Ericsson: What's it going to take to get him off the top pair?

[HIFE]

Ericsson since the all-star break

1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, +5 in 5 games played

I thought it was crucial he picks his game up, and at least temporarily, it looks like he has. IF we make no trades (still hope we do), then Ericsson and Smith need to round into from over the home stretch.

Is that you Darren Eliot? He said the exact same thing the 1st game after the AS break when questioned who he thought could perform better, that the Wings needed Big E to pick up his game.

I don't think we should expect a "round the corner", awakening moment for Ericsson. He is what he is, and has been for several seasons now. He makes the perfect feed and in the same shift bobble the puck, you never know. His #'s are better the last 5 but he looks pretty much the same to me. Or slightly better I'm not sure.

I like Big Rig a lot (especially the fact he'll drop the gloves to throw blows) but you can't help wonder where he would reside without Kronwall. How many times he defers to Kronner out of desperation is mindblowing, it has got to be a limiting factor. What if Kronner had a partner who was as good or better than him, that would be something.

The Red Wings are winning and Babcock (any coach for that matter) does not want to mess with the D pairings. Ericsson is such an enigma and being this entrenched in the DRW system I think all we can do is hope he can stay on an upward swing.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Seems like the old E is back. He is playing physical and even had a fight against Mackinnon.

 

[Soft Rock Renegade]

big E has always been a bit overmatched on the top pairing. if we can get a righty to play with kronner and drop E to the third pairing I think we'll all be happy with him. he's solid on the PK

 

[14ari13]

2nd fight of the season.

 

[Bench]

2nd fight of the season.

This was posted in the post-game thread, but so it isn't lost in the shuffle, here's the video.



Not much of a fight, Benn didn't even get a punch in!

 

[14ari13]

This was posted in the post-game thread, but so it isn't lost in the shuffle, here's the video.



Not much of a fight, Benn didn't even get a punch in!

I liked it a lot.

 

[Bench]

I liked it a lot.

Me too. Benn is a punk. I never much cared for his personality, so seeing him punched in the face is kind of nice.

 

[TimoneX]

Me too. Benn is a punk. I never much cared for his personality, so seeing him punched in the face is kind of nice.

I rather enjoyed seeing Benn get a whoopin as well. Wish it was Big Mac and his machine gun lefts smacking some humility into the lad, but E did well.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Me too. Benn is a punk. I never much cared for his personality, so seeing him punched in the face is kind of nice.

Should have went back for seconds after the cheap shot on Hank.

 

[icKx]

Me too. Benn is a punk. I never much cared for his personality, so seeing him punched in the face is kind of nice.

He reminds me a bit of Doan.

I don't like Doan.

 

[HisNoodliness]

Apparently it's going to take Jakub Kindl... didn't see that coming

 

[Eye of Ra]

He is always a beast in playoffs.

 

[aar000n]

Just leave a guy to cruse in on howard. Soft

 

[Frk It]

Thanks for being a human traffic cone tonight, big E.

 

[CanadaIsIrrelevant]

We need a guy like Ericsson, but someone who is tougher and smarter.
Because many of our guys got runned by Tropp last night.
Nobody stood up for their teammates except Abdelkader.

 

[danincanada]

What a disappointing season for Ericsson, but especially the last few weeks. I've noticed him being unable to make good passes or clear the puck. He hasn't played at the level I'm accustomed to seeing the last few years. He's playing with a bad hand so that may be part of the problem but that play last night where he turned inside instead of outside was the low point for me. With his reach he could have swiped at Atkinson and at least disrupted him instead of turning the wrong way, taking himself right out of the play. Atrocious stuff.

If he doesn't get his game back to some extent we'll get knocked out of the playoffs in short order. I don't see Babcock sitting him for Marchenko or Kindl but I guess he could reduce his role or stop playing him with Kronwall.

 

[SoupGuru]

I don't blame Ericsson as much blame for the PP goal last night. If I recall, there was a bad entry attempt and the puck bounced to a guy with speed in the neutral zone. Everyone was still set for the first entry attempt and the second rush was on them before anyoen could reset. No one could could slow him down before he got into the zone, Ericsson realized this and started backing up as best he could.

He obviously had the wrong angle and speed and had to turn. Now, if he turned towards the puck carrier, I think he would have been out of position a step or two behind, which isn't terribly useful. Turning to the inside gives him a better angle - it leaves the guy with no pressure for a stride or two but is hopefully made up for by meeting him before he gets to the crease and eliminates any fancy puck handling around the goalie.

So the rusher basically had a stride or two to get a shot off unmolested and he made it count. Even with the inside turn, Ericsson nearly got a stick in front of the shot.

I don't really think Ericsson had a good way to defend that. The slightly broken play at center ice threw eveyone's position off enough. Goes to show how important positioning is, especially on the PK.

Sorry for the over analysis of the play but I don't really think you can blame Ericsson too much on that one. His only options were bad ones and he chose the least bad one, in my opinion, and gave his goalie the best chance.

 

[Frk It]

It was a drop pass and not a broken play at all.

http://video.bluejackets.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=777925

 

[SoupGuru]

It was a drop pass and not a broken play at all.

http://video.bluejackets.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=777925

You're right.

I still think there wasn't much Ericsson could to there. Glendening needed to slow that guy down.

Why don't our drop passes look like that?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

You're right.

I still think there wasn't much Ericsson could to there. Glendening needed to slow that guy down.

Why don't our drop passes look like that?

Because normally defensemen are in the right position to handle that play. Ericsson was out of position and reacted way too late to make a difference on the play.

 

[Frk It]

Because normally defensemen are in the right position to handle that play. Ericsson was out of position and reacted way too late to make a difference on the play.

Reacted way too late and doesn't have the recovery speed. Play would not have turned out like that for Kronwall or Dekeyser.

 

[danincanada]

It was a drop pass and not a broken play at all.

http://video.bluejackets.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=777925

E put himself in a bad spot to begin with due to the drop pass but he still could have pressured Atkinson to the outside if he didn't turn the wrong way. That allowed Atkinson to drive towards the middle at a better angle. With his reach he had a chance to push Atkinson to the outside or at least put more pressure on him. Instead he just let him walk right in.

I like Ericsson but he's been brutal lately. I thought when it was reported that he had a bad shoulder Kindl would go in but instead he played, and played terribly.

 

[BinCookin]

You're right.

I still think there wasn't much Ericsson could to there. Glendening needed to slow that guy down.

Why don't our drop passes look like that?

I agree with you Soup only from the perspective that I understand what Ericsson was trying to do.
Everyone here is being a little overly harsh, but I would still call it a mistake (I gave him a minus for the play).

Call it turning the wrong way, or being out of position or whatever.

It should also be noted that CLB goals last game were pretty nice goals actually. We dont seem to give them any credit at all.

I would actually like to see

Kronwall-Quincey
DDK-Ericsson
S-Z
as our 3 pairs considering how well Q has been playing.

 

[FissionFire]

It seems at this point Ericsson is utilized in a Lilja-type role as a 3rd pairing PKer. I really think a Kronwall-Smith pairing and putting Ericsson with Zidlicky would be a huge boost. Ericsson just can't handle top pair minutes and responsibilities this year. Hopefully he comes around next season but I'd aggressively shop him in the offseason if I could find a taker. We need to move some D and I'd rather move him than Smith.

 

[TheRatPoisoner]

Ericsson only played 11 minutes last night. (Apparently he was benched in the third according to Khan). So Babs certainly seems to thinks the PP goal was on Ericsson.

https://twitter.com/AnsarKhanMLive/status/576416800964931585

I actually wouldn't be opposed to Babcock scratching Ericsson for a game or two and slotting Marchenko in on the bottom pairing when he's back from injury. I would have been completely opposed to that a few weeks ago, but Big E needs a wakeup call. The guy seems to have more bad games than good lately...

Kronwall-Q
DDK-Zid
Smith-Marchenko