GDT: 11/04/2019 | Game 16 | Red Wings vs. Predators | 7:30 EST | FSD+

[Goalie guy]

This is the new ”thanks Obama”

Bla bla bla, that thought process is why the team is the way it is.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Bla bla bla, that thought process is why the team is the way it is.

Look at the other teams that had a lot of regular season success between 2005-2015. Most are rebuilding or quickly heading towards it. ”thought process” has nothing to do with it.

 

[vladdy16]

Bla bla bla, that thought process is why the team is the way it is.

Oh yeah, the contingency of support that Holland got from the internet fanbase had a big impact on the decisions the franchise was making. /s

 

[MBH]

All anyone is saying is, over the past half decade, every single thread has been riddled with "please just tank, it's stupid not to", and here we are, tanking, and somehow all the people that said they would be happy with that, have vanished or have nothing positive or encouraging to say, or any ideas for what to do from here.

That being said, I'm glad we can all agree now, that tanking is a risky business with serious negative ramifications.

Blashill is floundering at this point, with the way he's handled the defense, and his inability to get anything cooking line 2-4. He's gone out on a limb and tried some things, and stayed the course at other times. Things keep getting worse.

I would say we are entering a phase where Blashill has a couple more weeks to prove that he can have a more positive impact on the young guys than if Disco Dan loosened the reigns and let the young guys play their games unencumbered and let the video show where they're at.

Blashill has a strong psychological slant to his approach, that at this point I think is misplaced. Our u-23's don't have as much to go on, and aren't being surrounded with the kind of energy and positivity that would benefit them imo. Sadly, it seems that Yzerman is comfortable with the amount of negativity that has surrounded our players since training camp. Has anyone even seen a picture of Yzerman watching the team he put together?

Once the rebuild on the fly window closed... around say 2013 or so... there was no hope of avoiding the tank.
We needed Holland to pull off miracles, like he did with Zetterberg and Datsyuk, except he also had to try to replace Lidstrom.

It wasn't impossible. But it was improbable.
Some of the moves that could have really helped this team were obvious on draft day. Evgeny Kuznetsov is a clear example of that.
But I don't remember anyone ever pining for Roman Josi or Jacob Slavin or Mattias Ekholm.

Sure, we might have had a better chance at drafting one of those guys if we didn't trade away so many picks from 10-14.
And I think we'd be in a better situation today if Blashill and Babcock didn't spend 2 years pretending Helm and Albdekader were top six talent, and if they used the Jurcos and Pulkkinens of the world in the top nine instead.

But barring minor miracles (drafting a Josi or two) was never going to get better without a tank.

The question is, how long does this tank need to be? How bad? And for how long?

Are we at the start? Are we in the middle?

Would we be in a better spot today if we could have accepted our fate in 2015?
Where would we be today if he had Makar and Matthews? Would we see the light at the end of the tunnel already?

 

[Winger98]

He was the only reason why the team was relevant last year until he inevitably got injured.

The guy was never really good enough to win you a series but the sheer hate he gets never surprised me. Up until this season he was the least of their problems.

And it's not the easiest position to fill through free agency, either. Ask Florida right now how much they are loving their investment in Bobrovsky.

I want him as far away from this team as possible. Learn from Kronwall and Ericsson in GrandRapids, not Hicketts and Bowey in Detroit. Same with most of those high picks Grand Rapids has down there. Keep them way from this dumpster fire and add them to the team moving forward. This season everyone was saying would be rock bottom, hopefully it works out like the Leafs did. Keep Marner and Nylander away from that rock bottom season, add Matthews first overall and bring them in the following year all together.

Next year the wings adding potentially all of Svechnikov, Zadina, Lafreniere/Byfield, Seider, Smith and Rasmussen in some forms changes the look of this team big time. They likely still suck but theyre fu to watch and they give it their all every shift

For the most part, yeah, I agree. But I wouldn't be surprised to see some of our kids brought up later in the year just to get their feet wet and maybe ease their start next fall. Getting some lotto luck, at some point, is huge. We can't drop 2-3 spots every year.

 

[Bondurant]

Yzerman told us this was going to take time. On the morning after when my emotion has calmed I think back to his presser. He spoke highly of the building blocks but told us in a roundabout way the Wings were going to suck for a few. He's not making big moves and waiting out bad contracts.

Most of us were expecting better but not a winner. This team overachieved at the end of '18-'19. Made for a better product but cost us a shot at Jack. Seider may be a great get at 6 but Yzerman, no doubt, wants to pick higher.

We're in for a long season but I trust the process. The game last night and the recent skid appears to be a glimpse of the season. I'm buckling in.

The tank is officially rolling. Onward to a French-Canadian kid that I cannot spell without copy/paste. Oui.

 

[Winger98]

Yzerman told us this was going to take time. On the morning after when my emotion has calmed I think back to his presser. He spoke highly of the building blocks but told us in a roundabout way the Wings were going to suck for a few. He's not making big moves and waiting out bad contracts.

Most of us were expecting better but not a winner. This team overachieved at the end of '18-'19. Made for a better product but cost us a shot at Jack. Seider may be a great get at 6 but Yzerman, no doubt, wants to pick higher.

We're in for a long season but I trust the process. The game last night and the recent skid appears to be a glimpse of the season. I'm buckling in.

The tank is officially rolling. Onward to a French-Canadian kid that I cannot spell without copy/paste. Oui.

Maintain The Skid For That Quebecois Kid?

 

[TatarTangle]

And it's not the easiest position to fill through free agency, either. Ask Florida right now how much they are loving their investment in Bobrovsky.

Acquiring a true franchise goalie is like winning the Powerball when it's $1 billion dollars and everyone is playing; it's beyond lucky.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I always loved this bizarre hfboards sentiment. "I want to lose every game but I want our team to look really good while doing it!"

It's not that bizarre. It's not binary.

This team lacks high end talent so will lose a lot of games. But as I said before, even with the crappy defense, the roster is filled with defensive forwards. They can do better than give up 5+ goals in 8 of their 12 losses.

The Wings have given up 63 goals in 16 games. That's averaging almost 4 goals a game.

 

[Lampedampe]

why?

Would be pretty rough for a kid to captain this team.

 

[TatarTangle]

Yzerman told us this was going to take time. On the morning after when my emotion has calmed I think back to his presser. He spoke highly of the building blocks but told us in a roundabout way the Wings were going to suck for a few. He's not making big moves and waiting out bad contracts.

Most of us were expecting better but not a winner. This team overachieved at the end of '18-'19. Made for a better product but cost us a shot at Jack. Seider may be a great get at 6 but Yzerman, no doubt, wants to pick higher.

We're in for a long season but I trust the process. The game last night and the recent skid appears to be a glimpse of the season. I'm buckling in.

The tank is officially rolling. Onward to a French-Canadian kid that I cannot spell without copy/paste. Oui.

Trust the process? Easy there, Blashill. Jk.

I wish more people accepted this team for what it is like you have. As long as Blashill keeps making what talent they have better hockey players -and he has- I guess I don't get what the big deal is.

 

[Winger98]

It's not that bizarre. It's not binary.

This team lacks high end talent so will lose a lot of games. But as I said before, even with the crappy defense, the roster is filled with defensive forwards. They can do better than give up 5+ goals in 8 of their 12 losses.

The Wings have given up 63 goals in 16 games. That's averaging almost 4 goals a game.

Since oct. 10, our goalies have posted .880 (howard) and .889 (Bernier) save percentages. And while our PK has been bad, Howard's ES sv% is only .886.

If we bump ahead two weeks, Howard's ESSV% since 10/24 is .868 and Bernier's is .893

Our goalies have been crap.

 

[TheOtherOne]

It's not that bizarre. It's not binary.

This team lacks high end talent so will lose a lot of games. But as I said before, even with the crappy defense, the roster is filled with defensive forwards. They can do better than give up 5+ goals in 8 of their 12 losses.

The Wings have given up 63 goals in 16 games. That's averaging almost 4 goals a game.

Haha yea it would be just wonderful to be super competitive and lose 82 games 6-5 because of a lucky bounce or a bad call. And it would be wonderful if we could just forfeit the season and guarantee ourselves the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall all at once.

You guys are missing the reality that the better we are, the fewer games we will lose. If you lose a game looking good, you will win the next game looking bad.

If you want to be last in the league in the standings, you're going to have to convincingly look the part.

 

[GreatGordie9]

I guess the next question is what are the next Red Wing moves?

 

[Henkka]

This season our goalies have been the biggest momemtum killer. At first, it was Bernier, now Howard too.

Only LA goalies have conceded more goals over expected goals, than ours. Many games would have been much closer even with mediocre goaltending.

Blashill maybe should jump in the net by himself.

 

[newfy]

For the most part, yeah, I agree. But I wouldn't be surprised to see some of our kids brought up later in the year just to get their feet wet and maybe ease their start next fall. Getting some lotto luck, at some point, is huge. We can't drop 2-3 spots every year.

I agree and think they should do that. Thats just different than throwing Seider in the line up because he cant be worse than Hicketts right now. Giving him 10 games at the end of the season to get him a handle of what the league is like, make some money and get some confidence seems like the smart move.

But the number one thing is getting a game changer. The top 2 are pretty close to locks to that this year with the way theyre both playing.

 

[GreatGordie9]

The steady diet of injuries on our blueline reminds me a little what happened last year. I would expect as soon as Dekeyser is back Hicketts will be sent back down. I wouldn't be surprised in the next couple of weeks that Ericsson will be brought up. Daley and Green for the most part have been bad so where does that leave us. Hronek and Dekeyser have been our best two D. Nemeth has been average at best. The only defensemen that would make the starting six D on most NHL teams would be Hronek, Dekeyser, maybe Green.

 

[TheRatPoisoner]

This season our goalies have been the biggest momemtum killer. At first, it was Bernier, now Howard too.

Only LA goalies have conceded more goals over expected goals, than ours. Many games would have been much closer even with mediocre goaltending.

Blashill maybe should jump in the net by himself.

Howard usually gets worse as the season progresses also, so just imagine how bad he's gonna be midseason if history is an indication.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Personally, I thought this team with the extremely bad roster was actually going to be good. So I’m very mad.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Would we be in a better spot today if we could have accepted our fate in 2015?
Where would we be today if he had Makar and Matthews? Would we see the light at the end of the tunnel already?

I don't think there was any way we were going to tank hard enough to get Matthews. But one annoying thing is definitely being tied with Dallas in points and them getting the 3rd OA pick and Heiskanen, and us ending up with 9th and Ras. I mean, I defend Ras, I think he has potential to be great for us. But Heiskanen? With him and Hronek we would have had had the foundation for a top pairing. If we also would have drafted Seider that would have started to look like a stacked D.

But it's pointless to go through "what ifs".

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I guess the next question is what are the next Red Wing moves?

There aren't many, which is why this is so frustrating and difficult for fans. Firing Blash is an option, but is unlikely to radically change the play of the team. We don't really have anyone in GR really capable of improving the NHL roster except for maybe Svech. We also don't currently have the assets required to land an impact player via a trade.

Long story short, we are bad and are going to remain bad for quite a while. There are no short cuts on the rebuilding road.

 

[Goalie guy]

I don't think anyone thought we where going to be a good/okay team. But the lack of fire and their mental resolve is a huge problem. One little thing goes wrong the team implodes. They are not ready to play on game days, They never give a full 60 min effort. Those things come back on Blashill I'm sorry.

 

[Rzombo4 prez]

I don't think anyone thought we where going to be a good/okay team. But the lack of fire and their mental resolve is a huge problem. One little thing goes wrong the team implodes. They are not ready to play on game days, They never give a full 60 min effort. Those things come back on Blashill I'm sorry.

It is funny though how those traits are systematic of most young, rebuilding teams at the bottom of their competitive cycles. Posters are acting like the Wings are somehow the first team to struggle with these issues. Just look at how Edmonton, AZ, Buffalo and Carolina played during the bottom of their rebuilds. Those teams weren't coached by Blashill and had the same damn issues even after multiple coaching changes.

This team is mentally weak and lacking confidence because they know they are lacking talent and that they need everything to break in their favor to win games. It sucks but is very predictable.

 

[Winger98]

It is funny though how those traits are systematic of most young, rebuilding teams at the bottom of their competitive cycles. Posters are acting like the Wings are somehow the first team to struggle with these issues. Just look at how Edmonton, AZ, Buffalo and Carolina played during the bottom of their rebuilds. Those teams weren't coached by Blashill and had the same damn issues even after multiple coaching changes.

This team is mentally weak and lacking confidence because they know they are lacking talent and that they need everything to break in their favor to win games. It sucks but is very predictable.

For all of the griping about Holland, and all of the griping about how this team sucks, I'm waiting for the cognitive leap towards maybe Holland not being entirely wrong in trying to keep the team mildly competitive while rebuilding. Especially with the draft lotto being so disadvantageous to totally bottoming out.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Is there a reason this board lumps pre and post games into one GDT?