If the Red Wings miss the playoffs will you blame Ken Holland?

[Run the Jewels]

We are right on the edge of being in or out of the playoffs. Ken Holland has said if you can just claim the #8 seed than anything can happen. If that is truly the case should he have made a trade or two in order to bolster this team's chances of making the playoffs?

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[chances14]

do we really need another holland bashing thread? because that's exactly what this is going to turn into

 

[Syckle78]

Who else is there to blame? Unless you want to place it on bettman and the cap and act as if Hollands hands are tied at every opportunity. Otherwise the decline of the wings is completely on Ken Holland.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

The downturn of the team was inevitable if it happens, however Holland appears not to have done a great job of delaying it.

If we miss, though, I expect Holland to make some moves.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

No, didn't want them to be a buyer. Honestly wish they would have sold some pieces.

In any event I actually have a bigger problem with how Babcock has coached this team from lines to the structure he wants and the off the glass mentality. The injuries have been a big issue as well. It was going to be a tough year and the schedule certainly hasn't helped once the guys started going down.

Both Holland and Babcock have accomplished a lot, sometimes blame goes on the guys that aren't performing. This team was good enough to be a 4-8 club. They should get a chance to fix it and people should stop pretending these are not smart hockey people. I wouldn't give either guy an extension though, which is a bigger issue for Babcock as his deal is up quicker if I remember right.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

I think I will blame him because his plan is stuck in an unpleasant middle of dithering and lack of vision. The Wings didn't go for broke or plan for the future. My guess is the idea is to make the playoffs to earn some extra cash and ward off the perception of failure, but missing the playoffs would condemn even that already limited strategy to futility.

 

[GT500x]

do we really need another holland bashing thread? because that's exactly what this is going to turn into

Pretty much this.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Hey look at that, Jay Bouwmeester has 3 points and is +3 in 5 games with St Louis. Oh and they are 5-0 and are allowing 0.8 goals per game. Brian Elliot actually looks like a legit goalie.

 

[RedWingsNow*]

The downturn of the team was inevitable if it happens, however Holland appears not to have done a great job of delaying it.

If we miss, though, I expect Holland to make some moves.

Dude ===

IF we miss, it was inevitable?

If something is inevitable, there would be NO IF.

Three years of complacency from a GM who started believing all the ******** people say about is what cost this team more than anything.

 

[probertrules24]

do we really need another holland bashing thread? because that's exactly what this is going to turn into

Hey look at that, Jay Bouwmeester has 3 points and is +3 in 5 games with St Louis. Oh and they are 5-0 and are allowing 0.8 goals per game. Brian Elliot actually looks like a legit goalie.

Didn't take long to find the agenda in this thread.

I voted no. If they end missing the playoffs I blame the team for not earning that extra 1 or 2 points they could have.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Who else am i supposed to blame?

He built this team. He refused to allow prospects into the lineup. He kept signing old and washed up veterans.

 

[ricky0034]

more like "Yes,Tatar is better than Abdelkader and Cleary"

also it was really stupid of him not to go after Semin in the offseason

 

[smurfyeah19]

Yeah this team needs Tatar back. Teams get stale, new players can infuse a lot in a locker room and I would like to see it. We simply lack firepower, that's the difference between the Tigers and the Red Wings. Cabrera and Fielder are similar to Datsyuk and Zetterberg, but the Tigers have Jackson, Hunter, Infante and VMart. The Wings on the other hand go with Franzen, Brunner, Filppula as their other best offensive players? Doesn't compare

 

[redwings85]

I'm saying no.

When the market is "tough" an certain players must have this or that or else no deal... A bit much. The market for this deadline wasn't that good... Holland tried to do stuff in the off season, an well we all know what happened. I'm not voting cuse your reasons for no option is absolutely pathetic..

I really don't think holland is to blame at all. He cannot control the health of players an the injuries that the wings have suffered.

Both Babcock an holland have meetings all the time on who to call up who to send down. People that are constantly bashing them, need a reality check. They've been doing this for years and know what they are doing. Everyone on this forum continues on a daily basis playing coach an GM, getting way too critical.

 

[Sameheda]

I voted no. I blame the team for not coming out and playing hard every game. There were definitely performances against bottom feeders that we should have won, yet gave up. At the end of the day, our boys didn't play well enough, didn't try hard enough, didn't shoot enough, and made a ton of incredibly stupid defensive mistakes all season long. We have too many talented people on this team to have such poor performances this year.

Kenny doesn't lace up the skates and play 20+ minutes a night. He has very little to do with our team performance this year.

 

[Syckle78]

I'm saying no.

When the market is "tough" an certain players must have this or that or else no deal... A bit much. The market for this deadline wasn't that good... Holland tried to do stuff in the off season, an well we all know what happened. I'm not voting cuse your reasons for no I option is absolutely pathetic..

I really don't think holland is to blame at all. He cannot control the health of players an the injuries that the wings have suffered.

Both Babcock an holland have meetings all the time on who to call up who to send down. People that are constantly bashing them, need a reality check. They've been doing this for years and know what they are doing. Everyone on this forum continues on a daily basis playing coach an GM, getting way too critical.

You're right Holland has done a bang up job. If only all those great players wouldn't of been injured we would be atop the league. Poor Holland,feel bad that everything is beyond his control. :'(

 

[we like our team*]

i don't particularly care anymore tbh

 

[Run the Jewels]

Didn't take long to find the agenda in this thread.

I voted no. If they end missing the playoffs I blame the team for not earning that extra 1 or 2 points they could have.

That was the one trade where Detroit was rumored to be very much in the mix. Bouwmeester also fills a definite need. So what, you are saying Kyle Quincey was worth a first but Bouwmeester wasn't?

 

[Syckle78]

Haha Yeah guys let's blame the players and the mysterious unknown force that constructed the roster. Holland has no impact on how the team he constructed performed this season. /facepalm

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Here's the problem with Holland, the Howard signing sums it up really. What kind of team could use a very good but not great goalie at a pretty high price tag? A contender probably. Are the Wings a contender? No. Will they be one any time soon? Highly unlikely. So how does this move make sense? It doesn't in a strategic sense, it does if you think roster management means rewarding good players, good guys who have provided good services rather than a comprehensive vision for the future. That's Kenny Holland in a nutshell. The guy will sit on a roster as long as he can. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are on the downward slope and Datsyuk is probably gone soon enough anyway. There is no contending core and none of the prospects are anywhere near the level where they will be one in the near future. Not saying they can't be good players, but good players don't get you anywhere in the NHL. Elite players get you somewhere and you have to be a perennial optimist to identify a potential future Hall of Famer in our prospect pool.

 

[CloneHakanPlease*]

Yes, but not for not making a trade. I actually agree with us not being a buyer. My complaints came from him banking everything on Suter and failing.

 

[Flowah]

Who else am i supposed to blame?

He built this team. He refused to allow prospects into the lineup. He kept signing old and washed up veterans.

Wouldn't say all the players are playing they way they should. Looking at Filp, Smith, Kronwall for sure. And Babcock's lineups have been seriously mind boggling at points. How many games did we have Cleary and Abby winging it with Datsyuk? His D pairings have been ??!?!?! too.

If they miss, there's more than enough blame to go around, from management all the way on down to the players.

But even if they manage to squeak in... there still needs to be some a critical and objective look at Holland, Babcock, and some of our players. They just aren't coming together as a contender.

 

[InGusWeTrust]

You can't be good forever in a cap world. It really has certainly changed quite a bit in the league.....also I'm not mad at KH..just disappointed in some of the moves in recent years. Mostly 1st for KQ. lol.

So, no KH doesn't play the games the Red Wings do. It's completely our fault. We let in weak goals and do not score enough. It's really that simple.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Yes, but not for not making a trade. I actually agree with us not being a buyer. My complaints came from him banking everything on Suter and failing.

Here's the thing: he moved on and signed Bert, Sammy, Brunner, Colaiacovo and Huskins. Then nearly all of those guys got injured. He maintained that simply making the playoffs was the goal and he pointed to last year's LA Kings as an example that if you just make the playoffs then anything is possible. This was his stated goal: just make the playoffs. If he truly believed what he was saying then why didn't he make a trade?

 

[benusmc]

Yes, Holland has been average at best.