The last two guys were +1; Stu and Kronner -1, and White at -2.
First goal isn't on the D. Cleary turned the puck over with his stupid play near the Wings blueline.
Second goal turned over at neutral zone. Flip gave it up at the blueline. it went to White, who gave it up, and they made a great pass to havlat. If you fault Stuart, it's that he backed off Havlat too much.
To me the big difference in this game was that the Wings didn't "start on time."
For the first 10-15 minutes, the Sharks owned us. They easily could have been up by 3 or or 4 goals. They missed some some great chances. And Datsyuk's goal at the end of the first gave us life in a game that looked like a lost cause.
From then on, I thought we played fairly decent.
I was watching the game with some friends and no BS, it was overtime and Cleary and Abdelkader jump over the boards as the forward unit in OT.
I said to the crowd "Well, thats game." Boom.
Nice job, Babcock. He really, really, really needs to get over Cleary as a player. He may be a warrior, he may be the most committed lunch pail kind of player he loves, but he also completely and utterly useless. Pairing him with Gator is SMMFH kind of moment.
Really, the season is over for the Wings, it just depends on whether its the 1st round or the 2nd round. Thanks for coming back Nick!
Look at the point standings and start randomly picking.
The only argument you have is based on Datsyuk. Z, Mule and Flip are nothing super special to put them in the category you presented. Mind you, I am not talking about caphits and contracts, but just talent in the top6. This is almost too easy, really.
Pittsburgh - Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Myself - in a rout Philly - Giroux, Hartnell, Jagr, Simmonds - incredible forward depth after these guys, too Tampa Bay - Stamkos, StLouis, Lecavalier, Purcell - very very thin after this...arguable. Admittedly, weakest comparison Chicago - Toews, Kane, Sharpe, Hossa - top heavy but way better New Jersey - Kovalchuk, Parise, Elias, Henrique - depth, a lot of depth Vancouver - Sedin, Sedin, Kesler, Burrows - in a rout San Jose - Thornton, Marleau, Couture, Pavelski - nevermind the depth after that in Clowe and Havlat - total rout Anaheim - Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne - in a rout, down year for Getz
This is a comparison of Top6 talent, not a comparison of teams or team success. Of course Detroit as a team is better than a lot of the teams mentioned (and unmentioned like NYI's top 4 forwards), but Detroit's Top6 is good, not elite. Add Parise, Ryan, E.Kane or some other legit Top6 and you wouldnt have an argument from me.
I dont "quit" on a team. I calls em like I sees em.
Detroit is in trouble. They dont have the horses to compete with the big boys this year. Too much reliance on one or two guys to be competitive.
I cant remember the member's name who made an excellent point about the Wings playing only a puck possession style, that the roster cannot play the game any other way. It is so damn true.
They dont have the oodles of talent to play puck possession like they used to. Their first line is a total mess. Its "Datsyuk Go Be God" and everyone pretends like thats ok, thats how other teams do it.
Second line is nice, really strong, real competitive, with Flip-Z-Hud.
3rd line is swirling the drain as we speak. No Helm = two ineffective 4th lines.
4th line? What 4th line? Havent had one all year, nothing has changed.
Defense is injured and playing like crap without Lidstrom. Kronwall has upped his game, but Stuart's has taken a dive. So has White, who looks foolish out there without Nik. Quincey, as I think nik jr pointed out, has a complete lack of effort out there. He looks like Franzen playing defense where you can openly question his effort on every shift until he actually does something remotely positive. I am not going to beat up on Janik or Smith, one is a depth dman (who doesnt get noticed which is positive for his role) and the other is a rookie who is playing surprisingly well.
Howard looks human but I think this is only his second game back form injury. He'll turn it around, he got better as the game went on last night. By the 3rd and OT, he looked big, confident and on his game. Cant do much when your team's combination of dumb and uncreative pushes an attacking forward onto you when you dont have the puck.
Face it, other contending teams dont have these issues. Theyre like Wings fans used to be, b****ing about 3rd liners (Samuelsson, Hudler) and depth dmen (Lilja) because thats the only thing to b**** about when youre awesome. Meanwhile, Wings should be able to openly question the core who cant get by when one of them gets hurt or goes through a slump.
Oh, did I mention the most important aspect in contending hockey they completely suck at? The PP and PK should get people fired but lets not pretend like that will ever happen. If the Top6 is sooooooo good why does it suck on the PP? Every scorer leading the league benefits from the PP immensely. You take a penalty against Tampa and your whole team starts holding their breath. Not so much with the Wings...hell, the PKers might actually get excited knowing theyre good for at least one breakaway/scoring chance. Looking at you Kronwall just assuming Howard was coming out of the net to play the puck when he clearly never was.
Look at the point standings and start randomly picking.
The only argument you have is based on Datsyuk. Z, Mule and Flip are nothing super special to put them in the category you presented. Mind you, I am not talking about caphits and contracts, but just talent in the top6. This is almost too easy, really.
Pittsburgh - Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Myself - in a rout Philly - Giroux, Hartnell, Jagr, Simmonds - incredible forward depth after these guys, too Tampa Bay - Stamkos, StLouis, Lecavalier, Purcell - very very thin after this...arguable. Admittedly, weakest comparison Chicago- Toews, Kane, Sharpe, Hossa - top heavy but way better New Jersey - Kovalchuk, Parise, Elias, Henrique - depth, a lot of depth[/B] Vancouver - Sedin, Sedin, Kesler, Burrows - in a rout San Jose - Thornton, Marleau, Couture, Pavelski - nevermind the depth after that in Clowe and Havlat - total rout Anaheim - Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne - in a rout, down year for Getz
Look at the point standings and start randomly picking.
The only argument you have is based on Datsyuk. Z, Mule and Flip are nothing super special to put them in the category you presented. Mind you, I am not talking about caphits and contracts, but just talent in the top6. This is almost too easy, really.
Philly - Giroux, Hartnell, Jagr, Simmonds - incredible forward depth after these
Simmonds, geez. I mean, he's alright, but not as good as you seem to claim. There were some other questionable choices as well, but especially Simmonds and Jagr. Really? Jagr still has a great puckhandling ability, but he's way too slow in most occasions. A poor man's Selanne nowadays, I'd say.
As for the game, I can't say I'm very pleased, but the Wings really looked better. A point's still a point, better than nothing. Great game by Flip and Pavs, and I also liked Smith's physical presence. Howie was okay, but the puck's were bouncing quite a bit. Cleary and Stuart were awful and I hope Cleary sits one or two out before the playoffs if Franzen gets healthy.
Next game's gonna be huge, I'm really looking forward to it.
Simmonds, geez. I mean, he's alright, but not as good as you seem to claim. There were some other questionable choices as well, but especially Simmonds and Jagr. Really? Jagr still has a great puckhandling ability, but he's way too slow in most occasions. A poor man's Selanne nowadays, I'd say.
