GDT: Game 9 | Calgary Flames @ Detroit Red Wings | 7:30 PM EST | FS-D (HD)

[silkyjohnson50]

Kronwall is too sloppy to be an elite #1 IMO.

One of the many things that made Lidstrom "Lidstrom" was just how crisp his game was. You never seen him not catch a pass on the tape... or flub a pass... or hesitate with the puck. He was truly machine like in that sense: His game was so clean.

Kronwall isn't clean. He's very talented, but pucks tend to bounce off and/over his stick frequently. He gets sloppy too often.

Obviously comparing him to Lidstrom isn't really fair, but even in comparison to other current top defencemen he's a bit sloppy.

That's why I wanted Suter so bad. He plays a very clean game with the puck. Would have been a great partner for a guy like Kronwall or Smith.

 

[HTT3*]

Kronwall is too sloppy to be an elite #1 IMO.

One of the many things that made Lidstrom "Lidstrom" was just how crisp his game was. You never seen him not catch a pass on the tape... or flub a pass... or hesitate with the puck. He was truly machine like in that sense: His game was so clean.

Kronwall isn't clean. He's very talented, but pucks tend to bounce off and/over his stick frequently. He gets sloppy too often.

Obviously comparing him to Lidstrom isn't really fair, but even in comparison to other current top defencemen he's a bit sloppy.

That's why I wanted Suter so bad. He plays a very clean game with the puck. Would have been a great partner for a guy like Kronwall or Smith.

I think Keith has a really clean style game like you mention. I don't think there is a better point man that can keep the puck in the O zone like Keith. He is fun to watch on the Hawks PP because he is so calm and collective. I am jealous

 

[14ari13]

I really hoped for 2 points. How did they find a way to lose it?

 

[mindfly]

Seth Jones, here we come!

 

[sully6one]

This is going to be a season long roller coaster just to barely make or miss the playoffs

 

[mindfly]

This is going to be a season long roller coaster just to barely make or miss the playoffs

What would you rather have?

1. Barely make the playoffs as an 8th seed and face the sharks/blackhawks and most likely get swept?
2. Playing .500 hockey for a long time, and just miss the playoffs so you end up with like a 14th overall pick
3. They play slightly under .500 and then near the end of the season tank, win the lottery and get 1st overall (or 2nd or 3rd)

I know I take number 3.

 

[Kronwalled55]

I don't mean to be "that" guy, but this team not going to finish anywhere in the bottom 5. Frustrating team or not, they're going to make the playoffs or come close.

 

[mindfly]

I don't mean to be "that" guy, but this team not going to finish anywhere in the bottom 5. Frustrating team or not, they're going to make the playoffs or come close.

That's not smart management to just miss the playoffs instead of being bottom 5. This team won't win a game in the playoffs, they don't have firepower, defensive depth, good goaltending. This is a shortened season, just play bad, get it over with and get rewarded in June with a great draft, buy out bad contracts in july, re-build, make a trade.

 

[probertrules24]

What would you rather have?

1. Barely make the playoffs as an 8th seed and face the sharks/blackhawks and most likely get swept?
2. Playing .500 hockey for a long time, and just miss the playoffs so you end up with like a 14th overall pick
3. They play slightly under .500 and then near the end of the season tank, win the lottery and get 1st overall (or 2nd or 3rd)

I know I take number 3.

4. Turn this around, make the playoffs and do the best they can. We've been cup favorites to start the year for to many years. Fans forget what it's like to struggle and have to fight to win games.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

I don't mean to be "that" guy, but this team not going to finish anywhere in the bottom 5. Frustrating team or not, they're going to make the playoffs or come close.

yah not a chance that we finish bottom 5

i dont think a team with datsyuk and zetterberg playing for it can possibly be a bottom 5 team

no the problem is, has always been and always will be KH and his inability to be proactive and aggressive.

everyone in the world knew 100% fact that lidstrom would soon retire, knew it for years, age does that to proathletes whether we like it or not. he failed to adequately address Lidstroms loss in the 1-3 years prior to actualy losing him(even if we were having 100pt seasons). Their were and their are tools every GM has at their disposal to build a franchise, some GM's have more then others(money vs lottery picks) but everybody has options and he deliberately choose not to use most of those available options(it was not an accident therefore deliberate)

this mess is 100% at the feet of KH and he better solve it, and solve it now.

no we will not finish bottom 5, however we will finish in the 7-11 spot in the West which is justgood enough to keep us from a top draft pick BUT just bad enough that it should force KH to act and implement change(trading veterans for picks, trading a roster player for defensive help, playing hardball with Howie if he asks for the moon, implementing a system that graduates guys from GR sooner then they have been, being more aggressive on the trade front, trading up in the draft, being more active and purposeful on July 1st, etc)

 

[BinCookin]

What would you rather have?

1. Barely make the playoffs as an 8th seed and face the sharks/blackhawks and most likely get swept?
2. Playing .500 hockey for a long time, and just miss the playoffs so you end up with like a 14th overall pick
3. They play slightly under .500 and then near the end of the season tank, win the lottery and get 1st overall (or 2nd or 3rd)

I know I take number 3.

Technically you can do #1 and/or #3 at the same time.

No team ever PURPOSELY gets last. Players always try to pad their stats so they can keep their jobs.

But you can trade out veterans for "young players". These players do well and you end up with a team like Ottawa right now.
And if they do not do well... you end up with a team like Colorado.

Either way, even if our team improves with the identical roster it has now. It is hard to see us win the cup. I would prefer to add youth to our lineup and try them out. (and I suppose throw what little depth we have away completely at the same time)...
injuries? Well you better hope no forward EVER gets injured haha, because we will have to put AHL talent on the 4th line.. but hey... we are "tanking" right.

Just saying there are pos/neg for each one of these choices.

I honestly have only seen a few mistakes performed by KH. He signed Sammy at a very old age (mistake vs young guy)
Cleary is finishing his 3 year? deal when he was producing well to earn it.

And those who think KH was "supposed" to grab a top line D-man... wake up... Look at all the other teams that want that... and can't get it. We are in "bad shape" now due to being good. If you think we had the assets to trade and parlay back into a contender, you are wrong. We could have "invented" assets through UFA signings... turns out alot of competition there. Unlucky us. Thats it.

 

[jroc86]

Lets not all forget that last year we were 5-5-1 riding a 6 game winless streak WITH a healthy and producing Lidstrom and Stuart ... of course we dominated most of those games and were snakebiten with scoring.

Im not panicking yet ... but man, with our defense and lack of depth our games are looking like an older versionof last years oilers. Higher scoring exciting games when the big guns are hot ... otherwise, meh.

 

[Macoun]

People shouldn't be too surprised with kronwalls play this season.. After watching him for years this is the player he is. Like someone else said he's very talented but extremely sloppy player. He's at best being the number two defenseman on the second pairing with a solid stay at home partner. If you have him going against the other teams top like every game you're in more trouble than you think.

 

[DarkReign]

I told him to root for another team because he completely disrespected the Coach. If you have no respect, go find another team to root for. You can disagree, fine. Dropping the Fbomb is unacceptable.

You dont belong on the internet, seriously. I have no dog in your little fights, but your expectations for where a dialogue goes about a sports team and when certain subject matters should be broached is so completely adverse to the environment you put yourself in...

Safe to say, youre fighting an uphill battle and I am surprised people just dont ignore you.

Again, I dont care one way or the other what you choose to say and do, I really dont. But this business about not being able to criticize Holland's lack of moves, retorting to an Internet forum that their opinions mean nothing because they dont run or coach a pro team, etc.

Go work for the Wings then, where the giant Echo Chamber you want so badly to exist here, actually exists. It would suit you far better. Your notion of where you are right now, as you read this, is so far removed from reality, I dont even know where to begin.

Safe to say, if everyone ascribed to your standards of fandom and obeyed the rules of criticism you desire, HF would have about 4 members in a chat room on AOL.

 

[JBauerly97]

4. Turn this around, make the playoffs and do the best they can. We've been cup favorites to start the year for to many years. Fans forget what it's like to struggle and have to fight to win games.

Unfortunately, so have some of the players.

 

[Run the Jewels]

People shouldn't be too surprised with kronwalls play this season.. After watching him for years this is the player he is. Like someone else said he's very talented but extremely sloppy player. He's at best being the number two defenseman on the second pairing with a solid stay at home partner. If you have him going against the other teams top like every game you're in more trouble than you think.

^ THIS. He's Mathieu Schneider without the shot from the point. Or the consistent 50+ point seasons.

 

[Macoun]

^ THIS. He's Mathieu Schneider without the shot from the point. Or the consistent 50+ point seasons.

Lol that's so true it's not even funny. Schneider was a great number two to NIck and the guy had a shot and consistently put up numbers..

 

[JmanWingsFan]

You dont belong on the internet, seriously. I have no dog in your little fights, but your expectations for where a dialogue goes about a sports team and when certain subject matters should be broached is so completely adverse to the environment you put yourself in...

Safe to say, youre fighting an uphill battle and I am surprised people just dont ignore you.

Again, I dont care one way or the other what you choose to say and do, I really dont. But this business about not being able to criticize Holland's lack of moves, retorting to an Internet forum that their opinions mean nothing because they dont run or coach a pro team, etc.

Go work for the Wings then, where the giant Echo Chamber you want so badly to exist here, actually exists. It would suit you far better. Your notion of where you are right now, as you read this, is so far removed from reality, I dont even know where to begin.

Safe to say, if everyone ascribed to your standards of fandom and obeyed the rules of criticism you desire, HF would have about 4 members in a chat room on AOL.

I'm not sure where you get that impression at all in the post of me you quoted... At all. I don't believe anywhere I said you're not allowed to disagree.

 

[steafo]

What would you rather have?

1. Barely make the playoffs as an 8th seed and face the sharks/blackhawks and most likely get swept?
2. Playing .500 hockey for a long time, and just miss the playoffs so you end up with like a 14th overall pick
3. They play slightly under .500 and then near the end of the season tank, win the lottery and get 1st overall (or 2nd or 3rd)

I know I take number 3.

I'm with you on this idea and have been since I heard Lidstrom was retiring and our big splash free agent signings were Tootoo (who I have liked thus far), and Samuelsson.

I don't think we have to be cellar dwellers for years to come to fix this. 1 year of total ineptitude finishing in the top 3 in the lottery to hopefully land Seth Jones would solve a LOT of problems. If we are going to tank why not do it in a shortened season, less suffering for me this way.

I'm also of the opinion that if you're likely going to miss the playoffs you should MISS the playoffs. I don't want to finish 9-13...I want to finish where Edmonton/Columbus has been. I may be a pessimist and that is fine but I don't see this team making the playoffs, unfortunately I see us just missing it like Calgary/Dallas have done over the last couple years. This would be the worst case scenario.

 

[BinCookin]

Jman he clearly meant "don't get bent out of shape by internet opinions"

I.E. arguements on this site are not much use.

BTW i have agreed with you that our team has been strong up till this year.

We still have a good team (little here admit it)

We have some more glaring holes now though and if they are not fixed by better play, then we will be about 15th in the league.

I also think as long as we have Dats and Z, we can never place last, its just impossible
So the idea we should tank, isn't really an option

I am middle of the road. I feel players with 2+ seasons of PPG players should get full time duty up here. Especially with our bottom 6 performing as they are now.

On this site, people make decisions on players shift by shift
IN the real world (The one we analyze) run by KH and Babs, they take a more patient approach.

A 5-6 game losing streak (if we want Nyq and Tatar on this team) is required to prove to the more patient that the bottom 6 really is inferior.

 

[WingedWheel1987]

The bottom six has been worthless for quite some time. It always gets shutdown during the playoffs. Now it just sucks in the regular season too.

 

[Syckle78]

It really boggled my mind how anyone can call this a good team. Its a jumbled miss with a couple good pieces and that's about. Nothing about the Wings current state screams good or team. There no cohesion or identity on the ice and no identifiable plan off it.

 

[ricky0034]

it's amazing how much people whine about how bad the bottom six has been

Helm and Samuelsson have been injured all year

it's as if people have absolutely zero sense of context whatsoever

 

[BinCookin]

The bottom six has been worthless for quite some time. It always gets shutdown during the playoffs. Now it just sucks in the regular season too.

always so pessimistic Wheel. Is your plan Nyq/Tatar 3rd scoring line?
Or trading then for legit 2nd liners/3rd liners who can play?

Optimism man optimism.

Sure our team is worse and getting worse, but that doesn't mean we will not secretly get better due to poor play this season (forced changes by management, forced young players playing etc)

 

[WingedWheel1987]

always so pessimistic Wheel. Is your plan Nyq/Tatar 3rd scoring line?
Or trading then for legit 2nd liners/3rd liners who can play?

Optimism man optimism.

Sure our team is worse and getting worse, but that doesn't mean we will not secretly get better due to poor play this season (forced changes by management, forced young players playing etc)

Play nyquist on the third line and dump Cleary in the press box or a retirement community.