable of biting the bullet for fear of burning bridges or pissing someone off. As a result of the “we are family” approach, the Wings, in part, have slipped into the playoffs in recent years and today are 25-27-11 and -29. The 28th best team in the league. There would be no point or value in assessing the current roster. These are OUR Red Wings … for now. Rather, I would like to see is a fundamental shift in how hockey operations and the coaching staff assemble and build the team. Trusting fans have told to be patient as the precious assets (young guns) are slowly worked onto the big club, learning and maturing with superstars and wily veterans. It was supposed to secure a successful future. So, where is the line on the ice, where difficult hockey (business) decisions are made to determine if a manager or player is truly an asset or an albatross? This is where tough decisions need to be made for the club’s betterment. I grow weary of excuses like “salary cap,” “long-term contracts,” “a different NHL.” Blah, blah, blah. Yes, I am spoiled. I follow one of the most successful hockey teams in NHL history. There was a dogged reason/strategy/purpose on the bench, behind the bench and in the owner’s box that is now missing. I’m not asking for change for the sake of change. I’m asking for tectonic shift to reset/restore what it means to operate and represent the Detroit Red Wings.
  11. OldTimeWinger

    Making a move with AUTHORITY!

    Regardless of team and Mgmt rationalizations for the 2015-16 season and softball assessments from Detroit's press, it's clear this club has worn the tread off the Winged Wheel. So the faithful don't hyperventilate, get a paper bag handy. The present day Wings can't score or defend. If not for the Parise-less Wild, they would have been the worst team to make the playoffs. Ah ...., let me restate that: They were the worst team to make the dance at a -13 goal differential. Now that we have the cold hard facts of the away, let's give the DRW brain trust something to think about: * No one, NO ONE, on this team should be considered untouchable. * Who really believes Petr Mrazek can be an elite goaltender, capable of putting the team on his shoulders and win a PLAYOFF game(s)? * Who really believes that there is a #1 or #2 D-man on this team? Call me old fashioned. I remember Jacques Demers and Bryan Murray to Mike Babcock and Jeff Blashill. The 25-year playoff run and four Stanley Cups were built from the Defense out. Understanding that Nicklas Lidstroms and Duncan Keiths don't grow on trees, the Wings -- with an excess of more than capable and trade friendly forwards -- need to make the strongest play for THE top defenseman in the '16 Entry Draft. What better way to pay final respects to the Joe and open a new barn than with the reassertion by the Detroit Red Wings as SERIOUS players in the chase for the Cup!
  12. OldTimeWinger

    Who and What are the Detroit Red Wings?

    Someone with both the pain and pleasure of Stanley Cup experience said: Championships are built from the net out. Not to long ago, the Wings organizationally made a decision to employ an above average, serviceable goaltender but protect him with one of the best, staunchest defenses in the league. That is not the case today, or in the recent past. In 1996, Lidstrom, Konstantinov and Fetisov; 1997, Lidstrom, Murphy and Fetisov; 2002, Lidstrom and Chelios; 2008, Lidstrom, Rafalski and Stuart. In comparison, Kronwall, Ericcson, Green, DeKeyser, Smith, Kindl, Marchenko, Quincy, Smith are, I’m sorry, are lightweights. Pinning your hopes on Sproul (8 pts, -5, 14 games), Jensen (2 pts, -5, 14 games), Quellet (5 pts, -4, 14 games)? Not me. Just like your record, you are what your stats say you are. Our top four D-men at the quarter pole of the season: Kronwall – 34 yrs, 21 games, 7 pts, -8 Green – 30 yrs, 15 games, 7 pts, -5 DeKeyser – 25 yrs, 17 games, 4 pts, -1 Ericsson – 31 years, 7 games, 4 pts, 0 Career years not in the offing. It’s my hope DRW management realizes this deficiency and pulls the trigger on a deal that brings a true No. 1, shut down D-man to Detroit to anchor and lead this team. That's the only way they (we) can have a hope of raising the Cup again.
  13. OldTimeWinger

    Who and What are the Detroit Red Wings?

    The glory (Cup) years, character and signature play are history, leaving what appears to be a wandering identity with team management and players equally unsure. Every organization has a “formula for success”. Just a handful, however, can claim their system works – wins championships. The Wings were one of those teams. New more offense-oriented NHL (goals at measly 2.66/game), 3 on 3 OTs and rules package has the Wings searching for answers and a clear path to more consistency, competitiveness and wins. “You are what your record says you are.” Today, they are a .500 team and probably a bubble team to make the playoffs. But more unsettling and costly is the lack of effective attention to the back end. The Wings neither have a “stopper” on defense nor in goal. Last night’s game against the Caps is perfect example: Evgeny Kuznetsov skates by Zetterberg, Kronwall’s late to the party and Mrazek is not sure what to do. It was a 3 on 3 situation, but the scenario and outcome have been replicated during regulation in many games … and will continue to be repeated throughout this season. No one on the current roster has stepped up to the challenge. Grand Rapids’s D-core: Ouch! The 2016 UFAs roster is underwhelming on defense. Ken Holland and Jeff Blashill will have to leave their comfort zone and part with some of the young assets. I suggest the first place to look is Anaheim. What will it take to get Hampus Lindholm?