I really don't understand all the pessimism around here. Franzen is out. Helm is out. Smith is out. Sammy is out. Cola is out. Howard has started 12/13 games(I really thought he looked fatigued last night, should've given Mrazek the start). I don't blame the loss on Howie, I just think he has to be exhausted, the SH goal was savable, anyone within a country mile saw where the pass was going and where the shot was coming from. They came out and dominated the first, shot themselves in the foot, and weren't able to recover. We still have a solid team. I don't think we'll win the division, but I feel a 4-6 seed is where we'll end up. Tatar is coming on, Andersson is holding his own, Ericsson is playing some of his best hockey, Pav is being Pav. Brunner had the confidence of an NHL superstar in the first and just fell off after that SH goal, the kid was made Shattenkirk look silly on that through the legs move, he was battling(as best he can) for loose pucks, he was covering the slot in the D zone. A lot of good thing happening.
A lot of so called Red Wings fans here are spoiled brats and chronic complainers. Just take this situation into account:
A certain player has played 7 seasons with the Wings.
He's played 505 games, scored 110 Red Wings goal, had 140 Red Wings assists for a total of 250 Red Wings points (that's essentially .5 ppg, excellent for a non-superstar player by most standards, especially for his tweener role). He was once a fan favorite and a very diverse player who could play in the top six and bottom six. He has a recent skid of very poor play in the last 11 games or so, and now people won't hesitate to savage him at any given moment if they perceive him as having made a mistake.
I'm not even going to name this player.
I question how easy it will be for people to turn on Datsyuk if he ever had a bad skid like this player who shall go unnamed. I think it is quite possible this could happen. Heck, last year there were some who were ready to turn on Zetterberg.
And then you have the numerous people who think Holland should have traded for X and signed Y, having no idea what goes on behind the closed doors of the GM's office. Frankly, judging by face value, you'd think that they believed Kenny was trying to sabotage the team... And then, without any evidence, they attack the GM for not trying to fix the team this offseason, even though the evidence suggests the opposite.
And then there are the couch potato coaches who think they know better than Babcock. They overlook his track record, the best among all coaches in the league, and won't hesitate to slam him if he doesn't play player X or sit player Y. Don't get me wrong, I question the decisions management makes too, but I'm here sitting on my behind typing this up, and they're there making money working their jobs. If Mr. Illitch thought they were 1/4 as bad some of these so called fans make management out to be, they'd be fired on the spot.
Frankly, I'm ashamed to call them fellow Wings fans. Sure, we can criticize management. I'm all open to that. There's a certain point where I draw the line between legitimate criticism and ridiculous criticism, and for some people here they're already well beyond that line. It appears they just take for granted 21 straight years of playoff success, and anything less than winning the Cup or reaching the WCF every year is absolutely unacceptable, so much so that management should be fired. I call that unrealistic and unfair. Thank the Lord for the ignore function. Utilize it well.