Post-Game Talk: I like Nyquist and our PK

[The Zetterberg Era]

Yes, it's truly amazing how people criticize Howard when he ****s up but not when he plays good. It's almost as if there was some kind of mysterious connection there but I can't see what it could possibly be. I just can't. figure. it. out.

That breakaway shouldn't have happened, Datsyuk has to take blame for that but I'll forgive him for it because it was his first game back. Tricky for Howard of course but he has to play that a lot better anyway, he should take blame for it too. He made up for it later though and we're all happy for that.

You blame Datsyuk, DeKeyser (who should not be on the PP to begin with) is the one forcing an extremely low percentage shot as the PP is ending without high support which might be Datsyuk but he has no reason to bail as that has to go down the boards. If it isn't going down the boards at that point it has to be high percentage enough to be a shot on goal. That is a pretty stupid play by DeKeyser.

 

[odin1981]

it always seems like whenever the wings play physical in front of their net, they get a penalty

how many times have we seen a red wings player get drilled in front of the opposition net and no penalty

Just about the entirety of Dino and Thomas career.

 

[aar000n]

I don't understand that Lashoff penalty. Is that not a play that happens about 30 times a game, anytime a puck is free and players are scrambling near the crease? I feel like I see that exact same thing constantly.

Either call it every time or not at all.

in the end of the game it seems the refs are calling more stuff to spice the games up.

 

[Run the Jewels]

We'd also probably be top three in the division and not fighting for the second wild card spot.

How are those veteran signings the past two years working out you say? Alfie, highly skilled player coming to the UFA market, good sign. Bertuzzi, slow with little left in the tank, no good. Cleary....enough said. Sammy, slow and lost his on ice vision a few seasons ago and oft injured, no good. Weiss, I'll let you know at the end of the season when he is healthy.

If we are truly focused entirely on depth in order to ice the most competitive team and not just burying young, talented players in Grand Rapids then the right move is to waive Eaves, Cleary and Bert.

Weiss: hasn't worked out as hoped.
Mule: another serious head injury.
Alfredsson: nice signing but he's invisible at EVS.

Waive the dead weight and you have the following guys at your disposal:

Nyquist-Z-Abby or Mule
Sheahan-Pavel-Weiss
Tatar-Helm-Jurco or Alfredsson
Miller-Andersson-Glendening

That's a pretty solid group of forwards right there.

 

[Frk It]

I don't understand that Lashoff penalty. Is that not a play that happens about 30 times a game, anytime a puck is free and players are scrambling near the crease? I feel like I see that exact same thing constantly.

Either call it every time or not at all.

I don't know, but I love that he did that.

That's what I want to see more of. That's how I want my defenseman to respond when there is a rebound opportunity in a 1 goal game with 2 minutes to go.

How many goals have we seen we're we got beat on a loose puck or rebound in front of our net? Way too often, if you ask me.

 

[SoupGuru]

Well, that was a pretty ugly game, in my opinion. Defense looked shaky. The kid line had a couple of nice shifts in the o-zone but were pretty brutal everywhere else. Z carried his line. Alfie carried his. Howard bailed his team out and won a game for them.

That Lashoff goal had me cheering. Nice to see him get one after that awful call. He's been really solid and playing his role as good as anyone can ask. Good stuff.

 

[icKx]

Lashoff...

 

[Eastopia]

You blame Datsyuk, DeKeyser (who should not be on the PP to begin with) is the one forcing an extremely low percentage shot as the PP is ending without high support which might be Datsyuk but he has no reason to bail as that has to go down the boards. If it isn't going down the boards at that point it has to be high percentage enough to be a shot on goal. That is a pretty stupid play by DeKeyser.

Yeah, it's late here and it's fair to say I'm a bit tired, I just remembered Dats was in the thick of it but not who the other guy was so I took a gamble and threw his name out there. Sorry, who was to blame for the breakaway had nothing to do with my point so I should probably should've just said that the breakaway should not have been allowed to happen and that's on someone else's shoulders.

In short, I was just trying to be all diplomatic and **** by acknowledging that there were others to blame as well as Howard, but I may have ****ed that up. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[GoAwayDanCleary]

Did Dats look alright?

 

[Yemack]

Did Dats look alright?

couldn't watch the game. was wondering about that one as well.

from highlight, it didnt look as bad as I initially thought. I was worried that his knee is so fked up that he can't change direction fast enough (Datsyuk's goto move)

 

[NyquistIsMyGod*]

Is Abdelkader one of the more underrated guys on the team at this point? He's got 23 points, and it seems like he's a plus player every single year. He's not a top line forward like Babcock sometimes uses him, but I think he's been pretty darn good this year.

Agreed. Last year he was a fourth liner playing on the top line. This year we have a servicable top six player playing on the top line. Massive difference. What Abby's doing well is not only winning the battle, but he's much stronger on the puck. He reads the play better now. He really is the perfect player for Gus and Z. Abby was outplaying Gus for awhile before Gus' stretch. Abby can carry the puck now too,

He's doing great. If he could learn to finish, he'd be a 20-goal scorer. As things stand, what he brings to the table more than justifies his salary. On a related note, his goals in the game against the Canucks put him at a new career high in points after only 52 games.

He's on the books for $1.8m until 2016. Good deal.

Again, agreed. His finish will come. Will never be amazing, but he'll learn what goes in and what doesn't. He gets so many chances each game.

I don't understand that Lashoff penalty. Is that not a play that happens about 30 times a game, anytime a puck is free and players are scrambling near the crease? I feel like I see that exact same thing constantly.

Either call it every time or not at all.

Generally isn't called. With two minutes left, I guess it was based on that.

If we are truly focused entirely on depth in order to ice the most competitive team and not just burying young, talented players in Grand Rapids then the right move is to waive Eaves, Cleary and Bert.

Weiss: hasn't worked out as hoped.
Mule: another serious head injury.
Alfredsson: nice signing but he's invisible at EVS.

Waive the dead weight and you have the following guys at your disposal:

Nyquist-Z-Abby or Mule
Sheahan-Pavel-Weiss
Tatar-Helm-Jurco or Alfredsson
Miller-Andersson-Glendening

That's a pretty solid group of forwards right there.

Second line is a mess. None of those players shoot first. All look to pass. I'd honestly do:

Nyquist-Z-Abby
Franzen-Dats-Sheahan
Tatar-Weiss-Alfredsson
Miller-Helm-Glendening

Helm will play a lot of minutes. Plus, we'll never be completely healthy. Sheahan is not going anywhere. Jurco has been good, but not to the level that there's no way that he's going down.

Did Dats look alright?

I missed the first. The last two periods he was completely invisible.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Did Dats look alright?

Not really, they were smart in keeping his minutes down, but something isn't right. We will see he has missed a lot of time so his timing should be off, set up Helm for a glorious chance really that resulted mostly out of a scramble play, but his skating seemed to fade hard. Now he has missed a lot of time, but he didn't look near 100% to me.

 

[Dats13DET]

Did Dats look alright?

Datsyuk was good early on in the first period. Created a couple of chances. Helm missed a wide open net that would've given Datsyuk the assist and Sheahan almost scored on another feed from him. Didn't see the 2nd or the 3rd so I can't really comment on that.

 

[GeoSacks]

Regarding the vets: I agree with the idea that you should make the kids earn their spots over vets. It's ok if vets get complacent because they going to retire or be lost to free agency whereas we really need the kids to push themselves.


All that said: You need to give the kids their spots when they ****ing earn them. Goose earned his spot in the playoffs last year. You also need to give the kids a chance to earn their spots. Tats should have been given a chance much earlier. I think Sheahan and Jurco have been handled well so far; they've come up just when they were ready.

 

[jaster]

Datsyuk looked like a guy who hasn't played in a long time and who lost some endurance. He didn't necessarily look hurt still though.

 

[Anchor Town*]

1. Nyquist - I love how he's trolling Kenneh
2. Kronwall - Really solid game for #55
3. Howard - He's our #1 and we need him to play at that level

How is Nyquist trolling Holland?

 

[TatarTangle]

That can't be. Howard doesn't make big saves.

Dude is way too inconsistent. Some have been curiously absent in the PGT as of late but they'll be back the next goal Howard let's in though. Gotta love 'em.

Missed most of it due to playing a little puck myself, really not surprised they won after watching the first. It was only a matter of time before they got a couple past TimTom. I'm not going to be a big fan of the Olympic break because they are slowly starting to come to form now that the dead weigh....not gonna jinx it.

Glad Lashoff got a goal, EN or not, he's been a quiet rock on the blue line when called upon. I thought it was Stuart for a second, give that man some more ice time.

 

[jaster]

How is Nyquist trolling Holland?

I believe the reasoning goes that Holland didn't think Nyquist would be as valuable of an addition this year as he is. So Nyquist out-pacing expectations is 'trolling Holland.' I find it to be a strange way to view things and really just a message board phenomenon.

To me, Nyquist is just doing what he does, Holland couldn't be happier, Nyquist probably couldn't be happier (especially with his Team Sweden selection), and it has further informed the front office on how to construct next year's roster. So everyone is happy and no one is being trolled. Except Holland in the mind of some message board poster

 

[Xvash2]

Even if we don't pile up the goals, every night each line looks poised to score. Couldn't say that about our team early in the season, that is for sure. It used to seem like certain lines would just take the night off.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

On the subject of Cleary, I'd love to know how he's reacting to being regularly scratched. According to one of the insiders (either Malik or Khan, I don't remember), Bertuzzi is pretty ticked. You'd think these guys would get the picture, i.e. that they're much less effective than the players who have replaced them. Much as it's admirable for organizations to be loyal to their veterans, there's also an onus on those veterans to play well enough to justify that. Neither of them have done so.

Its gotta be hurting him - he's a proud guy, but his body simply isn't capable of doing what he wants it to do anymore. 34 years old and your NHL career is over, that's got to be pretty tough mentally.

 

[Brandel*]

I just realized that a win in Tampa can put us 3 points out of 2nd in the division

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

I just realized that a win in Tampa can put us 3 points out of 2nd in the division

Assuming Toronto and Montreal get nothing. I wonder how deflating the Stamkos news was for Tampa. They have done well with out him, but Bishop hasn't been as good lately and Stamkos not going to the Olympics doesn't mean he will be back after the break at all. If they continue to struggle they could blow that big lead be without their star and all of a sudden be in a huge dog fight.

 

[Anchor Town*]

Assuming Toronto and Montreal get nothing. I wonder how deflating the Stamkos news was for Tampa. They have done well with out him, but Bishop hasn't been as good lately and Stamkos not going to the Olympics doesn't mean he will be back after the break at all. If they continue to struggle they could blow that big lead be without their star and all of a sudden be in a huge dog fight.

Toronto and Montreal have games in hand though.

 

[FlashyG]

I believe the reasoning goes that Holland didn't think Nyquist would be as valuable of an addition this year as he is. So Nyquist out-pacing expectations is 'trolling Holland.' I find it to be a strange way to view things and really just a message board phenomenon.

To me, Nyquist is just doing what he does, Holland couldn't be happier, Nyquist probably couldn't be happier (especially with his Team Sweden selection), and it has further informed the front office on how to construct next year's roster. So everyone is happy and no one is being trolled. Except Holland in the mind of some message board poster

As easy as it is for some to claim Nyquist is "trolling" Holland, it's equally as easy to claim that Hollands over-ripening process is the reason he's having such a great season.

 

[Henkka]

As easy as it is for some to claim Nyquist is "trolling" Holland, it's equally as easy to claim that Hollands over-ripening process is the reason he's having such a great season.

Pretty much this. Guys come in and are instantly ready. No growing pains.