Big game tonight with OTT vs. MTL. If Montreal wins, they become the 3rd seed with the ROW tiebreaker. If Ottawa wins, they’re only 1 point behind us with 2 games in hand.
Let's hope it goes to OT
Big game tonight with OTT vs. MTL. If Montreal wins, they become the 3rd seed with the ROW tiebreaker. If Ottawa wins, they’re only 1 point behind us with 2 games in hand.
I'm relieved. There hasn't been any negative threads for awhile on this forum. Thanks for making the weekly quota.
I love that the Red Wings aren't bottoming out like many here hoped they would. I hope the Red Wings keep winning. The rest can keep playing the draft lottery simulator.
Ask a magic eightball and get back to me.Does parity help increase revenue across the board?
IMO...Parity is good, if and only if, every team were equally competitive in their approach to running their teams.Does parity help increase revenue across the board?
Detroit is currently on pace for 79 points, which is exactly how they finished last season.
But at this point last year, they were 13-11-2, and are currently 10-11-5. And if they end up selling Green, I have to imagine that would have as big or even bigger of an impact than the collective departures of last year.
I think Hollands luck with not trading Yzerman for Yashin, and Datsyuk for Gomez, Mantha for Myers has made him afraid of never making a big trade
At this point, Buffalo and Arizona are the only worse teams who are considerably worse.
If Howard doesn't regain form, and if Mrazek stays where he's at, we could catch them, but I doubt it.
On the other hand, if our goalies play very well, could compete for the last spot in the Atlantic.
It's supposed to be a deep draft. Top3 would be fine with me. That said, this is why I'm for tanking. 9.5% sucks. Looks like it's 18% for the worst team with a 48% chance of a top3 and a guaranteed top4. Whereas being 3rd place means ~31% for top3 and could draft as low as 6th.third last in the league has a 9.5% chance at #1 overall
it seems unlikely that we'll drop below buffalo or Arizona
Trouble is it's really, really hard to deliberately become so bad you finish last. We're on a deeply embarrassing 7 game losing streak and still almost 10 points ahead of Buffalo.It's supposed to be a deep draft. Top3 would be fine with me. That said, this is why I'm for tanking. 9.5% sucks. Looks like it's 18% for the worst team with a 48% chance of a top3 and a guaranteed top4. Whereas being 3rd place means ~31% for top3 and could draft as low as 6th.
I just keep coming back to, is what I'm watching right now really all that different from what Buffalo and Arizona fans are watching? I doubt it. This team is not fun to watch. We're simply not competitive. I don't mind watching a slightly worse product for significantly better odds.
Team probably improves by giving Z less minutes. Imo Larkin is our #1C and Nielsen can handle the #2C at a similar level as Z is this year (maybe better defensively). Trading Green is interesting, I'm not sure at all it's going to make us much worse. Green is skilled but he's so risky. By playing a "safer" d-man we might play a bit tighter, we'd be less fun to watch but results could be similar. Nyquist's efforts could be replaced by Bertuzzi or maybe Svechnikov if he gets it going. Giving goaltenders more equal starts is also just as likely to get Mrazek into a groove as it is to tank our team.Until Detroit lands 1-2 elite players, they're finishing in the bottom half of the league, with no chance at another Cup.
To me, whether they're 16th, 24th, or 31st is irrelevant, in terms of quality of on-ice product, because I'm not watching them in any of those scenarios, until I see a rebuilding plan that makes at least SOME sense.
So get bad. Fast. And it's not as hard as some might think. Trade Green and Nyquist, give the goalies close to equal starts, and keep Zetterberg under 18 minutes a night. That alone should result in a bottom-5 finish at minimum, with decent odds of bottom-3.
This team is going to be an overall bad product for at least a few more years, no matter what course of action they employ. But I'd rather use the one that maximizes my chances at landing the best prospects available to eventually not just right the ship, but try to get back to being one of the better teams in the league.
Too much is made about "culture." How long did it take for Pittsburgh or Chicago to get a "winning culture" after they got their players? Not long. And the coaches didn't even seem to matter. Finals with Therrien, Cup with Bylsma who was later fired, another cup with Sullivan. None of those coaches are talked about in the same category of even Mike Babcock, and yet.... It really looks like a good team is its own culture and that the coach isn't really *that* important.I wouldn't attempt to become worse than them unless I knew we could then throw a bag of money at the best coach in the world who can fast-track a return to good habits and work ethic again. Otherwise the increase in draft lottery odds is far from worth the risk that we'd spend 5 years in the bottom 3 instead of 1.
I find it dangerous to look at Chicago and Pittsburgh as examples to replicate. Chicago added Scotty Bowman and Quenneville, got lucky/good with Keith at the same time as they landed Toews and Kane at the top of the draft along with Seabrook. Pittsburgh got super-extra-mega lucky with the lottery/lockout in order to add both Crosby and Malkin along with Fleury and Staal, and also managed to snag a #1D later in the draft. There was also a coaching change involved in their turnaround, with Therrien obviously being a fairly competent coach compared to Olzcyk.Too much is made about "culture." How long did it take for Pittsburgh or Chicago to get a "winning culture" after they got their players? Not long. And the coaches didn't even seem to matter. Finals with Therrien, Cup with Bylsma who was later fired, another cup with Sullivan. None of those coaches are talked about in the same category of even Mike Babcock, and yet.... It really looks like a good team is its own culture and that the coach isn't really *that* important.
I find it dangerous to look at Chicago and Pittsburgh as examples to replicate. Chicago added Scotty Bowman and Quenneville, got lucky/good with Keith at the same time as they landed Toews and Kane at the top of the draft along with Seabrook. Pittsburgh got super-extra-mega lucky with the lottery/lockout in order to add both Crosby and Malkin along with Fleury and Staal, and also managed to snag a #1D later in the draft. There was also a coaching change involved in their turnaround, with Therrien obviously being a fairly competent coach compared to Olzcyk.
Like it or not, it's hard to on purpose do what other teams managed with healthy doses of luck and timing.
Understood.
But who do you try to replicate?
Where's the team that went two years out of the playoffs after a long playoff run, and returned to cup contender status?
Don’t try to replicate anyone. Do your own thing.
But if i had to choose. LA/Boston. It also fits Detroits style in all sports. Chicago is good but I feel like they got lucky with cap and pretty much everything.