GDT: Game #13 -- Wed Feb 13, 2013 - Blues @ Red Wings - 7:30 p.m.| NBCSN, TSN2

[detredWINgs]

Kronwall White

I dunno. The Ericsson-White pairing looks great right now.

 

[Brick Top]

Four guys are out of our top9, though, at least two of them would be in our top6 - maybe three depending on where you put Sammy. Do I like Gator and Cleary getting 18 minutes? Not really, but you have to put someone on the ice.

Yup, someone has to fill in on the top 6, but virtually every other winger on the team would have been better options than Cleary and Abby. I get that someone was going to pull 18 mins or so in those spots, but put Tatar on one of the lines, and anyone else for the other line.

Abby was actually better than I expected he would be on that line, but I still would have preferred him on a bottom 6 line. Cleary was exactly what we've come to expect.

And it really doesn't make sense to not bump Cleary down at a minimum when the team is generating zero offense in the 2nd and 3rd periods... feel free to let a skilled kid like Tatar who can skate and make a play get some mins with Datsyuk. It's not like the Wings offense was rolling and Babs didn't want to rock the boat by shaking up the lines.

 

[Vladdy84]

I actually thought Lashoff was pretty good for the majority of the game.

 

[joe89]

The point is Cleary should get NO PP time...but not only is he getting 1st unit PP time, he's getting as much time as our top forwards.

And yeah. We have to put someone out there. Hmm....how about...the guy that scored the first goal? You know, that young offensive player who has 2 points in 5 games to Cleary and Abdelkader's 1 point in 13?

Not to mention. Miller, Emmerton, and Tatar have all looked more offensively threatening than Abdelkader and Cleary for the entirety of the season. Thats just downright pathetic.

Look no further than how Pittsburgh uses Crosby, Malkin and Neal on the PP. Often for the full length. When you don't have the luxury of two units you simply roll your best players. A PP is too valuable to squander away half of it like the Wings do right now.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Gator was inserted into the top six to add some toughness against the Blues. Babs probably expected a grind it out game against a desperate Blues team. Unfortunately Gator is absolutely worthless on offense. It was basically 5 on 4 with Gator on the ice.

5 on 3.5 with Cleary on the ice. (he is that bad)

The Wings should have lost this game before the game started. They should have won the game after it started. They got dominated in the 2nd/3rd periods, but they should have found a way.

You need a ton of luck to generate any offense with that kind of dead weight on the ice. It doesn't help that Cleary looks like he is skating in quick sand and Gator has the brain the size of a grape.

 

[FlashyG]

I am not even mad at Kronwall. It is what it is. The guy isnt built for this kind of responsibility.

Quincey and Cleary are awful.

Kindl had a miserable game.

Gator being in the top six and the PP is hilarious.

I don't care if you're on the first pairing in the NHL or the 3rd pairing in the ECHL, you have to be able to recognize who your man is and at least make an effort to cover him.

Kronwall often looks completely lost in his own zone.

Quincey makes a lot of mistakes as well, but his mistakes are normally in the neutral or offensive zones, he hasn't been on the ice for many goals against since the first 3 games of the season.

 

[HTT3*]

Howard and Kronwall are brutal. Babcock should have given Howard the night off and played Mrazek and give Quincey more ice time. Kronwall aint a top 2 dman.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

I don't care if you're on the first pairing in the NHL or the 3rd pairing in the ECHL, you have to be able to recognize who your man is and at least make an effort to cover him.

Kronwall often looks completely lost in his own zone.

Quincey makes a lot of mistakes as well, but his mistakes are normally in the neutral or offensive zones, he hasn't been on the ice for many goals against since the first 3 games of the season.

I dont disagree, but i think Kronwall is mentally and physically exhausted.

 

[VladTheImpaler]

Look no further than how Pittsburgh uses Crosby, Malkin and Neal on the PP. Often for the full length. When you don't have the luxury of two units you simply roll your best players. A PP is too valuable to squander away half of it like the Wings do right now.

Bingo. When the second unit consists of Val Filppula, Tatar, Abdelkader (WTF?), Ian White and Jakub Kindl then there is no reason why the top unit shouldn't be out there for 1:30-2:00.

 

[detredWINgs]

Bingo. When the second unit consists of Val Filppula, Tatar, Abdelkader (WTF?), Ian White and Jakub Kindl then there is no reason why the top unit shouldn't be out there for 1:30-2:00.

Yeah, this definitely makes sense. Especially when you have Miller, Abdelkader, Filppula, Cleary, and Eaves who can all take over the PK time from Hank and Datsyuk to keep their TOI reasonable.

 

[theYman]

I dont disagree, but i think Kronwall is mentally and physically exhausted.

Maybe Pejorative Slured

 

[BinCookin]

I have a question.

What would happen if you had a scoring line of:

Tatar-Datsyuk-Filppula

And they play all "european" with very little hitting, and all fancy passing and nice positioning to create scoring chances.

How would they play on the boards?
Would the line get completely outmuscled?

I mean people keep talking about putting "size" on the line. But I honestly do not think it makes much difference. Abdelkader is big, and I could only imagine a more skilled SMALL guy out there with dats.

How big a deal is size here???

I understand size minimizes injuries. But on a play to play basis....

any opinions?

 

[SoupNazi]

... and give Quincey more ice time. Kronwall aint a top 2 dman.

Quincey is?

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Bingo. When the second unit consists of Val Filppula, Tatar, Abdelkader (WTF?), Ian White and Jakub Kindl then there is no reason why the top unit shouldn't be out there for 1:30-2:00.

How old are Malkin/Crosby/Neal? Average age of what, 25?

Babcock cant afford to play Z/Datsyuk 30 minutes a night. I don't disagree with playing Z/Datsyuk more, but i just dont think Babcock can afford to do it.

 

[aar000n]

The pp sucked the very least you have a 2-0 score. The pp looked like it couldn't score if it was on the ice without the blues. No passing no position the main thing is position. Zetterberg had two men in him and yet no one was open. How can you be on the pp get double teamed and no one get open?
second why is cleary on the same line with dats. The mans on pace for a 4 point season well not really but still so many great chances died on his stick today. Can we please stop playing him on the first line with out best player?
I cant get over the pp. You have a 2-0 lead and the pp and give up a goal. On the pp not fail at it or not get pressure but give up a goal.
and now franzens hurt? can someone tanya harding clearys leg for me?

 

[HTT3*]

Quincey is?

He's been one of the best defenseman, maybe better than Ericsson. Ericsson was on the ice for 2 goals against tonight, and so was Kronwall. Quincey has been solid... and get's paid less than "no block" Kronwall.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

The pp sucked the very least you have a 2-0 score. The pp looked like it couldn't score if it was on the ice without the blues. No passing no position the main thing is position. Zetterberg had two men in him and yet no one was open. How can you be on the pp get double teamed and no one get open?
second why is cleary on the same line with dats. The mans on pace for a 4 point season well not really but still so many great chances died on his stick today. Can we please stop playing him on the first line with out best player?
I cant get over the pp. You have a 2-0 lead and the pp and give up a goal. On the pp not fail at it or not get pressure but give up a goal.
and now franzens hurt? can someone tanya harding clearys leg for me?

Nobody on the Blues is going to bother covering Cleary or Gator. They will always focus on the only players capable of making something happen or scoring on an empty net. It really isnt that surprising that the PP is completely useless. It should be really easy to neutralize when you are technically on a PP, but in reality it's 4v4 hockey.

 

[Austin Wings Fan]

I don't disagree with a lot of the criticism people are leveling. Cleary is still a smart player. He is still in the right spots on the ice a lot, but he can't execute worth a damn, and it is killing the offense.

-Abdelkader is what he is: a replacement level plug. But beyond all that, can we admit that Brunner was ****ing terrible tonight? No, I don't want to demote him or anything like that, but he was really bad. On a night when we had 4 top six forwards, we needed him to be more effective.

Instead, his failures were involved in at least two St. Louis goals:
-His effort on along the boards on Oshie before the SH break was the textbook example of what not to do. He didn't aggressively charge up, and he didn't back off. He hesitated, and then showed little compete level when he did meet TJ.
-He fanned on the puck and turn it over just inside the StL blueline that led to the Stewart breakaway goal. Everyone will skewer the defense change, but we had the possession of the puck in the zone when they made the decision to change. Brunners' meek attempt set the play in motion.

Beyond that, he was not good at getting his shot off, and his low percentage cross ice pass in OT ended the Wings last offensive threat.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

He's been one of the best defenseman, maybe better than Ericsson. Ericsson was on the ice for 2 goals against tonight, and so was Kronwall. Quincey has been solid... and get's paid less than "no block" Kronwall.

This GIF was designed for this post.

 

[Flowah]

He's been one of the best defenseman, maybe better than Ericsson. Ericsson was on the ice for 2 goals against tonight, and so was Kronwall. Quincey has been solid... and get's paid less than "no block" Kronwall.

Speech. Less.

Speechless.

I never thought I'd see anyone say Quincey was "one of the best defenseman."

If I had to call out one new guy tonight, it'd be Brunner. He was playing differently today. He tried too many bad passes, tried to get too fancy. He should keep it simple. Get open, take shots.

 

[dtones520]

Howard and Kronwall are brutal. Babcock should have given Howard the night off and played Mrazek and give Quincey more ice time. Kronwall aint a top 2 dman.

Why would you not play your number one goalie after a two day layoff?

And Quincey is a top 2? In what world?

 

[billcook]

How old are Malkin/Crosby/Neal? Average age of what, 25?

Babcock cant afford to play Z/Datsyuk 30 minutes a night. I don't disagree with playing Z/Datsyuk more, but i just dont think Babcock can afford to do it.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?fetchKey=20132PITSASALL&sort=avgTOIPerGame&viewName=summary

 

[WingedWheel1987]

Why would you not play your number one goalie after a two day layoff?

And Quincey is a top 2? In what world?

The world where drafting Seth Jones is your priority.

 

[theYman]

I actually thought Lashoff was pretty good for the majority of the game.

Yeah I like the kid too. Has his mistakes but overall pretty solid for his first stint up. And he has nice size as well.

 

[CloneHakanPlease*]

He's been one of the best defenseman, maybe better than Ericsson. Ericsson was on the ice for 2 goals against tonight, and so was Kronwall. Quincey has been solid... and get's paid less than "no block" Kronwall.

I'm so glad I took you off my ignore list. It's been awhile since I've seen since funny trolling